Sat Dec 31

Trek Lincoln Park. Back to the driveway gate of the back of the park (instead of the bike path gate.) Finally got some nice video of us playing fetch. It's funny I have to hold the camera and throw the toy and both do better with your dominant hand. The camera wins, so I sort of throw with my left which does ok since it doesn't have to be thrown very far. I give treats with that hand too.
https://youtu.be/DMqJKInJzsE

Spent New Year's Eve making sure Yoshi was ok. I insulated the window with something that keeps it warmer and hopefully cut the sound down, but we didn't need it for the sound. New Year's was a complete nothing this year. It was cold and nobody cared. He slept in his snuggler in the office, and sat with him, listening to Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco and looked at photos of celebrity's children and worked on my online class. The fireworks were all over by 12:54pm - amazing.

Fri Dec 30

Yoshi walk. Went to Washington Park and we walked around the tennis courts to the water and then back beside the dog park. Walking on the outside of the dog park is like going to the dog zoo. He and I need to spend time there. There's a dog, have a treat, and repeat.

Trek's PT went fine. Watching the video she's less able to move her rear feet forward (she's in a rear harness now), but her leg motion improves after a few minutes of "walking."

Thu Dec 29

Yoshi walk. Uneventful.

Trek Lincoln Park. We entered from the other gate but it wasn't as easy as yesterday. It's funny, the dry flat part at the beginning is nice but the rest of the walk is tougher going. Probably best to start out at the other gate. Go out and come back and then go along the fence for fetch. We did 6 tosses.

Wed Dec 28

Trek Lincoln Park
The side of the park we usually walk on was being played on, so we went to the other side. That worked out well because even though that side can be muddy, it was dry and the grass is very short in one section. We walked for a little ways and then came back to the short section and played fetch for 9 throws.

Tue Dec 27

Trek Lincoln Park. The area along the fence has dried out enough to make travel fairly eacy so we just walked all the way down and then played fetch down there and worked our way back to the car. 8 fetch throws.

Yoshi walk. Was raring to go with the cool weather.

Sat Dec 24

Trek Lincoln Park
Walked in a circle around the park. Muddy in places from a recent rain, but it was very nice when we were there. 6 fetch throws. Again we had it to ourselves.

Yoshi walk. Uneventful. No one was around.

Fri Dec 23

Trek PT. Took a cute photo of Trek and her therapist Emily Thompson.
The rain is easing up, but it rained pretty hard this morning.

Thu Dec 22

Trek Crab Cove.
Got buzzed a few times by a friendly, not interested in her people, dog named Cinnamon. She was fine until I started walking towards the car and was going to be passing by the boy in the family. Cinnamon started growling and barking pretty seriously with a run by pants nip. I stopped walking and let her people rescue her. This is clearly an issue and they don't know how to deal with it and I'm not interested in trying to teach them (not really enough time) though I did say she's not interested in coming to them because they has nothing to interest her. The woman said she didn't have treats this time.

Trek and I walked across the park to the very pungent low tide and I held her up in my arms so she could get a good whiff. We got fairly far off to a nice dry spot and did 5 fetch throws and worked our way back to the car.

Yoshi walk. Right out the gate he started barking at Corgi Shelby and soon after at a generic brown dog, and then a white plastic shopping bag (which I took great delight in teasing him about.) But then he seemed to get ahold of himself and did fine for the rest of the walk.

Wed Dec 21

Yoshi walk. wearing a Pawz bootie. Went fine. I like having not to worry about the bootie falling off. He wants to do some work I should take him to a park and work him some soon.
He's sleeping a lot which is concerning me. I sent email to his vets asking if his thyroid medication had anything to do with it.

Trek walk. Lincoln Park.

Grass is nice and short and it's empty at 4pm so we walk all around the space. We walked to the center and did 6 long throws and two more to walk out to the car. She's a mostly happy dog. Her 12th birthday is on the 23rd. I didn't think she'd make it this far and still be happy.

Mon Dec 19

Trek Lincoln Park. First went to Krusi but the grass is too long. We walked all around Lincoln Park. I was looking for a good spot for fetch but it was amazing to have the entire place to ourselves. eight fetch tosses once I found a good spot. Used the two last throws to work our way back out of the park which is always a fun game. I toss the toy and run with her in the direction of the toy, but when she gets to it I tell her to get it and I keep running and let her catch me with it. Then I throw it again.

Sun Dec 18

Trek Lincoln Park. The grass is happily growing, but still manageable. It will be better after the ground has dried some. We walked to the baseball diamond and back and did 6 or 7 fetch throws with her carrying the toy most of the way to the exit of the park.

Sat Dec 17

Trek PT. Got some more Pawz booties since the one set we have is wearing out. They're only 13 dollars for 12 of them.

Yoshi walk

Barking at cats and carried purses - weirdo. Then I carried him past a dog running at him which he well deserved to bark at. Then he barked at a Cardi walking on the other side of the street. I carried him again and told him he was being silly. He did get some walking in really.

Fri Dec 16

Trek acupuncture with Jorge. Went fine.

Yoshi walk. It's cold here so he was thrilled to get out and walk especially since it's not raining.
Trek Lincoln Park. Same thing. I was freezing and she was happy, happy, happy. We did 7 fetch throws and some walking.

Thu Dec 15
Raining all day. No walks for dog and it was a battle to get Yoshi to go out in the rain even with an umbrella.

Wed Dec 14
Yoshi walk. His bootie came off (rescued) but other than that it was fine. Trek Lincoln Park. It was sprinkling and a little boggy so we just walked a short way out and did six fetch tosses which she was happy to do but didn't want to do much more. She sees Ziji today. Terri is coming along and we're bringing Yoshi too.

Tue Dec 13
Trek Lincoln Park. Went over to Krusi, but it was way too muddy. At Lincoln they had just mowed it and it was nearly pristine though soft in places. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow so it might now get much of a chance to dry out but the surface it great there.
We walked across the field to the far fence so it's almost as far as we go at Krusi. Came back and did eight fetch throws as we headed back. I think we're going to stick here for a while.

Mon Dec 12
Trek walk. Lincoln Park.
The ground is in decent shape despite being muddy in places. We can't walk as far as we do in Krusi but she then had more energy for fetch we walked out to the infield and then came back closer to the car and did 8 fetch throws.

Sun Dec 11
I wanted to see the water so I took Trek to Bay Farm park near the Ferry building. It was too muddy in most places, but we did find a less boggy place by the picnic tables and did eight fetch throws. I first tried it with her Web Master harness on, but it was too bulky, so I switched things back to her regular harness and then things went ok. Yoshi walk. Lost it over a black lab across the street but Terri got his attention and he survived but then he was pretty distracted by several people passing him (without dogs), then she stopped to chat with a woman who had a yellow lab on her front lawn (she was grooming him). The lab decides to walk up to Yoshi, Yoshi lunged at him, Lab barks and backed off. Terri distracted Y and got him to move on.

Sat Dec 10
Took Trek to PT this morning. It was raining fairly seriously so it took some effort. Terri came along which was nice. Trek is still moving her feet in the water, but she has to be encouraged with treats.

Fri Dec 9
Trek Krusi Park
The light was failing, so it was good to see how we would do in that kind of light.
First, we just walked using the Ginger Lead until she got tired of it halfway across the field. I don't know if the pressure on her abdomen was bothering her at that point, but it took a while to get back to where we started. (I didn't want to carry her, though I could have.) then I put her in her cart and we did six fetch throws in the street light which is workable on that side of the park. We could have also gone over to where the tennis course are as they are lit.


Wed Dec 7
Trek walk. Jefferson Park.
It was starting to sprinkle, so we went looking for trees. Parks with big trees are either Jefferson off San Antonio or Jackson Park surrounded by Park Ave. I went for Jefferson because parking there is much easier and there is less hardscape. We didn't walk very far, but instead found a tree and did six fetch throws and then walked back.
Yoshi didn't seem to want to go anywhere (it was cold) so he just slept.

Tue Dec 6
Yoshi walk. He immediately started barking at something across the street while standing in the driveway. So I tried Ian Dunbar's technique on "HEY STOP IT! Good dog. Good dog. Good dog. HEY! Good dog ...
You really don't wait for the dog to stop being a jerk you just stop it yourself and then tell the dog he's doing great while he recovers from your making him stop. I don't know how successful I am at it, but it's something to try.

Trek Lincoln Park.
Grass will be nice and short for a while, but the ground was a little softer and we were on the other side furthest from the baseball diamond, but we still got all the way across and then played fetch for six throws and two more to get us back to the car.

Mon Dec 5
Trek Lincoln Park
Very nice day today
Their grass is nice and short. Hooray! We walked along the  fence where the grass was really short then  we worked our way out to short center field. Six fetch throws then two more to get back to the car.

Sat Dec 3

Trek Krusi Park

We did kind of a slightly curvy way across to the far fence. It was her dinner time so we just did a couple of fetch throws on the way back to the car.

Fri Dec 2
Trek Acupuncture with Jorge. It went fine. She doesn't like it at first (there's always a needle zings) but then immediately settled down.
Then later we went to Walnut Creek for her PT. She did ok. Didn't want to use her rear legs much at all at first, but then after Emily encouraged her to use them, she got going and it was fine.

Dr Levin called. Yoshi's white count is very slightly elevated, but that could be explained by other things besides infection. His thyroid numbers are a little off so Terri authorized the full T4 panel for him.

Thu Dec 1

Yoshi made it through the nice peacefully. He at breakfast fine. Peed, didn't poop. Went outside to take some video of him right before his vet appoint and he's walking around slowly and then sees a squirrel. Run, bark, run, bark. The transition was pretty funny and I was able to show it to Dr Levin, but she could tell that his back was sore and his left leg was shaking. We're going to repeat his blood work and put him back on Rimadyl. If his blood work indicates he shouldn't have it them it goes into Trek's supply. The bloodwork may also catch if something else is going on disease-wise. They took some urine too.


He's back at home, on the bed, looking a little dazed, but ok. I gave him his first Rimadyl. He's getting the same as Trek, but split in half morning and night.
I put both his videos on youtube (unlisted) and sent them both to Park Centre.
I'll hear tomorrow from Dr. Levin ("Le' vin" soft i).

Trek Krusi Park
Grass is getting harder to figure out passable areas, but we just went slower. We eventually got across and went back over to nearly back to the car, but stopped where one on the maintenance vehicles had been driving as that flattened the grass out some and she could run in those tracks.
Six fetch throws.

Wed Nov 30
Yoshi is clearly ill. Moving slowly didn't want to go on a walk. Could hold himself in poop position what he could do was soft. We think he came back from Lake Wildwood with something but while he's eating slowly, he's still eating and not vomiting. He could just be in pain as his rear foot is rolling in more but DM isn't pain related but if it's his disk injury it could be. He's going to see a vet at Park Centre tomorrow (Dr Levin), but I should give him something for pain tonight. Rimadyl or Tramadol is the question. I'm leaning to Tramadol as I don't know if it's swelling related.

It was raining much of the time we were there and he was only walked along the road and not on the trails, so he didn't have access to stagnant water (lepto risk there.) but he could have picked something else up. He doesn't show any Jaundice (yellow coloring) around his mouth or eyes (another lepto symptom. His gums look healthy and not white, so he's not bleeding internally.

Trek seems fine, We had to squeeze in some time at Krusi Park just before 5pm. We did get all the way across the park but no real time for fetch proper, so I threw the toy in the direction of the car and we improvised a fetch game on the way out to the car.

Tue Nov 29
Trek Krusi Park
I completely mean to go to Lincoln Park, but wound up at Krusi. Fortunately the ground had dried some, so the going was much easier. Even though they haven't mowed it the grass felt shorter. We got all the way across easily and went back and looked around a while for a drier spot for 7 fetch throws. Then we went back to the car to get a camera for some photos showing how I carry her when she's in her cart. We met Rebecca and SaintBernard-Golden X Bowie. I feel silly that I didn't get his photo, but he was being shy though he would accept treats from em. Rebecca was nice enough to take Trek and I's photo.

Yoshi walk. Passed a dog on the other side of the street, but he didn't even notice the dog. He's dragging his left rear foot some so we're going to have him wear a boot on walks.

Mon Nov 28
Trek Lincoln Park.
I went looking for shorter grass and I found it! Right near home. No baseball going on. Like in Krusi, the field is "closed" too for maintenance, but we're low impact. At first, I just tried walking her around with the Ginger lift lead to see if she just wanted to walk that way. She does, but she can't go that far that way (though respectable), so we did some of that, then I put the lead in the car and we walked using the cart across the [smaller] field to say hello to some folks with a huge Newfoundland, and a fat happy chocolate Lab. Then we did about six fetch throws some we used to walk back across to the car.

Yoshi's noon walk was completely uneventful.

Sun Nov 27
Trek Krusi Park
The grass is getting too long so we didn't try to go across the park. We went part of the way in then looked around for a place to play fetch for 6 tosses.

Yoshi walk
One yellow Lab on the other side of the street. Some silly barking.

Thu Nov 24
At Treva's for Thanksgiving.
Yoshi walk. We just walked up and down Foxtail Dr. Within a few minute a buck crossed some distance in front of us. Major barking which was not surprising as he rarely sees deer. Then we had an Australian Shepherd come out barking from her house. I yelled "Dog" and the owner called her back (she was reluctant but did go back I had picked Yoshi up and she wasn't being that threatening but I'm glad she only came to about a lane width to us.

I took Trek down her property to the bottom of a short hill and back and she was pretty tired from that.

Tue Nov 22
Trek Krusi Park
The park was very nice today but with no baseball I don't know when they're going to mow again. They're working on the fields and the tennis court lights. We got across while stopping to say hi to a Sheltie and a smaller dog and a man and perhaps his daughter. Trek as usual really likes the guy.
We got all the way across and then went back to the center area where the grass is shorter. We did 4 fetch throws and then played a game where I would throw the toy in the direction of the car and we would both go towards the toy and I would run past it encouraging her to pick the toy up and bring it to me. We worked our way back to the car this way and did eight throws total. (4 and 4). I couldn't resist posting to facebook:

If you're a dog person and a human male Trek wants you to come say hello, so she can sit at your feet. We think it's that she likes how human men smell and she tells me she doesn't meet enough of them. She certainly meets plenty on walks, but that's not a long enough time period in her mind. And she leads a relatively protected life, so she's never had a person of either gender be mean to her, so she has no issues about men like many dogs do. (Yes, such innocence is refreshing.)

Yoshi walk. Terri and he saw an Aussie coming towards them so they turned around and went the other way but Yoshi walks slower than the other dog so the caught up and they had some bark-bark-bark, until that dog went one way and they the other. Otherwise uneventful.

Mon Nov 21
Yoshi walk. I'm getting concerned about how he spaces out at times and doesn't respond to his name. Terri thinks it might be because of the cold weather. She might be right as he did pretty well during a walk around via Central today. (No dogs except in the distance.) We did some rally work and he remembers most of it but isn't great at backing up but he was never required to do that at the Novice level and he's having more trouble lifting his feet. The effect is that he backs into a really solid sit which is useful in its own way. I don't see a lot of foot dragging which is a concern of ours.

Trek Krusi Park. The place was deserted which was really nice. Grass is starting to get long but we had our choice of where to go so got all the way across in a circuitous way. Came all the way back and did 9 fetch tosses and them one last one in the direction of the car. (For variety, we both go get that one and I run ahead and have her bring it to me. Trek could do rally sort of but it would be so difficult to do on grass. I wish I could finds a matted venue.

Later on Yoshi interpreted a way I was standing in the kitchen as an invitation to work and he came charging right up to me, so I took him into the living room and did some basic heeling work with sits and downs, by me's, finish right and finish left and some of those left about turns, and I tried unsuccessfully to get him to back up. Down is the only thing he has trouble with. Standing beside me he's fine. And he can do the down using a hand raise signal when he's two steps in front of me, but NOT three. It looks too different. It's not that important anyway, but if he was still herding, it would be important. In Novice Rally he only has to down when he's beside me. What was cool is that he really wanted to work. He was not spacy at all.

Sat Nov 19

Trek PT. She's using her left rear leg less and less, but she can still use it in the water.

Thu Nov 17
Trek Krusi Park. Baseball season is over and the infields are being worked on but the grass is just fine. Starting to get a little long but Trek did fine getting all the way across and back. Stopped to chat with some dog folks to describe Trek's DM and what that's like. When we got back to close to the car we did six fetch throws.

Yoshi walk - noontime. Uneventful. Avoided an Irish Setter by hiding behind a car.

Wed Nov 16
No time to walk Trek, so we played fetch in the back yard. Had both dogs out there at first and they both were playing. I eventually put Yoshi in the house so Trek could get some exercise.

Tue Nov 15
Trek Walk. We went to Crab Cove. The grass is short enough and we just have to argue some about the goose poop. If I keep rewarding her she pays more attention to me. Geese are just grass eaters so there isn't the same draw as there is with cat poop. We got over to a nice area and did 8 fetch throws, then I helped her to get over to a bench where I took her out of the cart and we watched the seabirds feeding in the low incoming tide. Then I put her back in the cart and she nearly flew back to the car. She still has some use of her back legs, so I'll be keeping her off of concrete for a while longer as her foot dragging tears up her feet and her feet are nearly back to normal now.

Mon Nov 14
Trek walk. I'm going to take her to go check out Godfrey Park a ball field over on Bay Farm that we've never been to. Island->Mercartney then left on Flowers and right on Beach
It was perfect! Short grass and nearly no one. The ground is uneven in places but completely doable for her. Eight fetch throws. Walk for Yoshi. Right out the door he barked at a person with a knee-high shopping bag that I was fortunately able to explain and then call him a silly dog. One dog we let cross the street in front of us. One street-width and 1 1/2 house widths was a perfect ok distance. Then more interesting was a stationary small dog across the street on Gibbons. We waited for them to move and when it became clear they were going to move we were able to walk right by them with no issue. Good dog.

