Physical therapy for my Golden Retriever

Before we went on vacation in the end of June, Link had an appointment with the physical therapist at work. She analyzed how he walked and moved, how he reacted to pressure on different parts of the back and bent and stretched legs and neck. She found that even though he had very symmetrical muscles (which made me really happy, since that means I've been doing a good job when it comes to the rehabilitation after the surgery. Read more about that here), he is a bit stiff in the back behind the ribs.

So when I came back from the vacation, Link was put on an anti-inflammatory/analgesic drug and he got an appointment to her three weeks ago. During the first session she also found that he was really stiff in the neck and has a slight problem balancing his hind body when leaning forward. She showed us some exercises that we were supposed to do daily until his next appointment one week later.

I decided to use the clicker as a marker to tell Link when he did the right thing, but I didn't technically use proper clicker training as I lured Link into position with a treat (but which he of course didn't get until I clicked). The advantage of using a clicker instead of my voice is that it is much more precise. In addition, Link knows when I start clicking that he get rewarded for trying things, so teaching him the basics in how to stretch was done in less than 10 clicks.

After Link's second session with the physical therapist, she told us that he was better and that the next time I should be with them during the massage so that I can learn how to do it myself at home. 

We have now kept on doing the exercises for another week and a half, and hopefully next week we will get an appointment with her again. Looking forward to learning something new!

 Below are some pictures from the first day we trained how to stretch. The pictures are in really poor quality because they are snapshots of videos, but at least you get an idea of what we are doing.

The rolled up yoga mat is there to give Link a barrier that he should keep his hind paws behind while leaning forward. He is supposed to have his head and back in a straight line, so this isn't perfect, but at least you can see what we are trying to do. 

Streching the neck forward/down.

Stretching the neck upward/back.

Stretching the neck to the left and to the right.