She beat the odds. With the heart of a champion, Chickamauga Choo Choo, an eight-year-old female Labrador Retriever, won the 2004 National Amateur Retriever Championship. In seven demanding days of land and water tests, she not only bested a field of ninety-eight field trial rivals, but also proved she had returned to the top of her game after surgeries that might have forced most dogs to retire.

Owners Lynne and Mac DuBose of Hillsborough, North Carolina, knew they had a high-powered puppy on their hands when Chicka, shy of seven weeks old, made her first venture into the family pond with an explosive leap, “three feet up and three feet out,” Lynne remembers proudly. “When she saw something thrown, she would whirl, twirl and do somersaults trying to get away to retrieve it. From then on, it was clear she needed both Mac and me for training – one of us to throw and the other to hold her down!”

Not surprising for a pup that had always shown intrepid retriever instincts, said her owners. “She was the one who was willing to leave her littermates to go exploring,” Lynne said. “She was lively and alert and always eager to retrieve.” As a show of how gifted she was, Chicka won a Puppy Stake competition at four months. Most of the dogs she competed against were close to a year old.

At seven months, Lynne and Mac sent Chicka to Wisconsin for formal training under the tutelage of Jim van Egan, one of the nation’s best young dog trainers who has started many national field and amateur champions. She was then placed with Andy Attar of Autumn Run Kennel where she began her competitive career, earning thirty-four Derby points and Qualifying stakes wins. She returned home in 1998 and at just over two years of age, became the second-youngest dog in American field trial history to win a “Double Header,” topping both an Amateur and Open stake event. That same year, her winning ways continued with Chicka earning her Amateur Field Champion title and completing eight out of ten series at her first National Open, another milestone seldom accomplished by a dog so young.

As Chicka’s heart willed her to conquer the challenges of the highly competitive field trial world, her body began to wear. “She had no regard for her body,” Lynne said. “She was beating herself up from the time she first began to retrieve as a derby-level dog. Her water entries were always huge, hitting the water from three to four feet up in the air and she jumped ditches the same way.”

In 2001, Chicka showed the first signs of severe back pain and was referred to Dr. John Sherman, a physical rehabilitation and sports medicine expert in Raleigh, North Carolina. He also was a field trial enthusiast and had restored one of his own Labradors, Doc, to a pre-injury performance level.

Dr. Sherman found that Chicka was suffering from back pain, lameness in her right rear leg and pain in her right hip. X-rays showed a normal spine, but also degenerative joint disease. Still not sure of the cause of Chicka’s back pain, Dr. Sherman recommended that Chicka be taken to the Iams Pet Imaging Center in Vienna, Virginia for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI is an advanced diagnostic tool that uses magnetic energy and radio waves to create detailed images of soft tissue, giving veterinarians an inside peek without invasive exploratory surgery.

Iams has the most advanced MRI center in the country designed specifically for pets. The Iams Company, known for its high quality pet foods, “recognized a real shortage of MRI machines that were accessible to the pet population,” according to Kurt Iverson, manager of External Relations for Iams, “and we wanted to continue our mission to enhance the well-being of dogs and cats.”

The diagnosis was intervertebral disc disease, a common orthopedic problem that occurs when the discs that help cushion a dog’s spine start to deteriorate. Because Chicka was qualified to compete in the 2002 National Amateur which was less than four months away, her veterinarians were determined to get her well enough to enter.

In April 2002, Dr. Sherman and his team removed two ruptured spinal discs. After surgery, Chicka endured eight weeks of inpatient physical rehabilitation which included therapy to reactivate her unused muscles and improve coordination and balance. During rehab, Dr. Sherman also tried to slow Chicka’s joint disease with shockwave therapy, low frequency sound waves purported to relieve pain and accelerate healing.

When Chicka returned home, Lynne worked to balance Chicka’s exercise and field training so she could regain her muscle strength and coordination. Chicka rebounded like a champ. Only two and one half months after surgery, she competed through six series of the National Amateur competition.

Lynne and Chicka continued their hard work throughout the remainder of the field trial season and were rewarded for their efforts with a Finalist finish in the 2002 National Open. The DuBose family had even more reason to celebrate, as husband Mac’s entry, Cashman’s Fat Lady Zingin, won the event.

After the 2002 season, it became more apparent that the muscles in Chicka’s right hip and leg had become so weak from injury and disease that exercise alone was not enough. Lynne and Mac conferred with their veterinarian and decided to replace Chicka’s hip with a prosthesis.

Once again, Dr. Sherman’s capable team tackled all of Chicka’s post-operative care, initially dealing with her pain. Therapeutic ultrasound and electrostimulation helped the tissue heal faster. Chicka started very low-impact exercises on an underwater treadmill to maintain her fitness and keep her range of motion and was soon able to exercise on land.

At one point, Mac and several others suggested Chicka should retire, but “Lynne wouldn’t hear of it,” he said. The determination of both dog and owner inspired Dr. Sherman to design a neoprene suit that applied tension for a better workout. Chicka had experienced some gait abnormalities after her hip replacement and the suit also helped her move more correctly.

Fourteen weeks post surgery, radiographs of Chicka’s hip revealed that she was sufficiently healed enough to return to the rigors of training. Lynne maintained a careful schedule with Chicka, balancing her prescribed exercises with field training. “At the age of eight, Chicka is pretty knowledgeable – her skills are honed and she thinks she is in charge,” Lynne said. “Standing beside her on the line is very exciting.”

And no one was more excited than Lynne when Chicka’s name was called as the winner of the 2004 National Amateur Retriever Championship just eighteen months after her second surgery.

“I had the determination to see Chicka through this and do whatever was possible to help her,” Lynne said, reflecting back on Chicka’s amazing return to competition. “She has so much heart and desire. Without that, I don’t think she could have recovered.” She added, “Dr. Sherman had the ingenuity and brilliance to design all sorts of exercises and a rehab program for her. Without her heart and his art, it wouldn’t have happened.”

The Heart and Art of a Comeback, just won first place for best inspirational article in this year's Mid-Oklahoma Writers writing competition - Jan 07