Charlie is doing much better with his shoulder injury.  At least, I’m guessing that was where the injury was. He’s not limping anywhere near as much these days. And his mood has definitely improved. He’s mostly back to his spunky, happy self.

He had his first appointment today for acupuncture. He did remarkably well with it. It’s too soon to say if it worked or not, but he certainly didn’t seem to have a problem with it. The first needle went into the skin on the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes. He rubbed his face a little bit while the doctor was first poking it in the skin, but once it was in, he didn’t seem to mind the needle all. The doctor said that this one was to induce relaxation for the remainder of the process.

He ultimately received 12 needles, including the one on his face.  There were six in various places along his back, one in his left elbow, and four in his back legs. They stayed in for about 10 – 15 minutes, until Charlie started getting restless. The vet said that dogs usually let her know when they’re ready to come out, and it’s usually after about 10 minutes. So, Charlie was right on par with the timing.

When it came time to remove them, the vet had trouble finding one of the needles in his right, back leg. The hair on his haunches is so long that the needle got lost in it. She found it finally, and all was well.

We were told that some dogs respond after the first treatment, but many don’t really show much improvement until after a few sessions.  I’m hoping that I notice something major within the first four treatments. Charlie’s spinal arthritis (spondylosis) is already somewhat advanced, so it may take a while to see improvement with his back legs. My hope is that he’ll have better control with and strengthening of his hind legs. He doesn’t seem to be in pain with them, but he has definitely gotten weaker over the last couple of years.

I’ll keep you posted on his progress through his treatments.  He’ll be getting a weekly treatment for four weeks to see if there is any improvement. If we do see some positive changes, then we’ll continue the treatments as recommended by the veterinarian.  She hopes to get to a monthly schedule for maintenance.