The wonderful folks from Doggon’ Wheels in Bozeman kindly came out to the ranch today to measure three of our dogs for wheelchairs. All three — brothers Smokey and Charlie, and Noodle the Collie mix — have cerebellar hypoplasia, which affects their balance and fine motor skills. We have several animals with this condition, and have never needed to get wheelchairs for them before. Because they are born with cerebellar hypoplasia, these animals typically improve their stability as they get older. Their brains start figuring out how to compensate, and they learn to stand with a wider stance on their front legs, use their tails for increased balance, and walk with a gait that keeps them upright … most of the time. Yes, they tumble and fall, but they cherish their freedom of movement.
But Charlie and Noodle have not improved as they grew older. In fact, Charlie — the little tan guy in the photo above — has actually seen his motor skills diminish somewhat since arriving. His biggest problem is that when he falls, he almost always lands chin first. As a result, he has a permanent open sore on his chin. This is no doubt painful for him … and painful for us to watch. It’s almost like an involuntary reflex, because as he’s starting to tumble, he arches his back and then dives head first. Most perplexing, he seems to put extra energy into it, pushing off with his back feet as he begins falling. We don’t know why Charlie can’t get a paw out to block the fall, or why he doesn’t roll over to land on his side … but he doesn’t. It’s chin first. And as the weeks have ticked by, we’ve realized that for whatever reason, his brain and body can’t change the biomechanics of this.
Charlie’s brother Smokey is more stable, but still tumbles more than he should, so we think he would benefit from a wheelchair as well — at least for part of the time. It would also probably help Charlie adapt to the chair more quickly if he saw his brother using one as well. Here’s Jason from Doggon’ Wheels measuring Smokey for his chair:
Noodle had better motor skills when she first came as a skinny pup, but as she grew and gained weight, her stability decreased. She can "walk" in short bursts of about 10 feet or so, but that’s about it, and she can’t stand still. If she stands up, Noodle has to move in her burst of speed. Her sister Soba is much more stable and cruises everywhere. In this next photo Jason is measuring Noodle while I hold her. (If I look a bit overdressed for the occasion, it’s because I had just come into our welcome center from doing barn chores in the 5-degree morning cold … and was heading right back out again.) The hands at the table belong to Kenny from Doggon’ Wheels, who’s writing down the measurements as Jason takes them.
We’re getting quad chairs — with front and back wheels — for the trio, and we should have them within about 10 days. Then we’ll see how they do!
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