Back In The Show Ring
GEORGE TURCEL AMBASSADOR JW is a 2 year-old yellow Labrador. He began a promising Show career and achieved a Junior Warrant, which gave him his Stud Book number and
Lifetime qualification for Crufts.
Then in May 2006, he had an accident that nearly stopped his career dead in its tracks. He dashed to get into the car, jumped at exactly the same time as his sister
and they collided. She was OK, but he crashed into a wire cage and was injured. Quickly it became obvious that he was lame and could not Show in that state.
 His Mum, Celia, rested him and tried some homeopathy for bumps and sprains. George
got a little better and she took him to a Show. Unfortunately, he somehow bashed his injury site again and was back to square one.
Celia was concerned that his cruciate ligament could be damaged. She said “I don’t want to go down the route of surgery before trying everything else possible.” A
previous dog of hers had had the operation, successfully, so she knew what was involved. She decided to ask Vav who assessed that it was partially damaged. She advised Celia that it could be treated through careful
management. He would need to be re-assessed at the end of the treatment programme to see if vet’s intervention was required. Celia was relieved.
 Vav went through a chiropractic treatment to make sure that
George’s skeleton was straightened up. Not only can such a collision knock bones out of alignment, but over the next weeks bad habits can set in. What can happen is that dogs hold themselves awkwardly to turn their
weight away from the injured limb. This compensation can then cause further problems and delay recovery.
Vav suggested a Gelsmium homeopathic remedy, which seems to help cruciate ligaments. Next, she arranged a hydrotherapy programme to slowly increase the exercise of
that joint. By putting George into the warm swimming pool, he was free to move without any weight on the joint. This encouraged him to stretch the limb and move the joint.
Very quickly, George showed that he enjoyed the water, which was a hopeful sign. Some dogs start a bit nervous of the water, but get used to it after a try or two.
Other dogs may get lazy, because they can just float in the Buoyancy Jacket we give them. Then we have to get creative to motivate them to exercise. Unfortunately, we can’t just explain it all to them, as you would to a
human!
 Gradually Vav introduced some exercise in the Water-Treadmill, where
George had to push against hock-high water. The aim of this was to strengthen the joint once it was moving freely. This rebuilt individual muscle groups to counteract the lack of exercise while he was recovering from the
initial injury.
After six weeks of this, Celia saw that his lameness was gone, and he looked much more like his old self. She decided to put a ‘toe in the water’, and took George to
a small Open Show where he won his Class! She was delighted. 
And she continued with the Hydrotherapy programme, where Vav gradually increased the time in the Water- Treadmill and reduced the time in the Pool. The aim now was
to continue to improve the fitness of the leg, and to generally ‘tune-up’ George’s overall fitness to peak condition for Showing.
Celia has now decided that George can resume his career almost as though nothing had ever happened. “I have now got him back in the Show Ring – I’m so impressed – I
didn’t think I ever would. Vav’s combination of Chiropractic, Homeopathy and Hydrotherapy has worked wonders!”
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