The Spiritual Circle

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

BlackLabbie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:41:51 GMT

JackieG:

Kids love tricks and they usually love showing off the tricks they taught the dog. Apollo will enjoy it too.

That's what my brother LOVES to do; show him off. Show how hard he runs and how high he'll jump for the ball *sigh*....I'm going to show my brother how to use the c/t. Apollo knows a lot of tricks (roll over, crawl, high five,etc) so hopefully my brother will like showing him off that way.

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

JackieG — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:38:27 GMT

I'm glad the Vet didn't think it was serious and I hope he's better soon. I think Callie's idea of having your little brother teach him some tricks is a great idea. Once Apollo is better, of course. Kids love tricks and they usually love showing off the tricks they taught the dog. Apollo will enjoy it too. Give the big sweetie some scritches for me. :)

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

BlackLabbie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:45:33 GMT

tacran:

One time her boyfriend threw a ball to him so long that his paw pads were starting to bleed!

Oh, that's happend to Apollo before, too. The first or second time we took Apollo hiking off leash in the woods he was doing zoomies basically the entire time. When we were leaving we started to notice little spots of blood- it was all 4 paws on his feet AND that little nub of skin dog have above their paw!! His pads were wrapped up after that until he healed. He does not know his limits at all. But, we know them now.

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

tacran — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:12:49 GMT

I'm late seeing this, but am glad to hear that the vet didn't think Apollo suffered a serious injury. Not that you need an excuse to spoil him, but you can shower him with extra TLC & massages to help him feel better (along with all the excellent info Callie offered). Poor Apollo -- he just couldn't help himself with the boys and the chuck-it! Give him some gentle pats from me!

I once heard a woman say that she had a very active dog (Border Collie, I think?) that would play fetch until he dropped dead if you didn't halt the game. One time her boyfriend threw a ball to him so long that his paw pads were starting to bleed! It's one thing for very young boys not to understand what could happen, but this guy must have been clueless!

Hang in there, Apollo!

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

calliecritturs — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:30:07 GMT

Being proactive is wise - truly is, and going to the vet was a good thing. It's not just the risk of injury to a leg or hip or something, but simply over-exertion of the heart isn't smart either. Dogs just don't know when to stop -- and man, when they're getting extra attention it's a big deal to them.

Maybe you could get your brother interested in something different -- like a little bit of tracking, or teaching him tricks. Something a wee bit less athletic to take the edge off??

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

dyan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:04:26 GMT

I'm glad that Apollo went to the vet.....makes you feel just a little better.
GET STRONG APOLLO!!!!

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

BlackLabbie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:44:14 GMT

Ok, DH brought Apollo to the vet today while I was working and he just got in to tell me the full details because all I saw was the paperwork on the counter. The vet doesn't think it was anything serious because is walking on it without a limp and he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary. So, Apollo is on STRICT rest for the next week only walking around for potty breaks (and those are on a leash).

I just get so worried because Apollo is so big. He plays so rough I feel like he can seriously injure himself easily. But, one thing, he doesn't hide when he's hurt or something is bothering him (like the ear infection, the vet also checked that out. We got a bottle of Virbac Epi-Otic and drops).

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

gradyupmybutt — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:07:33 GMT

Awww, feel better vibes from me & the pack for Apollo. Also please give him some ear rubbies from me as well.

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

BlackLabbie — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:40:30 GMT

Callie, thank you so much. I took the advice earlier from "Gracie is BROKEN" thread because they sounded like similar injuries.

Thanks everyone else for the good vibes!!!!

He's still sore today, so we'll see tomorrow. I just get so worried about injuries, partially because he's so big and we have a lot of stairs in our home.

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

Infiniti — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:26:17 GMT

Poor Apollo, I hope a little R&R fixes him right up!

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

cakana — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:03:16 GMT

Awwww, poor Apollo. I hope a day or two of rest does the trick. I know what it's like to overdo it myself. Feel better Apollo.

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

CoBuHe — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:52:45 GMT

Poor Apollo. He is a Chuckit machine, isn't he. I'm so sorry he is aching. Love all of Callie's advice to help him feel better. Many healing vibes coming his way right now!

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

denise m — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:30:49 GMT

Hopefully a good rest today will do the trick. Good vibes coming Apollo's way!!!!!

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

calliecritturs — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:24:41 GMT

Honestly, this should be an excellent opportunity for real learning for your brother. It's a very important thing for a young person to learn that THEY are the responsible party. That a dog **WILL DO** whatever asked to please their humans -- particularly play buddy type humans.

Ask him what might have happened if he'd thrown the ball and it went beyond where he intended and if Apollo had jumped somewhere off the edge of something or had gone into a street and had gotten badly hurt. Is Apollo supposed to know where to stop short? No, it's up to your brother to only throw the ball where it's safe for Apollo to get it.

Handled right, this is a valuable life lesson for your brother. I wouldn't hesitate to make him fully aware of how terribly sore Apollo is **today**. Your brother is getting to an age where judgement is a big fat hairy deal ... and being the one of the group to evaluate an activity and say "You know what ... maybe that's not a good thing to do" is a big sign of maturity.

Those kinds of mature decisions start with learning things like this.

On a practical note -- can you get some chammomile tea? Brew a couple of cups (use 2-3 tea bags to 2 cups of boiling water) strong. But then don't throw away the herbs -- open the bags and dump them in and add the tea and herbs to his dinner (and maybe mix up a couple of snacks with a lot of tea and a little bit of kibble and something yummy like yogurt or peanut butter).

That will help begin to rehydrate him and it will soothe the ache.

You'll also want to massage Apollo -- it you have a Whole Foods near you and can get hold of even some peppermint or wintergreen essential oil that will help a lot with massaging the ache away. But if all you've got is a grocery store or Wal-Mart, pick up some "green alcohol" where the rubbing alcohol is. That has wintergreen IN it and it will help work out some of the kinks. A general all-over massage will likely help do Apollo a world of good.

If you can get to a Whole Foods or a health store open on Sunday that carries Heel products, get Traumeel tablets. Give her one every 3-4 hours (it's a homeopathic and it **rocks** for trauma like this and will go a long way to healing it IF it is simply something small).

As I also mentioned in the "Gracie is broken" post:

Aspirin - you can give aspirin to dogs but be careful -- it's HARD on the stomach and can cause stomach bleeding. 5-16 mg/lb orally (that's aspirin, Ascriptin, Bufferin).

I assume you know but I'm gonna say here because it's a post about "first aid" -- NO acetaminaphen (Tylenol type products) **EVER**. It's a serious poison to a dog and even one regular Tylenol can *kill* a small dog because it damages the kidneys hard, fast and fatally. (Like I said, I know you probably know this but any time we talk about pain, we humans have gotten so hard-wired to reach for Tylenol/acetaminaphen and we don't realize how very different it is from aspirin and dog's just can't take Tylenol at all for any reason.)

Re: Healing vibes for Apollo, please

BlackLabbie — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:34:52 GMT

JackieG:

Kids and dogs totally don't get that. lol

They really don't! He kept saying, "Well, he kept bringing the ball back! If he wanted to rest he should've just layed down.". It's tough to explain "overly excieted" and "overly exercised" to an 11 year old I guess! Especially with a group of kids ages 9-11 all playing with Apollo.