Core Body Strength for Dogs

Brisbane's physical therapy is going well. After several weeks of balancing on his FitPaws peanut for ten minutes every other day, he is definitely making progress. Core body strength is an important and often neglected part of physical fitness, so I'm glad we're finally getting on the balance bandwagon.

When we first started balance training, Brisbane was unable to stand up on the peanut. He would wobble hard unless I supported him, and preferred to sit on lay down instead. Being on the peanut gives him a nonstop parade of treats though, so he really loves being up there. After several weeks of diligent practice, two 5-minute sessions every other day, Briz can now stand up and remain stable for quite a while.

In this picture, you can see Brisbane's back leg sliding off the side of the ball. This is partly because the ball is a little slippery, but mostly because he lacks the core strength he needs to hold a proper sit. He has improved in this area as well, and can now sit on the ball or on a slick floor without his legs sliding out from under him.

Ru also thinks the FitPaws peanut is awesome. The peanuts come in different sizes, and it's important to have one that is big enough for the dog to stand on without compromising their posture. You can't really have a peanut that is too big though, so Ru can also balance on Brisbane's big yellow one. Ru can sit and stand nicely on it, so he is working on sitting pretty instead. He is getting much more stable when sitting up like that, and can hold the position for several seconds now instead of just bouncing up and then dropping his front feet back down immediately.

My first experience with quadruped core strength was actually with horses. My own horse lacked the right muscles for many years, so his movements tended to be big with minimal control. When a horse has the core body strength to support himself and a rider, his movements become more controlled and his steps become shorter. It turns out that dogs work the same way, and developing Brisbane's core muscles will help him support his chronically sore back.

I was rather surprised to find that people, though we walk on two legs, also engage the core muscles when we run properly. As part of our Couch-2-5K program,  I have been learning better running form. I found that I tend to look down and lean forward while. When I look toward the horizon and work on supporting myself with my core, I also take smaller and more controlled steps. This makes me move slower, but also conserves energy and makes running a lot easier and more enjoyable.

How are you and your dog getting your exercise this summer?

Couch to 5K

Brisbane and I started the Couch to 5K running program last week. For those unaware, this is a fitness training program designed to gently ease the most sedentary person into the world of exercise. The idea is to go from "running makes me feel like I'm going to die" to "I can run for 30 minutes straight without passing out" in 9 weeks. In theory.

I've always been a fairly active person, and to be honest I really like running. I'm just terrible at it. Really, really terrible. In my defense, I have a whole lot working against me.

My knees are genetically horrible in a way that wasn't fixed by surgery, so they balloon up if I run in sneakers on pavement like a normal person.

Last year my pulmonologist decided I don't actually have asthma after all, and instead I have something called "restrictive lung disease" that is probably related to my autoimmune issues. This means my lungs are operating at about 60% capacity.

I also have exercise-induced acid reflux, which is without a doubt the stupidest health problem ever. Instead of getting massive heartburn and reflux symptoms when I lay down, I get them when I move around. Sometimes it gets bad enough that I end up puking stomach acid. There are not enough antacids in the world to mitigate this, and none of the other meds I've tried have helped.

At the age of ten, Brisbane needs to stay active in order to remain as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. Light jogging on unpaved surfaces is really good for conditioning, but most surfaces tear up his feet. The paw pad issue is part of the reason he has gained so much weight, waiting for them to heal made for some very sedentary weeks.

The only surface that doesn't damage Brisbane's paws or offend my touchy knee cartilage is deep, dry sand. Coincidentally, this is also the most labor intensive running surface ever. Hence the Couch to 5K plan. Ideally we should be running three days a week for longer intervals each time.

Last week we did Week 1: Day 1, which consists of a five minute warm up walk and then alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking. This set off my reflux so bad I started to wonder if I was actually having a heart attack (I do have medical clearance to run around on the beach like a total dork in case anyone was wondering. Brisbane does, too.) Then we took a few days off for various reasons, and today we did...Week 1: Day 1 again. Briz seemed to enjoy it more this time. Ru ran circles around us and flitted across the sand like a little pixie because he has almost no bodyweight to move around. I am slightly less refluxy than I was last time, so I think we'll move up to Week 1: Day 2 for our next run.

I don't know if we'll ever run marathons, but I'm going to celebrate any sign of improvement because I have a lot I'm working against. We may not ne running 5K in nine weeks, but we'll definitely have made some progress by then.

What sort of activities do you do with your dog?

Brisbane Goes to HydroPaws

For Brisbane's tenth birthday, I booked him an appointment at HydroPaws Animal Rehabilitation and Performance Center. He didn't have any specific injury, but he has developed some hip arthritis in the last year and I want to keep him as flexible as possible. This was an initial consultation appointment, so the physical therapist spent most of the time evaluating Brisbane.

The first thing Karen the physical therapist did was assess Brisbane's range of motion. We did this mostly with treats to begin with, luring his nose around to the side to see how far he could stretch it towards his hip. Karen gently probed his muscles while watching for signs of discomfort.

Next we had Brisbane lay on a cushy pad on the floor so Karen could measure his flexibility. This was highly technical. There were tape measures. And protractors.

What we learned is that Brisbane's entire back end is very tense and sore in a way that indicates chronic lower back pain. Given that I've been pointing to a problem spot on his lower back since he was a puppy, I'm not at all surprised.

Knowing that Brisbane is always tense and ouchy is pretty sad, but I'm pleased to be able to do something about it. Karen showed me some stretches and exercises I can do with him.

Stretch 1 is to extend his knee while preventing him from rotating it outward. He likes to swing his hind legs out when he walks. Stretch 2 is to gently pull the base of his tail and then very slowly release the pressure. We're supposed to do these stretches five times each.

We're also going to do some exercises to help Brisbane engage his core muscles. This should help him better support his back. For now we're just working on balancing, I need to get him a FitPaws peanut for this part.