With options on how best to treat Cinder a choice had to be made. Honestly it wasn't much of a choice. If I were to give Cinder the best chance at a normal life with the least pain, I had to opt for the surgery. I'm not going to say I wasn't worried. The though of anyone cutting into my dogs' spine and adding hardware to her terrified me but what choice did I have really? The other options would continue to mask symptoms, ease pain and prolong the inevitable.

The next morning, I again called down to VOSM and scheduled Cinder for surgery. I couldn't help but see the irony when they scheduled her surgery for October 19^th. She would go in for surgery on her 4^th Birthday.

Time seemed to drag on waiting for the day to arrive. But it finally came, and I was fortunate enough to have a friend of mine accompany for the ride, which I welcomed since we would be driving through the night. At 3 AM I loaded up the car and picked up my friend Jack and we were off to Maryland again.

Arriving at VOSM, I called into the office and informed them again that I was out if the parking. A short time later I was met by a Vet Tech who scooped up Cinder and began walking away with her and I couldn't help but say to the girl, "Please don't let anything happen to my girl, today's her birthday". The girl gave me a smile, told me she will be fine and assured me that they would celebrate Cinder's big day that evening. The moment the door closed behind the girl my heart sank and the worry began. This was going to be a long ride home and an eternity wait until Wednesday, when I could pick her up.

Arriving back at home, feeling exhausted from driving all night all I wanted to do was sleep. But the worry about the surgery wasn't going to make that possible. And then about 4:00 PM my phone rang. I remember looking at the phone number for a moment and preparing myself for the worst when I answered.

Dr. Gallagher was calling to tell me that Cinder did wonderful in surgery with no complications. He went on to say that she had woken up a short time ago and was already wanting to walk around. This was great news and music to my ears. They explained that while there she will have 24-hour treatment and they will continue to monitor her until Wednesday, giving me daily checkups. I laughed when he said a few of his assistants have some special treats planned for her Birthday.

Surgery was over, she did well and now I could sleep.

Spine Surgery Oct 22nd 2020

When I got home, I was almost afraid to remove the bandage. It had been leaking all the way home and I actually called VOSM to make sure this amount of leaking was normal and that she didn't pop a staple. They assured me it was fine, and I took it off and put her directly into her kennel. I spent the rest of the evening preparing my lower-level family room into a mag shift office / bedroom since this is where I would need to spend all of my time for the unforeseeable future.Air Mattresses may work for a few nights, but I can tell you after the first few weeks they don't do your back any wonders.

Each day consisted of Heat or Ice Packs, Medication and figuring out new ways to occupy Cinder's time. The first few days weren't to bad but as the medications that kept her mildly sedated ran out and her energy levels began returning, her boredom also increased.

Four weeks into the post-surgery and it was time to return to VOSM for her first checkup and Xray. This was to check for any infection and see if the hardware has stayed where it needed to stay. Again Dr. Gallagher came outside to talk to me and told me everything was looking great and there were no visual problems with anything. She would still need to be restricted from steps, but she could come out of the kennel for a few minutes a day provided she was limited on movement. So, looks like another month of Air Mattresses.

A few days before Christmas at 8 weeks post-surgery, we headed back to Maryland and again everything was on schedule. Dr. Gallagher said she could now begin to slowly walk up and down stairs to go outside and on a leash. She could also walk around for up to 5 minutes on a leash outside, weather permitting since it was December, snow and ice could cause an injury and set us back. Cinder would also be able to stay in my office with me while I work provided, she wasn't allowed to run as well as return to Cold Laser Therapy and Underwater Treadmill to assist in the healing process.

When we finally reached the 12 weeks post-surgery point, Cinder was ready for it to all be over. It was becoming increasingly harder to keep her calm and she just wanted to be mobile. Dr. Gallagher informed me she was clear to graduate and be released. He said within reason I could again slowly let her be a dog again. Following a few visits to therapy Dr. Crabtree also released her saying she didn't see a need for Laser or Treadmill. I was given a list of exercises to continue with to keep rebuilding Cinder's core strength but there was very little muscle atrophy during her down time. I remember Dr. Crabtree saying, "You got you dog back" to me on our final session.

