Sophie's Story

Towards the middle of 2001 Sophie developed a limp in her left front leg. It didn't seem too bad but it appeared every day during her morning run. We tried resting her, which made her very grumpy, and then only walking her on a lead, but as soon as she went back to free running exercise the limp returned. I took her to the vet, but of course she wasn't limping at that time so the vet couldn't find anything wrong. The next time I took her, I ran her round the park first of all so that the limp was apparent. Still the vet could find nothing wrong so x-rays were suggested. It was decided that she may as well have her hips x-rayed at the same time, so that is what they did. She was fine afterwards and I picked her up and waited for the results. The vet still couldn't see anything wrong with her front leg but the hip x-rays showed severe hip dysplasia (HD) in her left hip, with her right hip not much better. This could be causing the limp in the front leg, I was told.

I was offered an operation immediately to reinforce the muscle on her hip or I could wait until she was 5 and have a full hip replacement. What about exercise I asked? Best to let her carry on as normal, the vet said.

Sophie carried on, and so did the limp. I saw a programme on TV about spiritual healers and how they had helped animals. I found an international healer and asked him to see Sophie. He came to our home and laid his hands on her for about an hour. The limp seemed slightly better for a few days or was that just my imagination? Anyway after a week she was back to limping again. Swimming was the next thing. I found a local hydrotherapy pool and took her once a week. It was one of those pools where she had to be winched in and wear a harness. She just hung in the harness and didn't bother moving.

The lady at the pool recommended a chiropractor and so that was my next plan. However in the meantime I read about the Bioflow products and thought it was worth a try as the chiropractor would not be cheap.

I got a Bioflow collar for her and put it on without expecting very much at all. Within a week she had stopped limping completely and to this day she hasn't limped since. Coincidence? I wouldn't like to take the collar off to find out!

She gets lots of free running exercise and swims in a proper dog pool once a week to build up the muscles in her hindquarters but she is now a happy, playful puppy again and runs around with her sister without a care in the world.