Dr Laurie is....well....TOPS!!

Seeker and I attended a seminar on Saturday offered by the Canine Activity Center of Muscatine (CACM), it's located in Muscatine, Iowa.  It is a beautiful facility.  Bill Fridrych invited Dr. Laurie McCauley, and her assistant, Kim.  The topic - How to prevent/minimize injuries through exercise and conditioning.

The Agenda:

*  Importance of warm up and cool down - Prevent injuries

*  Stretching (when and how often)

*  Simple  strengthening exercises

*  Gait analysis/looking for problems

*  Common injuries

*  Hands on Massage

To say this was 8 hours of an amazing amount of information, is an understatement.  There was so much information provided on the above list, that I'm thankful for the power point handouts provided.  This allowed people to focus on the 'hands on' presentation, vs. frantically writing notes.  

It was good to hear that some of the things I've already been doing for conditioning are good.  It was also good for me to hear that I've been slacking off on my 'BALL' work, and need to get back to it.  That's such an easy thing to do, and it does really help keeping his bars up.  

There was a nice blend of 'lecture/instruction' time and then working with your own dog while Dr. Laurie and Kim came around to assist you with the exercise.

At first I think Seeker was a bit disappointed when we walked in and.....um...'Where's the EQUIPMENT!', and "Why is it OUTSIDE THE RING!".....but he soon found he could actually relaxed and enjoyed being stretched and massaged.

Seeker was extremely lucky to be the 'demo' dog for many of the massage presentations.  As we left for the evening, I'm pretty sure he was looking for her vehicle in the parking lot.  He would have happily went home with her!  

For more information - Check out TOPS at:

www.tops-vet-rehab.com