Sun Nov 13
Trek Krusi Park
It was 4:45 which is close to her dinner time, so she wasn't that thrilled about walking very far so we went halfway and then did 8 fetch throws and called it an evening

Sat Nov 12
Yoshi walk. Peaceful. Slower than normal, but he was sound asleep.
Later that day he was really excited about doing something so he and I played fetch in the backyard with his small tennis ball for nearly ten throws.

Trek Krusi Park
Our heavy-hitting softball father and daughter were there, but we were able to stay out of their way. They're only there during the weekend. I asked them later if they were training for college and Dad said hopefully, but she's only in eighth grade. Wow, she's going to do great in high school. Golfer guy was there too and said hello to Trek Trek had lots of energy and charged right across the part for her reward and then all the way back for ten fetch throws. Acupuncture gives her so much energy for a little while.

Fri Nov 11
Trek Acupuncture and PT
Both went surprisingly well. Trek didn't tremble with Jorge and just relaxed in my lap with the needles in while I showed him a video of her playing fetch in the cart and the one I'd made of the three dog carts.
She was then energetic for her treadmill session, but she always has energy after acupuncture.

Yoshi walk. I took him to Washington Park. We started from the dog park parking lot, went around the tennis courts, then passed by the duck pond, crossed through a large flock of geese and headed for the bike path by the water where we stopped to talk to a man and woman about Corgis and then were accosted by 5 children who wanted to say hello instead of practice ultimate frisbee. He did great until a very small dog wanted to pass by and he was his usual barking jerk. When we started back he barked at another dog and I told him to knock if off and he promptly did (we were far enough away and they weren't coming directly at us) and I rewarded him for it.
We then walked by the dog park along the fence and he was quite well-behaved though we didn't have any direct through the fence dog-contact. Now that the foxtails have gone we can do more park walks as daylight allows.
The cyst on Yoshi's eye might be getting bigger. I sure hope not as taking it off is going to really mess up his pretty face.
He is starting to slightly drag his rear left foot though I didn't notice it in the park.

Thu Nov 10
Trek Krusi Park
There was no ball practice going on at all. It was so peaceful. Just some dogs and a radio control airplane. Trek was very energetic and charged across the park with little help and we went all the way back because I had forgotten her kong toy that I throw for her and I had to get it out of the car while she waited. Eight fetch throws. Yoshi walk.  Lunch time - no dogs at all.

Wed Nov 9
Trek Krusi Park
Loud batting practice was going on so we went towards the playground and veered off to the grassy area over there. We were immediately accosted by 3 kids who wanted to throw Trek's toy for her which work. Then we went around the tennis courts and came back. A good workout for her. Yoshi walk was completely uneventful.

Tue Nov 8
Trek Krusi Park
Loud batting practice was going on so we went towards the playground and veered off to the grassy area over there. We were immediately accosted by 3 kids who wanted to throw Trek's toy for her which work. Then we went around the tennis courts and came back. A good workout for her. Yoshi walk was completely uneventful.

Mon Nov 7
Trek Krusi Park.
We went over there at 4:45 and did the walk in record time. The grass was short and I just let her drive herself all the way across. i had bread as treats, so she was inspired to go, but stopped about every 25' to take a breath. Came back and did 6 fetch throws - she was pretty tired from doing it herself.

Yoshi visit with Dr. Applegate
He went in for a bump on his eye but I had other concerns as well.
The bump on his right eye is a small cyst. It's too close to his eye to safely needle aspirate, so we'll watch it to see if it gets bigger. If it does then she'll take it out with him under anesthesia.
He threw up last night but didn't today so that's also in the watch category.
The longer topic was what to do about his back. He does have some sensitivity there, but it's not severe. It seems to be a hold-over from his earlier incident. He is having issues with the proprioception test on both rear feet - left more than the right - the reverse of Trek. Dr. Applegate says that disc issue can cause those issues also. She is recommending we try acupuncture first and says we can use either Trek's (Jorge) or Dr. Cheryl Schwartz who holds hours at Park Centre. Otherwise he looks good for 13 1/2.

Sun Nov 6
Trek walk. Krusi Park. On a Sunday sometimes one is at risk of someone hitting softballs way far, but they weren't out doing that so we had a nice time. Even did a little Rally work. Heeling, weaving a finish or two. If I can find a matted location that does WCR Rally then Trek could compete in it, but the only one I know of is outdoors and that only works when the grass is really, really short. Got all the way across with her doing most of the work, then came back and did 7 fetch tosses. Met two dogs who were curious, but not omnipresent. Yoshi walk. Three dog encounters. He barked at two and hid for the next one.

Sat Nov 5
Trek PT. It went fine. She's still able to use her rear legs a little. I asked at what point does the therapy no longer help and Emily said it's when Trek isn't using her rear legs at all, just bobbing along, and the tech is just holding the dog up in the water, then we would switch to laser only which still continues to have benefits.

Fri Nov 4
Trek Krusi Park.
They finished cutting the grass. Hooray. Much easier walk across across. 5 (boys this time) stopped their football game to crowd around, and pet her nicely and all told me about their dogs. It was very cute. Then finished getting across (staying out of the way of a couple of softball practices.) and then headed back for six fetch throws. Yoshi walk. Uneventful. Two joggers were coming up behind them, and Terri put him in a sit and he just watched them run by with no reaction at all. (He's not very human-reactive at all unless it's in his house or they startle him.)

Thu Nov 3

Trek Krusi Park. Went right at 5pm. I think going around 4pm might be a little easier. Got all the way across. The grass is long at the start but mowed later which made things easier but things are still soft. It's not going to rain for a while so things will dry out. 6 fetch throws.

Yoshi walk. There was a dog on Johnson that crossed the street behind them that they both missed so no drama at all.

Wed Nov 2
Trek Krusi Park
Finally the park is dry enough - mostly still a bit boggy.
We walked in an L pattern then came back and I was able to make a fetch video.
https://youtu.be/EOVGWjsi2Q0

Tue Nov 1
Trek walk. Krusi and Lincoln fields were still closed so we went back to Bay Farm which was less of a struggle since it had dried out some though the grass there is still a little long. We got further than yesterday and came back to a shorter grassy area and did 8 fetch throws. I should check on how the ferry building park is doing too. Yoshi walk. Avoided the resident Australian Shepherd only to run into them again later but it worked out. Yoshi is showing signs of stiffness and I really want to get thermal imaging done to ascertain where he's hurting, but I can't find anyone who does it. I need to check again with Sage and then Animal Care Center in Marin.

Mon Oct 31
Trek Bay Farm walk
Both softball fields (Krusi and Lincoln) were closed because they were muddy. Shoreline Park at Bay Farm wasn't that great either, but we went down a little ways, then came back and did around 6 fetch tosses.

Sat Oct 29
Trek Krusi Park
I've switched back to the K9 Kart because there is no discernable difference between it and the Dewey's Wheels. Their weight is similar because the K9 Kart has the smaller wheels on it and no counterweights. The park is muddy from the rain so it was tough getting across the park with frequent stops, but that's fine. Coming back we only did two fetch tosses and it was maining to help us get back to the car. She's pretty winded. I should continue to keep looking for shorter grass, and keep trying out booties to see if I can get them to work now. Yoshi walk. Barking at a white fluffy dog on the other side of the street. Terri got his attention and things were fine.

Fri Oct 28
Trek PT
Brought her cart in so Emily could see it after I had converted it back to a rear wheeled cart. She recommended narrowing it back because Trek it wobbling too much in it and readding the belly band just for the added support even though it doesn't do anything if there aren't front wheels on the cart. Trek did ok with the treadmill, but she's not really using her back legs that much. Ironically she can use her right left as well as the stronger better working left one. Yoshi walk. I went along with Terri and him. He is walking quite well. We only had to take evasive action for one dog and he did great for that dog. Haven't heard back from Sage if they have a Digital Thermal Imaging camera.

Thu Oct 27
Trek Krusi Park. I went at noon because it's going to rain this afternoon. They were at recess and playing with a chain rattling tetherball which Trek hates. She coped surprisingly well though. I used the Dewey's Wheels to see if it was dramatically better than the K9 Kart. It wasn't, but I'm not sure why as too many factors were different. She would walk a little and stop, just like with the K9 Kart. Still did 8 throws of fetch. the K9 Kart fits her better, but it's a little heavier.

Wed Oct 26
Trek saw Jorge today. She hasn't seen him in a while and he says that if she came more often we might be able to slow the disease down (I had mentioned it was getting worse.) So we're going to bring her in every other week. Next appt is Fri Nov 11th at 8:30am. A little tricky as we then have at 10am appt at Walnut Creek, but that's enough time.) Trek Krusi Park
Second rull walk in the K9 Kart. I still need to widen the left leg hold and raise it just a little (Done.)
Next time I'm going to try the Deweys Wheels for comparison.

Tue Oct 25
Trek Krusi Park
First full week in the K9 Kart. I put the two rope on it. and I raised it a little. Her left leg swings out. The right leg looks fine. I need to adjust the left leg loop out some. We got across the park ok w/ a couple of stops, but moving decently in that cart. Did 8 fetch tosses.

Sun Oct 23
Side by side testing of Dewey's Wheels, K9 Kart, and Eddie's Wheels.
We went to Krusi Park which was fairly quiet and we had room to film. It was very interesting. Trek made her preferences crystal clear and taught me a lot. The Eddie's Wheels is like a well-made SUV, the K9 Kart is a nice sedan, the Dewey's wheels is a sporty coupe. I as a human, would choose SUV, Sedan, then Coupe. She, on the other hand, as a still active, very particular, small Corgi, prefers: Coupe, Sedan, SUV.

Yoshi walk. Uneventful. One dog on Gibbons. couple of barks and lunges then figured out if he stopped he could eat. Wish he were a little quicker on picking that up.

Sat Oct 22
Trek PT at Canine Rehab. Emily and I spent a fair bit of time messing around with Trek's Dewey's Cart and then she pulled out a K9 Kart that they just had given to them.
In the tank, she's slowing down and Emily added some water to give her more buoyancy which seemed to help.

Yoshi walk. No dogs no drama. Wanted to sniff a running human.

Fri Oct 21
Trek Krusi Park
I raise the cart by a quarter inch and it seems to be helping her feel clear. I could raise it even more but the rails won't be level then. She's getting tired more easily but we got all the way across and then back for 8 fetch throws. I'm going to have to find a place with shorter grass but this is ok for now.

Thu Oct 20

Yoshi walk. Generally peaceful we backed off a short way down a side street to let an approaching dog passby. He earned some treats in the process.

Trek Krusi Park. The days are getting shorter and we're running into the school's baseball practice which takes up most of the field, so we went over and parked at the tennis courts. I was going to walk around the circumference of the tennis courts, but part of the field became available so we joined another family on the field. Walked part of the way across the field and then played fetch for 6 throws. She's having a harder time walking so I may have to rethink Krusi, but it's ok for now.

Wed Oct 19
Scheduled Trek with Jorge for next Wed at 9am.

Looking for a better flat bed for Trek.
Pet Food Express to start with. Their memory foam beds are too large so I came back with a good crate pad with study rounded sides.
Drs Foster and Smith have the ones I want in varying sizes.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+1+11792+8702&pcatid=8702
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3307+1+11792+22929&pcatid=22929

Yoshi walk. Went over to Lincoln Park. Barked at one dog who was crossing in front of us at Fountain. I picked him up to see if he would settle down faster and then I turned around so he could see the dog and he settled down right then.
We did some rally work in the park which went well and then he said hi to a couple of kid fans who were thrilled to pet him. Then we walk through the park and didn't see a dog until the very end and he started barking at that one too so I picked him up and told him he was being silly. He didn't settle down about that one until the dog was walking away outside of his bubble.
Then we walked down Garfield and things were fine until we were crossing High St and bad timing would have two which fluffy dogs appear right where we were going. Fortunately I had time to pick him up again in the middle of the street and carry him across High and across Lincoln. The owner of the other dogs stopped fortunately.

I'm disappointed that Yoshi is still reactive to approaching dogs even if we understand his issues well.

Trek Krusi Park
We have to hustle because I want to see the debates tonight. Went to Lincoln Park this time and walked across and back but it's a much shorter distance. Played fetch for 6-8 tosses. She was winded, but functional.

Mon Oct 17
Trek Washington Park. This time I parked at the dog park and we went over to the nice grass that is beside the tennis courts. It's a little thick in places and she needed help in places and we did argue about the goose poop munching but we got all the way over to the duck pond which is a surprise sind we couldn't get anywhere close to there last time we went. It's possible the dog park parking lot is a little closer than the main lot. We looped back to where we started out and did 8 fetch tosses. It turned out nicer than I thought though I think I tired her out.

Yoshi walk. I'm off work for a bit so it will be me doing both walks. We didn't see any dogs at all and he was moving very well and dragging me back home. Terri thinks that his back is no longer bothering him and the weather is nice and cool. Not bad for 13.

Sat Oct 15
Trek PT
She isn't using her back legs to step forward that much. She didn't at all at first and then she started using it more. I didn't have a camera which is really annoying, but it's not that subtle. I'll see Emily next Saturday and we can talk about cart adjustments. If I raise the seat too high then her leg gets pulled out wards and she can't use it that well and it can get caught in the wheel.

Yoshi walk
We didn't see anyone save for a runner till we got to Central. Then things got interesting. We were following two slow moving small dogs and I was contemplating what to do (I was considering carrying him past the dogs) when they crossed paths with two medium-sized white dogs. I have just crossed the street and doubled back to go up a side street. He barked once but I told him he was being stilly and he got ahold of himself after a treat.

Stopped to talk to my neighbor Renate while we were hiding behind a car to avoid a dog walking on the other side of the street. She was wondering if Yoshi couldn't smell the dog. That's a good question. He obviously can, but there isn't an obvious target and he's very visually focused.

Thu Oct 13

Trek Krusi Park

The ground was much drier, so it was easier for her and we could take advantage of the recently cut grass. Got across the park with her doing much of the walking herself at the end.
One problem w/ the cart saddle is that pulling it up higher makes her feet go wider which is ineffective and dangerous as they can go into the wheel, so I let her left foot go lower - it drags some, but it is functional that was. 6 fetch throws.
We saw LabX Truffle and Colleen this time with her partner Andy (we had seen them them very recently). Trek really likes Andy. Trek went right up to him and was happy to hang out while I went back to the car for something. Colleen says that dogs always seem to like him.

Wed Oct 12

Trek Krusi Park

They watered the grass and Trek had a hard time moving through it. I carried the cart a little and we got across and nearly all the way back before we found a dry spot for 8 fetch throws.

Tue Oct 11
Trek status
Last week she tested with no feeling in her right foot and significantly diminished feeling in her left rear. Though I can still get a tickle response in both feet. I don't like doing the deep pain tests.
She is getting less feedback about needing to poop as she's pooped in the house three times when she was excited about someone coming in the door or going outside. Nothing we can't manage yet, but she's going to have to start wearing a doggy diaper soon. When she later loses urine continence she'll have to wear a human diaper.

Trek Krusi Park walk
She had to stop to poop (in the cart) halfway across. No big deal, but I give her a chance to pee/poop before putting her in the cart and if she needs to she usually does it then. I'll try giving her more time.

The grass had been cut, but she's still needing help getting across and I had to look around for a shorter grassy area for fetch though we did work in 8 tosses.

Yoshi walk. Very energetic. On Court, guy with a nearly white Labrador looking dog passed in front of them. Yoshi barked even though the dog was quite a distance away. The rest was fine.

Sat-Sun Oct 8-9
I was in Seattle so Terri had dog duty.

On Sunday Trek got a Krusi Park walk.

Yoshi walk. No dogs, they were walking at 10am.

On Saturday it was too hot to go on a walk for either dog.

Thu Oct 6
Trek walk. We went to Washington Park this time. The grass there is much shorter and she found walking in the first part of the park pretty easy. I carried her over to the next part which leads to the duck pond but that's nearly all dirt and it was too hard for her so we went back to the first part and played some fetch and chatted with Mark and his dachshund Eggy. I don't think Trek really appreciated Eggy. She started barking at her (though I encouraged it at first as play, but it felt like she wanted her to go away but that might not be true at all as she'll play that way too.

Yoshi walk. Barked at a dog right out the door, but the rest was ok. They go all the way to Central these days. He had more bounce in his step today. More energetic.

Wed Oct 5

Trek walk. The longer grass is becoming more of a pain and I carried her through some of it. She moves fine on the shorter grass sections. 8 fetch throws.

Tue Oct 4
Trek Krusi Park. Baseball practice was going on in two fields, so we started out on the Mound St entrance, went diagonally over to where we usually head, then went back on our usual path (since one practice was winding up) and then went over closer to Mound St for 8 fetch throws. She does fantastic where the grass is short, but I have to tow her through where the grass is long.

Yoshi walk. Again at noontime. One medium-size fluffy white dog walking away from there on Gibbons that he decided to bark at briefly which is unusual, but maybe his prejudice against fluffy white dogs is showing up again.

I'm realizing that if he could, Yoshi would be a total Trump fan. Sigh.

I was worried about getting time to walk Trek during Daylight Savings. Ha ha ha. I'm going to be unemployed until next mid Jan so I shouldn't of worried. Sigh.

Mon Oct 3

Trek Krusi Park. Arrow the Border Collie who tried to pee on her car last time was there, but kept his distance - his people help out with that also. Grass is getting longer, but we got across and did 6 fetch tosses.

Yoshi walk. Terri is now walking him at noon. Today it rained some but they survived. No dogs, very quiet.

Sat Oct 1
Trek walk at Bay Farm
Started out as you might expect and ...
Call me Kite Lyft. This is Shelly [I posted a photo], who is a kite surfer. I was walking Trek over on Bay Farm where I saw a Kite on the rocks with the person out in the water trying to get it off the rocks. She wasn't struggling, so I and others watched for a while, but it was gusting wind and the fire department showed up and talked her out of trying to swim all the way back to Crown Beach towing it (they would just have to come out again). By that time, she was back on land, and I had put two and two together and offered her a ride back to Crown Beach. (The cops would have if I hadn't offered.)

