Wednesday, March 31

Twinkle toes


Twila is one of our earliest cart frogs. She spent quite a while in foster care, as all our cart dogs do, waiting for the special family to come along who will see the ability instead of the handicap. Here's a note from Twila's mom:


"I know that these pictures aren't the greatest, but the subject matter is amazing: Twila is standing UNassisted in the water! She now goes to underwater treadmill therapy every other week and walks for 15 minutes at 1 MPH. A therapist helps move her legs, but she now has some muscle
control and can do some of the movements herself with proper foot placement (especially when motivated by a stinky salmon treat). To put this in perspective, when we started therapy about 15 months ago, Twila took a break every 5 minutes, walked at a pace of .3 - .5 MPH and did little to assist the therapist. I am so proud of my girl!"
What Twila's story should tell all of us is the six-month cut-off we hear so often may be arbitrary and inaccurate. We should not be so quick to lose hope or give up on therapeutic treatments. With consistent, dedicated exercise and attention, many dogs will continue to improve incrementally over time.

It's enough to make an old girl like The Frog Princess break out in a few steps of a happy dance, herself!

The Frog Princess

3 comments:

Smushie Ranch said...

That's really impressive. We've never had experience with a handicap dog, but we can appreciate the milestones Twila has overcome!

Stella, Gunther and Betty

Two French Bulldogs said...

So awesome! Great story for the baby and her humans
Benny & Lily

Anonymous said...

Go Twila!! The girl knows her stinky salmon treats!