crazy_puppy

No bcgsd he isn't from a registered breeder. Puggy I don't let him run around like crazy, but he just does so randomly if the he hears one of the cats playing or when someone visits etc. He's such an active dog, so he's just struggling with having minimum exercise. I will look in to getting the other side done but only after he has completely recovered from this one first. We went to the pool today and I think he liked it, took him a little while to get used to it but then he was ok. Thankfully it's tired him out enough for the rest of the day! Next time I might see the physio as well, that way I can get a few exercises he can do at home. So far he's doing better that I had expected

This is the only surgery where they encourage the animal to use the joint as soon as possible. When I picked him up last week, the vet told me if Max doesn't use his leg much by the next consultation (tomorrow) he'll be quite disappointed in his recovery process. Took him for another slow walk today, with a longer lead, so I could actually watch his leg from behind, and he's using it much more than I thought. Lets see wht the doc says tomorrow....

He's quite good actually, he doesn't seem to be in much pain but he's not using that leg! It's just easier & quicker for him to carry it instead. The only time he uses it is when he's walking slowly but because he's so hyper he's always running around everywhere. I can't wait to take him swimming, just have to wait till the stitches are off now

Max is doing really well! He obviously isn't putting much weight on that leg but he's walking and even tries to run around everywhere! We are trying to keep him calm and comfortable so he's got heaps of toys to chew on and he goes to his beds when he wants to sleep. He did have an accident last night but I was expecting that anyway. Its still early days, he gets his stitches out in a week or so, then we can give him a bath and take him to dogs in motion. For now its just small walks inside the house, which he has no issues with, he does use that leg but very lightly, which is good i suppose. Maybe in a day or two I'll take him out for a walk just till the end of the street and back. He's on anti biotics and anti inflamms which are really helping him through the pain. He is pretty much what I expected him to be like, sometimes sooky, sometimes bored, sudden bursts of energy but all in all I'm happy so far, the rest time will tell I'll post some pictures later.....he's not liking the huge bald patch haha

Thanks for all the info and advice everyone I reallly didn't realise that half an hour was a long time, will definitely be more careful down the track. Max has been really well this week, I'm quite surprised actually. He's had a few limping sessions here and there but besides that he's got all his energy back and is definitely making up for all the days he couldn't walk!! Kinda makes me feel bad for taking him in on Tuesday but I guess its for his own good. I will definitely give you updates on how the surgery goes, tuesday is not too far now....

From what I've been told, he doesn't have to be crated, which I'm really happy about. Apparently most dogs come out of the surgery walking!! I have no idea how though...he will need to rest for the first 2-3 days but after that I have to try and get him to walk on it pretty much staright away even for a couple of mins a day. If he gets all the exercise and physio 6 weeks is a decent recovery apparently, so fingers crossed. Finding info on the recovery itself is actually what I'm struggling with, how well do they cope? I don't know whether to have him inside the house or the garage is sufficient? Will he have a limp, will he be completely pain free after a few months? How soon to start the underwater treadmill etc Thanks Cosmolo, I'm glad I finally have a plan, it was doing my head in before. He has changed so much since he was a baby, he grew out of the crazy lol, he still has his moments but nothing like before, you'd be proud of him.

Puggy, a few reasons I decided againt using Dr Wong: 1)I live in SE melbourne and Dr Wong is in Werribee, it takes me an hour to get there with normal traffic, in peak hour its an absolute joke! Max looked really uncomfortable in the back seat for that long, so i'm a bit worried wht he'll be like post op as well. 2)If I do go ahead with the surgery I will have to take 2 x half days off which I don't want to do as I've started a relatively new job and have already taken time off to take max to the vet & specialsts. Plus my manager has health issues and is now in hospital having surgery herself which means I have twice as much work to do. I had planned the surgery so that I can look after him easter weekend and thats after he wouldve already spent two nights at the hospital. Werribee's just too far. 3) Finances; I save almost a grand getting him in mount. Nekhbet, will most likely be using the underwater treadmill post op, I don't thinks he's going to like swimming so soon, he's had too many bad experiences. Taters, he wasn't in the water long, half an hour? not more, thats not long is it? We dont let him off lead on the sand, we just walk across straight to the water but even that can be an effort I guess. As far as the needing muscle before the surgery, its odd coz I thought he'd need it to but none of the vets/specialist said it was a problem, they only emphasized the importance of the physio post op, which i will be doing. Cosmolo it will be one hip at at time, the 2nd one can be done 6 weeks (at the earliest) after the first one but it also depends on how recovery is going. The vet from the RSPCA got back to me today too ( I figure he would have fair bit of experience in this area) he specializes in orthopaedic surgery, he said FHO is a fairly straight forward procedure, and most vets do them on a regular enough basis, he has heard of Dr Graham and said I should go ahead with the scheduled surgery, it shouldn't be a problem. Sooo confused. i think i'm going to just go ahead as planned....I'm thinking of getting a doggy door installed so he has access to inside the house instead of just the garage (he has a kennel, bed, food, toys & water). Sound like a good idea? Has anyone had this surgery done on their pups before? Thanks nina and cassie, he is precious, he drives me nutz but i absolutely adore him

Thanks Cosmolo Yes FHO is where they remove the ball, he is 22KGs at the moment. Max has pretty much lost all muscle in his back legs, I have considered taking him to dogs in motion, but to be very honest am terrified we'll have to take him to emergency again. Last two times was after he was swimming at the beach, he wasn't let off lead on the beach itself only in the deeper water as I didnt want him running around everywhere. I will take him there for a few sessions post surgery as part of his recovery. The vets doing the surgery are not specialists, but they came highly recommended through a friend who had issues (not HD though) with her own dogs. I did ask them about how often they do the surgery and he said maybe one in six weeks...do you think I should get it done by a specialist only? Michael recommended Dr Charles in Highett, but he is away for a while. Hows Dex doing?? Thanks again, I will definitely keep you updated with Max.

