What Got You Here Won't Get You There
Switching Gears to Heal a Back Injury...and How This Relates to Dog Training
Two and a half years ago on March 24, 2016, I was 5 months pregnant and still very active in the kennel. We had lots of dogs in for boarding, and one in particular that needed a walk every day in addition to the socializing he received during our 2 sessions of “pack time”. I wanted to get out and get some fresh air so I opted to walk him. He was not a training client so it wasn’t a structured walk, just more of an opportunity for him to smell all the smells and enjoy some fresh air. The end of winter was nearing, but there was still some ice and snow on the ground and a chill in the air. The walk was going great…until all of a sudden it wasn’t. Staying true to his terrier roots, he bolted at the split second he heard a chipmunk "chirp". Having absolutely no time to think, and already having an awkward center of gravity from my pregnant belly, I planted my feet and bent at the hips to soften the blow of his pull. The force of his flight pulled me right out of alignment and into excruciating pain. I held on tight so I didn’t lose him, but he kept pulling and pulling at the end of that leash, each tug more painful than the last for me. I didn’t have my cell phone on me, I was a quarter mile from the kennel, I couldn’t stand up straight, I was in tears, and I had a revved up dog at the end of the leash. The walk back to the kennel took an eternity.
Fast forward to today - I have been dealing with this injury to my Sacroiliac joint ever since. I have been seeing a chiropractor almost monthly and sometimes weekly, and while I have made some improvements, I inevitably regress and find myself in pain all over again. A friend suggested I see a physical therapist a little over a month ago and I decided to give it a shot. I have only had 2 appointments so far and the changes I’m experiencing are INCREDIBLE! First of all, I was using my OLD way of thinking to create my desired results. I would start to feel better and immediately try to go for a run or do some bicycle crunches or some high impact aerobic exercise (what used to be my THERAPY!). Every single time, I would pull myself out of alignment and back into pain. I kept telling myself it was because I was out of shape due to the injury, and I just needed to try HARDER.
However – one of my favorite quotes came to my head one day – What got you here, won’t get you there.
Everything I had been doing had clearly not been working, and now meeting with my physical therapist I had finally come to realize that I wasn’t healing because I wasn’t seeing the full picture. Yes my SI joint was unstable, but there was so much more to it. There was nerve damage and a possible muscle injury that I hadn’t even noticed because I was consistently (and unconsciously) holding myself a certain way to avoid the pain. I needed to stop doing the exercises I was doing which were only causing more rotation in my hips and tightening the WRONG muscles. What I needed to do instead was slow down, isolate the weak, innermost muscles, and build up and stabilize my infrastructure before I could ever think about high impact exercises. She said LESS is actually MORE in this stage.
A big AHA moment for me.
A little bit of time with these new exercises and I feel like I’m in a completely new body. 2 ½ years of applying the wrong way of thinking kept me in an undesirable space. And yet, 2 ½ WEEKS with the right mentality, armed with the right actions, and I’m on the fast track to healing.
THIS APPLIES TO TRAINING YOUR DOG! How many of us have been applying the same way of thinking to old behavioral problems with our dogs? Almost everyone. We repeat the same patterns unconsciously until we finally reach a point of frustration and defeat. When we reach out for help, we get loads of information about the ROOT of the problem, and we realize that all along we had been unknowingly (and often incorrectly) treating the SYMPTOMS. And most of the time…LESS IS MORE! The answer may be something like, stop giving your dog so much freedom and so many privileges. Give them the proper structure and the proper outlets, and then give them LESS free time and MORE downtime. Less obsessive ball throwing and more structured fetch in a fashion that you control. The list is endless, but the underlying point is the same. If the root of the problem is never addressed, the problem itself will continue to manifest in undesirable behavior. And...we don't know what we don't know!
My final point is to always know that it is ok to ask for help! That thinking we can do things by ourselves can oftentimes lead to lots of heartache and frustration. Just like I had no clue about muscle structure and proper exercises to heal and condition my core, you may not realize that as a dog owner you’re unintentionally reinforcing the behaviors you want to change. Continuing to interact with your dog the same ways you always have will only perpetuate the old ways of being. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and can make a very big difference for both you and your dog if you are willing to go in with an open mind and put in the work! Even small tweaks can make a massive impact. A good trainer (just like a good doctor, chiropractor, or physical therapist) may be the answer you're looking for!
