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.)
