Plans are great as long as everything goes according to them. Which in real life doesn't happen all the time.
After initial strict rest the plan is to gradually keep increasing the amount exercise Cookie gets while incorporating some physical therapy along with that.
As far as plans go, it's a perfect plan. Allowing the muscles to heal and then working them back up to their top condition.
With the help of the Trazodone, things go according to plan most of the time.
Just the fact that Cookie doesn't either jump out of her skin, explode, or become completely depressed with such major exercise (and fun) restrictions is a miracle and testament to the drug doing its job.
But every now and then the circumstances happen to be just so that all control goes out the window and Cookie loses it.
Full blown attack of the zoomies.
The fact that she is on the lash at all times has little bearing. She is perfectly capable of bouncing at the end like a kite in a hurricane. And so far, every time she did that she set herself back.
She did this first thing this year and we are still dealing with the injury she was able to sustain then. She did that couple more times since but the outcome wasn't as bad those two times. But we are still, understandably, very concerned about these things.
The most likely scenario involves very cold temperatures, cold wind, and or fresh snow.
Sometimes that's just something that must happen, I suppose. She was getting them last winter too and was getting her 3 hours of walking and playing every day. It was obviously not from her not being able to drain enough energy.
Except last winter it didn't matter and she could lose it all she liked.
The main question remains, how does one prevent, or stop the zoomies at their tracks.
Obviously, the best recommendation for prevention includes lots of exercise and mental stimulation. Right now she cannot get anywhere near as much exercise as she'd like or needed but that's why she's on the Trazodone to keep her calmer. But there is a limit to what the Trazodone can do and zoomies are no match for it.
We play games, training games, she gets her entertainment bones and food puzzles ... No amount of play in the house has ever been enough for her--I know that from some of the really cold days last winter when it was just impossible to go for a walk and we played indoors.
Another recommendation was to ask her to do something incompatible with having zoomies.
To her, everything is perfectly compatible. She'll do it at the speed of light so she can return to being crazy as soon as possible.
Apparently there isn't any zoomies off-switch any of my training friends know about.
There is only one thing that I've tried that works most of the time, even though there is no guarantee she won't get back to her zoomies later.
"Where is the mousie?"
I bend down and look at a spot on the ground and ask this question. That switches gears in Cookie's head she she'll leap at the spot looking for a critter. If all goes well and there has been one around recently, she'll start digging and looking and forgets about her zoomies.
So that has been our best strategy so far.
Do you know of any sure-fire zoomies off-switch?
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Creative Solutions And An Incidental Product Review
Too Young For Pot: Cookie's Snack With A Side Of Hydrogen Peroxide
Taming Of The Wild Beast: Cookie's Transition To Civilization
Staying On Top Of The Ears: Cookie Is Not Impressed
Putting The Easy Back Into Walking
Cookie's Ears Are Still Not Happy
The Threat Of The Bulge Is Always Lurking
Today Is Cookie's Three-Months Adoptoversary
Cookie Meets The Electric Horse Fence And Her First Chiropractic Adjustment
Why Examine Your Dog's Vomit?
Why Is That Leg Still Not Happy? Cookie's Leg Keeps Getting Sore
Cookie Too Is Insured With Trupanion
Does Being Insured Mean Being Covered? Our First Claim With Trupanion
Is Cookie's Leg Finally Getting Better?
Is Cookie Going To Be Another Medical Challenge Or Are We Looking To Closely?
The Project That Is Cookie: Pancreatitis Up Close And Personal
Pancreatitis: Cookie’s Blood Work
Another Belly Upset: Pancreatitis Again Or Not?
Happy Birthday, Cookie
Incontinence? Cookie's Mysterious Leaks
Who's Training Whom? Stick And Treat
Don't Just Stand There, Do Something? Cookie's Mysterious Bumps
Cookie's Mysterious Bumps Update
One Vomit, No Vomit
Happy One-Year Adoptoversary, Cookie!
Cookie's Leaks Are Back: Garden Variety Incontinence Or Not?
