For the Love of Sylke

Since I have already blogged about Sylke's back problem and subsequent recovery, I thought I should now put down how this marvelous dog first came in to my life. So here it begins......

I met Sylke almost 5 years ago. And I'm so glad I did meet this wonderful girl.

Five years ago, I saw a dog listed in the local paper that was at our local shelter. It was a beautiful black Lab mix - a big boy. After much debate, I decided to go see him and hopefully rescue him and bring him home. But when I got to the pound, he was being walked out of the shelter by his new owner. Disappointed, I decided to just look at the other dogs since I was already there.

There were lots of dogs, pretty dogs, many picked up as strays. And in the very back in a run with a little German Shepherd puppy was this very homely black Lab mix who looked like she had recently had pups. The fellow at the shelter said she had been picked up as a stray and they had put the puppy with her as she still had milk and they thought the pup would make her feel more comfortable. They estimated her age to be about 4 years old. This poor gal was nothing but skin and bones and looked like a giraffe because she was so thin, her neck looked too long for her body. She had white tips on her toes and a little cute white 'bow tie' on her chest as if she were dressed up! I petted her and she was a happy girl but I left the shelter alone.

But all that night, the image of that skinny, pathetic looking dog kept popping into my head. I thought, out of all the nice looking dogs in that shelter, that poor black dog was going to be the last dog adopted and was most likely destined to be put down.

So the next day on my lunch hour I headed back to the shelter to give the black dog another look. The shelter folks let me put her on a leash and take her outside for a walk. She literally pranced with happiness to be outside in the cold sunny winter air. She has a delightful girl and that was all it took. I knew this pathetic piece of canine was going home with me. I had to wait for three days to get her as the shelter veterinarian had to come give her a rabies vaccination and I had to arrange for her spay surgery and provide proof of a prepaid surgery. But the shelter man told me I could come visit her anytime I wanted. So for the next couple days I made the trip across town with treats to visit my new girl, walk her and get to know her. And on the third day, when everything was settled I left work early to go pick up my new girl. She fairly pranced to the car, hopped into the front passenger seat and plopped down as if to say "Let's get going!"

Bringing her home could be dicey as I had other dogs at home, a 14 year old ailing black Lab/Beagle mix named Peggy and a young bouncy black Lab named Ava. I knew it was crucial to introduce them gently to avoid conflicts and disagreements. So I brought the new girl home and tied her to a tree outside while I intended to go get the other dogs one at a time to do introductions. But when I went back out for Ava to meet her new sister - the black dog was gone - so thin she had slipped her collar - and she was GONE!!!

I panicked!! This was a dog that knew no name with me as her owner. She did not know the area or my house as her home. I called and called and there was no sign of her. I got in my car and drove round and round the neighborhood looking for her, for over 30 minutes. I was so afraid she would get on to the major road near my house and get struck by a car or, worse yet, be picked up by the pound again. I came home in tears, feeling a total failure and horribly sad. As I neared my house I saw the most amazing thing. There standing in the front yard was the black dog - waiting patiently. And when I got out of the car she ran right to me as if to say "Hey!! Why did you take off without me? I was just checking out my new neighborhood" We then proceeded with introductions with the other dogs, which went amazingly well and went into the house all. Her return to the her new home was just a glimmer of the intelligence that this scrawny canine possessed and a mere incling of the bond that would develop between she and I.

Once inside the black dog proceeded to run in my bedroom and jump up on my bed with the other dogs and flop down as if she had lived here for years. She wagged her tail and rolled around and was totally at ease.

The next day I went to work, leaving the new dog in a crate for her protection, and the safety of my other dogs and cats. I wanted to be sure everyone would get along well before I left her out with the other animals in my absence. And I wasn't sure of her 'manners' in the house though the night before she had asked to go outside when she needed to potty.

Imagine my dismay when I came home on my lunch hour and found she had literally worried her muzzle raw in attempts to get out of the wire crate and had actually bent the door back in her efforts. For fear she would severely injure herself trying to get out of the crate, I decided to discard the crate and shut her in my bedroom. From then on everything went well and soon she was out in the 'general population' every day while I was away with no problem.

All being said, her transition into her new home went smoothly, but that did not mean she did not have some issues. For one she had a major dominance issue - and would attempt to bully me and the other dogs when she wanted something. Also she was seriously food aggressive - the first time I petted her when she was eating she tried to bite me. I suppose being starved and having to scavenge for food had led her to guard resources. So, to establish myself as her master and break her of thinking she was mine, we began training. She already knew how to sit, so when it came to mealtime - she had to sit in front of me and wait. She had to look at me upon command and she learned to take each bite directly from my hand, at my command. If she demonstrated any aggressive behavior her dinner 'went away'. In short order she learned that I was head of the pack and would eat happily from her bowl with her sisters with no further disagreement.

