We had an exciting trip to Calgary today to visit Dr Laura Taylor Holistic Vet — an osteopathic veterinarian in Calgary! Dr Laura & I met back in 2009 when we shared some equine clients together. She’s been caring for my old & young canines ever since.
So why risk taking the babies out of my home at a mere 3.5 days old? Am I crazy? No, quite the contrary. I’m sharing the details here not to be graphic or sensationalize but in the hopes to share information so that other breeders can learn to understand their situations and the curious things they might notice in their puppies.
With respect to my credibility for those of you following along who do not know me:
– Integrative Orthopedic Medical Massage Therapist for 22+ years
– Equine Sport Therapist since 2007, though casual
– Certified BodyTalk / AnimalTalk Practitioner since 2006/2007
– Canadian Pro Rodeo Sport Medicine Team member for 20 years
– 2021 added Canine Manual Therapy officially though COVID
– in Australian Cattle Dogs since 1997
So with that context, my concern was about the puppies’ central nervous systems and how they were traumatized in their birthing experience. Impairment in this area would have long term implications in the growth and well being of them as both puppies and adults.
Puppy #1’s water broke at 10am but he wasn’t born til about 4:30pm and with a great deal of force. Peaches screamed in pain on the drive to the vet and all through the process of extracting the puppy. It was traumatic for her and everyone in her vacinity. He was necessarily grabbed at the base of his skull & under his jaw and pulled. He was wiggled. He was jostled. He was cajoled… and he was fortunately freed! Shockingly he did not require reviving… he outwardly appeared “fine” but I could tell immediately after birth and in the days since that he was subtly not behaving like his brothers. He did not latch as long or nurse as hard. By Wednesday morning he was dehydrated and fading. SubQ fluids and supervised nursing turned him around but he still had underlying issues. When I would help him latch he would cry out with me handling his head and jaw. He was listless and would go on walkabouts in the Whelping box, crying though his journey to no where. He always seemed to be the one wanting to prop his little noggin up on something or someone like a pillow.
Puppy #4 was born breech relatively quickly with the help of additional oxytocin, the speed of which might be as problematic as his positioning. Puppies present head first or feet first all the time and it is generally thought to be no big deal. Consider the fact that by leading feet first that the head becomes like a cork popping out of a bottle as it’s born. This sudden traction can put a great deal or strain on the cervical spine, head and brain stem. This was/is the smallest puppy and he has not gained at the same rate as his middle brothers. He too had issues latching and nursing as hard plus his size meant that he was easily bumped off the boob by a bigger brother. He too did not appreciate me opening his jaw to assist in latching.
As an aside, I have had a number of longstanding breeders trust me with their neonates over the last several years. I would do a home visit and work on puppies while the breeders would share their thoughts on “how Fido just ain’t right” and when I would ask about birthing presentation or trauma, breech was the most consistent and common answer to these babies who seemed somehow off.
Today Dr Laura spent a little time with each puppy looking for adhesions, immobilizations and unwinding. The work is subtle but the results are profound. Both #1 and #4 had the most going on in the cranium, sacrum, thoracic spine and jaw. All the puppies had a little happening with their respiratory diaphragms — this makes sense since that muscle only started working Monday night!!
Once the puppies had their time, Peaches too had a turn. She only needed a small tune up due to the obvious surgery & labouring as we visit Dr Laura about every other month to stay on top of things. As you know, ACDs live life at 150% all the time…and they’re very stoic, so prevention goes a long way.
I was so pleased with Peach Pie being super relaxed about the trip in to town and sharing her babies with Dr Laura. She really is a model mama but I’m still protective and respectful of her feelings. My massage practice is in my small home. I have all kinds of new visual barriers up so she feels safe and secure.
We can speculate about what the outcome for these boys would have been without my observations or today’s intervention. They may have been head shy… or easily over aroused by auditory stimuli… or loaners for fear of being run over and further hurt by a sibling… or had other behaviour issues that we would chalk up to “having a bad temperament.”
When we take a few moments to question, anticipate, empathize and be proactive (when we know what to do or who to call), it is an impact far greater than a single puppy.
Much love & gratitude to Dr Laura for her wisdom & skills.
Further love & gratitude to my Mom for coming with me to wrangle & nanny puppies. She. Is. Awesome.
NEXT DAY 6:00AM UPDATE: Puppies made average to good gains from yesterday to this morning without a ton of intervention on my part. They are happier to be handled (less wiggly) and faster to settle in my hands. The gap in weight narrowed substantially over night from 100g to 60g between smallest to largest puppy with both Puppies #1 and #4 sustaining their latching by at least double (20+ min). It’s a WIN!
