What a mess!

Secret was a hot mess at her chiro appointment yesterday. Holy buckets, it's a good thing I got her in before the trial!

If she was dealing with these issues at our trial two weeks ago, she certainly is becoming more stoic. Maybe the Back on Track blanket helps to mask or deal with the discomfort, too, who knows.

I lost count of how many of her ribs were "out." In previous appointments there have been a couple of times when one or two were out of place, but this time I swear Dr. Engel found like five or six!

Secret's lower back/pelvis area was surprisingly decent this time. As with the last visit in early December, her issues this time were located in the mid-back region. That would be right at the 13/14 area on this wonderful diagram:

I have no idea what would cause her to be such a mess in that entire midsection area. I'm sure some of her frisbee leaps can be blamed for the spinal issues, as Dr. Engel was explaining that the majority of flexion occurs in that area -- and with her being such a long-backed dog, well, there are bound to be issues. No idea what to think about the ribs, though. It's not like we've done a phenomenal amount of weaving since our last appointment or anything.

Interestingly, both Dr. Engel and our previous chiro, Dr. Schilling, made it seem like it's pretty uncommon for dogs to have ribs out of place. Really? Luke ALWAYS has issues in that area.

Whatever the case, I'm very tempted to get another small dog (PAPILLON!!!) for my next dog. Small dogs don't have nearly the issues that we see in bigger dogs. I took Kaiser in with Secret simply because he hasn't seen Dr. Engel since before we left for Champs and I figured it wouldn't hurt to have him adjusted before making him go back to 12" jumps. She didn't find much, but she did do some adjusting in that same thoracic area that Secret had her issues. He had clicking in his patella, but that's no surprise!

I don't know if it's puppy neediness that's behind it or what, but Secret has been exceedingly cuddly lately. She was actively seeking out affection from everyone at the clinic yesterday. Dr. Engel remarked on it several times, stating that she remembers when Secret first started coming and how she used to retreat to the corner of the room. Yesterday we could hardly get her out of the way when it was Kaiser's turn and she kept going up to Dr. Engel and her assistant looking for petting -- yes, petting, not even treats! Although she likes those, too. ;o)

She's also been fairly needy at home the last several days. Since I kicked Missy out of my lap (hello, sometimes we need to learn to sleep on our own, puppy!), Secret has taken up residence there. I don't know if she's having some jealousy issues or what, but she's overall been quite a bit more affectionate lately. She will even come up and randomly press herself against me asking for attention. Maybe she read my post about why I like boys more. lol Maybe it's just part of her growing up. It took a long time for the two of us to really form a relationship, but it was worth the work it took to get here.

Missy may not have a fan in Secret, but she seems to have wormed her way in with the boys. Luke is exceptionally tolerant of her and we all know how much Kaiser loves her.

I think we've turned a corner in potty training! Not that we ever really had a difficult time with anything, but I think that the whole idea of, "We pee & poo outside" has clicked with Missy now. I know her schedule and have to be paying attention, but she does let me know when it's time (ie: at work she will go sit in front of the baby gate and look at me) rather than just squatting and going when the mood strikes her. We have also graduated to going outside at home without me standing guard to make sure she goes. Considering what a lazy sod I can be, this is a huge step. :o) The only thing I ever really find displeasing about potty training is having to get dressed and bundled up to go outside with the puppy. And somehow I always tend to end up with puppies in the winter.....

I found a new way to tackle the feeding issue without having to sit and hand feed her meals. Although I'll still do this frequently to give myself a chance to work on training, if I feel like being lazy (like last night and this morning....) it works a treat to dump her kibble into one of the Kongs and let her at it. It slows her down considerably, gives her something to do and doesn't result in a shaking fit. She would be a dog who would LOVE one of the Kong Wobblers that we have at the shelter, I'm sure. I'll definitely bring up the idea to her adopters in the future!

I haven't broken it to Bethany yet, but I do think I have to bring Missy to the trial on Saturday. She needs the exposure, after all, if we expect her to find a new home! If nothing else, though, there is a woman who comes to our NADAC trials who was really eying up Joe when I had him. Assuming Missy is still with us the first weekend in March, I figure I'll spend some time talking with this woman (I am so bad with names....) and see if she might be interested in Missy. Obviously Missy and Joe have nearly nothing in common..... But her other dog is a female, so she obviously doesn't have anything against them (like certain other people...). We'll see. Missy needs to find a home before she's not little and cute anymore. lol I stuck her on the scale here at work the other day and she's already 22 pounds!!!! I don't know how accurate it is, but she was 16 two weeks ago... Puppies grow too fast.

Oh! Speaking of weight -- Secret was only 46.2 lbs when she got weighed at the chiro appointment yesterday. Wow. I would have never expected her to lose weight in the winter. Dr. Engel joked that maybe the Back on Track jacket made her sweat the weight off. lol Truthfully, I had been cutting her back a bit because I was concerned about Secret GAINING weight this winter. Guess that is not a concern. She is fit & thin, but there is certainly such a thing as too skinny and I do need to be careful not to go too far in my obsession to have thin dogs. Kaiser was 16.7 pounds, so he is maintaining his light weight nicely this winter -- no doubt thanks to the fact that no training = no treats.

Fourty-seven hours from now we will be on the line at the USDAA trial. :o) Sweet.