Crosby Marie, an 11 year old Golden Retriever gets a combination of acupuncture, chiropractic, laser, physical therapy, and pain medication to help her live life to the fullest.
Crosby has kind eyes, a gentle sweet nature, and she loves people.
When Crosby was 4 years old, she had surgery to repair a torn ligament in one of her knees. She had water therapy rehab which helped her post-surgical recovery. Over the next two years she had additional surgeries including the opposite knee, and both her elbows. She continued water therapy, and started acupuncture, chiropractic, and laser therapy.
The combination of treatments helped Crosby recover from each orthopedic surgery. Maintenance treatments keep her joints functioning as well as possible. Crosby looks and acts younger than many dogs half her age. By age 11, most dogs have slowed down even if they never had orthopedic problems in the past. But Crosby does not seem like an old dog.
Two of Crosby’s favorite activities are playing with tennis balls and swimming. Described by her owners as “queen of her castle”, Crosby loves to guard her territory, order the other dogs around, and make sure her human family is doing everything possible to provide her with a life of indulgence and fun.
Crosby enjoys her visits to the Canine Rehab Clinic. She walks in the water treadmill every week and goes free swimming in the recreational pool two days a week. She loves her monthly acupuncture treatments. She comes into the treatment room and luxuriates while I place needles in the tight muscles along her spine, shoulders and hips. I attach the electrical stimulation leads and she relaxes even more deeply. After her acupuncture needles are taken out she gets a chiropractic adjustment to further improve her joint mobility. We often have to wake her up at the end of the treatment!
Physical rehabilitation, acupuncture, laser therapy and chiropractic are used in combination with pain medication and nutritional supplements to help dogs with musculoskeletal or neurologic dysfunction. Whether you have a young dog recovering from surgery, or an older dog that is moving stiffly or slowing down, services at the Canine Rehab Clinic may be beneficial. Crosby gets every treatment offered at the Canine Rehab Clinic and she comes every week. But many dogs do well with fewer treatments and only one or two modalities. If your dog has pain or reduced mobility consider trying some form of rehab therapy.
A side note: although the majority of services at our clinic are for dogs, we do see other species for acupuncture treatments. Below is a Bearded Dragon named Jules, who recently passed away. Jules belonged to Crosby’s owners and came in for acupuncture at the same time as his housemate Crosby. In these photos Jules was getting a pain relief treatment. Jules was fortunate to have owners who were willing to offer him acupuncture to make him more comfortable near the end of his life.
In this photo you can see Crosby in the background, sleeping after her treatment, while Jules was getting his treatment.