Trek and I got in a full walk while the drama was working itself out but as Shelly came out of the water I cut our fetch to five throws and took her back to the car and drove down to where they were.

Yoshi walk. One dog approaching on Lincoln just before they turned off that he took a few seconds to bark at until Terri distracted him.

Thu Sep 29
Trek Krusi Park. We got there early and the school's baseball practice was in full swing using most of the field. We instead went out to the tennis courts and walked around them, which is harder because I have to carry her over all of the asphalt paths and then we found an unused corner of the field to do 8 fetch throws. As the days shorten, finding space to walk is going to be a challenge.

Tue Sep 27
Trek Krusi Park. I'm having to put a bit harder to get her through the taller grass section. She got tired sooner, so I kept it to 6 fetch throws.
I was to redesign her cart saddle, but I'm not sure which material would be best.

Trek PT

She isn't using her back legs to step forward that much. She didn't at all at first and then she started using it more. I didn't have a camera which is really annoying, but it's not that subtle. I'll see Emily next Saturday and we can talk about cart adjustments. If I raise the seat too high then her leg gets pulled out wards and she can't use it that well and it can get caught in the wheel.

Yoshi walk

We didn't see anyone save for a runner till we got to Central. Then things got interesting. We were following two slow moving small dogs and I was contemplating what to do (I was considering carrying him past the dogs) when they crossed paths with two medium-sized white dogs. I have just crossed the street and doubled back to go up a side street. He barked once but I told him he was being stilly and he got ahold of himself after a treat.

Stopped to talk to my neighbor Renate while we were hiding behind a car to avoid a dog walking on the other side of the street. She was wondering if Yoshi couldn't smell the dog. That's a good question. He obviously can, but there isn't an obvious target and he's very visually focused.

Mon Sep 26

Trek Krusi Pak

Trek sometimes gets a lot of attention, though I'm sure she's mostly silently watched from afar, However Monday was an exception as we had just started walking across Krusi Park with me walking backwards helping tow her cart through the grass when a runner about 70' away shouted: "THAT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!" Touched, I thanked him and he continued on.
Got across the park and played fetch on that side. A Border Collie named Arrow came charging up, rudely sniffed her and then tried to pee on her cart. I pushed him away in time.

Fri Sep 23
Yoshi walk at Krusi Park. Trek had PT today, so for fun I took Yoshi to Krusi Park. We started from the more open area on Mound St and wandered over to the school playground and did some Rally work both on the asphalt and on the grass. He was rusty at first, but caught on rapidly. i really need to start taking him to classes again, but Trek takes so much time, though I can probably squeeze it in since the classes are at night. Work at a park is good for him though. Saw one dog walking away from us which got a minor growl. The bigger reaction was after we'd gone back across. It was towards an off-leash golden out playing, but the priority was avoiding flying softballs, so I picked him up and didn't worry about his barking (no one else did either.) He was more stating his opinion than anything.

Trek PT. Went fine - made it through ok, though she's obviously tired from it.

Thu Sep 22
Trek Krusi Park. I got home earlier, so Trek and I got out there around 4:45pm. Two of the fields were taken up with baseball practice. So we went on the other side and wound up over by the tennis courts. Did 10 fetch throws and she walked back to the car mostly on her own which was remarkable until I realized she wanted her dinner, but it was still nice to see.

Yoshi walk. Had to steer around some road construction, but otherwise fine.

Wed Sep 21
Trek Krusi Park. They mowed the grass! Much easier. Still tiring for her but I'm having to tow much less though we had to steer around a football practice. (The Touch Rugby people hadn't really gotten started yet. We go across and then went over to a spot that was not quite in the center but more off to the side a fair ways from the car, so I didn't completely exhaust her and helped tow her back (she usually can get back on her own power.) 8 fetch throws.

Yoshi walk. One dog on Central coming right at them. They walked up a driveway. He did bark a couple of times till Terri pulled him away and fed him some treats. He was still harumping after the dog had gone by but nothing serious.

Tue Sep 20
Trek Krusi Park
There was stuff going on in diagonal fields so we walked across in a giant, squared off S curve. I was actually a much longer walk so hence just 6 fetch throws.

Yoshi walk
One dog on the other side of Central That dog was reactive, and the owner wisely stopped and fed his dog treats. Terri did the same for a bit and moved on and that dog only barked when they did that. Yoshi was ok about it. He was briefly surprised by a baby carriage but realized the smell was human and was ok. Stopped and talking briefly with Mom and Yoshi came up to say hello.

Mon Sep 19
Trek Walk. Had the park almost to ourselves save for the small play groups and occasional dog playing fetch. The grass is getting a little long, so I had to help to get us across, but we found a spot for fetch - 8 throws.

Sat Sep 17
Trek Krusi Park walk. Some dodging of softballs because they were pitching slo-ptich style and they can hit it really far that way. What was really unusual today was that there was a group of almost entirely men shouting at each other. I watched for a bit to see if they would start fighting. But they would take it up to that point and then back off. They were off to the side so easy enough to ignore. We got all the way across and then headed over to the other side to avoid them and softballs and talk to some other dog people one who wanted to say hello to Trek and I let her throw Trek's toy for her, and we all noticed that someone had called the police about the argument men.

I got the person catching balls for the softball people to give us safe passage from the flying softballs (they were taking a break any way. Then I noticed the officers walking back to their cars which were right beside mine so we detoured to cross paths and sure enough: "Aw, is that a Corgi?" We stopped to say hello to Officer Alyssa and Officer Mike. She grew up around Corgis and she spent some time petting and saying Trek. Trek gets a lot of attention when she's in her cart (she does anyway) and I don't know what she thinks of it. As long as they're nice to her she doesn't seem to mind much.

Thu Sep 15
Trek Krusi Park
Remarkably she's getting stronger in her cart. They may have mowed the grass but she's pulling her cart very well and didn't need a lot of help with me towing. We did 8 fetch throws.

Yoshi walk. Saw one dog that he half-heartedly barked at and was happily distracted by Terri talking to him.

Wed Sep 1

Trek walk Krusi Park. Touch rugby had taken over our usual route so we went in from the other side 90 degrees away. She's not always happy when I rearrange things like this as we found ourselves in some deeper grass but I towed her through it and we got back to shorter grass for 6 fetch throws. We did have Dallas a senior Basset Hound visit us again. Dallas knows exactly how many treats I have in my pocket and his owner has to drag him away.

It's strange for the goal to be sameness, but given that she has a degenerative disease sameness is a good goal.

Yoshi walk. On Gibbon small brown dog was across the street, Yoshi stared at the dog for a bit and turned back to Terri and she praised him lavishly and gave him treats. Rest of the walk was pretty uneventful.

Tue Sep 13
Trek Krusi Park
The grass is getting a little long but we got all the way across with effort and went to the center but had to look around for some shorter grass. Got 5 throws in before she got tire however she didn't seem to have as much trouble dragging herself back to the car - she's getting stronger in front. I let her try some before I start to help tow like I do at the beginning of the walk.

Mon Sep 12
Way cold, so we took the evening off.

Sun Sep 11
Trek walk.
Krusi park was too busy so we went to Lincoln Park and interrupted a soccer practice. Poor Trek had 9 people saying hello to her, but to their credit when I said she was getting a little stressed people lept up to give her space. It was amazing.

But was was more amazing is that about every 25 to 30 children Trek meets one that is completely captivated by her, and ignores everything else just to bond with her. It's like the world completely falls away. Gender doesn't seem to matter. Today she met Peter. Peter completely refuse to go to playing soccer with his friends and instead asked to help walk Trek, so I gave him the rope that is attached to her cart that helps her get through the taller grass of the park. Trek didn't quite know what to think, but she just concentrated on walking towards me.

We walked across the smaller park and then went back to the center to play a little fetch. I let Peter throw it and the first one was a little far but the next were fine. She wasn't quite sure what his role in it as he would run along with her. Sometimes she would bring it to him and other times back to me. Then he helped us walk all the way back to the car (he called out to his friends to notice us walking by) and watched as I took her out of the cart.

Trek who thinks most printers and DVD drives are entirely too noisy, approves of the new Epson XP-850 printer. It's nice to be able to use it without having to hold her ears shut. (Yes, that works.)

Wed Sep 7
Trek had a surprisingly good visit with her Chiropractor Ziji. Trek's muscle tone is much improved from the last time. The difference is that she's now using the cart on walks instead of walking in a twisting gait that was having odd effects on her skeletal alignment.  I was worried that the cart would compromise her movements but that's not the case. I do need help coming up with a belly band. Ziji was thinking that crossing supports underneath her would help.

The break Trek got from my hospital stay actually had a positive effect instead of the negative one I feared.

Yoshi walk. Saw the Cardi who lives on Gibbons across the street and a Jack Russell Terrier who was on the opposite corner. Yoshi barked at the Cardi, until Terri got his attention. The funny thing is that the owner of the JRT put her dog in a stay at the corner and went to say hi to the Cardi. Terri and Yoshi just hung out until they were done and moved on and he never barked at the JRT since he wasn't moving.

Tue Sep 6

Trek Krusi Park. It was getting later and harder to see so took some time to avoid hit softballs but Trek was walking very well today which surprised me because I didn't think the height adjustment was all that great, but it was perfect for her weaker right leg. 8 fetch throws and some hard slogging through the grass (which I helped with by towing her some.)

Mon Sep 5
Trek Bay Farm walk
I had to get her past a picnic which was a pain, but got her to the other end of the park. Another person stopped to say hi to her and then we did 10 throws of fetch and then walked back and it was easier to get past the picnic this time because we were going back to the car.

Yoshi Walk
Dog 1 was a chihuahua type. They stopped to eat treats to let the dog approach and turn down the street.
Dog 2 Santa Clara at Mound, medium sized dog showed up in front of them and continued on.  Yoshi barked 4 times then checked back for treats. I used to not like rewarding this behavior, but he does stop barking, so I told her it's fine to treat and praise him then.

Sun Sep 4
Trek Krusi Park
Dodging softballs. I hate it when adults use the park and hit balls far into the other fields. The park plan is for kids. We got across but had to backtrack way to the side. We did 6 fetch throughs in tallish grass.

Yoshi walk.
He barked right out of the door at a neighbor dog that was barking. This is unusual as he is very fence-wise and knows that dogs behind fences can't get to him. Otherwise no dogs.

Sat Sep 3

Trek PT. She's getting tired easier with her left leg not as strong as it was, but Dana says she still has ok muscle tone in her left leg.

Yoshi walk. FIVE dog encounters. Made for some tough maneuvering, but one of the reactive Irish-setter type dog had a really active, involved trainer which made things easier. Terri has had quite the crash course in being a reactive dog handler over these past few months.

Thu Sep 1
Trek walk Krusi Park. Colder now as the days start to shorten. I'll have to bundle up more. Had to work around a larger baseball practice that was winding up, but we got all the way across and they were gone when we got back to the center for about 6 throws of fetch.
I had to raise her saddle but lowered the back a bit so her feet could still touch the ground.

Tue Aug 30
Trek Krusi Park
First walk after I've gotten out of the hospital. She might be struggling more, but she got all the way across. Then we did 5-6 fetch tosses. Her cart saddle is stretching out which is annoying, but I can pull it up more.

Yoshi walk. One dog at a distance. No issues.

Aug 25 - Aug 29
I was in the hospital with an infected leg. I'm much better now. Terri coped with both dogs and going to see me every so often.

Mon Aug 22
Trek Krusi Park. No one playing softball at all this time so it was really easy to get all the way across and then back to a part with shorter grass for 10 fetch throws. I fear the saddle of her cart is stretching as I had to tighten the straps to make it higher as it was too low.

Yoshi walk. On Santa Clara said hi to Mary Ellen. Yoshi had no issue with the Santa Clara distance. I think in a week he'll be ready to do the usual distance.

Sun Aug 21
Trek Krusi Park
Adults playing on one of the fields which is annoying as they hit further into all the other fields which makes them difficult to steer around but we coped by me towing her through taller grass which she did not like. We did find some shorter grass out of range and did nine fetch tosses. Not the best of times, but we did get some exercise.

Yoshi walk. Went down Johnson Terri saw two dogs, he saw one medium sized dog that she had to help him get through the dog going past. She pulled him back from wanting to charge the dog to turn him around and talked to him and fed him while the dog slowly went by.

Sat Aug 20

Trek PT. She's getting tired easier, but still holding up ok.
I asked Emily about why Trek can stand when I touch her hips and press in, but not up. She tells me that the touching increases the neurological input which opens up the nerve pathways that DM has compromised. I told her about how I was using a Ginger Lead in the backyard when she urinated to help her hold position which helps keep her from peeing all over her leg.
She also told me that when they press on the top and bottom of the base of a partially paralyzed dog's tail the dog can walk better.

Yoshi walk. He's definitely doing better. Sneaking up onto the bed with no effort. Today we walked around the block via Santa Clara which is further than he's been all month.

Thu Aug 18

Trek Krusi Park. I forgot her main harness so had to make due with the cart harness which doesn't do well on its own. I towed her across the part and then did a little bit of fetch then took her out of the cart and let her make her way back to near the car where I carried her back to it.

Yoshi walk. No dogs only people. They walked part of the way down Johnson. Yoshi is obviously doing better so they are going to start walking further.

Wed Aug 17

Trek Krusi Park. Adjusted the front of the saddle a little higher. The rear part of the saddle can pull her lefts too wide if it's too high. We got across the part fin (they mowed the grass), then back to the center for 10 fetch throws and back to the car.

Tue Aug 16

Trek Krusi Park I was setting Trek up in her cart for a walk across the park. Lots of activity at the park, so a lot of stuff has nothing to do with us. I hear "She's looking right at me." probably nothing to do with us I think. Then I hear a very young child's voice say with perfect pronunciation. "Your dog is very cute, and she has a very cute wheelchair." No child has ever said that to Trek and I look up to say "thank you" and I'm looking at a 4 year old girl standing beside probably her father who is in a wheelchair. Trek was looking at him and he said "We're having a bonding moment." Ha ha. Works for me.

Mon Aug 15
Trek walk. I wanted to see if I could get her to walk in the Ginger Lead for longer than just wandering around. Not really. I put the leash on her collar and pretty much dragged her down the length of the small park and back. Then I put her in the cart and we played fetch for about 6-7 throws.

Yoshi walk Lincoln to Court and turned around - no dogs. Seems to be walking ok now that we took him off of Gabapentin. We're going to start extending his walks. He is really bummed about not being allowed up on things and sneaks up on the bed whenever we forget to shut the door.

Sun Aug 14
Trek Krusi Park
We went across the park in our more usual way, but this time I filmed it. I'm hoping to see if her cart is set to a good height. Did 7 or so fetch throws.

Yoshi is back from his trip with Terri. He was pretty over-stimulated the whole time as Terri's mom is in the Sierra foothills so there are deer and turkeys just to start with. He slept most of the day so didn't want a walk. Though was still determined to hop up on the bed when we weren't looking and we're only half-way through the month of reduced activity.

Fri Aug 12
I'm on my own till Sunday afternoon as Terri is going to go see her mom. She is taking Yoshi so we're splitting the dog workload which makes things much easier. She rigged up a tied down crate in the back of the Prius.

They're there now and Terri says that Yoshi is totally loving her Mom's rug.

Yoshi is less ataxic without the Gabapentin. Now we're wondering if taking Trek off of it would help her too. The problem is that gabapentin really helps what we think is a pins and needles feeling in her front foot. Gabapentin is very good at calming misfiring nerves down (main use is for epilepsy control and for nerve pain),  but the price is that the nerves are slower (I know this from personal experience too). We're going to reduce Trek to 2 a day (she's now at three) by removing her morning dose and see what happens.

Trek walk. Tried Lila's Eddie's Wheels cart.
Much more rear support, but she can't push with her rear legs much at all and has to use mostly her front legs. Still made it all the way across the park, but only did three fetch throws and she's usually good for nine.

So it's a mixed result. With Eddie's Wheels, no energy wasted on side to side motion, so any energy put into moving the cart forward moves it very well going forwards, but it doesn't allow much push with the legs in the rear. So, for Trek, it's Dewey's Wheels for now.

Thu Aug 11
Trek Krusi Park. Got all the way across the park, but I'm having to pull more. Fetch went ok. Finally started counting. Nine tosses.
I think this weekend I'll try her in the Eddie's Wheels cart to see what the differences are. Have to bring a video camera.

Yoshi walk. Went fine. He and another dog were on opposite sides of the street and Yoshi was fine until the other dog lost it. Then Yoshi joined in the barking.

Wed Aug 10
Trek Krusi Park. We had to steer around a rugby practice but they were just getting started so we still were able to cut across their field. I did wind up pulling her more through the taller grass. Fetch still went fine. I should start counting the number of fetches before she gets tired so I can see when there's a decline.

Yoshi walk. They went down Gibbons and turned around. One big black dog that created quite the Yoshi barking fit for a bit. He is getting more ataxic and is having trouble being steady on his feet and going up a step when we let him. I've decided to take him off of Gabapentin to see if that helps.

Tue Aug 9
Trek Krusi Park. While we still got all the way across the park out of the cart (with me towing some), she's not walking as well in the rear, even though fetch went fine. I'm wondering if I should try her in the Eddie's wheels one. I'm thinking she's not disabled enough for it, but if we're not going to use it I should give it back to Lila, so I need to try her in it again.

Yoshi walk. Went the opposite direction for fun. They went down Gibbons almost to Santa Clara and then turned around. His injury showed up on July 30, so we have to get all the way through this month before he can get some real exercise. At least it doesn't have to be strict crate rest.

Mon Aug 8
Trek Krusi Park. Got all the way across without nearly getting beaned by a baseball or softball as no one was practicing. Fetch was fun.

Yoshi walk. No dogs. Lots of pets from one girl.  They went all the way around the block which is further than he's been. He got a little tired but he seems ok now even snuck up on the bed when I wasn't looking. We've been keeping him off of high places during this 30 day rest period.

