I described Boycie in part one as ‘wonky’ and his feature as rescue dog of the month in a local events magazine testified to that when the column writer struggled to take his photo before Boycie started swaying and eventually toppled over.
Yes, even seated, he struggled to keep his balance.
One of the kennels’ support team at Raystede recalled how tricky it was to take a photo before he lost his balance.
Boycie also has a suspected head trauma on the left hand side, along with a Total Ear Canal Ablation (removal of entire ear canal) that was necessitated by a fungal infection that was left untreated for so long that, by the time he was picked up as a stray, it had destroyed the cartilage of his outer ear - thus his cauliflower ear.
This results in him circling to the left. When I took him home, he could still barely walk more than a few steps in a straight line. I would be constantly passing the leash from one hand to another around my back as he circled around me.
Even seated, he struggled to keep his balance.
Naturally, this pattern of movement resulted in uneven muscle tone and imbalance.
At the shelter, the kennels team had worked hard to overcome this with regular training exercises to encourage him to move over varied textures and surfaces in the direction he least favoured, but when you are one of dozens of dogs there’s only so much time for you.
It was up to me to follow up their work.
As I began my training with Natalie Lenton to become a Clinical Canine Massage therapist, learning about anatomy and physiology along with skills like gait analysis, things got easier.
I realised he was ‘crabbing’ ( the hind feet don’t follow the tracks made by the front feet).
And it also occurred to me that the reason he didn’t cock his leg to pee was likely to be physical rather than behavioural.
The therapeutic skills we learned with Natalie were introduced over a series of practical weekends, gradually increasing in difficulty.
When people learned that I was training to be a massage therapist for dogs, without exception they assumed Boycie was the happiest dog alive to be my ‘guinea pig’. However, he wasn’t very co-operative at all. Sometimes I was reduced to sneakily trying a technique after he’d fallen asleep on my lap, but he would wake up immediately, give me a dirty look, and remove himself.
I discovered that Boycie liked to have the full works: my bed; soothing music; bottles of relaxing essential oils open…only then I got to do my stuff.
The therapeutic skills we learned with Natalie were introduced over a series of practical weekends, gradually increasing in difficulty.
As months passed, I noticed that Boycie was crabbing less and rarely stumbled when running with his friends, even on his weak side.
And then the Lenton Method (subsequently studied by the University of Winchester and shown to result in significant reductions in reported pain) got to work on his hind legs.
A few days later I noticed the change when we were out on a walk. He sidled up to a spot he had just sniffed and cocked his leg.
And peed.
Without losing his balance.
I was lost for words. Which was a good job, as I might have uttered the immortal “What a beautiful cock!”
These days Boycie never loses his balance while he’s sitting. He only circles when he’s excited or stressed.
He’s more balanced and can turn right without hitting the deck. And he’s a fully peed-up member of the local lamp post club.
Ohhh so beautiful. I am always looking for an excuse to say "what a great cock" in my writing. 😃 They don't come up very often, if you know what I mean....
On a serious note though, what a beautiful story of the healing power of love and care. Through your healing of animals your own healing is being energised and invigorated. 💚
Glad I stumbled upon you here today through the Substack maze. Thanks Jo x
This is just gorgeous Val. So much love and care and grounded knowledge ❤️