Flyball is a Full Contact Sport

DR! returned to Huntsville August 14th & 15th for Texas Heat's Great Balls of Fire tournament.  In past years, the August tournament has been a little bit smaller since some clubs are still recovering from Reliant.  Not this year - there were something like 40 teams!

We took our regular traveling teams - 4 Dogz with Ballz and Dogz in Da Hood.  No new club bests, but a highlight of the weekend was Pooper (fka Velvet - see previous blog post) running in BOTH lanes!  Pooper is a smart dog, new to the sport and realized how much quicker it was to bypass the jumps when racing another dog.  Pooper only did this in the right lane.  With the help of Kim's agility expertise (normal handler Duwain was out braving the treacherous rapids on a river), Pooper ran pretty much error free.

Pooper did, however, need to break in her new handler.

 

It's all fun and games until somobody loses an eye

 Now the club *may* try to blame the injuries on me as I have been known for things like shoving teammates into to the ring gates (Marcy) and punching folks in the mouth (Kim), but there were very good reasons for my violence - 

1. Marcy cut in front of me when we were racing (she forgot she was not running anchor).  I had a split second decision of her or me - I chose me. 
2. During one of those "oh crap I think I am going to early pass" moments, I hesitated for a split second, threw my arms back and felt my closed fists collide with something . . . I thought "now that doesn't feel like a dog" . . . my suspicions were confirmed when I heard the scream

So despite my history, I promise you I was not involved in the recent bout of injuries.

Anyway, back to the topic of the tournament.  BOTH of our teams took FIRST place in our respective divisions (Regular II - 4 Dogz & Open II - Hoodz).  Yep, we rock.

Newer member Alissa caught the fast flyball dog bug by running the ride which we call Marz.  And if I do say so myself, she did a spectacular job!  Even got a 3.94 on the clock with him.  Awesome job Alissa!

Oh, and even though Duwain was not in attendance, we managed to get a sleeping beauty pic.  Though this one is staged, me thinks Kim did a great impersonation.  The ball cap and ever so slightly opened mouth seal the deal.

P.S. To go along with the Flyball is a Full Contact Sport topic, apparently Veronica may have a torn ACL.  How'd she get it?  My dog.  Yep, Marz is as gentle as I am with our teammates.

Crack that Back!

A couple of Thursdays ago, Marz twisted his back playing fetch at the park. I threw the ball for Marz, turned, threw another ball for Remix, turned back to Marz and saw him coming down the hill doing an odd twisting motion. It was one of those movements where you think to yourself, "Uh-oh, that didn't look good."

I stretched all his legs and examined him for any injury - Marz just wanted to get up and play more ball and seemed fine.  We stopped the game and walked around a bit when I noticed a bloody pawprint on my jeans - alas, Remix had torn a pad.  So, we packed up and went home.

The next couple of days, Marz showed no indication of discomfort or pain.  We went to flyball practice as usual on Sunday.  His box turns were poopy, a little more poopy than usual.  When I was reviewing the video, I noticed that Marz was taking 2 strides between the jump and the box.  Normally he takes one and throws himself at the box.  We've tried EVERYTHING to teach him to take two strides and nothing ever took (reverted back to muscle memory).  I wish I could say it was our re-training working, but, I knew it wasn't . . . something was wrong. I stretched, prodded, flexed his legs and I could only elicit discomfort when I rubbed his lumbar muscles. Ugh. A back injury.

So, Monday we went to our vet and Dr. Wilson confirmed that indeed, he had torqued his back.  One week of rest, some Metacam, and return to exercise to see how he does.  I also asked her about seeing a doggie chiropractor to see if this might give him some relief.  Dr. Wilson said it would be okay if we wanted to try an adjustment as well.

Kathy and her dogs go to Love Pet Hospital which offers acupuncture and chiropractic services as well as traditional care.  We decided to give them a try.

Marz went to work with me (where he was spoiled rotten and loved by all my coworkers) since our appointment was at 10:40am in South Austin (about 10-15 minutes away from my work).  When we got to the appointment, the hospital staff was very appreciative that I brought fully completed paperwork (typed up in Acrobat - yes, I am THAT anal retentive and OCD).  We were escorted into the room with little to no wait.

Our appointment was with Dr. Davenport and she was great with Marz.  She worked well over his body to find the areas where he was uncomfortable, felt him moving, discovered there was a bit of subluxation in his shoulder (but it popped back no problem) and was very thorough.  After her initial exam and our consultation, Dr. Davenport did the adjustment.  The impact on Marz was incredible.  He stood still and silently and with each adjustment a wave of relief washed over his face.  I could actually see the results in his expression!

We also did acupuncture - Marz kept trying to roll over for belly rubs, so next time we'll do "cold laser" acupuncture.  It apparently has the same effects, but the wiggly squiggly dogs do not have to worry about popping out their needles.

Our next appointment is Tuesday and Dr. D. will assess to see if he's well enough to compete next weekend.  I think I will also see about setting up a monthly chiropractic visit for ALL the competitive dogs - I know how I feel after getting adjusted and saw how Marz felt.  Makes sense to give all the dogs the benefit of regular chiropractic maintenance.

So, we're sold on the back cracking for dogs.