Cinder In the Garage

 Monday morning as soon as the vet had opened, I made a call. I explained over the phone my situation and at the time the vet agreed that she most likely over did it that day and prescribed Carprofen for any soreness and inflammation. He advised me to keep her on it for about 10 days and to call back if her condition doesn't improve. Why just a call and not a visit? The Pandemic, at the time most vets were just reopening and only seeing emergency cases. But he and I both agreed that it was most likely a three-year-old energetic dog that just did too much.

(If you would like to read more information of Carprofen including effectiveness and side effects click here).

For the first two or three days on the medication I had also decided to kennel Cinder in order to rest her joints and muscles and give the medication a chance to work. After coming out of the kennel I did allow her to walk freely around the house but was not allowed to really play and defiantly no jumping for now.

As the ten days wound down, Cinder appeared to be coming along well and didn't seem very sluggish. She wasn't really allowed to jump at all so until we actually played outside, today on day ten, we will see how she would do.

After work, she and I went out in the backyard and I didn't want to do too much too fast, so we took it slow and only allowed her to run after some ground balls and still no jumping. A few throws in she seemed to have her speed and chase after them without any problems. I tossed a ball bouncing across the ground about 50 feet from where I was sitting and watching. Cinder took off after it and my heart sank into my chest. In an instant Cinder collapsed to the ground ball in mouth and began trying to crawl back to me on her four legs. My entire time with this amazing dog she has always been fearless. But I remember the look in her eyes as she crawled to me. She was scared and didn't know what happened. In that split second, I thought she just blew her ACL. I ran to her and she tried to stand up. She was able to get to her feet and I scooped her up and carried her into the house. When we got to the living room, she seemed to be better and was walking semi normal. I immediately called her vet, but they had left for the day. While on the phone trying to get a vet, I looked into the living room and Cinder attempted to jump on the couch which is about 15 inches. She completely misjudged and faceplanted into the floor. With the pandemic everything seemed closed or on restricted hours. I was forced to have to wait until the next morning. I carried Cinder to her kennel and that's where she and I stayed until the next morning.

With a call into the vet office as soon as they had opened. I explained the days prior event and they wasted no time telling me to bring her in.

When we got to the office the next morning, they decided the best course of action was to start with a radiograph of her legs to look for signs of breaks, fractures or ACL issues. After a short time, Dr. Mike met with me in the parking lot with the results of her X-Ray. He explained the good news was he didn't see any obvious signs of an ACL injury and she didn't seem to mind when they extended her legs during examination. Showing me the X-Ray, he did point out what he believed to be some minor arthritis on her back. He explained this could be very early stages and believed it may be best to start her on some Dasuquin now for the future. He again gave me some anti-inflammatory meds and prescribed rest for a few more days in her kennel.

As days passed following our visit to the vet, I began noticing Cinder appeared to be offloading her weight from the right side and she had a slight lameness in her walk and gate. Again, I called the vet, explained what I was seeing and asked if D. Mike could just look at Cinder's walk in the parking lot without being on any meds to sedate her. After seeing how she was walking, Dr. Mike agreed that she was off loading her weight but admitted he was stumped and recommended I take her to a specialist who could conduct an MRI. He recommended Hope Animal Specialist in Philly and I scheduled an appointment. By now I was at a loss. Cinder shows no obvious pain or discomfort, but something was clearly wrong.

Again, I loaded up Cinder and we headed off to Valley Central in Allentown to visit Dr. Hodges and again I waited patiently in the parking lot while they examined my girl. Dr. Hodges came outside and spoke with me regarding Cinder's recovery. He explained that he did believe Hope was correct in the Iliopsoas and seemed to be recovering just very slowly. He did ask to see the radiograph that was taken by Dr. Mike and he could tell me a little more possibly following the review of that. The X-Ray was sent and a few days later Dr. Hodges called with some additional results.

He explained to me that what was believed to be early arthritis was in fact Lumbar Sacral Spondylosis in Cinder's T3 L13. Again, my heart sank. She is only three years old how can she have this already? I asked what this would mean for her? Should she have surgery? Does she need surgery? Will she lose her ability to walk? Dr. Hodges didn't believe surgery was necessary but admitted the X-Ray wasn't the best to make any assumptions at that point. He explained I should continue with therapy and see how she continues to respond.

As the weeks passed Dr. Crabtree and I talked during one of Cinder's Cold Laser Therapies. Dr. Crabtree said, "Joe, I'll be honest with you. What we are doing here at this point appears to be easing pain and masking symptoms. If you truly want to fix your dog, she needs to go to Veterinary Orthopedic Sports Medicine Group (VOSM) in Maryland.

