Ruth, Andy and Darwin,

Darwin, a fox red labrador from working stock, is our first dog and all seemed to be well for the first couple of months as we enjoyed his early puppyhood. At around five months we noticed that he appeared to have developed a limp on his front left leg. After a few visits to our vet and x-rays our fears were confirmed; Darwin had elbow dysplasia.

We were obviously very sad as we started on a routine of reduced exercise, medication, monthly injections, supplements and hydrotherapy etc. but wanted to give Darwin the very best chance of having a 'normal labrador life' in the long term. 

It is fair to say that Darwin has a certain 'enthusiasm' for life which would have been a challenge even without a restricted exercise regime. It wasn't long before this combined with entering adolescence started to make going out for a walk a chore rather than a pleasure - we realised that we needed some help! 

We first came to Centralbark when Darwin was around 8 months old and following an initial assessment by Susan decided to start socialisation walks to try and addressDarwin's excitement when confronted with other dogs; he just wasn't able to listen in that environment.  With Lyndsey's and Susan's help and patience both with Darwin and ourselves we started to see a gradual improvement and we reached a point where we felt it would be able to attend junior training class. 

It is fair to say that Darwin's attendance at the first classes was a test of everyone’s patience but Susan was great, continually coming up with new ideas and techniques to keep his brain busy and help him focus both during the training sessions and also at home.  We quickly realised that one course was not going to be sufficient for us so we duly enrolled on a second junior training course while continuing to do some 1 to 1 training during the week. 

At the first class of the second junior course we all felt we were back to square one again as Darwin seemed to find it equally difficult as the first time with a new set of fellow canine trainees.  While we started to lose hope of having a 'normal' dog Susan and Lyndsey did not and continued to try different techniques. 

Finally, after a couple of weeks, we had a break through and there was a quite sudden step change in Darwin. He was able to concentrate throughout the class and he even managed to demo an 'away' to his fellow trainees.  We are thrilled, from a behaviour and obedience point of view it is like having a new dog, although thankfully we still have our very sweet natured labrador. 

​

We have recently had Darwin's second set of x-rays and the defect in 

Darwin's elbow has healed with the care he has had by everyone and

while he has a small amount of arthritis the result is as good as could

have been hoped for. We are now free to build up his exercise to that

of a normal 15 month old dog and he can expect the full and happy

labrador life we all wanted for him.

We are really grateful to both Susan and Lyndsey for their patience,

help, and above all understanding of the situation we were in. I am

sure we would not have got to where we are (recognising that there

still is some way to go) without them.  

Above all it was clear to see the joy (and admittedly surprise) of both Susan and Lyndsey when they experienced the step change in Darwin's behaviour at the recent junior class and recall workshop. Darwin even taught Lyndsey what 'nutmeg' is (a football reference for those who aren't aware).

We look forward to further training with Centralbark, who knows we might even consider gundog training once Darwin's fitness has improved - something that would have been unconceivable at the outset.