Life is life. Today I found out my puppy Brita has OCD in her shoulder. I am very, very sorry for her and myself as she is the second puppy I intend to keep affected by growing disorder. The first one, called Arrba, was from Beertas litter and had an FCP in one of her elbows. Despite the surgery she had never recovered and had to be put down…
Luckily an OCD in a shoulder offers much higher chance for full recovery but the question is why I need to go through all that again? Am I doing something wrong with my own puppies while all the others seem to be O.K? Laekenois is not large size breed, Brita has not been growing abnormally fast and she has not been pressed to high activity. I give her right puppy food for her size and of good quality. These are the main causes for the disease. If OCD is a growing disorder so why would she show first symptoms when she is over 9 months old and stopped growing? When she started to limp after a walk in a forest I never suspected a serious condition! Additionally the symptoms have been very mild but would not disappear, despite my efforts to keep her calm and walking her on leash. Persistence made me decide to X-ray her shoulder and that´s why we found the changes. Otherwise I would never suspect anything serious. My world is totally upside-down right now…The condition is not considered to be hereditary but I will, of course, never breed on her. I just hope she will have long and active life as she deserves.
Brita herself, totally unaware of her condition, tries to invite us to play and is happy as usual.
It´s been 2 weeks since we trained last time after my spine surgery and, what is very positive, I feel ready to start again but now I have to find out how to adjust the training so it would fit us all.
My friend Nathalie made some training pics on our last session outside.
Well, the time for Britas surgery has been scheduled to Febr. 9th and a long rehabilitation is ahead of us afterwards. Have to carefully think it over as this will be a very difficult period for both of us. Have to find out what we can do without overworking her body and at the same time give enough of stimulant to make her tired and happy.
Ruda and Prima have been waiting patiently while I had to heal after my surgery. Despite shortened walks and lack of other activities the dogs have been calm and respectful to each other. It is going to take time before I am completely fit but I feel restless and have to go back to some training soon. Luckily we have quite a few training halls to choose between! It seems that this year we are having a real winter with fresh snow and snow that turned to ice on our training grounds and even walking isn’t totally safe…
So nice to look at pictures of us made by a friend on the training ground that still was safe for the dogs. We may need to wait until spring for the next chance!
It is snowing again today. All the icy spots will be covered with fresh snow and difficult to spot. I appreciate the beauty of winter but hate the risks! Especially now when I need some more time to recover after my surgery and have a dog that has to be leashed.
Next year I just have to leave this country and spend few winter months in Portugal or Spain! Enough is enough!