Cookie's Leaks Update
Don't Panic, Don't Panic: Know What Your Job Is
The Continuing Saga Of Cookie's Leeks: Trying Chiropractic Approach
Cookie's Minor Eye Irritation
Regular Wellness Exam: Cookie's ALT Was Elevated
Cookie's Plantar Paw Pad Injury
How Far To Take It When The Dog Isn't Sick?
Cookie Has Tapeworm Infection
Cookie's Elevated ALT: The Ultrasound and Cytology
Cookie's ALT Update
The Importance of Observation: Cookie's Chiropractic Adjustment
Sometimes You Don't Even Know What You're Looking at: Cookie's Scary "We Have No Idea What that Was"
Living with an Incontinent Dog
Summer Dangers: Cookie Gets Stung by a Bald-faced Hornet
To Breathe or Not To Breathe: Cookie's Hind Legs Transiently Fail to Work (Again)
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Process
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Diagnosis
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Trazodone
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Other Medications
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Laser, Hydrotherapy and Chiropractic
Cookie's Recovery from Iliopsoas Injury: ToeGrips
It Never Rains ... Cookie's New Injury
Mixed Emotions: When What You Should Do Might Not Be What You Should Do for Your Dog
Cookie's New Injury Update
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury: The Symptoms
Do you have a story to share?
Your story can help others, maybe even save a life!
What were the first signs you noticed? How did you dog get diagnosed? What treatment did/didn't work for you? What was your experience with your vet(s)? How did you cope with the challenges?
Email me, I'll be happy to hear from you!
 |
| Where is the mousie? |
After initial strict rest the plan is to gradually keep increasing the amount exercise Cookie gets while incorporating some physical therapy along with that.
As far as plans go, it's a perfect plan. Allowing the muscles to heal and then working them back up to their top condition.
With the help of the Trazodone, things go according to plan most of the time.
Just the fact that Cookie doesn't either jump out of her skin, explode, or become completely depressed with such major exercise (and fun) restrictions is a miracle and testament to the drug doing its job.
But every now and then the circumstances happen to be just so that all control goes out the window and Cookie loses it.
Full blown attack of the zoomies.
The fact that she is on the lash at all times has little bearing. She is perfectly capable of bouncing at the end like a kite in a hurricane. And so far, every time she did that she set herself back.
She did this first thing this year and we are still dealing with the injury she was able to sustain then. She did that couple more times since but the outcome wasn't as bad those two times. But we are still, understandably, very concerned about these things.
The most likely scenario involves very cold temperatures, cold wind, and or fresh snow.
Sometimes that's just something that must happen, I suppose. She was getting them last winter too and was getting her 3 hours of walking and playing every day. It was obviously not from her not being able to drain enough energy.
Except last winter it didn't matter and she could lose it all she liked.
The main question remains, how does one prevent, or stop the zoomies at their tracks.
Obviously, the best recommendation for prevention includes lots of exercise and mental stimulation. Right now she cannot get anywhere near as much exercise as she'd like or needed but that's why she's on the Trazodone to keep her calmer. But there is a limit to what the Trazodone can do and zoomies are no match for it.
We play games, training games, she gets her entertainment bones and food puzzles ... No amount of play in the house has ever been enough for her--I know that from some of the really cold days last winter when it was just impossible to go for a walk and we played indoors.
Another recommendation was to ask her to do something incompatible with having zoomies.
To her, everything is perfectly compatible. She'll do it at the speed of light so she can return to being crazy as soon as possible.
Apparently there isn't any zoomies off-switch any of my training friends know about.
There is only one thing that I've tried that works most of the time, even though there is no guarantee she won't get back to her zoomies later.
"Where is the mousie?"
I bend down and look at a spot on the ground and ask this question. That switches gears in Cookie's head she she'll leap at the spot looking for a critter. If all goes well and there has been one around recently, she'll start digging and looking and forgets about her zoomies.
So that has been our best strategy so far.
Do you know of any sure-fire zoomies off-switch?