Thats my baby

Max, my 9 mnth pup has been diagnosed with severe hip dyspalsia in both hips around a month a ago and is deteriorating a lot quicker than expected. My vet recommended treating him conservatively at first; he has been put on joint formula, anti inflams and cartropehn injections, and cut down the exercise to 20min walks. We took him swimming to the dog beach at Brighton as well but we have taken him to emergency twice since being diagnosed because he was in a lot of pain and wouldn't stop whining. He is not a whiny dog. Our vet has since recommended surgery and referred me to Dr Wing Tip Wong. Dr Wong was very helpful and gave me my options: Total Hip Replacement, TPO, FHO & Hip denervation. Financial constraints ruled out the first two, so he suggested the hip denervation over the FHO which honestly took me by surpirse. He said when he starts to feel the pain again in a couple of years, we could do the femoral head removal then. Max is usually a very happy & bouncy pup but the vet/specialist visits are taking its toll, he now refuses to let anyone examine him and I dont want to put him through this again in a few years time if I don't have to, so was leaning towards FHO. My friend recommended Anvet in Mt Waverley for a second opinion, and they suggested the FHO as well. I have booked him in to have the surgery next tuesday. The vets performing the surgery will be Dr Rob Graham & Matt Miller? I am petrified of making the wrong decision and my head hurts from reading so many threads. I would love some advice, has anyone been to the above vet? Has anyone had a successful FHO or hip denervation? what was the recovery like? Btw I have also been advised of the "other alternative", this is not an option for me at this stage; he is an intelligent happy pup who has good days and bad days, except his bad days can be really bad Sorry for the long post!

Samodor, hows the lil pup doing? any improvement? I wouldn't consider re-homing so soon, mouthing is very normal puppy behaviour but needs to be corrected straight away. Try one session with a private trainer, see how you go and then decide. My pup was mouthing excessively but thanks to a good trianer, he rarely does it any more, if you want her details let me know

I hated my puppy school, It was at a vet clinic close to work. They pre poned it a week and never told us, until I called to confirm dates. They changed the times as well without letting us know, so I missed the first session. Once I was there, I wasn't very fond of the the trainer. He was this really old boring guy, he basically talked and we listened. I didn't get the feeling that he actually loved the animals...more like, "ok look dog just sit already, ok good, now go away". No play time for dogs, just a quick sniff. He taught us basic commands, at least tried to. His obedience training wasn't always helpful, didn't always work. Some of the methods worked for some of the small toy breeds, not so much my growing hyperactive BC!!! He told me that I needed to teach Max to be more calm, in my head I was thinking "well isn't that why I'm here?!". He also snapped at one of the pups owners, coz he kept barking at another pup, it was annoying but it wasn't their fault, they were already doing everything they could to keep him quiet...and the trainers "can you shut up him up please!!" didn't help the situation and I thought it was quite rude. I didn't go back to the last two!!

yes, yes it is and my crazy pup isn't as crazy any more

I don't want to scare you or anything, but my pup had the same issues, he used to mouth really bad and we kept putting him in time out as it was the only thing working and it had improved considerably. But then all of a sudden he started to test us, he started to mouth harder and pee in the house. everytime we tried to correct him he'd snap at us and we dint know what to do, eventually he ended up biting me pretty bad, it took about 20-30 minutes of pressure to stop the bleeding! All this coz he knew he was going to go to time out and didn't want to. What was scary was from the first time he began to test us and the time he bit me was about 48-72hrs. If you do not correct it staright away and EVERY SINGLE TIME, they can learn THAT quickly that its ok to mouth/bite so hard. Lucky for me I had already pre arranged a private training session. And she was unbelieveable!! I was in shock, I didnt think my pup had it in him to learn so quickly and be so well behaved. something to think about maybe.....

I have a 11 week old border collie and he's absolutely adorable but he simply will not stop biting!!I think its a combination of him teething and wanting attention. I know all puppies play bite and all that but his biting can be quite painful and its getting to the point where I cannot spend time with him. I cannot pet him or sit next to him etc without him biting me or anyone else for that matter. I can't seem to get him to understand that its something hes not allowed to do. Another major concern is that I have two cats. Althought they are not too happy about it, they have finally accepted that he's part of the family now. He tries to play with them but they're just too scared of this hyperactive,barking, tail waggaig thing that chases them everytime I'm not looking. Even IF the cats get used to him more and want to play with him, I'm afraid he's going to end up hurting them because of his constant biting. He has a lot of toys: the big rawhide chew bones in different sizes, rubber toys, kongs, balls, the rope bone things and I keep alternating between them so he doesnt get bored. When he's inside the house ( he's outside during work hours) he is always kept on a leash, which he doesn't seem to mind. This was to help with his toilet training (which has is working quite well) and so that he couldn't chase the cats. Taking him off the leash is something I definitely don;t want to stop until he is completely toilet trained and learns to be gentle with the cats. PLEASE if any one has any suggestions I'm all ears! I;ve tried what seems like everything but maybe I'm not doing it right. I've tried to re direct his attention to biting a toy....saying a firm NO everytime....yelp when he bites (which gets him even more nippy at times) and putting him in time out (the laundry) everytime he bites which is the only thing that might be working a little. Please help!