:Hands on Dorje

Returning from a trip to Sturgis, Jason’s inquired immediately about Dorje. I gave him the latest. Dorje shows more movement each day, including kicking one hind leg as I carry him outside. He holds himself relatively ‘high up’ while sitting. He’s been fussing, grumbling at the adolescents – Wyatt and Thateus – when they greet him at the fence. All positive signs, showing improvement along the road Dorje is traveling.

But the past several days my hands have felt the need for something different, maybe some physical therapy. Having little clue about how to go about this, I came up with standing him up, positioning his hind legs and applying a delicate balance of pressure alongside his lower spine, interchanged with patting him softly along his spine. I adjust my touch to how he responds with the goal to ‘trigger’ his hindquarters to resist my motions.

Jason asked if I could bring him by his house. Could I?! Apsolutely! Immediately Jason noticed the higher ‘stance’, but I could tell he noticed something else. He asked me to position Dorje in a sit position, balanced equally on his rear legs. He observed Dorje from several angles, approached him and placed his hands on his spine, further up the spine than the trigger point (which had been ‘worked out’, one reason my hands were no longer making a difference). He carefully, gently found the curve in Dorje’s back which now revealed itself due to the spine’s increased flexibility. 

The curve is C shaped and juts to Dorje’s right side.  I could see it too! As Jason taught me maneuvers, I could also feel it. At each end of the curve, I could feel the misalignment of those vertebrae. I’ve mentioned that, in retrospect, I realized Dorje had been moving with increasingly smaller steps with his rear legs. It makes total sense to me that this curve (scoliosis) is fundamentally responsible for Dorje’s situation.

Currently, I’m working his entire spine – with the exception of the curve – rocking it vertebrae by vertebrae. This is to keep the rest of his spine flexible; the body protects injured areas by tensing up muscles surrounding the injury. At either end of the C, I’m applying pressure at the misalignment. I’m rotating the C curve, vertebrae by vertebrae, placing my entire hands along the spine, rotating to the left. Finally, my ragtag physical therapy continues, incorporating tactile irritation (tugging the skin and hair of his rear quarters). I begin by positioning Dorje’s rear legs under him. Gently applying pressure, I balance his resistance to the pressure (he pushes up into my hand) so he’s able to remain standing rather than sitting. I also put my hands on either side of him, close to his thighs, gently push him from side to side, again using his body signals to determine how far I push him. Yesterday I incorporated foot stimulation. I hold him similar to cradling a baby, but so that his hind legs can move freely (if you can call it that!!). I massage between each toe with very firm pressure. He is able to pull each foot away when the pressure is too much.

I admit to wanting a miracle, instant gratification, to walk into the kennel and see Dorje push himself up into a stand. He has feeling in his feet, which means the message is making it from his brain to his rear feet. He can hold himself up if I position his rear legs. Day before yesterday he held his tail up. These small improvements keep me encouraged!

And, no, Jason isn’t a biker. He grew up in the Sturgis area and wrote The Sturgis Rally Guide, an ebook specifically for people attending the famous Sturgis Bike Rally. He updates this Upload Experience ebook yearly.

:Norman Herbel

This morning I got out of bed, anxious to share about the unbelievable, incredible, totally awesome race last night. The men’s 4 x 100 (pronounced four by one hundred) freestyle relay. I wanted to write about the media, the pressure they’re putting on Micheal Phelps, how almost every photo spotlights him, not the man with the most incredible leg of that relay. Jason Lezak swam the fastest 100 in a relay ever recorded. I wanted to tell you how exciting it is to witness world records being broke, to see swimmers of this caliber. And If I had time, I was going to finish the :Jason’s Hands on Dorje entry.

Instead, I’m writing my memorial to Norman Herbel. The sad news was waiting in my inbox. I don’t know the details; they don’t matter. Norman is gone. Norman and his wife Carolyn penned The Complete Lhasa Apso and the later version The New Complete Lhasa Apso. Both of those books share a prominent place in my library. Several years ago Vickie suggested we take our books along to a dog show where both Norman and Carolyn were judging and have them autographed. Inside the first book, he simply signed under something Carolyn wrote, “TO DEBBY THE PURPLE MARBLES CAME TO THE TOP.” Inside the later he wrote, “To A Great Breeder” right above Carolyn’s “To DEBBY WHO FOUND ALL THE PURPLE MARBLES.”

Years ago, similar to Vickie’s suggestion, Sondra suggested I load up my breeding program dogs into the RV Mary and I traveled in, and share what I was doing with the Herbels. Mary, Sondra and I were traveling east to some dog show somewhere. The Herbels would be there. I was so nervous! Who was I to think they’d be interested?! It may be hard to believe, but I’m actually an introvert, not very comfortable in some social situations. There was interest. Carolyn took vidoe of my foundation bitch, Jelly Bean, moving. A still photo of Jelly Bean moving was placed in the later version of The Complete Lhasa Apso. Norman gave a movement seminar a year or five later, requested use of that photo, along with the footage Carolyn took. A pen and ink drawing of Jelly moving was used for the cover of the handout.

Over the years, my respect for both of them blossomed and grew. I’ve shared hours upon hours with Carolyn, talking about the breed and even a few other things in life. Both Norman and Carolyn had such high praise for C’est La Vie; one of the best Lhasa Apsos ever. Or so they said. Four or five years ago, in Seward, Norman placed C’est La Vie Group 1. Standing there, during photographs, Carolyn realized this was her ‘Applewood Valley bitch’. She complimented Normal on being able to find a great Lhasa too! I was so proud to be able to tell her that C’est La Vie was 5th generation tail female from Jelly Bean. “And it shows!” she replied. Further down the road in C’est La Vie’s career, Julie presented me with the Group One ribbon Carolyn had awarded C’est La Vie. That rosette remains on my mantle.

The memory of Norman that will stand out among the others is him sitting inside his ring during the judges’ lunch hour. He was sitting alone. I can visualize that as if it were happening right now. Later I found out he ate lunch and returned to his ring because of negative talk during the judges’ lunch. He simply wasn’t going to participate, even as a listener. I think that’s real class!

Here’s a couple of photos of Norman…obviously taken years apart. Meaning my appearance, not his!