Wednesday
As I mentioned about the Parkour class last Wednesday, Gimme was unable or unwilling to pull her front feet up into the chair for "bacon". This is unusual for her, so I was happy to know we had a chiropractic appointment scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Thursday
During the RFE practice on Thursday, I noticed Gimme wasn't listening to cues well at all. At the time I chalked it up to her false pregnancy, but in hindsight I'm sure it was also hard to focus through the discomfort. Its a tribute to her tenacity how she keeps trying - she's always been very persistent. At the end of the third session, I tossed a treat for Gimme and she flipped to get it and halfway fell. From then to just before her chiropractic session, Gimme wouldn't or couldn't lift her tail or wag it normally. It started to come back right before her appointment. As I reviewed the video of the practice sessions, I see a number of stumbles and missteps by her rear. I couldn't see it in real time because with her positioned next to me, this was happening behind my field of view.
Dr. Powell found she had one subluxation in her thoracic area and three in her lumbar region. Her hips and other joints all seemed good. He did a number of things to work on loosening up what was going on. We discussed whether it was too painful to lift the tail or what. He thinks the subluxations were interfering with nerve transmission, so she wasn't getting good info to her rear end for it to have normal strength and coordinated movement. Based on what I see on the RFE videos, this seems likely. At the end of the session, Gimme had her tail back to wagging normally.
By evening her tail was drooping again, so I cancelled our tracking for Friday morning, not wanting to have her out in the cold. I contacted Doc about another session and he was able to fit us into an appointment for Saturday morning. I hated having to wait when Gimme was so uncomfortable, but at least it wasn't too long.
Saturday
I assumed some part of the adjustment didn't hold. Instead Doc found the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were just as he'd left them and the problem was now a tipped sacrum. He explained it was likely her body had to readjust its balance after the Thursday adjustment and the sacrum just ended up out of alignment. I've actually experienced this myself, so it made sense to me. Gimme seemed to be tip top and initially there was a lot more tail action than usual, as if she was trying to make up for lost wag-time.
Tuesday
Unfortunately it didn’t last. She started out okay in nosework class, but then I noticed her tail drooping. It was so pronounced others could see it. Gimme didn’t act like it was uncomfortable, like before. However, at one point she saw Janice and ran over to see her and scooted her butt low to act silly and in doing so, I think she jammed her tail against the floor – which clearly was painful. Poor baby. I contacted Dr. Powell the next day and the earliest opening he had was Saturday morning.
Thursday
Gimme's tail was coming back up and sometimes even looked normal. Then during the evening, she came to put her feet next to me on the couch and yelped in pain and then wouldn't come near me. She obviously thought *I* did something to make her hurt.
Saturday (today)
We met Dr. Powell this morning and he found a couple vertebrae in her lumbar region were jammed up again. I asked him if there was anything I could do to help her body re-balance. So, he taught me how to do the "tail pull" he does. I was really surprised to learn how hard he pulls on her tail - dang near pulled my finger off. Anyway, its also a lot to do with the pull angle and how I support her loin area, providing resistance, during the pull. Gimme really seems to like it, so I hope it helps.
We have a follow-up appointment on Thursday. Cross your fingers for my munchkin to get back to normal...
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