Ziggy's Spa Vacation

Since Ziggy is still not walking or urinating on his own, we couldn't leave him at home with the house/pet sitter while we went to Washington.  Instead, Ziggy is getting a spa vacation at the Iowa State University Veterinary School Rehabilitation center.

The vet who did Z's surgery suggested that Z might really benefit from some aqua therapy, and made the referral to ISU.

I dropped Ziggy off yesterday, had a tour of the rehab facility, and learned more about what they'll do.  The facility looks quite new and is very nice.  They have an underwater treadmill and a large pool along with the standard rehab equipment like balance balls/eggs, and treadmills.  Ziggy gets to try out the underwater treadmill tomorrow, and will likely get some time in the pool this week as well (safely wearing a doggy life vest, of course).  He'll also continue the exercises we've been doing at home, and they'll likely add some others.  I've also requested that he have 2-3 acupuncture treatments during the week he'll be there.

I'm anxious to see if Z shows any improvement over the week.  I won't have to wait long for an update, though, as they call every evening to share an update on how things are going.

When I pick Ziggy up next week, the rehab therapist promised to share with me all the exercises she has done and recommends I do with Z.  Hopefully I'll learn some new things that will help the boy recuperate.

The only down side?  Ziggy was NOT a happy camper to be left again.  When I was leaving he scooted his way over to bars of the pen and started pawing at the bars - barking, yelping and whining.  Sorry Ziggy - it's for your own good.

Ziggy the Cardigan Corgi - IVDD Update: 1 Month

Yesterday it was one month since Ziggy's surgery for a ruptured disc.

Last week I was really not feeling optimistic about Ziggy's progress.  This week, though, things are looking up.

I found a vet about 1/2 hour away who does acupuncture, and Ziggy had treatments (is that what acupuncture sessions are called?) on Wednesday and Friday.  The vet also suggested some additional physio/rehab work for me to do - to help with proprioception and nerve regeneration. 

I've incorporated these exercises into his routine (4-5 times daily at 5-10 mins a time) so now I do:

• Standing - we put place his hind legs in a standing position and allow him to support as much of himself as he can.
• Range of motion exercsies with the hind legs - bending and extending hocks and stifles - 10-15 times per session
• Pinching between the pads of his rear legs - not enough to injure him but enough to get a "pull the foot away" reaction.  This is to help w/ nerves/feeling and builds a bit of resistance when he pulls the foot away.
• Skin massage - I grab 2-3" of skin along his back and down the ribs and gently pull up and massage with my fingers for a second or so. This is to help w/ nerves/feeling and I hope it feels good to him, too.
• Massaging his rear toes. Nobody told me to do this, but I noticed that his rear feet are curled up a lot when he's laying or sitting, and it makes me feel better to gently straighten and massage the toes.
  
   

Here's The Husband helping Ziggy with his standing.
I usually try to have his pasterns more upright, but as he gets
tired, he sometimes sinks back like this.
Note the look of concentration on Z's face.

What have I noticed this week that is making me optimistic?

• He is able to stand with much less support.  Yesterday afternoon, he stood with no support from me for approx 5 seconds.  After that I had just gentle, one-finger support on one hip.
• He is stretching out his back legs when I pick him up from the crate - just like dogs often do when rising from sleep (!)
• I'm noticing much more reaction to my toe massaging and between-the-pads pinching.
• The Husband has noticed Z "paddling" a bit more when he's walking in his sling in the yard (the hind feet are off the ground, but moving a bit).
• Last night on the sofa Ziggy was having a good doggy dream and his right hind leg even moved a little.

I know that correlation does not equal causation, but I think that the acupuncture sessions really helped!  We're planning to continue these on a regular basis.  Right now the vet is recommending 2x a week.

Two early milestones we're still waiting for are  for Z to wag his tail (we're told this is a very positive sign) and  for him to urinate on his own (though I read this usually happens around the time a dog becomes ambulatory again).

Hopefully I'll have good things to post in next week's update!

Anyway, a week of good progress for Z.

Wagmore Farm: The House Part 4 - The Plan for The Existing Home

(Please note:  this post will make more sense if you've already read my previous post from today regarding The Decision of what we'll do with the house)

When weighing our house options, we realized that part of the "Scrap it and start over" option involved getting rid of the existing structure.  We wanted to make sure we were comparing like costs, so we worked hard to find out what other costs (aside from the home cost) are involved with a new home build.

