Thank you for your advice. How long does our walking takes? His back right leg is very light as a feather, before MRI had 37 kg, now has 40. He looks normal, not fat. I try get acupunture and laser, but I'm not sure if it helps at this moment.
Initially we rested Snowie a lot. I don't recall exactly how long his walks were then, but over the past six months we have built up his walks, also as I have got fitter! - Morning walk: start on a very steep uphill (I live in a steep area) onto a mountain contour path. The whole walk lasts about 45 mins to 1 hour. In that time, Snowie is on leash for about 15 minutes and off leash the rest of the time. Off leash he is free to walk or run as he wishes. Of late he has been racing up the steep mountain hills off leash to greet other dogs. This is new -- 6 months ago he did not do this, no doubt too painful. - Midday - park visit. Not much walking or running, just opportunity to walk around the park, sniff, mark, kick dirt. Depends on which dogs are there, sometimes he runs around. Visit lasts about 15-30 minutes. - Evening walk: mostly flat along a contour path with some up and down, and two steep areas with steps. The walk lasts about 45 minutes (if I run some of it) to 1 hour (if I walk all of it). It's about 3 km return trip. Snowie is off leash and he usually trots along most of the time, stopping to sniff whenever he wants. He doesn't run wildly on this trail. - Weekends - Saturday and Sunday: We do a more strenuous walk on mountain trails, and sometimes if it is very strenuous we only do one walk the entire day, Snowie sleeps the rest. Walks can last 1.5-2 hours and Snowie races around a LOT because there are usually lots of dogs around. Sometimes during the week I take him on other walks, one in particular where is runs non-stop on the grass for about 30 minutes because he's so excited to be there. Thankfully in the last few months we have seen no problems at all. In the beginning, sometimes we overdid it and Snowie would show pain, and then we'd go back to more rest and less exercise. I am hoping that in summer (we are currently in winter) that we can go back to the beach, but I am worried we will undo all his body's work at stabilising his spine. I will speak to the vet and ask about this. One thing I didn't mention is that we have put Snowie on a low dose of prednisone -- 1.25mg every day. He is very allergic and itchy and he was twisting his back to lick and scratch. With the prednisone he is not so itchy and not twisting to scratch, and our vet believes this is helpful to his back. Also prednisone is anti-inflammatory so his back is probably feeling better. We were concerned about having him on cortisone every day but our vet said that if it is making Snowie happy, then she prefers him to be on it, and that the low dose should not cause any side effects (I hope so!!!!). I had mentioned that we'd given him a Bravecto for ticks and that his itching had reduced dramatically. However, he had two seizures within 6 weeks of getting the Bravector, and from what I've read about Bravecto, I will never give it to him again. The acupuncture and laser therapy happened first 2 weeks apart, then 5 weeks apart, over a 5 month period.
You live in beutiful country, I live in a small village near main town, we walks morning only for 30 minutes, because he is stiffy and this episode with tremor is always in the morning and when we meet some friends with dogs. He walks on leash only 5-10 minutes, then he does what he wants. He doesn't run... Afternoon he is better, that we go on places with lake. Water would have 20 degrees up. During the day he helps me in the garden...., stel corn etc.
Yeah, we also started off with short walks in the mornings, only 30 minutes probably. It is only of late that I've actually doubled the distance, although the time is not double because I've been pushing myself to walk faster (trying to get fitter and get in shape). I really hope you see some improvement. It is very distressing watching your dog in pain and particularly a pinched nerve in the spine -- the spinal cord is everything. Our vet said that probably Snowie's quivering legs will remain that way, that it is because of the bulging disc and probably won't change. We just hope he won't get worse. To see him run around, all muscley and full of joie de vivre, you would never know he has a bulging disc. Or is epileptic. Or has allergies. He looks the picture of health and happiness.
