Up on His Feet: How Trick Dog Training Saved a Paralyzed Saluki By Caroline Coile, PhD Published: Jan 30, 2023 | Updated: Jan 31, 2023
Sudden Injury On an August morning, I let the dogs out as usual, and as usual they thundered across the yard. Only this morning, one dog fell screaming and flopping— Pepe! I raced to him, desperately trying to find the problem. A broken leg? A heart attack? Then it hit me: Pepe was completely paralyzed from his neck down. A friend helped me hoist him into the car, and we raced to the vet school. They wheeled him in on a gurney. I had no idea if I would ever see him again. The veterinarian said he was 100 percent paralyzed in three legs, and about 98 percent in the right front, which he could twitch in response to deep pain. An MRI indicated it was likely a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE—better known as a spinal stroke) or, more likely, an acute non- compressive nucleus pulposus extrusion (ANNPE). That’s basically when a disc explodes and shoots its contents out at high velocity, damaging the spinal cord. Both are more common in middle- aged or older large dogs during hard exercise. With aggressive rehab, many walk again. Older dogs, and dogs affected to Pepe’s extent, have a bleaker outlook. Pepe’s physical therapy began in the hospital, with passive movement, acupuncture, and hyperbaric chamber sessions. By the end of the week, his “good” leg could support him a little if he was propped up. By the next week, he refused to cooperate. It was time to go home. In the car, his left front leg curled under him and both rear legs jutted out straight behind and crossed. I lugged him around with a body harness. He hated this. He hated the passive range-of-motion exercises and being propped up to eat or to balance on a big ball. He hated everything. His life had gone from fun to frightening, from proud to passive. After a week, he quit trying.
Sometimes it’s the journey, not the goal. And it took a devastating event, plus a bag of tricks, to show me that. My goal was to break yet another record with my Saluki, Pepe. He was already a Best in Show, National Specialty Best of Breed, Best in Field (Coursing), and High in Trial (both Obedience and Agility) winner, the most accomplished, versatile Saluki of all time. He had titles in Conformation, Obedience, Rally, Agility, Coursing, and even, just for fun, Trick Dog. At 11, he’d been long retired from the ring except for special occasions, but his wins on those occasions eventually brought him tantalizingly close to his Platinum Grand Championship, a title requiring 800 points (for context, a Champion title requires 15 points). He had 740. So at an age when most dogs are just lying around, Pepe came out of retirement with the goal of becoming the first owner-handled Platinum Saluki.
He loved being back in the ring, and quickly shaved down his needed points to eight. Then COVID struck in March 2020. All dog shows were canceled. We stayed home as the months ticked away. Courtesy Author Before the Fall, Proud Show Dog: Platinum G.Ch. Baha Persian of Interest, CD, RN, SC, OA, MXJ, NF, TKA, VSX, FCH.
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