Related articles:
From The End Of A Lead Line To Casa Jasmine: Meet Cookie, Our New Adoptee
And So It Begins Again(?) Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie
I Didn't Know I Could Fly: Why Cookie Wears A Harness Instead Of A Collar
C.E.T. Oral Hygiene Chews For Dogs CAN Be A Choking Hazzard
Our First Health-Related Heart Attack With Cookie: The Knee Or The Foot?
Creative Solutions And An Incidental Product Review
Too Young For Pot: Cookie's Snack With A Side Of Hydrogen Peroxide
Taming Of The Wild Beast: Cookie's Transition To Civilization
Staying On Top Of The Ears: Cookie Is Not Impressed
Putting The Easy Back Into Walking
Cookie's Ears Are Still Not Happy
The Threat Of The Bulge Is Always Lurking
Today Is Cookie's Three-Months Adoptoversary
Cookie Meets The Electric Horse Fence And Her First Chiropractic Adjustment
Why Examine Your Dog's Vomit?
Why Is That Leg Still Not Happy? Cookie's Leg Keeps Getting Sore
Cookie Too Is Insured With Trupanion
Does Being Insured Mean Being Covered? Our First Claim With Trupanion
Is Cookie's Leg Finally Getting Better?
Is Cookie Going To Be Another Medical Challenge Or Are We Looking To Closely?
The Project That Is Cookie: Pancreatitis Up Close And Personal
Pancreatitis: Cookie’s Blood Work
Another Belly Upset: Pancreatitis Again Or Not?
Happy Birthday, Cookie
Incontinence? Cookie's Mysterious Leaks
Who's Training Whom? Stick And Treat
Don't Just Stand There, Do Something? Cookie's Mysterious Bumps
Cookie's Mysterious Bumps Update
One Vomit, No Vomit
Happy One-Year Adoptoversary, Cookie!
Cookie's Leaks Are Back: Garden Variety Incontinence Or Not?
Cookie's Leaks Update
Don't Panic, Don't Panic: Know What Your Job Is
The Continuing Saga Of Cookie's Leeks: Trying Chiropractic Approach
Cookie's Minor Eye Irritation
Regular Wellness Exam: Cookie's ALT Was Elevated
Cookie's Plantar Paw Pad Injury
How Far To Take It When The Dog Isn't Sick?
Cookie Has Tapeworm Infection
Cookie's Elevated ALT: The Ultrasound and Cytology
Cookie's ALT Update
The Importance of Observation: Cookie's Chiropractic Adjustment
Sometimes You Don't Even Know What You're Looking at: Cookie's Scary "We Have No Idea What that Was"
Living with an Incontinent Dog
Summer Dangers: Cookie Gets Stung by a Bald-faced Hornet
To Breathe or Not To Breathe: Cookie's Hind Legs Transiently Fail to Work (Again)
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Process
Figuring out What Might Be Going on with Cookie's Legs: The Diagnosis
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Trazodone
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Other Medications
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury Treatment: Laser, Hydrotherapy and Chiropractic
Cookie's Recovery from Iliopsoas Injury: ToeGrips
It Never Rains ... Cookie's New Injury
Mixed Emotions: When What You Should Do Might Not Be What You Should Do for Your Dog
Cookie's New Injury Update
Cookie's Iliopsoas Injury: The Symptoms
Your story can help others, maybe even save a life!
What were the first signs you noticed? How did you dog get diagnosed? What treatment did/didn't work for you? What was your experience with your vet(s)? How did you cope with the challenges?
Email me, I'll be happy to hear from you!
I wonder if using a Help Em Up harness would make it easier to control her body movement and prevent her from hurting herself. My 68lb mutt is in his 4th week of recovering from a total hip replacement and even on trazadone the new snowfall in upstate New York has brought out the desire to zoom in him as well. By holding onto the hip part of the harness and having a collar and leash to control the front half we are able to safely keep him from picking up any speed and jeopardizing his new hip.
ReplyDeleteAh, pick her up like a shopping bag ... that could work! :-)
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