We contacted the county and found out that we won't have to pay local impact fees.  Since a home is already on the property those fees don't apply.  The existing electricity, water, and septic will all be connected to the new house.  The current house is sited well on the property, so we'll be building on nearly the very same location.  This means there will be only slight changes to the driveway and connections to septic, etc.

Then we met with an excavation company that was recommended to us, and has lots of relevant experience, to find out what tear down and haul away would cost. As we were talking about cost, work involved, etc, the excavation guy mentioned that we should talk to the local fire district.

Apparently, the local fire districts appreciate being able to use homes for practice.  The excavation guy thought our home would be a promising candidate, as it's away from other homes, etc.

Later that week we met with the training supervisor for the district.  He thought the house would suit them nicely, and let us know what would be involved with a burn of this sort.  Basically, the fire fighters use the house for drills/practice most of the day.  When they're done later in the afternoon, they let the house go up in flames.

My pre-enactment of what will happen.  ;)  

We've had to spend a bit of $$ on permits, applications, and a bit of asbestos remediation, but we're really excited about this method of demolition.

It enables us to help the local fire department and save a ton of money on excavation costs!  As an added bonus, the training supervisor says we can lean the rest of our brush pile up against the carport so it will go up in flames when the whole house goes.

The date for the burn is this Saturday.  We're headed out to the property in a couple of days to board up the windows and remove the hot water heater (both of which the fire dept require).  We'll also be salvaging the bathroom mirrors (to be used as training mirrors in my future dog training barn), the kitchen cabinets (to be used as garage storage), and the rough-hewn mantle piece on the fireplace (don't know what we'll do with it).  Everything else is going up in flames.

Oh, and the coolest part?  We get to go out and watch!  I'll be working hard to get some good pics/video...  

Ziggy the Cardigan Corgi - IVDD - Week 3

This week has been a bit of a depressing week for me regarding Ziggy's post-surgical progress.  I really thought (hoped) that we'd see more progress 3 weeks in.

From what I read, and what the vet shared with us, recovery can take a long time.  What constitutes a long time?  That seems to depend on what I read.  6-12 weeks seems to be a recurring theme - but I've read about longer and shorter.  In our vet's experience, bigger dogs take longer to heal than smaller dogs - and he considers Ziggy a bigger dog.

The progress I've seen this week:

• Slightly (and I mean very slight) more resistance when he's "standing" and doing his biking PT
• On a couple of occasions he even seems to pull his foot forward from the hip
• The Husband has noticed some very mild "paddling" when he's walking Z in the sling sometimes

Other things I've noticed this week:

• Ziggy gets very upset when he can't see me.  He barks and whines.  It's funny, because his bark sounds a lot different than before - much shorter & higher pitched.
• He really likes to move around the yard in the sling - he's drug The Husband and I through the bushes more than once.
• At times he seems a little bit "down."  Maybe I'm projecting, but he sometimes seems resigned and not very perky.

Z moving around in his sling with The Husband in tow.

When Z wants to go somewhere, we really have to hang on 

and move quickly to keep up.

I was working on the computer, 

so I took Z out of the crate to sit under me.

Rip came to lay next to him.  Very sweet. 

My goal for this week to try and get Z an appt w/ a well-regarded rehab clinic up by Chicago.  

A Good Christmas to Be a Cardi

We had great weather here in Iowa yesterday, so the Humans got to spend some good outdoor time with Maggie and Rip.  Unfortunately Ziggy had to stay inside - but he got to enjoy some Christmas treats.  Here are some pics form the day.

Maggie enjoyed sniffing along on our walk,

 and hung out with me in the sunshine while The Child played on the playground.

Ziggy enjoyed a rawhide candy cane.

He also got a new rope giraffe toy -

which Rip immediately tried to grab through the bars of the crate.

Rip got two outings

First, he and I went for a long, long walk.  Not many people were out so he got to be off leash in the park.  

Lots of things live in the woods.  

You can't hide, squirrels!

Rip was thirsty, so I tried to get him to come down to the stream for a drink.

He gave me the "my mom is doing strange things" look.

When the look didn't get me to climb back up, 

he tried barking his displeasure.

Note scorpion tail accompanying barking.

What's a walk on a sunny day without a good roll?

Later in the afternoon, we took The Child to the playground.  Some young men showed up with their Lab.  They said the Lab was friendly, so we let Rip off leash to play.

The Lab was a quite a bit older than Rip, so Rip had to work

hard to get it to play.  This also involved some barking

when the Lab had the audacity to stop.

But I got a good recall when the play was over!

Note tongue hanging out.