Sun Aug 7
Trek Krusi Park. It was earlier in the day so there were some people practicing. One group was adults so I steered way around them only to hear "Heads up" in the other direction. I had to pull Trek out of the way of the approaching ball. It was a little close. They were apologetic though we were kind of close to them. We just did a little bit of fetch.

Sat Aug 6

Took Trek to her PT at Muller Canine Rehab. I made a timeline for them to gauge her DMs progress as it's easy for us all to lose track.
The basics are
Mar 2014 - First Neuro exam, no DM symptoms
July 2014 - Leg/Paw reposition delay shows up in a neuro proprioception test (no symptoms)
Mar 2015 - DM symptoms first start to show
Sep 2015 - Consult with Neuro Dr. Schwartz - DM 1st choice, disc 2nd
Mar 2016 - DM symptoms obvious
Jun 2016 - Lost full use of her right rear leg, left rear still 75% functional, scoots around on her right rear hip.
July 2016 Her walks are only on grass using a cart mostly.

Emily adjusted her cart to raise her right leg up more, so it doesn't get in the way of the left leg but while still able to touch the ground.

Yoshi walk
We went to just past Johnson and turned around. There was a dog walking by across the street right out of the house door (bark bark bark), and then on the way back we had the same effect of another golden walking by right in front of him. He was pretty unhappy about the second one, so I carried him for a little while to get him to chill out. Both times, from his perspective, the dog appeared out of nowhere.

Thu Aug 4
Trek Krusi Park. Kind of did the reverse of what we did a couple of days ago which was to get all the way across and then head to one of the other sides diagonally, then back to the center for some fetch and then make her slog on her own back to the car.

Yoshi in the yard, bolted to the end of the leash in squirrel pursuit, but no mishaps.
Later he walked down the block and back and was ok.

Wed Aug 3
Trek Krusi Park. I tried to just use the cart with only the regular cart harness and not her own one to help secure it and it just doesn't work that well, so I need to use them together. We got all the way across and back to the center threw her toy about three times before another dog owner came to scratch Trek and it was all over then. Trek would have let her do that forever. We went back to the car sans cart and just scooting (me carrying it.)

I took Yoshi down the block and back. He's walking tentatively, but he's doing mostly ok though we will have to be careful with him for at least a month.

Tue Aug 2
Trek Crab Cove walk. Steered around a lot of Pokeman Go players, but she got a fair bit of attention too. I first went to the other side of the park but they hadn't mowed recently so bailed and went over to Crab Cove. Walked over to the water and down beside the bike path and then went off it a bit and played fetch for a while and walked back. She was sulking and wanted to go back to the car at first but once we got going she was fine.

Yoshi went on a very brief down the block and back. He's walking normally, but he is full of drugs.

Mon Aug 1
Dr. Chuck Walls (Sage Orthopedist) was nice enough to call me about Yoshi.
He took a look at Yoshi's X-ray. Nothing too terrible sticks out
Some not serious narrowing between:

• L-4 and L-5
• L-5 and L-6

Some possible spondylosis (age-related deterioration) between L-1 and L-2.

It can take 6-8 weeks to heal (typical of soft tissue in my own experience)
No jumping up or down
Gentle walks ok
If DM he won't improve
He was encouraged to hear that Yoshi was already acting better.

Cancelling the appt on the 8th and will reconvene later if necessary.

Trek Krusi Park
She's doing better with me towing some. We got all the way across the park and then went diagonally to a different side and then back to the center for some fetch. She did quite well.

Yoshi is bored silly. I think he can do a short walk tomorrow.

Sun Jul 31
Yoshi is already acting better. Funny moment was I was still in bed when Terri took him out in the morning and I feel this thunk of a Corgi on the bed and then I hear "Don't let him on the bed." Ah, well.

I had made an appt on the 8th for Yoshi to see Chuck Walls but he called me tomorrow (see above).

Sat Jul 30
Yoshi's is clearly moving slowly and not feeling that great. I took him to Sage Concord because I wanted their expertise. Dr. Colleen McCoy took X-rays. The good news is there is no sign of a corn cob at all so no emergency surgery. and no sign of arthritis in his knees. The bad news is he is showing signs of lower back pain. Pain means possible disc issue, but it's not DM then. She wants him on crate rest for 4 weeks.
He is now on Rimadyl and gabapentin.

He's been slow about going up the stairs at night for a while and he has been showing a proprioception deficit in his left rear for a couple of months. If he gets worse in the next 12-24 hours it is considered an emergency and we have to immediately go back, but since he's been showing symptoms for a while now that's not likely. I have a week of Rimadyl and got a paper Rx for the gabapentin. We'll get the rest of the Rimadyl from Park Centre who price-matches 800-pet-meds when I remember to ask. Later I went to Walgreens and picked up the gabapentin.

We went over Leo's, Sophia's Cardigan's dramatic disc injury (5-12-15) and surgery. Details here http://thedailyleonidas.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

Trek Krusi Park. Only dogs and their owners there. Nice and peaceful got all the way across with me towing her through the grass then played fetch for a while. I keep thinking I should lower her legs, so she can have better ground contact and I have some, but they drag then. She's on grass so it might not matter.

Fri Jul 29
Yoshi walk. Very, very slow with a depressed affect. We only went part of theway down Johnson and turned around. I am concerned about him.

Thu Jul 28
Trek Bay Farm Walk. It was beautiful there but she didn't want to walk too much even with me towing her, so we went part of the way came back and had a very nice game of fetch (which is what she wanted.)
Yoshi walk. Lost it when a Corgi appeared in front of him when he was walking down his driveway, but recovered and was able to cope with a Husky walking down the other side of the street later (with the application of a couple of treats.)

Wed Jul 27
Trek walk, Tied a rope to both front sides of her cart and it worked great for helping her to get through the taller grass. Though this time we were dodging softballs, but it worked out in the end.

Yoshi walk. Uneventful. One dog across the street. Just a brief stare but no reaction.

Tue Jul 26
Trek Krusi Park. For a moment I've given up on the Walkabout Rear Harness and put her back in the cart. Why didn't I think of this before? I go to all sorts of effort to find short grass for Trek to walk on in her cart, but there are always taller spots of grass. This time I attached the leash to the cart and helped by pulling the cart through the thicker spots while she walked along. Consider it "power assisted" wheels. It worked great! Though now I want to figure out how to pull from the center of the cart instead of the front side.

Yoshi walk. GSD walked via a bike on Central that caught his attention and Terri distracted him with a treat long enough for said GSD to pass by.

Mon Jul 25
Trek Krusi Park. She wasn't that interested in walking in the harness but she was happy to flail about playing fetch. Probably going to have to go back to the cart. Wonder if I can devise a way to pull it along and help her.

Yoshi nabbed a corncob and at off the end of it - less than 1/2". He did throw it up later, but who knows if that's the end of it.

Sat Jul  23
Trek PT. She's going slower. Now at 1.5 mph. Still hanging in there.
Took Yoshi to Krusi Park when it was quiet. There were dogs around some so we did a focus on me exercise while a dog walked by. He wears a harness and I have my hands through the harness neck/shoulder collar with one hand on each side of his face. When he barks at the dog I swivel his head back to me and talk to him. It worked ok.
Did some great Rally work out on the field. He can go in a competition again any time.
Might take him to Half Moon Bay to see what the grass looks like for Trek.

Then I had a Spanish-speaking kid walking a dog on a flexi who didn't understand "my dog is not friendly," so i just picked up a barking Yoshi, and the kid got the message. I don't remember how to say that in Spanish, but I did get "Lo Siento" out.

Fri Jul 22
Trek Washington Park walk. Less arguing this time. I chose a more interesting, less noisy place which helped. She still isn't that entirely thrilled but I think she's learning that is helps her mobility. The bummer is she can't do as much fetch though (6 throws).

Thu Jul 21
Trek Walk. OMG what a pain she was this time. Three different parks. First two Krusi and Lincoln were too noisy and she just wanted to run (crawl) back to the car. Went over to Bay Farm which was nearly silent, but she didn't want to walk in the harness. Maybe we just need more practice with it though she's done fine with it in the past. I want her to get used to it because she has limited time before her back left leg stops working that well and she will only have the cart to use then. She has more freedom of movement in the harness. Maybe she's rather the Ginger Lead which is just around her belly, but I don't see how that could be that comfortable over a distance though it's fine in the backyard. I got frustrated so I just sat down on a bench and let her just chill out. We did do a little fetch but not much.

Yoshi walk went just fine. Avoided a fluffy white dog but that was it.

Wed Jul 20
Yoshi walk. Evaded a labrador, but otherwise uneventful.

Trek Krusi Park. This time I decided to try the Walkabout rear harness my thinking is time is ticking on how long she'll be able to use her left rear leg, so I may as well have her use it as much as she can. We got all the way across the park and did a little fetch in the center and then put her back in the walkabout to go back to the car. I don't know if this is any better as she gets a lot of exercise in the cart, but I think she's freer in the harness and doesn't get hung up on tall grass. I use the walkabout on her rear with a leash on her collar so I half drag her across, but she's mostly agreeable.

Wonder if I could train her to do rally using it. Might be tough, but she wouldn't be fighting tall grass then.

Tue Jul 19
Trek Krusi Park
It was too busy on the softball fields so we went over to the tennis courts on the grass under the trees which was fine and not too tall. Had to carry her over a couple of paved paths, but we went to the front area and played fetch there which worked surprisingly well and it was much quieter over there.

Mon Jul 18
Trek Krusi Park. Buzzed by a young something-oodle who was enthusiastic but harmless. The park was nearly empty, so we could find the path across the park where the grass was the shortest. It's funny, as soon as the grass gets longer she stops and has to really pull. What she needs is a putting green. Did an extended fetch session which she enjoyed.

Yoshi walk. Terri had to do evasive action for a couple of passing dogs. She goes up the driveway and gets him to focus on her, but just as the dog is passing, he loses it for a few moments barking then snaps back to focus on her.

Sun Jul 17
Trek and I went to Bay Farm and walked the length of the park and back for some fetch, we came back on the path by the water which was a little easier for her. We saw two separate parties playing Pokeman Go in the exact same spot at different times.

Sat Jul 16

I got the Assisi Loop PEMF batteries replaced on my fourth attempt. I was sure I had broken it, but the other battery I had gotten from Al Lasher's was the problem as once I replaced it with a battery I had ordered online, it started to work. The other battery is one that Al Lasher's replaced with a newer battery but that origin is unknown too. The one on the right has tabs and the one on the left just has a lot of solder on the bottom and the top lead just just folded over enough to make it connect. Fortunately, I can order batteries with tabs online and there are You Tube videos on how to solder directly to the batteries. I roughed up the surface with a screwdriver, but I've learned you can use sandpaper,

Trek now has her PEMF loop again, and I've learned a lot.

Trek walk. Krusi Park. Place was deserted and we made it all the way across the park with only a bit on hard slogging in the taller grass sections. wonder if I can get bigger tires for it or pneumatic ones. We had a slightly extended fetch session which she very much enjoyed.

Yoshi walk. Completely uneventful. He marches to the pace of an internal metronome like a wind up toy unless he smells something, then it's full stop and check it out, then back to his march, though sometimes he will break out running for 3 houses or so.

Fri Jul 15

Still trying to solder in the batteries on Trek PEMG unit. The batteries with solderable tabs don't seem to be able to successfully run the unit even though they are the correct voltage.

Thu Jul 14

Cancelled Trek's VPI policy. Hope we don't regret it.

Trek walk - went to Bay Farm.

I forgot her harness so I just used the cart harness by itself which doesn't work as well. We walked the length of that park, turned around and I took her out of the cart and we played some fetch which she still can do.

Yoshi walk. Going down Santa Clara. Small terrier type coming right at them. They went up a driveway, Terri fed him some treats. Yoshi barked a couple of times them turned back for another treat

Tue Jul 12
Trek cart walk. Krusi Park was too busy, so we went to Bay Farm Shoreline Park and the grass short enough for her to manage pretty well. I think she's getting better at it, and I'm getting more patient. We walked the length of a section of the park, turned around and then played fetch for a little while before heading back.

Yoshi walk. Uneventful. Two dogs in the distance, but they turned off before there was any issue.

Mon Jul 11
Trek walk. Our way through the short grass was blocked by practice so we worked our way over to a different section and played fetch for a while, and then I carried her part of the way over to the tennis courts and then let her work her way back to the car with me carrying her over the paved sections. She's going to need motorized assist wheels soon - wish they existed.

Yoshi walk. Lots of pet from the girls down the street but no dog sightings.

Sat Jul 9
Trek PT
She's still at 1.6mph for 10 min. With regular treats she does great. What she needs is a peanut butter kong or something else to lick. Though Terri observes that it changes her gait so maybe the eat, fall back, come forward to eat again is working well enough.

Normal walk for Yoshi. He really enjoys just trotting along almost running, and then he'll spin to sniff something. for me he was often slow but for Terri he moves right along.

Fri Jul 8
Trek acupuncture. Went well. He used electrodes attached to the needles. I can't tell if it's having an effect or not.

Trek walk. We went over to Bay Farm Shoreline park. I wrapped her back feet. She still didn't want to walk on the bike path. I think because it's too hard on her left front foot. We did get some fetch in. When we got back home I tried wrapping her front foot and that seems to help her front foot stability, and I'm kicking myself for not trying it months before.

Yoshi walk. Saw a yellow lab getting in a car which upset Yoshi and he barked and by the time Terri was able to distract him the lab was gone. Trouble with this is when that happens, Mr. Y thinks he successfully made the lab go away. Ah well.

Thu Jul 7
Trek Krusi Park. Grass is getting longer, so I'm no longer insisting she go all the way across especially since I have her using the cart now. We walk to the center and then play some fetch till her legs start to give out and she looks tired.

Wed Jul 6
Trek Krusi Park. Walking in the grass is getting harder for her but we still made it to the center and walked around the cut grass areas and then played some fetch. Terri is wondering if she will walk on concrete so I then wrapped her back feet to find out. As usual, if she's going back to her car then she'll walk over anything. Walking away from it is less compelling to her. I should just carry her in the backpack and then let her walk back to the car. That and fetch is what works. I think we're stuck with playing fetch for quite a while which is not a terrible thing.
I do have to get her more comfortable on hard surfaces but the worn parts on her feet are just starting to grow back and I want to see that further along.


Yoshi walk. No dogs, no drama.

Tue Jul 5
Trek walk. Krusi was too busy so we went to Lincoln Park. Didn't do as much walking but got some good fetch in. Walking back she started to trot on the concrete before I stopped her and moved her to the grass. She seemed fine about it which is different, so I'll have to get booties on her and give it a try.

Yoshi walk. Terri had gone up a driveway to let another dog pass by and the other person unbelievably let his dog on a flexi approach Yoshi who had been barking at him, but had stopped, and was completely surprised when the other dog came with in 6 inches for a sniff and moved on. I am relieved that that's all that happened.

Mon Jul 4
Happy Dog Hell Day
Trek Krusi Park cart walk. Just concentrated on walking the mown grass areas, so we didn't go all the way across, but instead we did some heeling to see what's possible. She can heel though she shouldn't do heads up heeling. She can weave, go in a circle, can stop. Can't lie down though I could teach her. I haven't asked her to back up, but she might be able to learn. She can do out. BUT the deal killer is the length of the grass. If it's too long it just won't work so I have to decide whether to take the risk of entering her. Probably should just choose to enter one class if at all. She was tired after heeling and some fetch.

Yoshi walk. They saw a hunting Cooper's Hawk and a lot of crows. No dogs. Lots of people on the 4th.

The plan for Yoshi (Trek doesn't care about fireworks) was to drive around for the 4th, but instead I watched the Juno approach and then Jurassic Park III. Yoshi slept through the whole thing. Years of living by the coliseum are having an effect it seems.

Sun Jul 3

I need to groom and bath both dogs. Terri brushed Yoshi and I brushed Trek and then I bathed both of them. Squeezed in a walk for Yoshi before Bill and Diane came over.

Sat Jul 2
We went kayaking in the Elkhorn Slough to see otters and harbor seals and a lot of birds. Jan came over and let the dogs out at noon.

Fri Jul 1

Trek PT in Walnut Creek. She's down to 1.6 mph in a rear harness for 10 min, but she gets through it ok. I showed Tech Dana the counterweighted cart and she took photos of it.

Thu Jun 30
Trek Krusi Park. I took one fishing weight off so it's down to 2 4oz weights as a counterbalance.
I didn't insist we walk all the way across the park, but only went 2/3 and back to the center for some fetch. She may be favoring her front leg some so I should be careful.

She did see to be interested in doing a little rally. I'll have to see if it's something she'd be interested in. There is a WCR trial coming up in Aug that she could enter. It's outdoors on grass in Half Moon Bay off Hwy 92. I've asked Wendy how long the grass typically is.

Wed Jun 29
Trek Krusi Park in her cart. Still have to beg her to get through the taller grass, but the lower grass is ok but the best is playing fetch. She loves it. Her attitude about the cart is completely different now. I made a video here: https://youtu.be/t1UZJOPhUYA
Her cart harness fits better when I thread it through her harness. I probably should adapt another harness for the purpose and give up on the dewy's one.

Yoshi walk. Came head on with a much bigger dog than yesterday. That dog went up a driveway so they could get by. Terri did have to stop him from a barking frenzy with sitting and eating treats which mostly worked.

Tue Jun 28
The fishing weights came in and I duct taped them to Trek's cart. They worked great. More weight for her, but with the counterbalancing it's less tiring for her. We went all the way across the park with treats and then played a nice game of fetch for a while, then walked back and 3 girls from a softball practice came over and said hello to her. I do need to always have her in her harness as things hold together better when I can thread the attachments through it.

Yoshi walk. They had to do a U-turn to avoid a small fluffy white dog and he got to eat treats while they passed by.

Mon Jun 27
Trek Krusi Park. We had a helicopter doing circles over hwy 880 the entire time we were there. I have some fishing weights on-order to counter-balance her cart so we were there without the cart. We got all the way across the park but it's taking more effort (she used to just run across on her own). I have to get in front of her and call her. Then we go back to the center and play fetch which she still loves.

