Physical Therapy A+

Moxie's lovely physical therapist Amanda said Moxie is doing great -- in some ways well beyond where dogs often are at this stage (minimal swelling, nice range of motion in her leg, calm disposition during the appointment). Well, no wonder about the calm disposition -- Amanda massaged her the entire time we sat there (about 45 minutes). Of course, the Mox is generally a putty-in-your-hands kind of pup, anyway.

The physical therapy room is like a playschool for dogs -- really fun place with lots of toys and things to get nosy about. It was good to see Moxie walking around the place without me assisting with the sling. Amanda wanted to see how she used her leg. She pretty much stays off it so far, not hopping, but barely toeing down. Normal, says Amanda.

She showed us how to massage Moxie's back and hind end where her muscles are tight from holding her leg up when she walks (hobbles) outside to potty.  Her incision is healing nicely as well. Cone stays on though, until those staples come out, in another week and a half.

She says after next Tuesday we should start leash-walking her 2-3 times a day for 5 minutes each time, and then start to add minutes up to 10 minutes, 3-4 times a day for the second week.

Painstakingly slow, it feels, but we're on our way up!

Next appointment, in about two weeks, Moxie will get to do the underwater treadmill. I'm interested to see how she handles that.