Meet Quincy, our February Pet of the Month. Quincy is a 10-year-old Labrador/Golden Retriever cross. He is an experienced therapy dog, and makes weekly trips to 2 local hospitals. He is well known for his gentle demeanor with the patients. For Halloween, he is a good sport and dresses up for his trips.
On top of his therapy dog work, he is a good role model for the Future Leader Dog puppies that are raised by his family. He retired from Flyball in 2016 after earning his ONYX award for 20,000 career points in NAFA (North American Flyball Association) and 10,000 career points in U-FLI (United Flyball League, International).
He started seeing us in September of 2016 for episodes of neck pain and muscle spasms in his left shoulder. The episodes had been occurring occasionally over several years, but had gotten worse in frequency and pain level. During his episodes, he would have difficulty moving his neck, especially to the left, and the muscles in his left shoulder would visibly spasm and cause significant pain and discomfort.
Quincy started rehabilitation therapy sessions with us, focusing on core and front limb strengthening (we also worked on his hind limbs too). We also introduced exercises that improved flexibility along his neck and spine. Quincy responded very well to his new program. He is as active now as he has ever been, able to keep up with the pups and go for long hikes, and has not had a single episode of his neck pain since coming to Pawsitive Steps. His mom feels that rehabilitation and continued fitness has allowed him to continue to happily serve as a therapy dog and has significantly enhanced his quality of life in his senior years.