Ziggy the Cardigan Corgi IVDD month 10

I can't believe it has been over 10 months since Ziggy had surgery for his IVDD.  And I don't mean that in a "time flies when you're having fun" sort of way.  Just the opposite really, but here we are.


The progress:

• Ziggy is now trying to stand on his own more and more.  Sometimes he's even able to walk for a step before falling over.
• Right leg continues to be doing much better than the left.  Rehab vet thinks it may be partly due to muscle tightness on his left inner thigh, and did some stretching last week that seemed to help.
• Rehab vet also commented at what a lazy dog Ziggy is.  He's also quite stubborn.  Not the best combo for a quick rehab!

The work:

• Visiting rehab vet for electric stimulation acupuncture, gentle chiro, and PT each week.
• "Formal" PT at home is still few and far between.  At about 8 months I think The Husband and I  both just got worn out.  Bad humans.
• "Informal" PT continues.  
• I've started grabbing Ziggy's britches (fur on his hindquarters) and having him walk without the sling.  In the sling Ziggy basically just hangs out (see previous comment about laziness), but with "britches walking" he has to support most of his own weight, and he really moves his hind legs.  
• Ziggy is also asked to stand on his own (we offer slack in the sling handles) when he's out in the yard.  I do not need to hold you up when you're standing, lazy dog.
• We're putting Z in his cart in the yard more often during those times we can at least keep an eye on him from the house.  Most often he'll just stand there (laziness), but if a squirrel shows up, or dogs walk by, he'll actually move around.  I'm trying to figure out a way to load the trees with robotic, remote-control squirrels so Z will exercise more outside.  I'll let you know how that goes.

On a fun note, the boys still enjoy frapping.  Here's a video I took a couple of weeks ago (you may want to turn down the sound to avoid the background noise of me steaming milk for my Saturday latte).  A couple of times you can see Z push himself up a bit on his left hind.  Go, Z, Go!