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The surgery was a success .... now we need to teach Rose how to use her leg again. After holding it up for a year or more, it has become a habit. And, of course, her muscles have atrophied from lack of use.

She is under doctor's orders not to run off leash for six weeks following the surgery. In addition to protecting the broken bone, this also forces her to use all four legs. When she runs, she picks up the reconstructed leg and uses her three strong ones. After doing some research, I decided that hydrotherapy looked like it was just the ticket to build Rose's muscles without putting a strain on her healing bone and also to retrain the pathways from her leg to her brain. Dr. Boulay gave me the green light to proceed. Unfortunately, I could not find any hydrotherapists in Tucson, but very fortunately did find Suzanne Hayes of Desert Haze Swim Therapy for Canines in Phoenix.

While the dog is moving in a warm pool, Suzanne uses massage techniques such as Trigger Point, Myofacial Release and Craniosacral Therapy to assist in re-training and relaxing muscles while increasing strength and range of motion.

We will have three hour-long sessions with Suzanne over three consecutive days and then will continue on our own.

Time for a break -- note how relaxed Rose is (joke)	You can see in this picture how little Rose is using the reconstructed leg. She is peddling with the others, but this one mostly floats
Day 2 -- even though she is tired, she is holding the leg under her body and occasionally kicking with it.
By Day 3 Rose has learned to relax and enjoy being held for a little rest and massage.

Suzanne with her Rottweiler, Emmy	Rose enjoys the garden on a break

There were three 15-20 minute swimming sessions with 15-minute breaks in between for Rose to rest.

Rose loves water, but was not at all eager to get into the pool. Suzanne stood in the pool and had me at Rose's head while she backed Rose in. She placed Rose's back feet on the first step and said "step" and gradually moved her down the steps, saying "step" each time until Rose was floating. When it was time for Rose to get out, Suzanne had me indicate the step by holding my hand above it in the water while saying "step." The first two times we took a break, Rose stood frozen on the steps and we had to physically lift her out, but by the last break, she had figured out the steps and how to get out.

Rose did use her leg a few times. Suzanne would point her away from me and then have me call her so that Rose would make a circle to head back towards me. Making the turn forced her to use the leg.

A kind lady who has been following Rose's story invited us to lunch when she heard we would be in Phoenix. She had a nice thick dog bed ready for Rose, who immediately stretched out and went to sleep for the entire hour we were eating and chatting. I had to wake her up for the trip home. She crawled into the car and went back to sleep. Back tomorrow for another session. Suzanne warned me that Rose will be sore and tomorrow will be the worst day, but by Sunday we should see progress.

Rose didn't seem particularly sore today, but when she got in the pool she definitely looked tired.

Suzanne says dogs have front-wheel drive, so it is easy for Rose to swim only using her front legs. To force her to use her hind end, Suzanne would push her back so that her hind end would sink, I would call her and Rose would have to use her hind legs to get her bottom up and swim to me. Rose doesn't have the strength in her hind end to do laps yet, so we will do a lot of pushbacks and circles until she gets more muscle.

Suzanne did a lot of muscle work on the healing leg and Rose said it hurt! As those long-unused pathways were pressed, she would shake her head in protest. But, after Suzanne worked on her for a while, the next time she let Rose go to swim to me, she was definitely kicking with that leg! (Maybe to get away from Suzanne more quickly.)

We have a lot of work to do to give Rose the confidence to use the leg fully. But, the encouraging sign is that Rose is willing to try to use it. She is kicking some and she does use the leg to walk. Suzanne has seen dogs who are still holding the leg up months after surgery.

Rose actually put one foot into the pool on her own at the start of the second set of this third session. We have been backing her in until now. It was a pretty steep step and she was unsure, so pulled back and we helped her in. I think in a couple of weeks she will be entering on her own. She must have mixed feelings about the water. She is still a little nervous, and it is hard work, but at the same time, she loves water and is able to stretch all of her limbs without pain or stress.

She did a lot of kicking today. Suzanne had me walk along the side of the pool while she and Rose swam beside me. I would then go back to the step and Rose would swim on her own back to me. She did several laps. You can tell she is exhausted. By the end of the third set, when Suzanne held her, she let her hind legs float and just moved her front feet enough to keep afloat. She is much more relaxed in the water and actually lay back in Suzanne's arms for a rest and massage.

Suzanne now wants me to let Rose rest all week and not try swimming with her until next weekend. Rose is definitely using her leg more when she walks and even when she trots, especially when she doesn't think about it.

Thank you, Suzanne, for getting us started.