Erica1

Thanks Minimax and Stans Mum. I'm not even going to bother to reply to Nekhbet. Our puppy is now home. She's having physiotherapy and we take her on short walks ourselves. We used the agency because we thought we were doing the right thing for our dog. We both work and I thought it might be good for her to get some exercise and socialisation and to break up the boredom with her having to be home alone for long periods of time. We obviously didn't know that the risk was so high. She's had her stitches taken out. She uses the leg but needs to learn to use it properly. We'll try to take her for a swim when the weather gets warmer as it's currently too cold in Canberra to swim. Unfortunately there's no hydrotherapy centre for dogs in Canberra. She'll have the rod taken out soon and we'll find out if there's been any disruption to her growth. The vet is optimistic. Even if there are problems, I'm sure we'll be able to manage it.

I suppose we could try to sue them, but I think we would have to prove the dog walker was reckless or negligent. I think it would be difficult to prove. I agree that they should be held responsible if an injury occurs while they have your pet in their care. I understand that the dog walker only had my puppy with her. It happened near a children's day care centre, so I went to question the staff about it. The woman said the staff didn't see the incident, but they heard it. She said the dog walker only had my dog with her. But, I still can't understand that her leg could have been broken that easily! I wonder if she fell on her leg.

I'll check her crate when she comes home to make sure she has enough room to move around. I did check with the vet about the cage she's in at the clinic, and the vet didn't have any concerns about the room for her to move about. Thanks for the suggestion. Pups4fun didn't even offer to pay for any of the costs. Once you sign the waiver, you can't hold them responsible for any damage or injuries to your dog, other dogs etc. She's begun to use the leg again, which is good. I've found an animal physiotherapist who may do some work on her to help with her recovery. We miss her and hope there's no permanent damage to her leg.

Thanks for the suggestions. We've decided to keep her at the vet for another week so that her leg can have a good chance to heal. We've got a crate, which we use when she sleeps at night. We also bought a play pen on the advice of the vet. I still can't believe it! Our poor little puppy is going to have to spend a lot of time in the play pen and crate. The vet said they're happy with her progress. She's been bright and happy. We're not going to visit her too often, as it worries me when she starts to move around because she's so happy to see us.

It was only a short, leisurely walk, to get her to experience new things and to socialize her. I've read that you can take dogs on walks for 5 minutes for every month of their age which would mean she could be taken on a 20 minute walk. I just didn't think there would be any risks. It wasn't the walk that broke her leg, it was when she went between the legs of the dog walker. We can't get the agency to pay for the vet bills as they refuse to take any responsibility for any injuries. She's had her op, which went well. Now we have to hope there's no long term damage. Thanks for your good wishes.

Hi I'm new to this forum. I have a 4 month old GSD puppy. We paid for an agency in Canberra to take her on dog walks. On her first dog walk, the dog walker had an accident with her - our dog apparently got between her legs and one of her hind legs was broken at the growth plate. I just find it incredible that you can break a dog's leg like that! We were extremely upset. Our poor little dog had to have an operation. It will probably cost around $3,000 for the vet treatment, not that we care about the expense, we just want our puppy to recover. I'd like to know if any other dog owners have had a similar fracture in their dogs and if you would recommend anything to help in our dog's recovery. It will take 6 - 8 weeks for her to fully recover and we won't know about the long term effects until later (ie leg deformity, limp, growth problems). Thanks Erica