Ears

A cold but sunny day today which I thought was ideal to go for a walk and try to get some nice photos.

Molly is very much the action dog on her walks and likes to do some serious running and looning around.  I tried for some action photos but unfortunately somehow her ears make her look somewhat less than serious and I suspect may make her slightly less areodynamic than she likes!

Muscles!!!

We had another vet check this week with our local vet and to start with he worried me ......

...... a lot.

He usually checks Molly over from all angles before commenting, but this time he checked her legs from so many angles, then asked if she would tolerate being on her back for him to try that - I was getting really concerned that he had found a problem.  In fact the reason for his thorough examination was that she had vastly improved from when he last saw her.  He felt she had really filled out (with muscle rather than fat) and whereas she had been building some muscle in her back legs she now actually has some decent muscle definition which has had a very positive effect on her knees.  She is not quite right still - but hugely better than she was and he feels that although her kneecap is still coming out, it is doing it such a small amount before going back that it really won't be bothering her and will hopefully cause minimal arthritis problems when older if I can keep her this fit!!

As far as keeping her this fit is concerned, her recall is so much better now she is able to go off lead more and more so keeping her fit should be getting easier!!  She has also decided that she enjoys playing chase with other dogs very much indeed so has been getting some excellent running practice like this - I just feel sorry for the poor souls she tempts into chasing her - over the last week she has invited two labradors to play and then ran rings round them totally as they failed to get anywhere near her speed.

Portrait

Last year I bid for and won a portrait by talented artist Adele Beverley.  http://www.adelebeverley.com/index.htm

I had sent her some pictures of Molly but she was busy with lots of other commissions so I was very happy to wait until she had time.  This week I received the finished portrait and it is wonderful!!

Really captures Mollys personality right down to the naughty glint in her eyes!!

Clicker training

As problems with her knees mean we can't continue with agility I have decided I need to do "something" with Molly as she is a young dog with an active brain which really needs work or the devil will make work for idle paws!!

I therefore enrolled us both on a clicker training course at Learning about Dogs so we could try to improve our skills together.  The other dogs on the course were 4 greyhounds, a collie and a terrier cross and Molly was initially a bit freaked out by the greyhounds and decided she needed to do much hiding under my chair.  Despite this things went well when we started work and by halfway through the day she was reduced to occasional glances at the scary dogs.

We covered luring, timing and delivering of treats and had a go at both free-shaping and shaping with an object all of which went well a and we learned and more importantly enjoyed learning together.  The next part of the course is 3rd March.

We have been putting our new found clicker skills to good use teaching Molly a solid walk backwards which is one of her assigned physio exercises for this month.

Vet Update

We travelled back down to Wales for a review of Mollys progress.  The conclusion was she had improved her muscle tone - but not enough yet to hold her knees fully in place.  We have another month of exercises - this time stairs, running up hills and walking backwards including walking backwards over poles.

It will keep up busy for a while anyway!!

So far we have had a few trips to the bridge over the ring road to go up and down the stairs, done some running at the Wedge and Allesley Park where there are decent slopes, and done some clicker training to learn to walk backwards.  I am also gradually increasing the amount of off lead exercise she is having with so far no return of limping so hopefully improving muscles.

Our next specialist vet visit is 27th February.

Progress

This weekend we have started to return to off lead running - first minute was almost a disaster as we met up with Auntie Tricia and her three dogs and a certain clumsy collie ran straight over Molly causing much yelping and running to humans for a cuddle!!  Fortunately no harm done and that certain collie (yes I mean you Leo) managed the rest of the walk without running her over again!

We did a nice long walk and Molly had several off lead periods without any return of limping.

Come on quick before the mad collies get here!

Too late - they are chasing meeeeeeeeee

Settled down now and mooching with the gang

.....and the result of lots of spanielling along the floor on a frosty morning is .....

....soggy ears and a soggy face.

New bed and vegetables!

I had promised Molly a new bed after Christmas so after a look around at a few I settled on a lovely soft cushioned bed.  Unfortunately I don't think Molly found her bed as easy to operate as I expected her to!

Hmmm - well it does not seem very comfortable and it is a bit cramped...

Help - it has gone dark .....

After a few minutes I decided to rescue her and turfed her out of the bed and put it back together for her - she does not exactly look delighted though does she!

Whilst she was having new experiences I thought it would be a good idea to try and introduce her to some fresh vegetables as previous dogs have always loved a bit of fruit or vegetable now and then as a treat.  I had a very small carrot so gave her, her very first carrot.

Hmmm - not sure what this is or what I am meant to do with it.  Looks like you can chew it - but I am not totally convinced I like it.