Roman's Limp

Roman’s limp seems to be a bit better now but there is still a hint there. I decided against taking him to the vets for now and, instead, will see how he copes with light exercise. I took him for a four mile walk today and left it at that. If it is a muscle strain then I don’t want to walk him too far on it but, at the same time, I always feel bad when he gets no exercise whatsoever.

He was limping pretty much as soon as we started walking today but I think that is because he had been asleep beforehand. Once we got about half a mile in the limp subsided and he started walking normally again. I was going to pop in at my dad’s for a brew on the way but saw my stepmum just around the corner from there heading into the nature park with Casper so had a walk around there with them first.

Roman definitely seems more subdued at the moment and has been sleeping more than normal. Having said that though I’m sure I read somewhere that a well exercised (both mentally and physically) Rottweiler will sleep most of the time anyway when not being stimulated. I will keep an eye on that though just in case it is a sign that there is something else wrong.

I don’t want to seem like the panicking owner that I am sure lots of vets around the country get sick of but I also don’t want to ignore it if it is a real problem. I thought we had it nailed when we spotted the inflammation on his paw but I feel that was maybe a coincedence and the reason he stopped limping was because his exercise levels dropped so much whilst he was on antibiotics.

For his limp to come back after a fifteen mile walk would suggest to me that I have walked him too far in one go and put a strain on his muscles – if they were in the process of healing then I could well have done that. I must admit I am a little worried about him but I will just keep an eye on him for now and give him light exercise but often.

I think I will give him another four mile walk tomorrow and then go for five miles on Wednesday if he comes through alright tomorrow. After a few days of that I will increase it to two five mile walks, one in the morning and one in the evening. After a week of that I will try a five mile walk in the morning, a five mile walk after lunch and a five mile walk in the evening. Hopefully he will be fine with this and there will be no need to go to the vet with him.

I managed to get in touch with the Guardian today and spoke with a lady called Suzie who advised me to send an email to one of the editors there, Rob Fearn. I am hoping that they will be prepared to do a column on what we are doing. I can’t see it making national news, as such, right now so targeting columns might be a good way of approaching this – I think they have more creative licence with the subject matter and content with columns.

I managed to fit a jog and a workout in this evening. Nathan came round after work and, as we hadn’t jogged for a while, we jogged two miles. I say jogged, the first mile was a jog but we gradually upped the pace in the second mile and pretty much ran the last half mile. We managed to get round in about ten minutes so it wasn’t a bad pace – certainly enough to get the heart pumping before we did a workout!

I am now starting to notice the additional strength I am gaining from working out regularly. I have upped the weights I am lifting a couple of times now since I started and am beginning to find fairly heavy weights pretty easy. I just need to find some more weights from somewhere now!

I think I may be quite busy socially tomorrow but, if I find some time, I am going to set about digging out some contact details for PR departments of companies I think could sponsor me with equipment we may need along the way. On the list of things we need are camping gear, waterproofs, dog boots, hiking boots, mobile phone and I am going to see if I can get a free ticket to get the ferry from Dover to Calais – it may be a long shot but, considering what I am doing, I feel it is worth asking.

I had a stroke of luck this evening – a lad I used to work with, Steve, read my entry from last night and recommended that I ask somebody who posts on of the forums we are both on if he would translate my press release into French as he is fluent. I managed to get in touch with the guy pretty much immediately and he had a translated version back to me within the hour! Thanks Steve and thanks fredo (that’s his username on the forum, I don’t know his real name!)

I still haven’t managed to sit down and plan a solid route out yet so that I know where I will be each and every day. I think subconsciously I am a little worried about Roman and don’t want to commit to a mileage until I know exactly what he can cope with. I could map a route out tomorrow to cover twenty miles a day and then find out he will only be able to cope with fifteen, say. If that were the case then it would be a wasted exercise. I will get around to it soon though!