GardenFork – Eclectic DIY

Category: Dog Stories

Our Labrador Charlie Pup Had A Canine Stroke

One of our dogs had a canine stroke, here’s how we found out and the recovery.

Light grey oval in Charlie’s spinal cord indicates a canine stroke.

A few weeks back we noticed Charlie Pup slipping when she ran around corners on our wood floors. This progressed into a general wobbly back end, losing control of her back legs. We thought it might be hip dysplasia, so we went to see Charlie Pup’s doctor. Canine stroke was not even in my list of possibilities.

Hear me talk more about Charlie’s stroke on this episode of the GardenFork Radio Podcast.

Charlie Pup’s doctor watched her and immediately said that this condition was not hip related, but neurological. She suggested and we agreed to take her to the see a neurosurgeon at the Animal Medical Center in Manhattan. Our vet helped us make the arrangements and did an x-ray and blood tests to rule out a few causes.

We’ve been to AMC in NYC before, with our other Labrador, Henry about 10 years ago. Its kinda like the Mayo Clinic for dogs.

So we drive from Brooklyn to Manhattan, park the car in the hospital parking lot, and take the elevator to the waiting room. The doors open, and I see a rooster, an iguana, a parrot, and a bunch of NY people and their dogs and cats.

Kinda like a live version of a New Yorker Magazine cartoon.

We get to see Dr. Abby Lebowitz, a neurologist and neurosurgeon. Super nice doctor who also has a Labrador. Dr. Lebowitz and her team take Charlie and want to do some motor function tests. So we get to wait in the waiting room with the cast of characters.

We met Dr. Lebowitz after the testing and learn there can be several causes for Charlie losing control of her back legs. We are given the option of having an MRI right away, or we can have Charlie on confined rest for 3 weeks and see if she improves.

We opt for confined rest, as an MRI is not cheap. Having been through several back-spine treatments myself, I know the body can heal itself for some back issues.

I didn’t realize how confined the rest had to be until I read the instructions they sent home with us. Really confined. We didn’t do a very good job the first week, but I re-read the instructions and the confinement was done right.

We kept Charlie Pup and Henry up near the front bay window in Brooklyn so they would have sunlight and see outside most of the day. Charlie Pup is bonded to our older Lab, Henry, so we have to keep them together. Our neighbors lent us two sets of folding dog fences that worked great to keep them in their small area.

Here is the bolster orthopedic dog bed we use for Charlie Pup, the dog fence, and Henry’s flat orthopedic bed.

I was surprised the Labradors did not just push the fence down. But it worked very well.

We are lucky to have a small backyard in Brooklyn, so the pups went outside 4-6 times a day. We would walk Charlie Pup in the yard on a leash. She likes to bolt out the door to chase squirrels. She was not allowed on stairs either.

After 3 weeks of confinement, we realized her wobbly legs were not improving. We talked with Dr. Lebowitz and scheduled the MRI.

Charlie Pup spent the whole day in the offices of the neurology department. We are told she was very popular. They did an MRI, X-rays, and a sonogram.

At the end of the day we met with Dr. Lebowitz and we learned that Charlie Pup had had a canine stroke, and it is causing her to lose control of her back legs.

This is a relief in a few ways, its not a ruptured disc that would require surgery, or spinal stenosis, which would mean steroids.

Charlie Pup is to take it easy and slowly progress back to her normal activities. We might try some physical therapy; aqua therapy sounds appealing as she loves to swim.

She will always be a bit wobbly in her back legs, but its good to know what happened and how to proceed.

Listen to me talk about what can happen if your dog has wobbly legs on GardenFork Radio.

March 14, 2018
Does Your Dog Smell Like A Swamp? Ours Does

Labrador Henry smells like a swamp all summer. Like all the dogs, she loves to go swimming, but her coat gets this funky smell from swimming. So I’m curious if your dogs have the same issue.

We’ve tried a few home made dog shampoos, the ones for when you dog gets sprayed by a skunk work for a bit. They have peroxide and dish soap in them. Its fun to mix these up when you pour the peroxide into the baking soda infused water and add the dish soap. Its like a science experiment.

But Henry doesn’t love this science experiment. We tried several odor control shampoos and finally got a prescription only shampoo from the doctor. It seems Henry has gets this yeast condition on her skin in summer when her fur gets wet. The vet shampoo does the job, but we have to bath her several times a summer.

Not surprising considering the kind of standing water and mud they roll in on a regular basis.

What kind of shampoo do you use? I’d like to try some alternatives.

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July 15, 2017
Gentle Leader Dog Collar works for me

Our Labradors always pull on the leash, so I bought the Gentle Leader dog collar for both Henry and Charlie Pup. The pulling on leash has stopped.

I used to be able to handle it when one of the dogs pulled on the leash, but after a recent back injury, I couldn’t manage the dogs and walk. I’ve seen several dogs in our neighborhood and in the park with the Gentle Leader dog collar, so I went to our dog supply store and the manager Chris said they work.