Nearing the middle of September and trying everything I could for the last seven months with little success, I was open to anything. Dr. Crabtree informed me that they are without a doubt the best at what they do and at this point we needed the best.

Returning from therapy, I placed a call to VOSM hoping they could get Cinder in as soon as possible to be evaluated. When requesting an appointment, the receptionist explained that they had no openings until mid-November. I began explaining the events that had led me to them and when I finished and after a brief hold, they made room for me at the beginning of October, but I was going to have to wait another two weeks.

With the clinic over three hours away and our appointment scheduled for nine o'clock in the morning I decided that I would travel the night before and stay in a hotel nearby.

October 15^th finally arrived. I loaded up Cinder, checked out of the hotel and headed off VOSM. Again, they came out explained what they were going to do and walked away with Cinder. They said feel free to explore the area because it would be several hours before they finished the initial exam.

They explained that they were first going to use a pressure floor in an examining room that would measure Cinder's weight distribution to each leg. This would give them some insight on which legs she is offloading to as she walks. They would then sedate her and complete an MRI on the iliopsoas. She would then be taken to Neurology where an Ultrasound would be conducted of her back. While still under sedation they would do a procedure much like a spinal tap and extract fluid from her spine to test for disease.

Hours passed and the longer it took to hear anything the more nervous I became about what they may find. At about three o'clock I received a call that they were going to begin the process of reversing Cinder's sedation and the doctors would be out shortly to discuss the results. The Doctors?

A short time later Dr. Gallagher and Dr. Chun both came outside to explain the findings. Dr. Chun began explaining the result of the MRI which focused on the iliopsoas strain. They confirmed the Cinder indeed was suffering from this injury and explained they rate these on a scale of 1 through 3. A level 1 is a slight strain while a level 3 is a complete tear from the bone. Cinder was suffering from a 2+ injury. Dr. Chun said she really doesn't understand why Cinder isn't showing more signs of extreme pain as the MRI light up so badly that she believed Cinder should be in agony and constant pain.

Dr. Gallagher then began explaining that the iliopsoas was a secondary injury, and that the primary injury was in fact the Lumbar Sacral disease. Cinder's back was weakened and two of her vertebrae were compressing. These two vertebrates have a small canal where the sciatic nerve runs through. They felt that this could begin to pinch the nerve and add even more complications to Cinder's recovery.

Eight months in and thousands of dollars already spent trying to determine what exactly was wrong and heal Cinder, I was almost afraid to ask what my options were.

Dr. Gallagher explained that I had did have a few options and gave me rough costs of each option:

Option 1: Continue Cinder's therapy with Cold Laser, Underwater Treadmill and Acupuncture and we can see if she progresses over time. The cost would just be the weekly cost of each session. Sadly, her days of ever being any type of impact dog would be completely finished and he estimated her recovery to be less than 50% chance to fully recover.

Option 2: Over the course of 12 weeks, I would drive back to Maryland every other week. They would sedate Cinder and give her a Cortisone injection into her spine. Each injection would cost about $600 plus travel expenses and would increase Cinder's full recovery to70%. Cortisone will only mask symptoms and help with pain management. It will not regrow cartilage or prevent the nerve from being pinched.

Option 3: They conduct stabilization surgery on Cinder's back and add hardware. This would allow her back better support and in addition allow her to heal the secondary iliopsoas injury. Recovery chances go up to 95% to full recovery but comes at a few costs. Obviously financial, the surgery will cost about $6500 on top of my visit today of $3500. Cinder will need to continue therapy for a few months following surgery and she will need to remain calm and kenneled for three months. In addition, it would also require three separate follow up visits back to VOSM to check on her healing, take X-Rays and rate progression.

With a full diagnosis and options to treat Cinder a decision needed to be made on how to proceed.

Hoski Vom Evolution

Hello, and allow me an opportunity to introduce myself as well as my four-legged partner in crime. My name is Joe and this is Hoski Vom Evolution, call sign Cinder "Ella". Cinder was born October 19^th 2016. And this is Cinder's story of her journey through Shutzhund training, injury and rehabilitation.  

Raised in a household that always owned a German Shepherd it came natural for me to just carry on the tradition when I moved out on my own many years ago. In October 2016, I unfortunately lost my dog, "Faith" to her battle with Degenerative Spinal Myelopathy and she passed away Oct. 16^th. At the time I knew I would again own a German Shepherd, but I was honestly not in a rush for just any dog. I promised myself that my next dog needed to be something special. A dog I could do anything with, go places with and be my true companion. I knew that this dog would find me and until then I would just wait.

