My Little Old Man is Hurting

No, not my husband Gary. When I refer to my little old man, I mean Doodles, my French poodle.

At any rate, he is 14 and has his good days and bad days. He looks great to most people and even his Vet said he is very youthful looking for his age. Yet he sleeps a lot, is hard of hearing, and is definitely slowing down.

Doodles has led a pampered life. He gets a more expensive and more often hair styling than I do. He goes once a month to a groomer we have loved for 14 years.  He comes back looking gorgeous – he is quite a glamorous guy, even at his age.

(NOTE: The big Reunion’s next week, and I did some self pampering of my own this weekend – but that’s rare for me)

A couple of times, Doodles came back sore and with a limp from the groomer. Our son Adam, who is a Veterinarian and who is brilliant at diagnosing even over the phone and by video over the internet, said it is common for dogs to get injured at the groomer as they are tethered by the neck and can hurt a disk.

We took care in initially selecting the groomer to use one that was highly recommended and esteemed in our community. They are extremely gentle and caring. Yet injuries can and do occur. They admitted as much.

This time, Doodles came back and couldn’t even walk. He wasn’t whimpering or in distress, but he refused to walk an inch. We took videos and Adam thought it was a disk problem – that he threw it out at the groomer.

Adam said to bring him to an Acupuncturist. He himself has specialized in this type of treatment and I sure wish he was local instead of practicing in Laguna Beach. We plan to do exactly as he instructed but none were open this weekend. So Adam said to give him this holistic vitamin-type tablet for pain this weekend and have him completely rest.

We have carried him to his food, to the lawn, etc. And a day later he is showing small signs of progress as he was able to walk a bit tonight. to his food bowl.  He’s sleeping, eating, doing his duty – a typical day since he usually sleeps 23 out of 24 hours anyway.

We have a big decision to make next. Since this is one of a pattern of injuries at the groomer, I think it is time to retire the old man from the hair stylist. He will have to have baths and grooms at home given by us. Hoo Boy, is that going to be fun.

Nonetheless, it just isn’t worth the risk of him getting badly injured.

Here’s hoping the Acupuncture gets him back to top form quickly and that I can handle giving him a grooming.

To those out there with aging dogs, I say, Beware of the Groomer.