You might think this harness hurts the dog, but it doesn’t. What it does do is get the dog’s attention, and they walk with you, rather than pulling against you. I can’t stand seeing dogs on a choke collar, and watching them pull against it and choking. This collar works much better.

You do have to adjust the collar properly, and there is a huge instruction sheet that comes with the collar, plus a DVD to walk you through the process. It took me 5 minutes. It isn’t obvious how the snap under the snout part of the collar works, I tried it a few times before I put it on the dog for fitting. The part that fits around the dog’s neck needs to be tighter than a regular dog collar.

Watch the DVD that comes with the collar, it gives important tips for acclimating your dog to the collar.

The collar comes in several sizes and colors, so double check you are purchasing the correct one for your pups.

Our Brooklyn neighborhood has some food debris on the sidewalk, plus Charlie Pup eats napkins and paper towels, so steering the Labs clear of all that stuff was a constant battle. Walking to the park today was much easier. The Labs tried to get the collar off, by rolling in the dirt, but it stays on. They’ll get used to it and I’ll be able to walk them without re-injuring my back. Money well spent.
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December 2, 2015
Charlie Pup recovering after tearing a claw

With 1-1/2 feet of snow in the yard, we took our pups over to our neighbor’s house to play. They have a long driveway that is plowed, so the Labradors would have an open space to run and fetch. After about 30 minutes, we noticed blood on Charlie Pup’s paw. Charlie Pup was oblivious to the blood, she wanted us to throw the ball. Labs have a pretty high pain threshold, from what I’ve seen. Checking her paw, I found her outer claw was torn in half, and bloody.

So it’s a quick drive to the vet, where they checked her out, cleaned up the claw, and sent us on our way. Now its nap time.

February 17, 2014
Whole Wheat Tuna Dog Treats Recipe – Adorrable Dor

Wholewheat Tuna Dog Treats -Adorrable Dor

Hey Allemaal! -which means everyone in Dutch-
Finally we are getting some decent spring weather, and boy do we need it. I think we are about 3 to 4 weeks behind normal spring growth and my garden is poised to explode with greens and all kinds of flowers. Now comes the really difficult part of teaching Roshi to stay on the paths and grass and out of the vegetable and flower beds. As she is a darling Labrador in full puberty this is a hit and miss experience at the moment. But I already decided to keep the veggies limited to lettuces and legumes this year so if she damages anything in youthful folly it can be replaced easily.
A note about the Sweet Potato dogtreats I made early March, because there is a high moisture content they must be either used within 10 days or so or be kept in the refrigerator. The last couple of treats I made spoiled I’m sorry to say.

These Tuna Treats are also quite high in moisture but should keep 2 weeks without problems, that is if you can keep your dogs from stealing them. That’s what happed to Ellie -Roshi’s breeder- when I made her these treats for her 5 grown Labs. Within half an hour Roshi’s mom Esmer stole the container full of treats from the kitchen counter and all Labs pounced and devoured the lot, destroying the plastic tub in the process. The garlic in this recipe is optional but most dogs seem to have no problems with it and garlic helps with flea and tick control.
The picture shows Rosh enjoying her new bowl rack –is that what you call this contraption in English- so she does not stretch her neck and spine too much when eating. Credit goes to my husband, he cleverly fashioned it from an Ikea IVAR bookcase sidepanel.

Wholewheat Tuna Dog Treats
If you have tuna in water no problem, substitute the 2 tablespoons of water for olive or vegetable oil.
1 small can of tuna in oil
2 tablespoons of water
300 grams or 10.5 ounces of whole wheat flour
2 eggs
4 cloves of chopped garlic

This recipe uses a kitchen blender but you can easily mix and knead this dough by hand, just chop the garlic very finely.
Preheat your oven at 200 C or 395 F.

Blend the tuna, water and garlic in the machine, add flour and eggs. Whizz again until it forms a firm but slightly sticky dough.
Remove from the blender and add a little flour if it is too sticky to roll out comfortably.
Using a rolling pin, glass or just your hands, roll or push the dough to a thickness of about 1 cm or 1/3 inch. It will puff a bit in the oven, so will make a substantial treat.
Distribute the treats evenly on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for about 30 minutes until nicely golden brown. You can leave them in the cooling oven for an hour or so, they will crisp up even more.
I use Roshi’s Labrador cookie cutter but you can use any shape that takes your fancy, this is a very well behaved dough.
Of course using a glass or the empty tuna can, even cutting into strips will work just as well.
This recipe is adapted from the Hondenkoekjes met Tonijn recipe from the www.hondenkoekjes.nl site.

April 26, 2013
Labrador Mij has passed away

Mij with Henry in the background

Mij, our Labrador Henry’s brother, who lived down the road from us and appears in many GardenFork shows passed away this weekend. He had developed an enlarged heart.

Mij was the tennis ball obsessed alpha male of the Labradors who congregate in our yard. He would let Charlie Pup and Moose act like the goofs they are, while he and Henry sat in the yard or on the couch and watched. He was a great pup.

Mij in my Ford F150

Mij and Henry as newborns

January 7, 2013