Yoshi walk. Went ok. Followed a chihuahua-type dog for a bit. A human runner passed him and he picked up speed.


Fri Jun 24
Yoshi walk. One dog running beside a bicycle. He saw it first and started barking. I pulled him "Hey you don't be silly" He looks at me and resumes barking. I repeat my action and words and he relents.

Trek acupuncture and PT. For the acupuncture Trek is going to every three weeks. I so wish we could figure out if it was helping. It seems to for a little while.

The Assisi loop batteries have worn out and they have soldered in the batteries on BOTH sides - jerks. I would have paid $100 to have them replace the batteries, but now I'll just fart around with my soldering iron.

Thu Jun 23
I'm buying fishing weights from Cabela's to try to counter balance Trek's cart.
I tried moving the wheels forward, but she runs her feet over then though it was easier for her to move it around.

Trek Krusi Park.
Working on her cart again.
She's getting better at it but it's too heavy on her from though she still likes to play fetch with it. I've ordered fishing weights to try to counter-balance it. Moving the wheels forward helped but she would then run her feet over.

Yoshi walk. No drama.

Wed Jun 22
Trek Krusi Park. They mowed the grass which makes a big difference. I got her all the way across the part in the cart, then we went back to the center and played some fetch. Then I took her out of the cart and let her run back to the car. I did adjust the saddle which seemed to help.

Yoshi walk. A dog was approaching, so Terri stopped to see what they'd do. The other dog turned on Court and Yoshi who hadn't said anything, then started to bark when he could see them in profile. They were about four houses away.

Tue Jun 21
Trek walk. Terri encouraged me to get her to spend more time in her cart since her way of walking is really tough on her body. So I dragged her part of the way across the field which was its usual miserable experience, but then we went back to the center of the field and played fetch and she actually had a very nice time doing it which is very different. I need to adjust the height of the saddle some as her good leg is too much in the air.

Sun Jun 19
VPI had been giving Trek 0.08 per claim so I started submitting one PT session at a time.
Then we got 0.01 and then 0.00. I think we're done with PT claims for the year. (It starts over next year.)

Yoshi walk. It was hot so while he was walking ok he was way slow and I felt like I was dragging him with the leash.

Trek Krusi park. Just us and another couple with their three dogs. We chatted for a bit. Trek and I got all the way across the park with effort and play fetch very briefly because of the heat, and then headed back.


Sat Jun 18
Trek PT. She walks at 1.6 mph now for 10 min. She was at 2.0, but has started to struggle at that speed. Dana has her walking in a walkabout rear harness which works well.
Yoshi walk: no dogs at all, which was completely weird.

I just realized that Barn Hunt is enclosed. Yoshi could do it if I had the time to train him. Problem is that it's not something I can train at home. He's completely happy with Rally and Nosework training at home.

Fri Jun 17
Yoshi walk a fair bit of evasive action, but no drama. We turned down Johnson to avoid a couple of small dogs approaching and they also turned down Johnson but wisely took the other side of the street and I was able to talk Yoshi through their passing.
Trek Krusi Park. We had the place to ourselves save for a couple of dogs and humans. It was really nice. Got all the way across and a nice game of fetch in the center and walked back.

Thu Jun 16
Yoshi walk. Labrador across the street right as we walked out. Bark bark. Hey stop it (blow air on him.) He turns to me. "Good boy, that's right." Bark. Stop it. Looks at me again. Good Boy (treat) and then he was able to get through it ok. An improvement.

Trek Krusi Park. The far fence was occupied and i wanted to go to my previous work's gathering at a local restaurant, so we just went into the center and played some fetch and headed back.

Wed Jun 15
No walks for dogs as I had to whisk Trek off to see Ziji. She had to say goodbye to her dog Bindi (sp?) on Sunday who had been ailing for a while but it's deeply affected her. She spent a lot of time with Trek showing me lots of ways that I can help her adapt to this new way she's moving around.

Tue Jun 14
Yoshi walk. Had to keep steering around dogs (mostly Goldens), but remarkably he didn't react to any of them I talked him through a couple. One who apologized because we crossed the street for them twice. I think they live on Santa Clara.

Trek Krusi Park. Lots of girls softball going on, but there was room for us. Right as we got to the far fence, I hear "It's a corgi!" I ask "Would you like to say hi to her?" Poof, four teenage girls toss their bats and come running over to say hello. Trek was great about the attention especially when they took the batting gloves off so she could tell they were really human. Then we played some fetch and walked back.

Yoshi's bloodwork is PERFECT. Dr. Applegate tells me that's rare for even an eight-year-old dog, not a nearly 13-year-old one. I think this means we're going to have to work on keeping his mind sharp.

Mon Jun 13
Terri is on vacation with her mom, so I'm on dog duty all this week. I could get help, but Trek requires, so much attention that I would just worry. Although really all she needs is help down and up the stairs, so it would be a pretty easy gig.

I checked with Jan, but she already does the same exact noontime work-to-home back and forth with her dog and birds.

Amazingly I could take Yoshi on a walk (uneventful - everyone is watching basketball) and take Trek to Krusi which was pretty much empty, and still be back in time to watch the last half. We walked all the way across with effort and then played fetch in the center. One woman asked if she was part Husky. Er, well I could sort of see her point, but I told her that Trek was a corgi. Trek is having more trouble holding the position to pee. Holding her in place using the Ginger Lead helps a lot.

Sun Jun 12
Busy day. I think Yoshi got a walk.

Sat Jun 11

Yoshi to Park Centre for his 2:30 tech appt. for a senior screen blood test and urinalysis. I've been concerned about him, so I'm glad we're doing it.

His weight is 22.4 which is less than it was last time we were there, but still too much as he should be 21 pounds. Managed not to come nose to nose with a dog. We are $295.00 poorer.

Trek walk. Krusi Park. Very quiet. No softball games going on. We got all the way across but her two legged bouncing is getting less reliable. Then some fetch which she still loves. then just hung out and enjoyed the peace, and walked back.

Fri Jun 10
Trek had her PT walk in the water today - Terri says it went as it usually does - Trek in a rear harness holding her up. I need to bug Terri about recording it, but I'm so grateful for her help that I hate to be a pain, but I want to see how she's doing.

So Yoshi is the one that gets a walk. Talked him through one dog passing by. Twice he wanted to lunge but I prevented him from doing so and just kept talking to him. "Good boy, that's right, Hey you stop that , Good boy...."

Thu Jun 9
Trek Krusi Park. We were back on Mound St. I actually completely forgot her treats, but she was happy enough to play some fetch for a while and then we sat and watched softball for a while and headed back. It's a nice way for us to spend time together.

Yoshi walk. One white lab walking towards him, Terri moved up a driveway but as the dog passed he did lunge but Terri got his attention and talked him through it, not without one more lunge but her talking to him helped a lot.

Wed Jun 8
Trek walk. Krusi Park. Again there was activity on the side we usually park on so went over to the Mound St. entrance and did pretty much what we did yesterday. We walked to the far fence turned around back to the center(ish) and played fetch. She's getting tired faster but I reward her so she really wants to do it. When she doesn't want to she'll make it very clear.

I don't remember if I wrote this before but Yoshi is slow on his rear left proprioception test. He still fixes his foot, but not very fast. It doesn't seem to affect his walking at all. If it is DM I hope we have a year of this before anything gets worse like we did with Trek.

Tue Jun 7
Trek to Krusi Park. There were softball games on the side we usually park on, so I went around to the side 90 degrees from where we usually go and walked from there. Shorter but we still went to the fence and then played fetch. She probably gets tired easier but I'm not going to worry about it. I also give her a treat for every recall and fetch  - what the heck really and she loves it.

Yoshi walk. Evaded a black and white dog on Gibbons who then turned down Johnson. No reaction from Yoshi.

Mon Jun 6
Trek walk. Krusi was a little busy, so we went over to Bay Farm's Shoreline Park.  She would run a little and stop and I'd go 25' ahead of her and call her to me and give her a treat, and repeat. Then we played a little fetch and then we walked back to the car.

Yoshi walk. He got well petted by three young teenagers.

Sun Jun 5
Trek to Krusi Park. We got all the way across the park and did a little fetch but she ran out of stream pretty fast. Two younger kids wanted to put her and they did for a long time. Then we walked back and she could move along pretty well then.

Sat Jun 4
Yoshi and I are going to the base and try to not run into foxtail troubles.
We had a nice time and managed to steer clear of foxtails. It was actually kind of a long walk because I heard surf music in the distance and had to check it out. It was a band by the skate park. The skate park was never as gender mixed and well-behaved. They had multiple bands and food. Three teenage girls nicely assaulted him and all the activity  (noise, whizzing skateboards) was starting to stress him though he held it together until he finally saw a dog and barked (I was holding him in my arms).
Then we walked back and passed a pointer playing fetch with no reaction from Yoshi. Then we got back to the car and only then did he decide that he wanted to charge the now distant pointer. I told him he was being silly, but he wasn't much interested in my opinion until he'd said his piece and then suddenly he was fine because the dog was leaving. Dogs can be odd sometimes.

Trek to Krusi Park. We got all the way across the park with me encouraging her.

Then we played some fetch and rested, and then walked back across the park. She still can mostly run back though it's getting harder for her. Stopped to chat with some admirers and explain what DM was.

Fri Jun 3
Off to walk Yoshi as Trek has has her PT walk in the water today. Dana the tech says that she's showing more weakness in her good rear leg. She's not as able to go as far, but she's still doing pretty well (ish.) For his walk we first saw three (!) off leash dogs hanging out across the street in the front yard with

Thu Jun 2
Trek and I went to Krusi. We walked all the way across and back to the center to play some fetch and watch someone fly and chase down an RC glider. He did get it back in a bit - out of a tree.

Yoshi has a walk which I think was uneventful.

Wed Jun 1
Trek to Krusi Park. Our usual was was blocked so we went in from the other side. We didn't walk all the way across the park but had a good game of fetch.

Yoshi had a noontime walk and didn't see any dogs.

Tue May 31
Yoshi walk
Saw a brown dog on the other side of Santa Clara crossed steet. Saw a dog at Johnson crossing the street ahead of him. We'd been watching Ian Dunbar's Growly Dog class so Terri got his attention by backing up and when he redirected she told him what a good boy he was. It worked.

Trek to Krusi Park. Our usual spot on the other side of the park was occupied so we walked to the center a played fetch for a while. Then I tried to get her to walk across the park in the Walkabout rear harness in the other direction and she didn't like that but I half dragged her there and then back to the spot we started at then let her walk back to the car. Even headed back to the car where she wants to go she had to rest part of the walk through.

Mon May 30
Trek to Krusi Park. Relatively peaceful at the park. Walked all the way across and then played fetch and just hung out. The only issue was the people playing soccer right where we needed to go back to the car so I had her in the Walkabout Rear harness and a leash on her collar and then carried her once we got to the sidewalk.

Sun May 29
Yoshi got a walk today, but I ran out of time for Trek.

Sat May 28
Krusi park with Trek. We got all the way across the park with effort, and then were able to play a limited game of fetch and were then able to walk back to the car unassisted.

Yoshi walk. Not dogs, but the kids down the block wanted to say hi to him. They know his name now.

Fri May  27
I walked Yoshi as Trek didn't want to go. I struggled around the block via Santa Clara. My leg is feeling better, but it's still healing and I'm very slow It's only day two. Trek had the water treadmill today. She's getting tired quicker in it, but she can still do it.

Thu May 26
Terri and I took both Yoshi and Trek to Krusi Park. Trek is happy to follow Yoshi around as best she can so we walked to our usual spot and played some fetch and then walked back. No dogs until right at the end when a basset hound appeared and Terri had to take evasive action for a bit.

Wed May 25
I had fairly minor leg surgery, so no dog attention today.

Mon May 23
Trek and I went again to Krusi Park for a walk and some fetch. I'm liking this routine. We made a video of it.

Sun May 22
Yoshi walk. We strolled through Lincoln Park. and came back on Garfield. There is a pinch point that we have to negotiate and this time we were working our way past an Aussie that had his/her back turned and then the dog spun around and Yoshi started barking so I picked him up to quiet him. The I noticed that we have 4 dogs near by none of whom are reacting (they're surrounded by playing kids, so there was a lot of distractions.

Trek had the night off.

Sat May 21
Doing Yoshi's Trupanion claim paperwork for his foxtail misadventure. I submitted it to Trupanion directly. Let's see what they say. They need to give me a claim number so I can let Park Ctr know though I cc'd the claim to them also.
Park Ctr is going to email me the BAVS report (which Park Ctr received on Wed which is the day that Terri took him in for a follow-up).

The weather is still ok, so I took Yoshi to Krusi Park to wander around in a mostly foxtail-free area. It was lovely, nearly no baseball practice going on and some clouds and a light breeze. We played some fetch with Trek's dumbbell toy. He can do it for a while before getting completely distracted though there was nothing to distract him this time.

Trek and I then went over later to Krusi. By this time we had the place almost entirely to ourselves save for one friendly Labradoodle who went over to the other side of the park after saying hello. I had forgotten our usual harnesses, so it was just us and a leash (which I didn't use) and a kong dumbbell. It was heaven. I carried her from the car to the grass and we walked to the center and played fetch for quite a while. Then sat and rested and did a  little more fetched. Rested some more and then we walked/ran back. She's moving quite well on her 3 1/2 legs (possibly from her acupuncture and PT) and didn't need the harness at all which was good because I didn't have it. I think resting is all she needs. We had a very nice time.

Fri May 20

Trek acupuncture and PT.  This time Jorge put electricity on the needles. Don't know if that will help, but she's moving around ok later.

Yoshi had the day off.

Thu May 19
Trek walk. Krusi Park. This is what we're going to do for a while I think. The grass is short and there's usually someplace we can fit in. It was breezy and this gave Trek extra energy. We actually walked/ran all the way across the park, then played fetch until she was tired and walked (actually ran) back to the car using the rear harness. I figured out a way to lengthen the lead on the Walkabout by using another lead to make it longer so she can run ahead of me some.

Yoshi walk. There was a school event so he and Terri were fording their way through lots of school kids which is always fine with him. Our neighbor's Corgi Shelby was in the mix so they arranged to be on other sides of the street.

Wed May 18
Yoshi didn't finish his breakfast and I was concerned. Terri took him to see Dr. Wydner and she told her that Tramadol has a bitter taste, so it's not a surprise that he didn't want to eat it (you could see white bits of the med.) This has never been an issue with Trek because she eats so fast. Good news is Yoshi's eye has almost healed and the cone can come off. Hooray.

Trek walk. This time we went to Krusi Park and played right in the middle with all sorts of activity going on in the fields but no constant bats hitting balls. We ran/walked to the center and played some fetch until she got tired, then I put the Walkabout rear harness on her and we walked to the far fence. Touched it, and ran all the way back to the car. This worked out much better than the previous days. Fun and fetch first, then walk.

Yoshi walk. Three dogs. Medium sized. Two across the street. One on Gibbons that crossed towards them, but Terri was able to back off to make everything ok.

Tue May 17
Dragged Trek around the Shoreline Park at Bay Farm I feel like such a tyrant. They we played some fetch which was much more fun.

Yoshi walk. No doggies at all.

Mon May 16
Today I dragged Trek from Crab Cove to the duck pond in her rear harness. Once she gets used to it hopefully we'll argue less. She has much more freedom compared to her cart, but she's not convinced yet. I let her run some without it and she gets tired fast and then seems to more readily accept the harness.

Yoshi walk. Pit bull mix across the street that decided to just hang out for a while, so Terri had Yoshi continue walking by which worked fine.

Sun May 15
Taking a look at Yoshi's cone. They've given him a 8"/20cm one which is intended for a Boxer/Afghan. The one he should have is 6"/15cm, so I'm going to go to Pet Food Express to pick one up for him. His neck circumference is 13".

I really can't complain though. Bay Area Vet Services saved him from a night of misery, pain and further eye damage, and no sleep for us, and BAVS is closer than Sage in Concord, and I have no experience with the ones in Berkeley since they are on the other size of The Hwy 80 Maze which is a show stopper when you're in a hurry.

Sat May 14
Went to Walnut Creek and picked up a Walkabout rear harness. We went over to Larkey Park in Walnut Creek off Larkey Lane which is a beautiful park with luscious grass. I think it's going to work well. I can hold her rear up and steer with a regular leash. She can even run some with it. Though we did stop and play a little fetch instead with her Kong Air dog dumbbell toy. The hard part of this was the kneeling which is hard on my left thigh. This will make our park walks easier.

Yoshi walk at Bay Farm. Foxtails are loose and out in force now. We've been dodging bullets for a while now and I thought I was being careful, but I let him roll on the grass near where some foxtails were and they not long afterward him started rubbing at his eye. I couldn't see anything in his eye or nose but took him home with that inevitable feeling of knowing that my evening was just about to be rearranged. After some consultation with Terri and watching him continue to rub his eye and calling the ER clinic to see if they were busy (they weren't right then), off we went to BAVS in San Leandro. There was a foxtail in his eye underneath the lid and it had done some damage to his eye which she tells me will heal in a week. He's in a ginormous cone now and we're rearranging the house some as he's bashing around the house with it. Sigh, all this because I wanted to take him to somewhere else he liked. It was gorgeous--right on the water.

Fri May 13
Trek acupuncture session with Jorge. She's showing less stress about it, and she was up on all fours in the backyard later.

Trek and I went to Washington Park and played some fetch which was fun for both of us. The grass isn't as nice anymore, so we may have to start regularly heading over to Bay Farm Shoreline Park but even that grass is having trouble. There is the grass over at the Bay Farm Ferry Building which is still ok. We're going to go pick up a rear harness for her tomorrow I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Yoshi walk. No dogs, no drama.

Thu May 12
I had a Peet's meeting run late, but still had enough time to wrap Trek's feet and make her walk a block in her cart feeding her a treat about every driveway. She still doesn't like it, but she can move along when she chooses to and her feet are protected. She still gets more exercise flailing around on the grass in the park, but it's becoming diminishing returns and increasing frustration. On Sat I'm going to be picking up a rear Walkabout harness that worked for her pretty well in the tank treadmill so it's worth trying.

