I got up and turned on the hall light and Sonia was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and was crying. I called to her but she didn't move. I walked down stairs and lifted her to give her a hug then I put her down and she immediately sat down. I walked a few steps away from her and called to her and my worst fears overcame me. Sonia dragged her hindquarters as she clumsily came to my side.

To this day we are not sure of how the accident happened but she may have jumped off something or stumbled and fell injuring her back. April 9th 2002 was beginning to be a wide-awake nightmare for my husband and I.

My husband drove Sonia to our family vet. He performed some pain sensitivity tests that Sonia failed. Our vet told my husband to go to veterinarian surgeon in Kirkland. I decided that I needed to pray that my little dog would get better and that we would do everything possible to ensure that she had a chance to walk again.

When Sonia came home three days later from the surgery my friend Candy accompanied me and she brought her large steel cage so that I could keep Sonia in a level contained environment. I moved the kitchen table and put the cage in its place. This would be Sonia's living quarters for the next three months.

We had heard of a Veterinarian in Renton that did acupuncture. I made an appointment with Dr. Susumi at Renton West Animal Clinic in July 2002. I gave her a copy of the surgeon's operative report and she requested previous medical history charts from our previous vet. She examined Sonia and surmised that she could help our little doxie but the treatment would be over a long period of time. She started weekly acupuncture treatments. She asked us to fill the bathtub and let Sonia swim. This became hard to do since the bathtub is only five feet long. She then gave us a referral to Sheila Wells, a swim therapist in West Seattle.

In early September I took Sonia to see Sheila of Wellsprings Dog Massage and Swim Therapy in West Seattle. She put Sonia in a dog life vest and took her in the pool and amazingly Sonia began swimming and paddling with her hind legs! I was so surprised I almost cried. I could hardly wait to get home to tell my husband of the optimistic news. My husband was elated that Sonia was swimming and using her hind legs.

Sonia is not a water dog. When I gave her baths she would indignantly sit in the kitchen sink as I washed her. She could hardly wait to get out of the sink. So going to swim therapy was not Sonia's idea of a fun time. Sonia tolerates the session's fine and does enjoy the massages. She would just rather be curled up at home on the bed in a warm blanket with my husband and her toys.

We began noticing that Sonia was beginning to take a few steps when she was at home. She would still cross her bind legs at times and of course trip over herself, but with acupuncture and swim therapy Sonia was making real progress.

As Sonia was slowly getting stronger my husband noticed that she was outside and the neighbors' four Doxie's started barking at the back gate between the two properties Sonia would actually clumsily run to the gate to bark back. Of course her back legs would trip her up but she would get up and start to run again. Now there was another reason for going to the back gate. Sonia had a crush on Scooter. Scooter is a male brown short hair Doxie who loved to run like Sonia and they both would run together around our large back yard before the accident. Of course Scooter could have been a small motivating factor for Sonia to help her regain her movement skills.

Soon we will get a harness device that will assist Sonia in walking. As spring approaches and the weather gets warmer Sonia will be out in the backyard with my husband doing gardening. She will be barking at birds, neighbors and Scooter. This will be her duty. Our duty is to take care of her and love her for this will be our duty.

UPDATE SUMMER 2005: Sonia continues to do very well. She gets around well with her rear legs. She still goes for water therapy and massage regularly at Wellsprings to maintain the strong muscles she has gotten from swimming which allow her to use her rear legs. She is a very happy and content little girl, especially when out in the backyard gardening with my husband for hours barking at the world doing her duty.

©Copyright Wellsprings 2001, all rights reserved.
Revised: 15 Apr 2006 14:48
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