The next thing I had to tackle was a name. Being of German extraction myself and since my other Lab had a German name, Ava I decided to select a German name for my new girl. I went online and searched names and after much debate found a name that suited her proud demeanor. That name was Sylke - pronounced Zil-ka. She learned her new name quickly. She went through her spay surgery with ease shortly after I got her and we settled into a routine.

Sylke loved to run around outside but her recall was deplorable. If I let her off leash she was gone, flying away in leaps and bounds like a deer carrying her tail curved high over her back. She always returned but gave me worry none the less. So I fixed a 100 foot lead that she could run around on. Her rope was never far from me and if she got too close to the property line I could easily put my foot on the lead and correct her straying. This allowed her to run with the other dogs who were trained to their yard and play without hindrance. This is how I trained my other dogs to stay within the boundaries of our property. And being the highly intelligent dog, caught on very quickly. She and Ava would have rousing games of tug of war with toys out in the yard and roll in the snow and wear themselves out with good doggie games. But I noticed something about Sylke and that was that she was always on guard. When we were outside Sylke would patrol the perimeter of our yard - tail and head held high, sniffing and watching, keeping an eye on her yard, her sisters and me. I would learn later her value as a guard dog; living alone it gave me quite a bit of comfort to know she was apparently a good watch dog.

Spring came and with it an opportunity for me to foster another Lab mix until he could find a good home. He was a huge black Lab/Boxer cross named Rocky who was pulled from a pound on the day he was to be euthanized. He was about 65 pounds of pure bouncy, nine month old puppy muscle and about as thick headed as they come which explains why he probably was dropped off at the pound. As with many puppies, he had outgrown his puppy cuteness, his owners had not taken the time to train Rocky and he was a strong, unruly mess. When I brought him home, I left him outside and brought the girls out one at time to meet him. When it came Sylke's turn, he made a bouncing leap at her and she chomped him soundly on the nose. From then on, until Rocky left for his new forever home, whenever he became too rambuncious, Sylke would discipline him, grabbing his scruff and putting him down on the ground till he simmered down. She never hurt him, but she helped immensely in teaching him proper canine manners. It was interesting to see as Rocky was bigger and stronger than Sylke, even though she had gained considerable weight since her arrival, but he bowed readily to her will.

Obviously at some point in Sylke's life, someone had worked with her. She walked on a leash like a champ, strolling next to me on our long walks every day. She could sit and 'shake' her paw. She was incredibly intelligent - more so than any of my other dogs. And it came apparent to me that she felt she had picked me as her owner. But as good as she was, there was still an aloofness about her. She didn't like to cuddle and never, ever gave me a loving lick on my hand or face as my other dogs did.

One evening I wasn't feeling well and was relaxing in bed, the dogs piled around me as they always did. Suddenly Sylke got up, slid up beside me and pushed her head under my arm. And we had an amazing cuddle session - it was if she knew I did not feel well and she was comforting me. Another time, shortly after that, I was in the kitchen getting them a treat and she bounced up to me and licked my hand. I never knew how touching a lick on the hand could be and I gave her huge hugs for that simple act of affection. It brought tears to my eyes.

She is Whole

Sylke is totally well now. I do watch her closely as far as jumping up and down and getting in and out of the car. But she bounds around as she did prior to her injury. She has a favorite trick when she is outside. She wanders way down in the backyard and when I call her to come she ignores me. I can see her watching me out of the corner of her eye. I will go to get her and when I get almost to her she will bound at me and the chase begins. We both run as fast as we can back to the house. I can see the glee in her face thinking she has tricked me as she fairly flies along, bounding with pure joy.

One would never know this dog was once paralyzed in the rear. She is totally whole once again - and I love her very much!!

Triumph for Sylke

It has been just over a year since Sylke hurt her back and suffered paralysis.

I just have to say - Sylke has triumphed over her injury. She has now recovered well enough to resume her long walks of 1.5 miles. She was having problems with her left right foot dragging some when she got tire - not anymore. She walks along very well - she even trots.

Sylke is one exceptional dog - a true fighter and I'm so proud of her and so happy to have this wonderful, intelligent, spiritied gal in my life!!

The Healing Power of Touch

Sylke's experience with paralysis has taught me many things. One of the most important is that the power of touch can be extremely therapeutic, in body, mind and heart. Through her experience, Sylke has become the dog I knew she could be. Her heart finally opened completely and she became the sweet loving dog I knew she could be. She needed me for her basic needs and to tend to her needs I had to touch her a lot. She needed me and learned people could be totally trusted and relied on and I learned a lot about the nature and heart of the dog.

