Not necessarily work related, but following on from my post in the summer, saying goodbye to our old dog Jinny, I thought it only right to introduce our new puppy!

We picked up our new puppy on Saturday. She’s a 9 weeks old black lab named Bex. She’s settling in very well – you couldn’t ask for a better puppy during the day! She plays with the kids, she’s very quiet and thoughtful and enjoys all the toys we’ve bought her – especially the chicken foot that is almost as big as her head!

Night times are a bit of a different story – we are only 2 nights in but I think she may be nocturnal!! If only she could replicate her day time sleepiness at night!

So, apologies now for the puppy spam that I’m probably going to be sharing over the next few months! My new mascot has arrived 🤣

I first met Brodie almost exactly a year ago. Lesley was recommended to bring her to me by her hydrotherapist. In March 2012, Brodie suffered a ruptured disc, which caused paralysis in her right hind. 3 years later she had a further injury which caused weakness in her left hind. Up to this point Brodie had been treated and managed using hydrotherapy and tramadol.

Following a course of treatment, Brodie started to build some strength. I think one of our most exciting moments in her journey was when she could swim in both directions for the first time!!

We are never going to be able to make Brodie ‘better’. The aim of treatments is to keep her comfortable and strong enough to manage day to day.

So, 1 year on – Brodie is able to walk without staggering, dragging her toes or knuckling over. She can push herself up from laying or sitting and can step over door thresholds without banging her feet. She is a happy dog who always comes out to greet me at the gate with a toy. We now have her on a maintenance programme of full McTimoney treatment and back/hind limb laser once every 6 weeks.

Brodie is such a lovely girl, I feel very honoured to be part of her journey 🙂

So, yesterday we had to say goodbye to Jinny. Jinny was my first dog – as I kid I badgered my parents for lots of things (mostly animals!), sometimes they relented (hamster/gerbil/HORSE!) and other times they didn’t. I can remember my dad telling me it wouldn’t be fair for us to get a dog – we lived in Leeds and both my parents worked full time – I thought he was so mean but looking back now he was totally right, we didn’t have the time or resources to give a dog what it would need.

Jinny was supposed to be my sheepdog when I worked on the farm. Let’s be frank – Jin was possibly the worst sheepdog ever! She had little to no interest in working 🤣 but she was great company to have on the farm. Here’s a picture of her back in her youthful farming days.

Jinny didn’t have the greatest sense of self preservation. Accident prone is probably an understatement – when she was still a puppy, she ate pig food and gave herself copper poisoning (although until we got her tested at the vets we thought it was rat poison!), she sustained a number of injuries at the farm from getting caught on fences and in gates, she ran head first into a moving land rover, she tried to catch a round bale of hay as it was rolled off the truck 🙄 we had at least 1 major trip to the vets each year! And even at home she would manage to injure herself – usually football (breaking her tooth) or stick (impaling her mouth) related!

Jinny has been through so many life moments with us – a wedding, 2 children, 2 house moves, retraining and a career change for me. When I fell pregnant with Oliver, lots of people were worried – apparently collies are snappy and not good around children. But what Jinny lacked in sheep herding skills she certainly made up for in child herding skills. She has always taken child care very seriously – often worrying about them more than me! When Ellena came along it was like they had both found their soul mates! Ellena loves Jinny so much and Jinny would literally let Ellena do anything – their cuddles are something to behold!

Jinny was first diagnosed with arthritis in her back legs just before we finished at the farm – when she was about 8. Then, a couple of years later I noticed that after long walks or lots of football she would get inflammation and swelling in her left carpal joint. In 2018 she really started to slow down and a check at the vets confirmed my suspicions that Jin also had arthritis/degeneration in her spine. She coped very well for a long time – a combination of treatments (massage, mctimoney and laser) and management kept her sound and happy. However this year we also started to notice further changes – the vet suspects cognitive dysfunction and we were also unable to keep on top of her pain, even after the vets added rimdyl to her treatment plan. Over the last few weeks her cognitive dysfunction has accelerated to the point where day to day activities/events/noises were causing her a great deal of anxiety. We had to take the decision that it wasn’t fair to keep asking her to deal with the level of pain and anxiety she was enduring each day.

There are so many emotions associated with saying goodbye – writing this has been quite cathartic and is a good reminder of the happy times. Jinny, our house will be a lot less noisy and a lot less hairy without you in it, but you will be missed more than I can say!

***Price Changes***

Please be aware that my prices will be changing from 8th April 2019. I last changed my prices 6 years ago and have tried to keep my treatment prices affordable ever since I started practicing. I understand that treatment costs can become expensive for animals, particularly if they are undergoing treatment for a chronic condition or rehabilitation. It is important to me that my treatments are affordable for my clients, as your animal’s health and care is always my main priority. Unfortunately over recent years the costs associated with running my business have increased considerably and I have had to make the tough decision to increase my treatment costs. You can be assured that any increases in price are always reinvested into my business. In particular I feel it is very important to keep my skills and training up to date and I am always attending courses and training to ensure that I am able to offer you and your animals the best service possible.

From 8th April 2019 new prices will be:

Equine treatment – £45

Canine treatment – £35

Travel cost if more than 10 miles from TN25 6PY – £10

Laser treatment costs remain unchanged at this time – starting at £10 for dogs or £15 for horses.

In order to make this transition easier for my clients I am offering any treatments for after 8th April, booked before 31st March at 2018 prices. Book now to lock in the 2018 price for your next treatment 🙂

Juice isn’t very impressed by the new stable door that keeps the dogs out in the utility room 😂