By Dr. Tamara Moin, DVM
When I met Ryuú, she was an 8-year-old 40-pound musclebound Belgian Malinois that recently retired as a military working dog. During that time, I was experiencing one of the toughest lupus flares I’d had in a while. The day we met, we connected and I knew that we were meant to travel this road together. And so, she stayed.
The first few days were tough. She was mourning the loss of her handler and showing signs of stress by not coming out of the kitchen for three days. I was sore, over-worked, and trying to recover. To help Ryuú with her transition, I’d had some Composure Pro on hand and decided to give it a try. She ate it readily, and within 20 minutes decided to take a nap with her body halfway in the kitchen, the other half in the dining room.
That night, for the first time, she sat by my feet in the living room. By the end of the week, our bond had formed and Ryuú was settling in beautifully. We began going on hikes, finding new games with ball, and more recently, Ryuú is learning how to bring me essentials (food, clothing, medicine bag) when I’m experiencing a lupus flare.
That’s when I started noticing her limp. An orthopedic exam and sedated radiographs showed marked remodeling of her hips and stifles. Like so many animals, she was an expert at hiding her weakness.
My heart sank; she was uncomfortable. I had failed to see it initially because her desire to serve, to play, to keep going is as strong now as it was when she was younger. But advanced osteoarthritis due to years of overuse had set in.
This dog is incredible. Kind, brave, extraordinarily intelligent, and consistently the hardest worker in the room. She doesn’t know she’s retired, and I love this about her. I want to preserve and nurture this part of her. I believe that the foundation of this support comes from nutrition.
That’s where Composure Pro and VetriFlex have proved invaluable. One helped Ryuú settle in quickly and gently, while the other keeps her moving. Three weeks after starting VetriFlex, she was back on her feet running, jumping, playing.
The true testament to the power of these formulas, however, was revealed when we decided to move to Florida for a new adventure in veterinary medicine. Over 1200 miles on the road, and our whole pack stayed calm for the entire journey, freeing me to enjoy the ride and fully embrace this next chapter.
Upon our arrival in Florida, we quickly learned that Ryuú despised water. If her ball ended up in the pool, there was no way she was going in to retrieve it. We started working on this together. I would give a double dose of Composure Pro, bring her ball in the pool, and over the course of two months she started getting in on her own.
The video you see below is Ryuú leaping into the pool after her ball with everything she’s got. Absolutely, stunningly Dauntless. That’s my girl!
That is the power of supplements. None of this would be possible without patience, and VetriScience’s quality formulas that support a dog’s purpose.
Run. Jump. Play!
And do so happily.
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