Here's what happened when we got home.

Mission accomplished!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful day, too!

Wagmore Farm: The House Part 1 - Current State

When The Husband and I bought the Wagmore Farm property we did not buy it for the condition of the house.  The house was built in the early '70's, and it seemed doubtful that things had been updated since then.  But the home we live in now was in the same condition when we bought it, and we made it nice, so we figured why not try it again?

We fell in love with the property and location and figured we'd somehow make the house part of the equation work out.

Prior to the purchase, we had the home inspected, and we had a contractor who does nice remodels come out to see the house.  The home inspection revealed some things we'd need to fix - like the roof and the junction box for the electrical.  The contractor thought the house had potential for remodel.  And, since we didn't plan to move in right away, we weren't too bothered by remodel costs down the road.

Here are some pics of what's there now:

The exterior of the home is "unique" (and I don't mean that in a good way):

The house is an odd T shape.

The skinny bit on the back was added in the '80's.

It's a mystery why they didn't align  it with the existing

roof and walls.

Note the unique architectural elements.

Scalloping galore! 

Rectangular front facade!

The interior of the home is interesting, as well:

This is the entry door.  

Entering right into the dining room - perhaps not as 

practical as I'd like.

The family room.  Or is it an extra bedroom?

Used to be the garage.

Note wood paneling and faux brick feature wall.

The kitchen.  A decent size, 

but they carved out a 3/4 bath in the space behind the fridge.

Which is why the fridge is so weirdly positioned.

One of the two bedrooms w/ an en-suite bath.

Weird layout, and the bathroom sink is in the room...

The hall bath.

The other bathrooms (the home has 4)

are equally as up-to-date.

As we spent a little time in the house, we started to think about the possibilities of what the home could be become.  The house has 2500+ square feet.  Plenty of space for us.  Maybe we could turn it into our dream home?

More to come in a future post, "Wagmore Farm:  The House Part 2 - What are the Options?"

Ziggy the Cardigan Corgi - IVDD - Week 2

On Friday, it was two weeks since Ziggy had surgery.  Here's an update on how he's doing:

Ziggy got his staples out on Friday.  His wound has healed nicely, and the brindle hair is coming back.  I'm planning to give him a bath on Wednesday - to wash the "vet clinic" smell out of him.

Wound not looking gruesome any more.

The Husband was on his own all week, as I was on a business trip.  He deserves a TON of credit, as carrying Ziggy around, taking him to the bathroom, etc.  is quite tiring and time consuming.

Ziggy still is not going pee on his own.  The Husband is getting quite good at expressing Ziggy's bladder.  I still can't even find it.  Hopefully Z will be going on his own soon so I don't have to learn this skill :)

It was interesting being gone for a week, though, as I really noticed progress in how Z is doing.  He's still not walking, but he's much more steady on his hind end when we do the "stacking" part of his physical therapy.  We're sometimes even able to let go, or support him with just a finger, and he stays steady.

The vet says his progress is slow, but it is progress.  At this rate, the vet thinks Z might be walking around New Year's.

Ziggy with the tree Cardi Claus sent.

Not that it's already been dis-em-squeeked.

Mere back surgery won't keep Z from destroying a toy!

Ziggy is not a big fan of his pen, 

so we've been bringing him onto the sofa 

when we're around to supervise. 

To say he loves it is an understatement.

Laying in his favorite position - 

it offers a great view outside.

Ziggy really hates to be left alone.  I took Rip out for a walk on Saturday morning.  I left Maggie and Ziggy at home - each with a rawhide chew.  Ziggy was in pen when I left.  When I returned home he was waiting by the front door - 3 rooms away.  Yikes!  He'd battered his way out of the pen, and drug himself over to the door.  Not good.  Thankfully we had an appt w/ the vet later that day.  The vet didn't think any damage was done, and now we're putting Z in a crate if he's not supervised.

Here's what the pen looked like.  

I still don't really know how he got out.  

He must have gone underneath?

Ziggy also seems to missing going out.  When we have him in his sling in the back yard, he'll often walk us over to one of the gates and stand there with a hopeful look on his face.  

I did let the boys do some biting play today.  I sat right next them to make sure Rip didn't jostle Ziggy.  They both seemed to enjoy it.

Boys just want to play.

Bite play is fun.

In rehab news, we're continuing the standard exercises - bicycle for range of motion, stacking, and standing w/ light support.  I also got a referral to a local DVM who does acupuncture.  I'm hoping to get Z in for an appt this week.