Emily's Journey

Emily is a beautiful 6 year old Great Dane. She was a happy healthy dog, that never showed any signs of anything being wrong. One day Emily's Pawrents came home and she was just not moving right. At first the vet thought she had somehow hurt herself romping through her house. Unfortunately it appears to be a neurological problem.  It seems to be a mystery at this time as to exactly what Emily is dealing with.

Emily is progressively getting worse. She is losing feeling in her back legs, at times she does not know where they are, or how to control them. She has started to drag her paws, causing damage to her toes. Her muscles wastage is a problem, especially for a dog a large as Emily. She weighs 168lbs. and is very very tall.

Our plan is to strengthen her core so she is better able to balance herself, and to increase her stamina and cardio health. The best case scenario will be Emily will be able to transfer her full range of movement from the pool to land. Emily moves beautifully in the water, using her back legs flawlessly.

Emily has just finished her three day orientation swim. After two days of swimming her Pawrents were so happy to report they have noticed an improvement in Emily already. Apparently when eating Emily did not have the strength to stand up for her entire meal. She would eat about 1/4 of her meal standing up, she would finish the rest lying down. After her second swim, that evening she stood for her entire meal And  she drank her water still standing, then she walked to her bed to lie down.

                                                 Good Girl Emily!!

It is so incredibly rewarding to see how quickly dogs are able to start to improve.

We are so happy Emily is improving. She will be back in the pool in a couple of days to continue her journey.