Secret 1 = Chiro 0

Secret had her very first visit with the chiropractor yesterday afternoon to assess her following that odd issue with her hind end. Secret was 100% a horrible, snarky bitch.

It is no surprise to anyone that Secret has "space issues." That said, she has made absolutely remarkable strides in her socialization and has been doing so much better around people. Her introduction to Dr. Schilling went quite well. Secret was happy to be out of the pen (where she had to wait while Luke had his turn) and she seemed very interested in Dr. Schilling and all of her stuff.

When Dr. Schilling made a move towards Secret's hind end to start working on her, however, Secret whipped around and snapped at her. NAUGHTY. I ended up holding her hind end up with my left arm and holding her head/collar with my right. As Dr. Schilling moved up her body, I kept having to reposition myself to keep Secret from being able to snap, which she did attempt to do at least three more times. Had Dr. Schilling brought her supply of muzzles with, Secret would have been modeling one.

All of this said, Secret did have some issues that surprised Dr. Schilling in such a young dog. Then again, she said she doesn't generally see many dogs of this age, so maybe it's more normal than we think. Secret was definitely "out" in her pelvis, had a few spots along her spine that needed adjusting, a couple of ribs were out of place and her neck was out of whack. Good lord, all of this in a yearling? My dogs are so abusive to each other and to themselves...

After the adjustments were done (in record fashion, I might add), we sat and talked for a while and Secret was quite comfortable and happy to wander around and/or lay by me. She didn't seem to harbor any ill-will towards Dr. Schilling so long as nobody was trying to touch her.

Dr. Schilling said that we might have to try the muzzle next time and/or explore different methods of getting the job done. It would be nice if Secret would just relax and accept it, especially if it turns out she's going to be a problem child and need regular adjustments.

We went down to the river on Wednesday via a trail in one of the parks nearby. The park itself is kind of shady (as in, untrustworthy people), but the trail is great and runs along the river for a bit, finally ending near a spot of rapids.

Due to erosion, one never knows what the area will look like from year to year. I was happily surprised to find that it is the perfect spot this year! There is a small patch of sand that leads into a shallow area that goes out a bit before dropping off behind the rapids, and in the other direction it actually stays shallow enough for the dogs to run in for several yards.

The dogs had a blast! Luke found a giant stick that I broke into two pieces. He promptly lost his, so Secret & Luke had to share the remaining piece. Much to my surprise, Secret beat Luke several times on the retrieve! She swims like a little fish.

I took lots of video clips on my cell phone, but there was an issue with the file conversion and when I tried to save the movie I created, I got error message after error message. Much to my dismay, I got so frustrated I just deleted everything. Darn it, and it was super cute.

It sounds like my cousin, Bethany, and I are taking the dogs swimming after work tonight. I will pack the actual video camera along and see if I can't get some footage. I will also be taking the camera with on Sunday for Secret's first HERDING DAY!!! Yay!

Then comes Monday -- Secret's birthday! :o)