Yoshi walk. Went fine. there was someone running with his dog. Yoshi barked, but Terri had his sit for a bit and fed him treats and moved one. This is great.

Wed May 11
Terri walked Yoshi. One dog across the street. She had him sit and she fed him some treats. After the dog passed, she released him and Yoshi did say a few snotty words over his shoulder but it was fine.

I took Trek to the dog park and we played some short distance fetch. It was ok, but I think it would go better on the main park's grass rather than the thrashed dog park grass. I can't wait to pick up the rear harness on Saturday and see if I can get it to work for her.

Tue May 10
Trek had her treadmill session today (Terri took her). Emily tried a Walkabout Rear Harness to help steady her which seemed to work better that the sling. I want one, so we'll probably buy the one she was using. I can try her at the park, and then wrap her feet for a concrete sidewalk.

Yoshi walk. He does really well if I coach him through dog sightings. He still barks at first, but then pauses to listen to me. First sighting was a neighbor dog. The other was us getting out of the way of two dogs running at us - we went a very short way down a side street.

Mon May 9
Trek and I finally ended up at Washington Park as there was too much sports bouncing ball activity at the other two we tried. the length she can go is gradually reducing. If I could convince her to walk in her cart for a longer period of time she would get more exercise, but one reason she didn't want to is that it made her feet hurt and now I know to wrap her feet in ace bandages, so she might be more ok with it. I have a lot of booties too, but the bandages stay on better even if it takes more time.

Yoshi walk. Terri says it was uneventful. She's amused that he walks right by a cat that hangs outside his house. I told her that Yoshi charged up to that cat once before I could pull him back and the cat did nothing. The owner assures me that the cat is not ill, but very brave.

Fri May 6
Trek Hydro treadmill. They had her do it without the sling for a while. While not pretty, she was able to do it.

Thu May 5
Trek acupuncture with Jorge. She seemed to not mind it so much this time. More relaxed, no shaking

Yoshi walk with Terri. No dogs, no drama.
Trek and I went to Krusi and she was amazing to watch run around on all four legs. We went to the center then around the tennis courts back to the main field, went and touched the far fence and we headed back. Acupuncture seems to be definitely helping her which is nice to see. She still drags around in the smaller backyard but that's understandable.

Wed May 4
Terri and Yoshi had a nice walk. They did come across one surprise small dog and had to cross the street but Mr Y went willingly along fine.
Trek and I went to Krusi Park to walk a little and play some fetch a chase another dog just a little. There wasn't much softball hitting going on and we just picked a spot far enough away that it wasn't a problem. She actually seemed to have a nice time. Lincoln Park was full of soccer games so we didn't try there.

Tried a Walk-About compression sleeve on Trek's right leg. I can't get it to stay on even with taping it on because she drags it so hard. Fortunately a wide self-sticking ace bandage works fine.

Tue May 3
Terri walked Yoshi, and Trek and I went to Bay Farm and played a very short game of fetch.

Mon May 2
I dragged Trek out to Washington Park again. This time she really didn't want to go far, though she got all the way across the first field, but quit at the beginning of the second one.

Sat Apr 30
Trek and I to Washington Park.
She didn't want to go far but I got her to the trees and we hung out and watched geese.
Yoshi walk was uneventful save for some dog avoidance maneuvers.

Thu Apr 28

My first day of work. My dog walking time will be greatly cut short, but Terri is going to help walk Yoshi now.
Terri walked Yoshi and I took Trek over to Bay Farm where we walked the length of Shoreline Park and back once.

Wed Apr 27

Took Trek to Washington Park for our last weekday visit. We sat by the duck pond and it was really nice, then went over to the beach bluffs for a little while. I wrapped her right foot in an ace bandage and even though she had a harder time using that foot it was well protected.

Yoshi walk went very smoothly right up until he spied the [formerly] reactive white dogs across the street. I reeled Yoshi in while he was yelling at them and then I had a hand on his harness and started to talk to him. He settled down and other other dogs hadn't reacted at all (they've been working with a trainer). Once it was clear that Yoshi was calmed down they walked by and I kept talking to Yoshi telling what a good boy he was being and no dog reacted. Amazing on all counts.

Tue Apr 26
Yoshi walk went smoothly.Ms Trek was a complete I don't want to do anything pain. I hope our game of fetch yesterday didn't have any adverse effects.

Mon Apr 25
Yoshi walk. Everyone seemed to be out walking their dog. I lost count. I was talking with the JRT owner who says his dog gets him into more trouble by charging up to big dogs. Yoshi doesn't like her either but her in her owner's arms is fine with Yoshi. Bummer is that another dog came and we had to go hide though that worked out. In fact we did a lot of pause and let the other doggy go by for the whole walk. For a while it seemed like we'd never get anywhere. I finally got a good opportunity to talk him through a dog passing when a dog approached across the street but a ways a way. The dog had suddenly appeared and Yoshi had stiffened and inhale to throw some canine "Go Away" insult. When I reached down and touched him saying, "Yoshi, co'mere, you don't need to do that. Come over here. That's a good boy. See? that's better." Amazingly, this actually worked.

Trek and I played a cautious game of fetch in the back yard. Only one complete end-over-end flip which scared me but she seems fine.

Sun Apr 24
Trek to Washington Park. She did really well. We walked most of the way to the duck pond. I carried her over the asphalt paths and the rocky bits to the pond where we hung out on a bench and watched the birds. Then she ran back with me filming some of it. She's moving surprisingly well. I'm going to stop making her use the cart while she doesn't want to (she wants to run(!),) though I should carry her backpack if she truly can't go further. I keep thinking I should take her to the lower part of Redwood, but she might poop out very quickly and it's a $5 parking fee and Washington Park, the old Naval Base, and Bay Farm are free options much closer.

Sat Apr 23
Yoshi walk. Just as we hit the driveway my neighbor walked by with his very young Boston Terrier and we did a U-Turn while Yoshi barked like a fool behind my car in the driveway. (He can't even see the dog from here.) I made him sit and he seemed to get ahold of himself but he was still glaring at the dog who was way down the street when I finally said we could go. I hope these dogs never meet.

Fri Apr 22
Trek Rehab. Emily spent some time on her feet to see if wrapping them would work. Sort of. Then she started looking into hock coverings and she emailed Walk About in Santa Cruz to see if they had something that would work for her. Then she did her treadmill session which went ok.

I then went to Walgreens and bought Yoshi's Prozac and some first aid wrap and tape for Trek (also vet Wrap from Park Centre).

Thu Apr 21
Yoshi walk at Krusi went fine did some time roaming around and sniffing. Avoided a couple of dogs but he barked at a close-by dog on the other side of the fence. I tried talking to him with no effect until I poked him and he paused and I said "Good boy" which interrupted him.

Took Trek to Bay Farm Sea View or Shoreline Park. We walked the length of the park and back and then a little more. She wasn't into it, but would go along when I begged. Not fun for either of us, but she got some exercise.

Trek's hocks are all scuffed up, but her toes are looking better since I stopped having her walk on concrete or go up stairs.

Wed Apr 20
Trek saw acupuncturist Jorge Nunez Alder, who is very competent and nice. Trek tolerated the needles fine and didn't give me that "I hate this look" which was nice. He placed a series going up on each side of her spine from her hips to mid back, then he placed two where her shoulder blades met her spine and one each on her rear legs. Then I got to sit with her for twenty minutes. My job turned into keeping her from rolling on her back (not too difficult once she started to relax). We were seated on some cushions on the floor.
He says we should try around 4-5 sessions and see how she does.

Yoshi walk. Fairly straightforward. He's been on a test course of Rimadyl and I'm not sure if it's making any difference. He still doodles along and then speeds up when he wants to.

Trek walk. She would not walk on the concrete at all even with some Paws bootie like things (they look like balloons). i took her to Washington Park and she didn't like the soccer game at Crab Cove so we went over to the main section and we got some running time in with me holding her up by pulling up on her harness. Hard on me, but she can get some assisted running that way. She needs motorized wheels or I should set up something with the small bike.

Tue Apr 19
Took Trek to Marina Village. Their grass is slowly being invaded by some plant from the lagoon but it's ok. She chased around a small friendly 9 month old dog named Manny who wanted to play. We walked to the center and she was able to walk herself all the way back with my carrying her across the asphalt though I was carrying the cart.

Mon Apr 18

Trek Bay Farm walk. Went some distance but then she couldn't get all the way back and I had to tie her to a tree and go get the car.

Yoshi walk. We went by a couple of dogs without him noticing.

Sat Apr 16
I was at a large dog show today (sans my dogs) I'm really curious about the very low level of dog reactivity at dog shows. They're all intact and crowded together, yet for the most part it works which I find amazing. It might be the outnumbered factor.

I took Yoshi to Washington Park and he was definitely reactive to any dog that got within 50' even with me talking to him. I could get his attention and he's react again. The only way to really chill him out is to increase distance. Then we went on a nice walk around the park. I'm tempted to walk him around outdoor obedience trials because that outnumbered factor does work on him some.

Trek cart walk. I put booties on her and ace bandaged them and walked/begged her down the block and then let her trot back. I think I'm going to switch to the booties that have a covering over the top of the foot so her foot dragging isn't a factor. She gets better exercise on grass, but I don't always have time to take her to grass.

Fri Apr 15
Took Trek out to Bay Farm. My continuing thing is to let her walk out as far as I can nag her to go and walk back in her cart. She didn't want to walk much in the cart even with returning and I figured out the front chest strap was bothering her so I removed it and she instead relied on the part that goes around her chest. I may have her wear her harness and incorporate that as she doesn't mind the way that harness fits over her chest. I could attach clips to the harness and the could clip into the cart.

Walk for Yoshi. Quite a bit of dog avoidance. Some barking, but nothing terribly serious. Fortunately I saw the dog-person running at us well ahead and was able to cross the street ok.

Thu Apr 14
Yoshi walk. Took him to Krusi Park which was very nice until I nearly walked him into another dog. That dog immediately steers away and I got ahold of him. He did some nice rally work for me before that point.

Trek. I put booties on her feet and begged her to go part of the way down the block. I really hate this. Of course as we turned around she went much faster. Grrrr. She doesn't like walking on the concrete. She may never like it when in the cart. I could do it on grass, but she can run in the grass. I think I'll keep her on grass and carry the cart and have her use it going back. I've done this once before and it worked out ok. The bummer is that I'd like to be able to take her on a short walk on the sidewalk every so often as I won't always be able to take her somewhere.

Wed Apr 13
Yoshi walk. Nice and peaceful since it was in the early afternoon. He's been on rimadyl for a couple of days and he's still slower than me mostly, but he may be a little happier.

Trek went to my own chiropractor, and got an adjustment with that small thumping device which she thought was odd, but then he gave her a massage with a nice Rapid Release Technology massager and, not only did she not freak out, but she seemed to enjoy it. https://rapidreleasetech.com/. She started running around his office a little.
So I took her to the small dog park and we walked around on the grass there. The small dog park is the one one with any grass to speak of. We walked up and back a couple of times and then played a short bit of fetch with one of the many tennis balls.

Tue Apr 12
Took Trek to her eye exam. Poor kid trembles for the first five minutes she's there, then she's ok. I do carry her around a lot to avoid her struggling with the slick floor. Her left eye tear production is still a little low (as always), but her eyes look great under examination. She's due back in a year (the requirement for her doxycycline Rx.) I did remind them that she's not exactly young, but they were ok with that.

I had to mention how odd rectangular goat eyes were to Dr. Friedman and she said that llama eyes were truly strange as they have this squiggle on top and bottom to protect their eyes from sunlight.

Yoshi. We did some fetch with his small ball in the yard. He really likes me talking with him excitedly when we're doing it. I give him a treat about every 2-3 retrieves. He's no longer that thrilled about carrots.

On his walk I tried just talking him through an easy stressor of a cat on the lawn, and then a dog walking by on the other side of the street. It works pretty well. I keep it a happy voice, but not excited. If he gets distracted or winds up to react I says "Hey you. You don't need to do that you silly beast.' Sometimes I put a hand on him. This seems to work ok.

Mon Apr 11
Today I need to do dog nails and futz around with a booty for Trek. Good thing I have a lot of them to try. People have been very generous loaning things to us to try and I'm very grateful.

But we instead skipped all the wrapping business by just sticking to grass (the best when I have time).
We went to Washington Park. I put her in her Ruffwear Webmaster harness with a flexi and we ran (she does run still in bursts, I have to run to keep up) around and with encouragement ended up at the duck pond which we sat and rested for a while on a bench, and then we ran back. I deliberately overshot the car to get a little more exercise in. Running in a park is better than on the concrete which will only be possible when she's wearing a boot and will be less exercise. She is 0.8 lb. overweight so I have to really keep an eye on her weight.

Yoshi walk. Stopped for a while to discuss someone's irrigation project. No dogs at all which is a little puzzling.

Sun Apr 10
Need to wrap Trek's rear feet, so I can get her out walking in the cart on the sidewalk.
We started Yoshi on a test week of Rimadyl.

I dragged Trek down the street and Court and to a little of Johnson. It took a lot of begging and besides the fact I wrapped her foot the one bit that was exposed shows a drag mark. Argh. She's going to have to use a full booty on that foot.

Sat Apr 9
Walk for Yoshi. I am getting concerned about him walking behind me. I think we're going to give him a week of Trek's rimadyl.

Fri Apr 8
Trek to Canine Rehab. The Ginger Lead helps get her in and out the door.
They're using a belly sling similar to the Ginger Lead but it can get wet, to help her walk in the tank and it helps her be successful at it.

Yoshi walk. In the sprinkling rain, so we kept it short. He is dragging behind me again.

Thu Apr 7
Trek walk at Pt. Isabel. We stayed on the grass and went up and down the grass a couple of time. The quality of the grass is not as good as anything in Alameda, but I can have her off leash. Given that she only goes 15 feet at a time I'm not sure if her being off-leash is much of an issue in a public park.

Yoshi walk. Corgi Shelby and her mom and dad were out front, so I walked up carrying Yoshi who was yelling at full volume. Shelby yelled back. This went of for a few seconds and then poof they were done and I put Yoshi on the ground a few feet away ask we talked. Both dogs glowered at each other but that was it. I did have to cross the street for another dog but Yoshi did very well with that dog passing by.

Wed Apr 6
With effort and concentration, Trek can carefully walk and not drag around the house. I should try wrapping her right leg.

Tue Apr 5

Trek walk at Bay Farm. Went ok. Lots of begging, but I got her about 0.45 miles to the alleyway past the first tree after the park.

Yoshi walk. Nice walk. No drama.

Mon Apr 4
Trek walk on the old naval base. There is a large grassy area that we walked around and around on to the point that I got her turned around which almost never happens. We went about 0.62 miles. she was tired. I'm having to be a bit of a slave driver but I need her to get as much exercise as she can while she's on her feet.

Yoshi walk. Went fine except for having to steer around two small dogs by crossing Gibbons. He didn't react to them. It's possible the harness pressure may have felt reassuring him.

Sun Apr 3

Yoshi walk. Just avoided a couple of dogs without issue.

Trek. Bay Farm walk. Less enthusiastic than last time. We got maybe 0.4 miles but good exercise for her. We got from the restroom to one of the big shrubs after the park ends.

Sat Apr 2
Trek PT Treadmill this morning. She did great with the belly band support sling.

Standard Process has a list of supplements they think helps DM dogs. given that the only thing that actually helps is exercise, I may as well try some of it.

I have one bottle of Neurotrophin PMG that we'll try for a week or two. Allegedly this "supports the nervous system." I hate, hate, hate not knowing what it is, but it's plant-based and unlikely to hurt her. I feel better about it than what Dr. Roger Clemmon's was pushing, and It's not like I know exactly what Rimadyl is. I just have a lot of data about it.

The list is
Canine Immune Support/Immunoplex - "general immune support" [whatever. her immune system isn't the issue here]
Gotu Kola Complex - for "microcirculation" and connective tissue
Neurotrophin PMG - "support for the nervous system"
Cardio-Plus - "supports muscle tissue"

I think the order we'll try things are Neurotrophin, Gotu Kola Complex, and Cardio-Plus. I think 1-2 weeks would be a good first test. Can't decide whether to just gradually stack them on each other or do them individually.

Took Yoshi on a walk at EBMUD. It was a bit warm for him, but we made is 2.2 miles. I should have let him cool down in the shade at the park first. Instead I wound up pulling into a service station and bought a large water for him. He didn't want to drink it, so I put it on his paws and worked it into his head. He didn't like me trying to put the bottle beside him, but it all got his panting under control. The only dog we saw was at the park at the beginning, but other than that the main issues was cows. Yoshi barked at them once but fortunately that was it.

Fri Apr 1
Took Trek on a longish walk at Bay Farm starting at Shoreline park (Sea View and Brunswick) and I got her all the way down to the next little park. I nearly had to carry her back but we stopped to rest every so often and she needed a lot of encouragement at the end. But she is capable of getting some real exercise without a cart. She starts out great then gets tired but we pause and go further pause and go even further, etc. We went nearly 0.87 mile which is further that a regular walk (0.77 mile), and even slightly over an extended walk (0.82). Yeehaw. She may be tired tomorrow and has a treadmill session. It's nice to know she can still get some real exercise and I see that I don't have to get her all the way to the second park. She does better on grass where she doesn't have to stop and start and her leg drag doesn't hurt her.

I worry that the time it takes to get her to grass where she can walk) she doesn't like to walk on concrete anymore) will take away from Yoshi's walks, but Terri assures me that he's very happy to check out his usual smells on the normal walks. I keep wanting to talk him further, but he doesn't seems to be that interested in going further though yesterday we went past the house and came back. I'll try an extended walk and see how he does. He did great on it. No speed issue at all, just happy to go along even did some out and back recalls with the flexi. Nice to see.