It didn't take long and many of my friends and family would send me texts of pictures of puppies in an effort to push me in the direction of getting back on the horse and owning a dog. But none of them moved me. Then one day a text came through and it was just this photo. This was Hoski which I am told means star. When I looked it up for myself, I found out it also means independent strength, determination and reliability. Make no mistake all German Shepherd puppies are adorable but her, there was something about her face. Maybe the little white marks by her eyes looking like she had eyeshadow on. I'm not sure but I knew I needed to meet her.

Enter Vom Evolution

After seeing her face and knowing there was something about this dog, I contacted the breeder who was Nikki Banfield. Nikki and I spoke for an extensive amount of time. During our conversation she interviewed me, and I interviewed her. We both had vested interest in doing so. I want to make sure I am coming to see a healthy well-bred dog that I may want to purchase, and she wanted to make sure if that purchase happened her puppy would go to the proper home. I say proper and not good and believe me they aren't the same thing. These dogs are high drive working class dogs. While you may be a great care giver not knowing the work that can be involved could make all the difference.

My very first question to Nikki at the time was "is the purple collared female still available"? If she had been sold there would be no point in continuing since this is the dog that found me and only this one. But Nikki said as a matter of fact she is and I made arraignments to go visit, meet this puppy and meet Nikki.

The next day, checkbook in hand I set out to an hour and thirty-minute drive to Sweet Valley. If this dog was everything in person that she was in a photo I wouldn't leave without owning her. Upon arrival Nikki and I spoke a few more minutes and she asked if I was ready to meet the children. She walked me into her home and opened the whelping kennel and I was rushed by a herd of yipping, licking joy.

As expected, there she was Hoski and yes, she did the expected run over to me and love on my things we all expect with puppies. But after watching her for a few minutes I noticed she was more about herself. She did her own thing. She liked to play as all puppies do but she was fascinated more with her surroundings and the toys then her brothers and sisters or me. It didn't take long for me to decide that she was going to be my dog and I wasn't leaving there that day without making sure of it. I gave my deposit and would need to wait a few weeks since at the time they were still too young to be away from momma. I was excited and this was going to be a long few weeks.

She Loves Swimming

You know what they say about all work and no play. In the winter following Cinder's second birthday I made the decision to slow training a bit for a few personal reasons, but I also felt that maybe I wasn't allowing Cinder to be a dog enough and wanted her to just enjoy some rest and relaxation time of her own through the winter months. When Spring arrived Cinder was scheduled to be Spayed and have a small Cyst removed from her back. While she recovered, we still continued to do everything together go places and just have some fun. I found out she loves to swim and loves water in general as you can see. We just enjoyed being together that entire summer.

Cinder turned three in October 2019 and I knew if I ever wanted to get her titled, we needed to return to training. Speaking to Nikki we decided to return that fall and I made the personal choice to make it less like work and more fun for Cinder, with only training one or two days a week. If she trained through the winter the hope was that in the spring trails, she may be ready for her BH.

In early 2020 the pandemic hit the world and at the time we were all unsure how this would impact trials, but we continued to prepare for an upcoming trail in May. Nikki felt confident in Cinder's progress and felt she would have no problem achieving her BH at that time. 

Cinder Extended

 In An Instant Everything Changed

In what I can remember as a beautiful spring like weekend in March 2020, Cinder and I had been enjoying some time playing in water with the garden hose and chasing balls around the backyard. Cinder was always a showboat and would dive through the air snatching balls in what I can only describe as aerobatic type moves. I remember throwing a ball for her and when she jumped in the air her body going nearly vertical and I thought at that moment she is going to land square on her back sending chills down my spine. But like a cat she contorted her entire body and somehow landed on her feet and went about running and playing as if saying to me no problem dad I got this.

The next morning, I woke to the sound of a slight whimper from Cinder staring at me from the floor at the bottom of my bed. I said to her that day like every morning she woke me this way, "Come on Up" telling her it was okay to jump up on the bed. But this morning she was different. She conducted a complete circle on the floor and almost in a reluctant way questioned her ability to perform this jump onto the bed. This coming from a dog that would at will from a standing position jump straight onto the kitchen Island when she was 9 months old. This was concerning……