Almost there

Three months on and we are getting very close to finally having Veto back to normal.  Once we arrived home from our trip away we visited Deb Nook and while things were looking overall pretty good the shoulder muscle that was torn was only extending about half way.  I suspected that scar tissue was the likely culprit and sure enough Leigh confirmed that was the issue when we visited her for Ve's physio appointment a few days later.  She worked pretty hard on the shoulder and by the end of the session there was a big improvement in his range of motion.  Still no jumping or sprinting just yet but we can at least start revisiting some foundation work from H360 and see what he remembers!  Then we go back to physio in a week to see if we can get the all clear.

Princess Pappy

In the meantime I've signed up for the "Get In Shape! Iliopsoas and Shoulder Strengthening" online course which is run by Leslie Eide from Seattle USA.  Leslie is a vet who specialises in rehab and sports medicine.  It was perfect timing for me to start Veto when we got back from holidays and to make sure he is as strong as he can be as we get back into agility.  We've made a good start with the physio work we've been doing but I'll feel a lot more confident about doing agility with him knowing that he is muscled up in all the right places.

Sonic & Veto

The time out for Veto has definitely made a difference to our relationship and makes the last three months of no agility actually worth it.  Now that he's allowed off lead again he is a very different dog to what he was before.  He checks in all the time when we are walking and comes back when he's called when I need him to go back on lead.  Before he was too busy obsessing over what Sonic was doing to even think about listening to anything I had to say.  He's a lot more relaxed in general as well which is no doubt helped by the fact that he can do a lot more exercise now so is feeling calmer and more mentally satisfied.  I'm sure that there is an element of maturity that is helping, he's 21 months now so a little bit older and wiser.  Colin has also been working really hard with Fizz and getting her to tune in when she's off lead and not just blindly racing around.  Because she is more settled and spends her time checking in with Colin I'm sure helps Veto to be calmer.  He's always been easily led....so our daily walks around the property are becoming almost civilised!

Riot

We had a great holiday and one of the more relaxing breaks I've had.  Singapore we were busy because we were doing a lot of sight seeing and hitting the tourist trail.  But Ko Samui was another story entirely and some days all we did was read our books, go for a swim and have a cocktail.  It felt strangely weird to not do anything but we enjoyed it while it lasted because you are always keenly aware that it's over so quickly.  Not to mention how nice it was to be warm.  Once we arrived the jeans went away and it was bathers, shorts and singlets every day.  But I'm glad to be back even though that also means I'm back at work.  I'm so ready to get back into agility with the dogs and really, really looking forward to trialling again.  This time I will try very hard not to break him though...