But it also taught me how physically therapeutic touch can be. I firmly believed had I not massaged and worked Sylke's body regularly, she would not have experienced the recovery she did. I educated myself on massage and accupressure, but also followed my instincts on how to apply both to Sylke's body. I now use both on all the dogs. It relaxes them immensely and they have learned in a very peaceful, relaxed state of mind it is good for me to touch every part of their body. It has even helped Trinka, who was so nervous about being handled, to realize being handled is a good thing.

When I massage Sylke I start at her head. I massage her temples with my fingers, rubbing the top of her head at the same time with the heel of my hand. I lightly ciricle my fingers over her eyes, which she particularly relishes and then run my fingers down her muzzle, massaging as I go. I massage the base of the ears, such as I would if I instilled medicine in her ears. I now have no problem instilling drops in any of the dogs ears because they find the massaging so pleasurable. I use not only my fingers but my whole hand when I massage. I use my touch to feel the muscles underneath - the larger muscles I gently press with my whole hand, following the contour of the muscle. I use my fingers to press gently and massage the depressions of the muscular structures. Accupressure taught me this. I work down each leg, gently pulling each leg from the foot while grasping the entire leg with my other hand and massaging the muscles down towards the foot. With each foot, I apply accupressue between the toes, massaging in a circular pattern with my fingers, spreading the paw. There is a depression behind the main pad of the paw that is particularly pleasurable for the dog to have massaged in a gentle, but firm circular pattern. Massaging the legs and paws has been a great help too when it comes to cutting toenails; the girls are so accustomed to being handled all over while they are totally relaxed.

Along the back I run my fingertips down the back on either side of the spine, being careful not to put direct pressure on the spine column. I place my fingertips on either side of the spine and pressing gently draw my fingers down over their sides, I follow this with my whole hand down the sides.

The back legs are interesting because there are such big defined muscles. I use the heel of my hand on the large muscles following the contour of the muscle and gently massage in all the depressions between the muscles with my fingers. When I massage the rear legs in particular I use one hand to gently pull the leg forward and slowly back in a gentle range of motion exercise. This gently stretches and flexes the muscles while I massage, again massaging all the way to the toes and between them. I learned reading about accupressure that massaging the depression between the toes and the main pad on the hind legs stimulates the nerves in the lower spine; I used this massage a lot on Sylke during her recovery.

I even massage the tail, wrapping my hand around it and squeezing gently and running my hand from the base to the tip. And I do not neglect the tummy. While dogs can be pretty ticklish on the tummy and under the rear leg, when they lie on their back, I put both hands open and flat on either side of their tummy and very gently massage the soft belly, I would like to think it helps stimulate their internal organs. I then run my hands to their inner legs and massage up the muscles on the inside of the leg, while gently pulling the leg up with one hand.

I will tell you, massage like this instills trust in you with your dog. It teaches them to allow you to handle them anywhere on their body. It so totally relaxes them because it feels so good. While Sylke was on steroids during her recovery, I firmly believe had I not employed touch in the forms of massage and accupressure I don't think she would have had such a remarkable recovery. I firmly believe working her body in this manner relaxed her to allow healing as well as stimulated injured nerves to encourage their healing. And it also helped Sylke to finally completely open her heart to me and become my totally trusting loving friend that she is today.

Sylke's New Year

It has been bitterly cold here for quite some time. The cold is really hard on Sylke and causes her some weakness in her rear end. But it doesn't stop her from enjoying the snow. After a fresh snow she is first to barrel through the snow and she absolutely LOVES to roll in the snow. She's a very smart girl, she seems to know when the cold is getting the best of her and she asks to go in. She doesn't stay out too long, but then neither do I.

She is still the same smart aleck dog she was before her injury - she loves to wrestle, but she also loves to snuggle with me!

Winter woes

It seems that the cold weather doesn't agree with Sylke's residual neuropathy. If she is out too long, she appears to lose some control of her hindquarters and it causes her discomfort. It causes her to lose some control of her hindquarters and causes her to limp. My poor girl.

Walking in Snow

Well, we had some snow yesterday. While Sylke loves the snow and wants to run around in it, it demonstrated her residual weakness in the hindquarters. She has trouble navigating in the crusty snow so she is back to using the sling when she goes for walks out in the yard. I don't want her slipping sidewalks and reinjuring her spine. BUT - last night when the snow was soft and fluffy, she got the zoomies something awful, and butt tucked in little circles, picked up sticks and tossed them in the air and pounced on them. She was like a puppy enjoying her first snowfall ever. It was wonderful to see.