Some of you know that I have been going for Physical Therapy since the beginning of the year. I had tremendous pain in my back which is a major problem which would be tricky to tackle with surgery.
The idea is to strengthen my legs and thus take the pressure off my back and give me a firmer and surer footing when I walk. The bottom line is for me to be able to walk confidently without using a cane.
It has been a rigorous time and I am tapering down now and will be just working at home after three more weeks.
Today, my therapist, Leo, set up a course for me on ceramic tile which included a step, some foam cylinders, and several orange "traffic" cones.
The orange cones brought back memories from working with a Lhasa Apso at obedience training about 18 years ago.
Her name was Garbo and she was not as smart as most dogs I have owned. She was attractive and we did show her in conformation briefly.
We were working in "kindergarden" with orange cones like I just mentioned. She was on a training lead held in my left hand and we were to go in and out the orange cones.
(I should tell you that I was wearing new glasses - bifocals.)
As we were going in and out, around the orange cones, Garbo was pulling and straining. I was having difficulty adjusting to the second lens in the eyeglasses. Pretty soon, I was down on the ground and the instructor was grabbing the dog's lead.
Well, I sure didn't want to repeat that performance today and I did not.
It is amazing that the older we get, the more incidents like that we think about and what it felt like at the time.
I recall being very embarrassed and feeling pretty foolish. The dog was about six months and she and I were not real bonded like I have been with many others.
Suffice it to say, Garbo (and she was actually the second Lhasa I had named "Garbo") did not graduate at the top of her kindergarden class. She did, however, win the "Most Improved" trophy. Hmm . . . that does not say much for how out of control that dog really was when we began.
Like I said, I was thinking about that today and glad there was no puppy with me! (I did just fine and I am certain lots more obstacles will be added to that course before I finish.)
1 comment:
It's Easter Sunday and my lovely wife went to work. I wanted to sleep longer this morning since we already attended the Easter Vigil last night but I was awaken up by the thunders and lightnings. I think we are really Blessed with water from the heavens on this special occasion! I went surfing the internet because I had nothing on my tv since satellite dish network does not work well with this weather. I remember checking on your blogs and I saw this thing about PT and Orange cones. A lot of people who needs PT sometimes are afraid to try it since they are not familiar of the things that we are doing. Some think of it as a rigid and tiresome strength training but most think about it as a pain relieving and relaxing spa that they get frustrated when they learn about the real deal. I hope a lot of people out there will read your blog and get an idea with what we really do. We are dead serious as traffic enforcers using traffic cones but we are also fun to play with like your cuddly dogs.
Happy Easter and may the Blessing of the Risen Christ be with you and your Hubby always!
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