Thu Mar 31
Walk with Trek in Washington Park. She still does very well without the cart. We went all the way from Crab Cove to the tennis courts, and came back in the cart. Then I took her out of it and let her walk around some more and she still moved fine. I think I'm going to take her for more grass only walks and just let her rest every so often. I can carry the pack or the cart as backup.

Yoshi walk at Krusi Park. A dog was approaching right as I got him out. I told him he was being silly, but he didn't really hear me though would break away while grousing - I had physically turned him. The rest of the time was us roaming around the park keeping a distance from the 3-4 other dogs in the park. He didn't seem to mind one dog playing fetch at full speed because they were not close to us.

Wed Mar 30
Trek is so much stronger in the morning. She can go down and up stairs and poop/pee without anyone holding her. She's better about thinking about how to better manage her disability too. She doesn't always charge into something like trying to go up stairs but is learning she can make better progress by going slowly. I watched her do this up close while I was sitting on the steps. I'm realizing it's better to let her work through the difficulties rather than jumping in immediately.

Took Yoshi on what I hoped to be a longer walk but it turned into an average was plus a little distance. He moved very slowly to start out with only speeding up after 3 blocks on Central. If it was Trek I would think it's her faster on the return to home thing but that's not as typical of him. It may be environmental or the wind. When we got back to the house I kept going to see if his speed continued. It didn't. He slowed way down again. It could be that he needs to check out every smell on every bush and tree and there are a lot of choices and fewer on Central.

Behavior-wise we had one good and not so good moments with the same type of dog. The good one was a small white dog who was just standing still. The other time the dog was in motion across the street and the dog appeared suddenly. Yoshi started barking and tried to charge the dog and the flexi didn't engage for half of a second meaning he nearly got to the corner. When it did that, I grabbed the cord too to make it stop. (an annoying thing about flexis). After I stopped him his brain engaged and he can right back to me. I was a little irked that the situation had taken me by surprise, but I waited a moment to make sure he was really focused on me. Then I started interacting with him.

Trek yard cart walk. I've figured out that she can get great cart mileage while just walking the length of the property back and forth. I put Yoshi in the house and open up all the yard gates so we do a loop around the backyard then down the side yard and do a loop around the front yard with a little down the sidewalk though the concrete is harder on her feet.. We do out and back twice which is a good work out for her.

Tue Mar 29
Walk through the Fernside with Yoshi. Of course right at the pinch point along a short section of busy street a Newfie shows up and then follows us down the side street we had retreated back on, but we crossed the street and everything was ok. No drama fortunately. I don't think he really ever saw the dog. I'm taller than him and can see further.

I figured out that Trek just needs to walk around in the yard for good cart exercise.
So I put Yoshi away in the house and opened the side yard gates, and then I got good treats out and asked her to walk down into the side yard. At first is was "Woe is me, I can't move." but then she decided the treat was worth the effort and started moving to me. I would have to call her every ten feet or so but she's getting it.

I'm considering covering the side of my driveway with either indoor/outdoor carpeting or yoga mats. That way we can do entire loops around the house, instead of just out and back.

Mon Mar 28
Going to try Trek on an ordinary walk in her cart. Had to nag or beg her every 10 feet, but she's getting it. I adjusted the saddle higher which will help with her foot placement now that she knows she can walk in it. Went down to Court and just around the corner before turning around.

Yoshi walk. Another local walk. I'm learning that a short guttural growl is just him talking/muttering or grousing slightly. He saw a dog, made that sound as he was turning back to me. It may be excitement, but he's doing the right thing so it's fine. Saw a pair of dogs with much the same reaction.

Sun Mar 27
I'm going to take Trek to Washington Park. Let her walk as far as she wants then use the cart to return in (I carry the cart). It worked pretty well. We nearly got to the duck pond and then I put her in the cart. At first she would only move for a treat. It was Easter Sunday and the park was busy and she doesn't like chaos. Then I put her on leash and funny enough, she started walking right along with me though would get tired and stop every so often. But! When she got near Her Car she started to run(ish). To get to the car we have to go down a curb and cross into the parking lot. No only was the down curb not a problem, there was an island in between us and the car and I was going to go around, but she climbed right over the curb. I was pretty surprised.

I keep thinking that I could take her to the grassy area of Pt. Isabel, but dogs are not very tolerant of differences, though people are pretty good about watching their dogs and I would be right there and Trek would be very popular with the people.

Relaxing uneventful neighborhood walk with Yoshi.

Sat Mar 26
Trek cart walk at Sea View Park in Harbor Bay (Sea View Parkway at Brunswick). She's getting it, but she pauses a lot and she throws herself into making the cart move which tires her out very quickly. Went through a lot of treats. I did take more video.
Yoshi walk at Krusi Park. I love that park because it's so spacious especially when there's not a lot of softball or baseball going on. We walked down along the fence, which he loves I think because all the other dogs pee on it. Then we ran across it, then looped around the tennis courts and back across.

Fri Mar 25
Trek Treadmill. She did surprisingly well. She was struggling and Emily put a sling around her belly and she did better. I was going to stop doing the treadmill, but if she can still get exercise in the treadmill, it's worth doing.
Basic walk for Yoshi.

Thu Mar 24
Trek to Dr Troy this morning.
I'll bring both carts so they can have a look at them.
The main question for this morning is will the treadmill still help her?
Expected bad news, and some unexpected good news. Obviously she is worse mobility-wise, but the good thing is that she has much less pain and stiffness which means the Assisi loop is helping her [as well as Ziji]. Dr. Troy says to ask the people about battery replacement. They may be ivvivihealth. (Actually I think that's a different group. Assisi is at http://www.assisianimalhealth.com/)

• Continue with the Assisi loop
• Try Standard Process protocol for DM - this is new
• Get Trek used to her Dewey's Wheels

Dr. Troy says the Eddie's Wheels and its still frame is good for dogs with no mobility in the rear, and this Dewey's is better for dogs with some rear mobility.
Terri does note that Trek saw Ziji 8 days ago which can be a factor in her increased flexibility, so I let them know that.
Dr. Troy did send me the Standard Process DM protocol and I sent it on to Park Center saying that I wanted to try it if it wasn't too cost prohibitive.
I need to lookup Dr. Steve Marsden about his DM research. Some research indicates it might have more to do with axons (the actual nerves) instead of mylin.
The new Dewey's Wheels cart saddle came in! I tried it out with Trek at Marina Village. It's going to work. https://youtu.be/zS4RzhuKb7k

Wed Mar 23

Took Yoshi on a walk out to a new housing area on Bette St. near 5th that has a really wide bike path. He loved the smells and the fact that it was mostly deserted.

Gave Trek the day off waiting for her new cart saddle.

Tue Mar 22
I had come up with a walker idea for Trek putting a belly band on a wheelchair, but it put too much pressure on her back. Any support has to span the vertical supports and that's too far back to be a good belly support. She would need 4 wheels which is a little silly for a dog that can still run. I think she gets to get used to the new saddle in the Dewey's Wheels. Hopefully that will be here Wed or Thur.

Trek walk. We went all the way from Crab Cove to the duck pond and they she ran back. I do have to nag her to move sometimes, but never had to carry her.

Yoshi walk. Some dog various sightings. I'm trying to figure out what threatens him the most. He was surprisingly ok with a German Shepherd being walked by a bike rider but the dog was not moving very fast. He did not like the bully breed across Court the that's a smaller street and he most definitely didn't like a neighbor dog walking by on the other side of the street while I talked with my next door neighbor. For the last one I wound up picking him up and facing him away as he kept working himself up. I do wonder if I had given him something to lick if that would have given him something else to focus on. I carry treats but I don't carry anything to click like a "lickey stick."
 
Mon Mar 21
Break in the rain and coaxed Trek down the street about 3 houses in the cart before she asked to go back. She wants to run in it and is kind of sort of successful at it. During walks I will have to remember to take her out of it every so often to pee as she's not used to peeing/pooping in a cart. Hopefully, I'll remember at the beginning.

Sun Mar 20
Improvised attaching the old saddle with some of Terri's old-school camping straps that she had in her camping box - it will work for the short term.

Where to take Trek for her wheel chair test? I want to get her to Point Isabel but not for this time. Some place where she can stretch out and try to run. Probably Washington Park. Actually it's rainy today so we just worked in the backyard: https://youtu.be/1WnEQwDUkgA

Sat Mar 19

I finally made it to Cataract Falls. Which was just lovely. Dogs got to see Jan D. at noontime, so they got a lot of attention.

Fri Mar 18

I wrote Dewey's wheels about ordering a saddle for the wheelchair that Bobbie loaned us.
These photos on his website helped me figure it out. The extra black strap in front goes around the chest. Red padding goes on top and on the front of the chest.
https://www.wheelchairsfordogs.com/photos.html
877-312-2122

He wants the circumference of one thigh. I chose the bigger left one: 8.5".
Saddle is $30 plus $5 shipping. Didn't hear back again, so I'll call him Monday to give him a credit card. His name is Dewey Springer: dewey at wheelchairsfordogs.com.

Walked Yoshi around Washington Park this time on the upper level. The baseball diamond was open so for the first time we did a circuit of that. On the way up barked at a Husky and I told him he was being a silly boy while I dragged him further away. Then later we did a trip around the dog park and he did great eating treats while a small to medium-sized dark colored Tibetan terrier went by and then decided to bark mid treat at a small white fluffy dog. I made the point of putting the treats away, but that never seems to have any effect.

Thu Mar 17
So Trek and I went to Krusi park. She was instantly stress panting because there was an aluminum bat hitting something with that clang sound that she hates. I made her walk into the center and then let her go back to the car. Then we went over to Bay Farm to the park at Sea View Parkway and Brunswick/Aughinbaugh where no baseball bats exist and we had a very peaceful walk all the way down and back. I had to semi-drag her to the very end, then she was able to make it back to the car ok.


Wed Mar 16
Trek saw Ziji at Sharon's. In addition to use usual work on Trek, Ziji worked with her using some tuning forks which she tells me can loosen up tight muscles.

Tue Mar 15
Yoshi walk at Bay Farm. This time I went from the bridge side of the path. It's narrower and he has more issues here but I just deal with him being barky. If there's nowhere to go I just pick him up and face him out to the water or just cover his eyes. We went all the way down to the first park so it was a nice walk.

Trek at first didn't want to go on a walk at all, but once I got her out there on the sidewalk she was fine. This time I put her in her Ruffwear Web Master harness and when she needed support I pulled up on it. With that she did great! (I wrapped her right rear foot.) We went all the way to Central and she wanted to continue, but I turned us around. What's cool about this is that she is getting a cart that has a Web Master harness worked into it, so it could be a big win once we get it adjusted for her. It's still in the mail, but I hope it comes soon. We've been giving her Assisi loop pulse treatments twice a day, and I can't tell if it's making much difference, but maybe it is.

Mon Mar 14
Nice day today. Partially cloudy.
Trek and I need to go over to Washington Park to work with her backpack.
She did great in it. We walked/ran over to near the duck pond and then she got tired. Fortunately there was a picnic table there so I finished setting it up and adjusting it. I was concerned about hooking the adjusters directly to her collar, but it was really easy attaching them to her new harness. She only looked concerned briefly, but didn't freak out at all when I put her on my back. I had already put her up on the table top which is the same height. Walked over to the dog park to get another person's opinion who was impressed and said that she was just chillin' fine.

Walk for Yoshi. No dogs, no drama. Though after we got back he was a barking fool in the front window.

Sun Mar 13
Rained until 2pm and I walked Yoshi which went find until a very slow moving overweight-lab-like dog just stared at him while his owner shatted away. I would let Y bark and then call him back he can learn to ignore this staring at there is not threat.

Started to rain again, but I got Trek over to Krusi park and we ran the width and back which was good exercise for us both.

Sat Mar 12
Took Yoshi on a basic walk. Grumpy at our mail carrier, and barked like a fool at a large German Shepherd that appeared sort of suddenly, and I just pulled him far enough away so he regained his composure (no treats, no time to set up properly). Then after that he did great letting a large overweight Lab walk by. (We had retreated a house width down a side street.)

Trek to Krusi Park. They mow the grass close (easy for Trek to move around on it) and with the threatening rain there was only us and another dog person - it was nice I could take her off-leash which is always much more helpful with her running with her erratic gait.. We ran (both of us) all the way across, cut diagonal to the next fence, and then went all the way across the park, and then diagonal back to the car. It's a largish 4 baseball diamond park so it's good exercise for her.
I can't wait for her modified cart to appear so we can find out if it helps her.

Fri Mar 11
I was too busy with appts to do anything useful with the dogs.

Tue Mar 8 - Thu Mar 10
I was in Seattle Terri had dog duty.

Mon Mar 7
Walk for Yoshi. Small neighbor dog passing by on the other side of HIS street. He would bark. I would pull on the leash enough to get his attention. I would ask him to sit. He did so I rewarded that. Then we repeated the whole sequence. When he yet barked again I told him to knock it off and he actually did but the dog was nearly past. Later on, There was a Shar Pei starting at us from across the street (not barking.) Yoshi took two steps towards the dog and then right as I was about to call him back, he Turned Around and walked back to me. Good boy! Many treats.

Trek walk, this time just on a basic leash. Got her to go as far and Johnson (it's dinner time) then we turned around. After dinner I put her in her cart and let her try walking very slowly on the concrete. She so wants to go fast and her way of going fast doesn't work in the cart. She's in the awkward in between stage. I need to find her something I can use as a walker. She wants to RUN.

Sun Mar 6
Supposed to rain some today and really rain tonight. It didn't rain during the day much at all.
Walk for Yoshi. One brief barking dog sighting (Yoshi doing the barking), but that was it.Trek to Washington Park to work some on the cart. She was in good spirits, so actually got some exercise before and after the cart session. She is improving on the cart, but is still fighting it too much and wanting to do her bounce step in it which doesn't work well.

Sat Mar

Played beat the rain on a Yoshi walk. We started to get wet half way through. Ah well, we're all dried off now, and he's had a walk today.
Submitted a VPI claim for Trek for the PT consult and Assisi loop on Feb 29th. It's nice that I can download a pre-filled in form, finish the details in Acrobat Reader, print it, sign it, scan it and then mail it and the already scanned receipt to submitmyclaim@petinsurance.com. This means they can send denials faster.
Walked Trek. It wasn't supposed to be raining but it pissed on us the whole time. I got her to go as far as Santa Clara this time with treats and a wrapped right foot.

Fri Mar 4
No PT for Trek today. We're just using the Assisi loop for 3 weeks. Feels weird not to be going.
Walk for Yoshi. I found the other kids Birkenstock on a trashcan, so we went and found the other one that I saw a couple of days ago, and reunited them and took a photo. It had just rained and all the smells were up and he was thrilled.
Trek walk. I wrapped her right foot and we just went down the sidewalk. She charged right along for half a block and a little past that, and then got tired, but I got her to finish out the other block and then we returned. She copes with the ataxia by running, but it's pretty tiring for her.

Thu Mar 3
Basic walk for Yoshi. Said hi to Alan of Ray and Alan, also greeted crossing guard Tara.
Took Trek to Lincoln Park to try the cart out. We're going to need a lot of practice. She's not very thrilled with this thing following her around, but it will earn her lots of treats she'll figure out. I'm wondering if I can get her to use it well enough to compete at Wendy's next ADPT/WCR Rally competition at the end of April.

Tue Mar 1
Yoshi and I went to Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland for a lovely walk. It's huge with wide open spaces and easy parking.
Trek and I went to Krusi park. Less busy that the last time so we had a nice time.  I took her off-leash. We walked (she ran) across, then diagonal to another side of the park, then across again. She then asked to head back to the car.

Mon Feb 29

Trek to Dr. Troy for a re-eval. The question is is the treadmill still helping as she now looks worse in the treadmill than on dry land. Dr. Troy tells me that DM dogs often do better in the take than on dry land so this is curious. We're going to give Trek 3 weeks off from the treadmill and instead try an Assisi loop 15 min twice a day which is a pulse therapy intended to reduce inflammation and see if that helps. Trek has around a 3 or 4 indication of pain in her quads and psoas. (when the muscle is palpated, she stops panting, the tense muscle quivers, and she looks at me.) Trek has another appt with Dr. Troy in 3 weeks on Thur at 9:30am. Terri will likely have to bring her, as I won't have any paid vacation time for a while. I hope this anti-inflammatory treatment helps her.

Dr. Troy refers to Trek's DM as little d and little m. Big D and Big M dogs usually only live three months or so. She clearly has something wrong neurologically, but it's progressing very slowly. She can feel in both back legs and one leg has nearly normal reaction time. I can think of other Corgis where this happened, so she's not unique, but I and grateful for it.

When we got home Trek went running across the yard. I had her repeat it so I could video it as a reference.

Took Yoshi to Washington Park. We went all over the bluffs and played dodge the dogs for a while but then we set out on a further walk but it was warm and he was lagging so we walked back along the mostly empty dog park and went home.

Tried to take Trek to Krusi Park but it was before 5pm and practices were in full swing with lots of bats hitting balls which Trek hates, but we did a full circuit and then tried to go to Lincoln park which also had bats hitting balls. We ran the width of the park three times and then went home.

Bill and Diane gave us this really nice grooming table. Yoshi was less than thrilled but tolerated it quite nicely. Trek too. There is now a large pile of dog fur in the yard and I'm thrilled to think it's not going to be in my house.

Sun Feb 28
Walked Yoshi at Krusi park where he got a lot of petting from 3 preteen girls. We walked all the way around the park. It was quite active, but only one dog so no challenges. He had a nice time.

Later I took Trek to Lincoln Park, but it was too busy, so I took her to Krusi also. I say one of the girls who had said hi to Yoshi. The park was nice and calm by then with one dog playing. We walked to the end and back, then walked over to the dog and person (Karen and CollieX Derby or Darby). As we talked Trek started getting interesting in Derby running around chasing her toy and Trek would chase after her a little from time to time. It was pretty special to watch. Other dogs appeared but Trek was only interested in Derby. I think I'm going to regularly bring her over there to get more exercise than she would by herself. It was after 5pm.

