Doggie Chiropracter

i stay away from human chiropractors, too. since she is a vet first with chiro cert I am hoping she is more like what people on here have experienced
 
I'm sorry your experience with human chiropractors has been bad. Mine have been positive over the years. I suspect like anything you have to find what works for you and if it doesn't you seek other methods. I've met some I wouldn't see, but I've had more bad traditional doctors than issues with chiros truthfully. It hasn't made me give up on traditional doctors because I've met some bad ones. It just makes me move on from the bad ones until I find a traditional doctor I can trust.
 
Cara Sandler said:
I can't speak for doggie chiros. Though it seems they are much more honest and forthcoming that human chiropractors. The only human chiropractors I've ever worked with have been dishonest thieves and I would never in a million years let one of them touch my dogs. But that's just been my experience. I know a lot of people who swear by them for their dogs.
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I'm sorry to hear that. Our human chiropractor (who is really a sports guy) has improved our whole family, especially DH, who has a traumatic brain injury.
 
I think the chiropractic field has it share of charlatans as well as honest people trying to help. Sadly the bad actors get the most attention and press. I don't know that this will help Gavin, and even the chiro admitted as much, saying 2-3 sessions is usually a good indicator if her methods are doing any good. It took 4 sessions for the PT vet to admit she didn't know what was wrong or how to help.
 
Cindy said:
I think the chiropractic field has it share of charlatans as well as honest people trying to help. Sadly the bad actors get the most attention and press. I don't know that this will help Gavin, and even the chiro admitted as much, saying 2-3 sessions is usually a good indicator if her methods are doing any good. It took 4 sessions for the PT vet to admit she didn't know what was wrong or how to help.
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I like working with people who will admit they have limits and can't fix everything whether human or animal, traditional medicine or alternative. It is a good sign when they are willing to tell you we will try this, but there are no guarantees. The ones that promise you the moon and the stars when nobody really knows what is wrong are generally the ones you should walk away from regardless of the field or who is being treated. It can be frustrating to keep looking, but it doesn't sound like they plan on stringing you on with promises for more sessions, if you just put out more money we can try...

Did the PT use massage at all? As I mentioned previously we've used chiropractic for both human and dog maintenance for years. However, for muscle issues adding massage has made for Bailey in his later years and for both the girls now.
 
Nope....tried acupuncture with some sort of electrical stimulation (no effect I could see), hydrotherapy (Gavin was uncooperative). lots of balance boards, treadmills, etc. I did lots of massage at home as well as cold laser. the PT vet just seemes stumped that Gavin wasnt gaining muscle mass and was still limping. She had a bunch of other vets at the practise take a look, too.

Gavin follows me around the house and doesn't appear to be avoiding anything (he gets up/lays down/gets back up frequently) except jumping, he is very deliberate when jumping even small heights like 6-8 inches. In fact, when he lays down on his side he always pivots on his bad leg and swings the good one down first. I am guessing he has had neuropathy in his leg for a while, and his muscle memory was compensating for the loss of feeling. when he hurt his groin and lost muscle mass he lost the ability and muscle memory to compensate.
 
All 3 of our Shelties have had an aversion to water I can't even begin to imagine trying hydrotherapy with them, although it's been the most effective human PT for me. I've talked with others who have had good outcomes but their dogs liked water. I fear mine would be more likely to do more harm as they panicked in the water.

I wish you good fortune in finding a solution to the problem.
 
Well, She said that his back was very tight. So mostly looks like she will be treating that. Gavin is definitely not worse, which is good. She gave him lots of treats, which he loved.
 
It took us a few tries to find one that my dog and I liked but now he goes every 4-6 weeks. In my experience human chiropractors that expand to treating animals are better at going by what they feel. The DVMs we saw kept relying on signs of pain/stress to determine if they were in the right spot.

The other thing I have learned is that as good as chiropractic is, it takes a combination with physiotherapy to really get the most out of both treatments. The reason is that shelties were bred to be extremely flexible/agile. This means their joints move easily but rely on muscle for stability. Unfortunately, pet shelties rarely get the balanced exercise needed to properly stabilize joints unless their owner/handler is specifically working towards this goal. That's where the physio comes in. The chiropractor can make a huge difference by getting things in alignment and the physiotherapist helps develop an exercise program that will develop muscles to stabilize the properly aligned joints and reduce the number of future injuries. One without the other just doesn't seem to be as effective in our experience.

Edit to add: if muscles are tight and/or spasm then aa professional massage therapist can also play a key role in getting things back on track.
 
Cindy said:
Nope....tried acupuncture with some sort of electrical stimulation (no effect I could see), hydrotherapy (Gavin was uncooperative). lots of balance boards, treadmills, etc. I did lots of massage at home as well as cold laser. the PT vet just seemes stumped that Gavin wasnt gaining muscle mass and was still limping. She had a bunch of other vets at the practise take a look, too.

Gavin follows me around the house and doesn't appear to be avoiding anything (he gets up/lays down/gets back up frequently) except jumping, he is very deliberate when jumping even small heights like 6-8 inches. In fact, when he lays down on his side he always pivots on his bad leg and swings the good one down first. I am guessing he has had neuropathy in his leg for a while, and his muscle memory was compensating for the loss of feeling. when he hurt his groin and lost muscle mass he lost the ability and muscle memory to compensate.
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Sca was still racing flyball when he was so out of joint. He did slow but zero complaints, Shelties are very pain tolerant IMO. That is kind of surprising since they are so sensitive in most other ways.

Oh and per my vet and two trained veterinary chiropractors (who were also a full vets) I would HIGHLY recommend against a person chiro working on your dog. In addition to them logically if someone is a trained chiro they know bone structure etc. Dogs are not people.
 
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