Duchess and Intervertebral Disc Disease

Recently, my seven year old papillon Duchess began having intervertebral disc problems. Apparently this is more common with smaller dog breeds. It was somewhat surprising to me that a papillon would have such difficulties, as they are known for their skill as obstacle course dogs.

It is heartbreaking for my Duchess to be experiencing these problems. Unlike a human being, she cannot necessarily tell me exactly where she is hurting or what can bring her relief. So, I have to rely on my bond with and understanding of her to deduce when there is a problem. 

While there are quite a few medications, such as muscle relaxers, steroids, and pain medicine that can help her when she has intervertebral disc injuries, medications are only treating the symptoms rather than preventing the problem. And, like humans, medications can be addictive. Therefore, we would like to reduce her reliance upon medication through behavior modification. 

Duchess's vet recommended that we teach Duchess behaviors that will help to prevent these injuries. While jumping up is not as dangerous to her, jumping down puts intense strain on these discs, as well as behaviors such as barking. If your dog experiences similar problems, I encourage you to get a harness like collar for walking rather than the belt collar, as they can but unbalanced and more intense strain on the animal. 

We have been working vigorously to change and eliminate such behaviors in order to prevent injury. First and foremost, we wanted to keep Duchess from jumping down, whether it be our beds, furniture, or even steps on the porch. Her favorite thing to do is sleep in our rocking chair, and it is heartbreaking to take those enjoyments away from her. Therefore, we decided to teach her to ask when she wants up or down from such places. We are continuing to work on the jumping up part, but thus far we have had great success in keeping her from jumping down.

Every time we notice Duchess start to jump onto something, we stop her and put her up ourselves. Sometimes, we just can't catch her in time, however. But, when we notice she has jumped onto something or we have placed her on something, we stay there and wait for her to start to get down. This may be difficult, and it requires some dedication, because sometimes she wants to get on the rocking chair and sleep for a few hours. 

Duchess is a pretty smart girl, and she already knew to make a whimper when she wants something, whether it be our attention, water, to go out, and so on. So, when we place her down, we first say the work ask.  At first, we would give her a treat every time we put her down. Then, we began alternating between a treat and verbal praise. Then we changed to only praise, and now, we praise her every other time.

Just a few days ago, I was in the kitchen and heard her whimpering. At first I was alarmed, but when I walked into the family room, I seen her standing on the rocking chair. She was asking to be put down. I swear she is really like a child to me, because I was so proud that I cried. 

Remember, time and dedication! You can change your dog's behaviors. Make sure you do some research to make sure you are doing it in the right way, so that it works long term.