Thu Feb 25
Trek walk to Krusi Park. It's an athletic field and closely mown which is excellent footing for her. Some bouncing balls to avoid. But her walking was good. We did one circuit around the tennis courts and back. No walk for Yoshi because I was finishing up a document for a work application.

Tue Feb 23
Long nice walk for Yoshi through the Fernside different way this time. Down Versailles to Fernside and this time didn't get run over by the running Brittany, but nearly got pinned by an approaching Labradoodle while we waited for them to run on by. But it worked out without too much drama.

Trek walk. This time I wrapped her foot in four wraps of self-sticking Ace Bandage. It worked! It didn't move. It didn't come off. It protects her foot when she drags it. AND it gave her more support than any bootie would. She still prefers the grass to the concrete these days which is a bit of a hassle.

Mon Feb 22
Struggling with Trek and something to protect her feet. I like the socks, but she doesn't, I tried to tape on one of her booties, but it still slipped down. I also have some self sticking wrap that can probably work too. Took it off and got her to Santa Clara and back.

Regular walk with Yoshi. The off-leash Lab appeared right as we were walking out and I asked him to leash him dog since my was reactive. He held the dog by the collar to get past us. I let Yoshi yell obscenities at the dog who admittedly was very well behaved.

Sun Feb 21
I went on a hike in Redwood, but I got back in time to do a simple walk with Yoshi. I was watching a distance neighbor pull up and didn't notice the across the street neighbor there standing with her dog. Yoshi barked but seemed fine with just moving on. We later successfully let some calm dogs walk past across the street without incident.

Sat Feb 20
Ordered Trek's Doxycycline refill.
Terri had a Ukelele gathering at our house so we segregated the dogs. Yoshi was, of course, put out with all the people in HIS house.
Very nice walk on Bay Farm for Yoshi.
I put a sock bootie on her right rear leg and it was ok for about 3 houses then it was like: "I can't go on like this." I eventually pulled it off, but I'm going to have to tape, booty, or vet wrap that foot to protect it or just only walk on grass which is a hassle. I have a lot of booties. We walked to Santa Clara and back.

Fri Feb 19
PT Treadmill for Trek. It's getting harder to watch so I'm going to stop videoing the sessions as there are no subtlies to keep track of anymore. Emily reminds me that she will always look worse in the water than on land which is small comfort, but a little.

Thu Feb 18
Yoshi and I went for a nice walk on the base on the estuary side. The tide was low so we were able to walk on the little beach area that had formed which made it a unique experience.
Trek and I went to Lincoln Park to give her some time on grass without concrete. Her way of coping with grass that is not super closely mowed is to run, so after one walking up and down, we did three running up and downs (the width of the park) which tired both of us out.

Wed Feb 17
Regular slightly extended walk for Yoshi which was uneventful till I was talking with my neighbor who drove up with her dog. Yoshi groused at one passing dog then he really got up set when she got her dog out. I finally just carried him away since the other dog is a puppy and doesn't need to deal with Mr. Grouch.
Yoshi is going slower on walks I'm noticing at least at the beginning. Then he seems to warm up and move along ok.

I took Trek out on the sidewalk and she really wasn't that interested in walking on the concrete, but kept walking on the grass. Within a few houses I turned us around and went home and then took her out to Washington Park where we had a really nice walk and watched the kiteboarders trying to catch some fun before the storm moved in. She walks best on the short grass or dirt without a lot of rocks or packed sand.

Mon Feb 15
Busy day for me. Just an out and back dusk walk for Yoshi.

Sun Feb 14
Regular walks for Yoshi. Trek now just wants to do out and backs.

Sat Feb 13
Took Yoshi to Bay Farm. This time we went over to a smaller park called tillman Park. I was hoping we could also walk thought adjacent school but it was blocked off though we still cut through for some of it. Most fun was meeting Lee and her two Pems Goldie (red and white) and Kevin (tri colored fluffy). Yoshi, of course, said some unkindly bad words at them but after a tempter tantrum (I was holding him) he settled down and I put him on the ground a distance away from them. Then he proceeded to bark at all the passing dogs. After we parted company we steered around a few other dogs and then headed back.

Just an out and back walk for Trek.

Thu Feb 11
Washington Park where he saw a pet pig named Winston from a distance. I don't think he knew what he was looking at, but he was well behaved enough. Nice walk in the park and beach bluff. No dog encounters at the fence this time though we walked along it some. I did reward him for being able to watch a dog run. It was tough for him but he got through it.

Tue Feb 9
Regular walk for Yoshi. Experimenting with his good response to harness pressure. It's mixed. He'll immediately refocus on my then immediately look back at what is upsetting him. In his case it was a German Shepherd trotting by with a bicycle. He did refocus well with two small dogs but they were clearly going in the other direction. We did see those dogs again and he wanted to charge after them and I spent a fair bit of time working on recalls.

Trek short out and back walk at dusk.

Mon Feb 8
Lincoln Park for Yoshi, then back down Garfield. Nearly walked him into a Labrador but he recovered fine. Then successfully let some other dogs walk by him without any issue. Right at the end of Garfield I pulled him back with his harness and he seemed to refocus on me very nicely with the side pressure of the harness. Had to wait a bit for dog and car traffic to clear so we could get back across the street, but it worked out fine.

Sun Feb 7
Yoshi and I out at the ferry building and the ferry dog park, only one dog there. I shot some video seeing if I can hold the flexi, and camera and give rewards. Not that successful of results. Complete barking meltdown when the one dog in the park came running up. Though he did recover and I could then watch a huge container ship get turned around in the estuary which is a huge production.

Trek walk at Lincoln Park. did some rally work. She, of course, gets tired easily, but she seemed to like the work and definitely the treats.

We had Bill over for our usual Sunday gathering. Yoshi (in a crate) lost his mind barking at the "intruder" but when I had Bill just start feeding him from the top of the crate, he started to settle down. After we had all sat down, I let Yoshi out and he did really well. Even soliciting attention from Bill and didn't freak when Bill stood up and moved which is what usually happens when someone he doesn't know moves in *his* house.

Fri Feb 5
Trek to PT in Walnut Creek. Struggling more but she's still getting through 11 minutes.
Terri took Yoshi on a walk.

Wed Feb 3
Yoshi slightly longer basic walk. We nearly got run over by a running Britany and her person. We retreated to a lawn and I just hung on to him while he barked his justified objections. He recovered quickly.

Trek and I went to Krusi Park since she seems to like being on grass. We did one circuit walking mostly on the grass with some groomed baseball diamond dirt and a little concrete. She isn't too fond of aluminum softball bats, but she coped ok.

Tue Feb 2
Trek and I went to Bay Farm and made a walking video.
Yoshi had a regular walk.

Mon Feb 1
Yoshi and I walked through the Fernside.

Sun Jan 31
Walked Yoshi through the Fernside. Fine except I had to help him through when a starting dog across the street slooooowly walked by. I would feed him and them tell him to leave it and feel him again. I was right down there with him.

Trek walk. Her foot drag is worsening and I need to find the thin booty that I have. I think that will work and not get in her way. I have to be careful of street crossings and rough asphalt.

Sat Jan 30
Basic walk with Yoshi. Watched a fluffy white dog go by across the street with no issue though I was feeding him.
Trek was running around the back yard like a fool squeaking away and having a grand time. She even took it back in the house. I was so amused I made a video.
Tried walking Trek with a boot on her right foot. It definitely gets in her way. I took it off and she’s carrying the foot ok. I think the scrap was from going upstairs, so I should carry her up for a little while. I have several different boots I can try on her.

Fri Jan 29
Trek treadmill session. She having more trouble walking in a straight line in the treadmill tank now, even after doing so well on the concrete. Much more ataxic in the water. Apparently a dog with neurologic symptoms worsens in the water (where an orthopedic injury improves in the water). This is a shame as she had been doing so well on the treadmill but unlike swimming I think it's a good reason to keep her doing it. She did treadmill sessions for a year and it only helped her.

She does have an scrape abrasion on her right rear (her worse foot). We're supposed to treat it with neosporin and have her wear a booty on walks.

Thu Jan 28
I went to Abagail's Moroccan cafe and then Yoshi and I went on a long walk in Washington Park. We ventured out onto the beach bluffs and then cycled back by the dog park. No issues at all, even beside the dog park.
Trek walk. She's folding her right rear over and she'll probably have to wear a boot if I'm going to keep walking her on concrete where she walks the best, but she did a regular length walk.

Wed Jan 27
Basic walks for both dogs. Yoshi did fine until an approaching dog came too close to fast approaching him and I wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. It was classic. Bark Bark Growl "Get away" stuff. I picked him up and carried him away. His heart was pounding. He genuinely felt threatened.

Trek's walk was more sedate, but she did the whole distance. Her left rear leg (the one that works better) is noticeably larger than the right one that doesn't track as well.

Tue Jan 25
Yoshi and I walked along the shoreline at the base of High St. It's Alameda's only dirt path save for Harbor Bay or Washington Park, but this path is less developed and feels like a secret in a way. We then continued along Shoreline Drive. You can actually get a fair ways off the asphalt path and there's an informal path that's great right now and a disaster when the foxtails are out. There were a couple of dogs on the paved path and Yoshi did great ignoring them and eating treats while they walked by. If a dog had show up on the path near High St, I would have just had to have picked him up but didn't need to.

Dusk walk for Trek. We just looped from Court over to Fountain and back.

Mon Jan 24
Trek to walk alongside the USS Hornet. They have a lot of smooth concrete there. I filmed it for a status video. Trek moves the easiest on concrete. Emily thinks it's good exercise for her. Obviously Trek needs to work on grass too, but it's nice just to let her move along fairly quickly on concrete.

Sat Jan 23
Washington Park for Yoshi. We were going to go to Crab Cove, but just as I was able to get out, a dog pulling his owner around by a harness appeared, and I decided that it wasn't worth the stress, so I went over to the other entrance ,and we watched kite boarders and then walked along the dog park gate. It was windy and he was pretty reactive. He would want to chase a dog, ignoring the "Come" until stopped by the flexi, then he would get a hold of himself and come back. I didn't reward that, but did reward better attention. Kind of middling. We'll have to try it without the blowing wind.

Trek walk. She's still doing ok at speed but she relies on momentum a lot. I want to keep her on her feet as long as I can.

We had friends over for dinner (one man, one woman) and this time Yoshi was fine. He usually worries about strangers in his house, but this time he followed them around but didn't bark and growl at them every time they moved.

Fri Jan 22
Water treadmill for Trek. She's struggling some. After video review she's hyper-extending her left foot more. We're concerned that it's from the pulling up in the water from swimming so I'm taking her out of swimming but keeping the treadmill. I'm bummed about this.

Thu Jan 21
Trek and I went to Lincoln Park which is close by and actually the 3rd largest park around (after Washington and Krusi). We did a fair bit of rally work which she loved doing even through it's hard for her now. She can't back up at all and to stand I have to help some. Then we did a couple of circuits around the fields.

Long walk (nearly 2 miles) for Yoshi that I kept extending until it was clear he wanted to go home. I have to remember that he's 12.5 now and has some arthritis in his elbows, so I can get him tired - never used to happen. Though his is still barking like a fool in the living room window now, though the second I went into there with treats he refocused. Not much dog drama. One harmless barking U-turn, and some hiding behind car and a hedge, and a couple of going down a side-street waiting for the other dog-person to choose a direction.

Wed Jan 20
Took Yoshi on a fabulous walk at Harbor Bay from the unnamed park at Seaview and Aughinbaugh to the bridge and back. Steered around some dogs mostly successful, some not but recoverable. In other words it didn’t break him for the rest of the walk. He recovers quite well these days.

Trek went for a walk at night by headlamp and streetlight. I don’t like doing it because it’s easy to trip over bits of the sidewalk but we did fine.

Tue Jan 19
Walk for both dogs. Regular one for Yoshi. Shorter one for Trek. I usually don’t walk her on swim days, but she has a lot of energy and didn’t swim much during the session.
Her swim was just ok. Her head is too low in the water and I don't seem to be able to easily fix it. She did ok When Joy help her to hold her head up. I think I can refit her vest on so that her hips are lower in the water which may cantilever her head up. I wrote EllenD and Joy asking for thoughts on it. I watched video of a different corgi swimming and he can hold his head up. It's possible that Trek isn't strong enough to hold her head up, but that corgi's vest stops at his chest which might be a factor.

Mon Jan 18
Trek and I went out to the aircraft carrier the Hornet to walk beside it because it's a large, mostly smooth area of concrete and I wanted to view the Harbor Seals that hang out near there.
Regular walk for Yoshi where he got to greet a couple of shy children and he got to practice his recall with a dog across the street. He's grouse a little about the dog, but still come back  to me fine which is ok.

Sun Jan 17
It's pouring buckets and buckets and I had to drag Yoshi out on a leash and I used an umbrella over our heads which he doesn't like but he had no choice because of the leash. He was miserable because he was in 3" of water. I tried to explain to him the rest of him was dry but he didn't seem to hear me. Trek, of course, was fine as she loves puddles.

I missed our swim session, so rescheduled it for Tue.

Fri Jan 15
Treadmill for Trek. She is getting less stable, but hanging in there.

Thu Jan 14
Squeezing in dog walks between rainstorms. We escaped dry and when I'm wearing my red rain jacket traffic stops for us. No dogs, no issues.

Mon Jan 11
Early morning walk with Yoshi which was uneventful save to the dog standing two houses down. We just stood there and waited for dogster to move one. (Bark, Bark. Bark)
Trek walk. We went to Wind River and walked the path by the water’s edge around the buildings and back to the car. she split her time between the grass and the path. She’s ok on the smoother asphalt, just not the rougher type.

Sun Jan 10

Basic walks for both dogs.

Yoshi and I had two different dog sets coming at us from both 90 degree directions. We finally just crossed the street diagonally. He enjoyed barking like a fool at the Boston Terrier, but then got a hold of himself to sit a focus and earn some rewards. We then did a lot of recall work with the harness and flexi which he did very well with even with other dogs being around, but not close. He then charged up to within 2 feet of a neighbor’s cat which should have earned him a swat on the nose or at least a hiss, but the cat didn’t even bother to respond at all. The owner Melanie assures me the cat is not ill, but very brave.

Gave the dogs greenies. I need to do that more often. Yoshi also needs his nails done.

Sat Jan 9

Took Yoshi to Harbor Bay for a nice, long walk along the shore line. It was cloudy and a little cold. No dogs and very few people. I was distracted noticing the landing traffic at Oakland airport was reversed and Yoshi rolled his neck into something appalling which earned him a partial bath.
Trek had a regular walk. Her walking hasn't gotten too much worse yet for a while though she is asking for more help going up and down stairs.

Fri Jan 8

Regular walk for Yoshi in the early morning. We wound up parallel walking with a dog that was similar to a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel.

Trek and I went to Washington Park and walked along the beach bluffs. The sand was wet and nicely packed which made for easier walking for her.

 Thu Jan 7
Yoshi and I took a very nice walk in Leona Canyon Open Space Preserve, once I finally found the gate. Another dog walker clued me in that it is part of a house's driveway (there is an East Bay Parks sign on it.) It was lovely. Definitely a hidden gem. Might be more difficult on the weekend since it's an off-leash area.

Trek had a nice basic walk. Her walking has not gotten any worse. It's possible I'm just used to seeing her wobble around, but the PT, swimming, and walks may be making a difference. The swimming does adversely affect her front foot, so I canceled this Sunday's swim but kept the week after. It may just have to be an every other week sort of thing.

Wed Jan 6
Things weren't looking good for walks because of the rain, but it relented and both dogs got basic walks. Trek's was a reverse, so she could greet the crossing quards without a large passel of children storming by and the requist whistles.

Tue Jan 5
Yoshi the rain-wuss refused to go out this morning so I dragged him out after a bit and it had stopped raining, so we did a basic walk. Had to steer around two sets of dogs coming at us at the same time which was a little tricky, but by waiting just long enough it worked out. This was just before 8am. when I take him out just before dawn there will be fewer dogs. The harder part was the trash truck right by my house. We snuck by them while they were paused but it's still kind of scary for doggies when the truck starts moving again.

Once I start working again I may or may not have enough time in the morning to walk Yoshi as I need to leave by around 7:15am. So we may need to have a dog walker do it during the Winter. Trek I can walk in the early evening. I don't like walks at night as I miss too much, but she'll be ok under the bright streetlights.

Trek and I went to Washington Park and walked along the bluffs later in the afternoon during a break.

Mon Jan 4
Walked Yoshi through the park. Steered around 2 sets of off leash dogs, one I picked him up, but none of the dogs approached. Did some more recall exercises.

Trek walk. We got lightly rained on but she doesn’t care. It’s the middle of the day so we went out and back to avoid the crossing guard whistles.

Sun Jan 3
Yoshi walk. Working on the recall basics on the harness and flexi. He did great. Multiple times and even recalled when a dog was around.

Trek swim at Rex Center. This time I used the neck bouyant Sea Dogg collar along with the lifevest. It still doesn't keep her nose entirely out of the water. Next time I'm going to try a different neck collar they have there. We kept the session shorter, she seemed to do well.

So for fun we let her herd ducks for a very short while at Linda's. She seemed to like it but ran out of steam very quickly. I think we'll invert the herding and swimming time. I still have to decide whether to keep her swimming once a week or every two weeks. She's been doing it every couple of weeks for the last two times and she's not worse which is encouraging but I'm not sure if she's getting the full benefit of swimming either by only doing it every other week. It's tricky as we need her front leg to work well.

Sat Jan 2
Yoshi walk. Took him on a longer walk to make up for him having it off. In light of his worsening behavior when he sees dogs approaching him, we worked a lot on basic recalls while he was off a ways on the flexi (on a harness). He did this very well and it was getting boring until we nearly walked into a dog sitting on his step on his house. We crossed the street completely without incident. We crossed again for another approaching dog and we went back to working on him giving me attention after looking at the dog and getting a reward for it. He did great.

Fri Jan 1
Happy 2016. Dogs had the day off while we went to watch the salmon returning to spawn in Lagunitas Creek.