The other weekend, Cookie got acquainted with the electric fence around the horse run. She was not impressed!
There are several runs at the horse farm. The horses stay in one or another based on the season. Most of the year, the horses are at the back of the property. The runs up front are empty, and the fences are off. Cookie could run in and out and brush on the wires freely with no consequence.
Logically, she learned to pay no attention to them.
Then, winter came
With the winter coming, horses got moved up front. Suddenly, the rules have unexpectedly changed and Cookie found out the hard way.
As much as I hated that happening to her, it was probably for the best. Cookie likes to chase anything that moves—that included the horses. A kick from the fence is better than a kick from a horse.
Sore leg
However, that night, her rear left leg was a bit sore.
It could, of course, have been from something else she did—Cookie is a crazy little girl on jet fuel. But we decided to pin it on the fence, as it seemed to make the most sense. She runs and jumps like crazy all the time.
We gave her massages and had her take it a bit easy for a couple of days.
Getting a rocket to slow down
Getting Cookie to take it easy is a double-edged sword, though. After a few days of leash walks only, she was so wound up, that she’d lose her mind even going to potty in the yard. Her and JD would start playing as if the Earth was going to end. Then they would bring the wild play into the house too.
If Cookie doesn’t get to burn her allotment of energy and puppiness, things get easily out of hand.
It is a fine line between resting the leg and having Cookie make up for it. We did do more training and played more calm games, but that clearly was not enough. The little girl needs to run. There is no way around it.
Seeing a chiropractor
Back when she was so very lame because of the porcupine quill in her foot, I was wondering whether we could also get Jasmine’s chiropractor to check her out, just in case.
Trying not to go overboard with care, we left it be. Now, though, we felt it might be a good idea to have her checked out to find out what actually happened and whether or not something might be out of alignment.
Surely enough, her pelvis did need adjusting.
There is no telling whether it was because of the fence, because of the previous lameness, or because of something else together. But we’re glad we did that. Who wants to walk around with their pelvis out of proper position?
Too hard on herself
The chiropractor also determined that her right iliopsoas are sore, as well as there were some sore muscles on her shoulders. Yeah … that again. And those are so hard to do much about …
Everything else seems fine and apart from the adjustment, we were told to ice the area for a few days. We do also massage it. Cookie loves the massages, the cold compresses not so much.
Cookie is young and tough, so we’re hoping this will heal quickly.
Considering her escapades, we probably need to consider having the chiropractor check her out from time to time. Better to take care of problems while they’re small.
Just like Jasmine, Cookie thought that having her own visitor was great, but what was up with all the manhandling? She did well, though, only looked back when a sore spot was found, that’s how I could tell those places hurt.
Related articles:
Don’t Knock It Until You Tried It: Animal Chiropractic
Further reading:
When to See a Dog Chiropractor and What They Can Do
Dog Chiropractic Basics