Merlin update

M

M.F.

He is adorable. I, too, have an old car (13-year-old Hyundai Getz)—also prefer to have the money so that I don’t have to think twice about treatment for Snowie. He’s having a physio assessment (first time, very expensive!) for his back next week. I totally understand how distressed you feel when you see him limping. Just awful worrying they’re in pain. But sounds like Merlin’s life is packed full with interesting activities. Probably far more than most other dogs.
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Well, a bit of good news for a change - I was giving my weekly dummy training class yesterday evening, and since there were only four dogs OH brought Merlin along for the last half hour. He was so good, waiting patiently with the other dogs and watching them work. We let him do one marked and one blind retrieve, and then he joined in with the other dogs on a 'searching' exercise, whereby I hid fifteen dummies strewn all around one part of the wood, and ten dummies hidden in leaves and among logs right close by. The five dogs stood in line, and one by one were sent to search for a dummy, either for the wide-ranging search on one side of the path, or for the close search on the other, so each dog retrieved five dummies in total. He did really well, and loved it. Best news of all - no limping this morning! I think this is going to be the way to go - carefully monitoring what exercise is good for him, and how much he can do without it impacting him. Also, one of my trainer colleagues is running a course especially for dogs who for a variety of reasons do not do dummy work - this is a combination of low-level agility, obedience, doggy dancing, balance, and herding exercises, which I think will all be interesting and fun for Merlin, and which will fit in exactly with what the physiotherapist recommends for him. Feeling very positive today :nod: (hope I don't jinx things!).
 
HAH

HAH

Moderator
Location
Devon, UK
That's such a promising bit of news @MellowYellow, it sounds like you're finding a good way forward for lovely Merlin. Glad you're feeling positive today - that's as a result of some solid thinking and planning on your part so jinxes don't come into it :happy:
 
Beanwood

Beanwood

Administrator
Really good news! Sounds like you have found a very interesting trainer who could be perfect for Merlin moving forward. If Merlin enjoys scent work, is this something you have considered, more formal scentwork that is?
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

Beanwood said:
Really good news! Sounds like you have found a very interesting trainer who could be perfect for Merlin moving forward. If Merlin enjoys scent work, is this something you have considered, more formal scentwork that is?
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I've considered doing the hunting exam with him next year, which is largely based on scent work, with retrieving of cold game. But that is a good idea, and I will talk to the trainer about whether we could maybe integrate some scent work into the course :)
 
MellowYellow

MellowYellow

The trainer was ill and cancelled last Thursday, so today was our first training session in the 'Fit for Fun' class... It was great! Very different to dummy training, and I hope perfect for Merlin. We started out with hand touches, and walking on the right-hand side, and started doing weaves in between the legs, while walking... Merly was very concentrated and caught on fast. It's completely different to dummy training, and obviously quite tiring mentally for the young dogs just starting out (there were only two of them there, Merlin and a young golden retriever); I'm looking forward to our next session :happy:. So pleased to have found something interesting that we can do together, in addition to some low-level dummy training. :clap:

He did make me laugh though - at one point he clearly thought that bouncing around like a loon was going to get him a piece of cheese faster than concentrating on what I actually wanted him to do... :rofl: but on the whole I thought he did very well indeed, and we both enjoyed it. The movements (slower than charging around after a dummy, creating more body awareness, and lots of balance / weaving sort of movements) are also just what the physiotherapist has been encouraging, so that is also very positive.
 
snowbunny

snowbunny

Location
Andorra and Spain
That sounds wonderful! I’m doing more and more proprioception with my lot recently. They enjoy it, it’s fun to train and it can only be good for them to have more awareness of all their corners!
I think it must be a real benefit to dogs as they age, too. I can say from personal experience that balance is very much a learned skill, so building that in our dogs will set them up to minimise risks of injury going forwards.
 
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