Cosmolo

I will talk to the specialist tomorrow and tell them he isn't weight bearing and see what they say.

We got him from a shelter aged 12 weeks. That poor puppy and family dancibcs. I don't think he needs any other drugs at the moment but we'll see how he goes. No weight bearing yet which is a little worrying.

No he isn't Ness- just the antibiotic and Rimadyl.

Does anyone have any pictures of home made type barriers they have made for their weave poles? Or any links for directions to making some?

So last night he was weight bearing a little bit when he went out to toilet. Today so far- not at all Swelling is still the same as is the bruising. He seems a little brighter though which is a good and bad thing.

I wouldn't think a vet would do both at once?

We have had him on heaps of different supplements over the years and one by one they seemed to stop working. The only thing that was still giving some relief was cartrophen injections but even that was limited. I haven't tried the Rosehip though- what form does it take? The other complication for him is that if you try to put different things in his food he won't eat it so it needs to be something he will like to eat or a tablet we can wrestle into him. I understand what the ortho is saying- i guess the problem is when is enough enough? How many surgeries and confinements can you put them through before it becomes too detrimental to be fair/ kind? That is the question i keep wrestling with and i can't find the answer.. I don't want my selfish desire to have Dex for as long as possible to end up being to his detriment if you know what i mean.

One of the biggest concerns for us is being able to tell whether any residual pain is coming from the surgery or his hips/ elbows as well. While we believe his hips have been worsening over a number of months the vet said 'are you sure it was his hips' as he thinks it was the cruciate disease. Unfortunately there was no way to know so we could end up still having a sore dog post op anyway. No idea what we'd do then- i just can't believe how messed up this dogs joints are. Surely it's unusual to have every joint affected by these things?

Wish i had known that before.

4-6 months..

Dexter has done underwater treadmill and swimming before for his HD and ED. While i will definitely give it a try, my only concern is that when he went before he got so wildly excited and aroused- i mean completely 'gone' mentally in that environment. It was the one environment where we couldn't get him to settle- he was the same at the beach but because he had more freedom at the beach we could gradually get him to be a bit calmer. Perhaps now with the extra training he has had it will be different but i wouldn't hold my breath. I can't believe how long it took before the free running with other dogs.. The specialist gave me the impression that at the end of the 8 weeks of crating he was free to do whatever he liked.

That's a good link thanks Ness. OsoSwift- how long did it take your dog to get back to full function? Were there particular rehab exercises that you did?

I have just come back from the vet. Took him back as there was an incredible amount of swelling around his hock and it started to bleed again. I really don't like the vets and vet nurses there.. Vet nurse had a look first and said the swelling was normal the day after surgery (even though the surgery was Monday)- why wasn't i told this yesterday on discharge??? She then asked if he had been licking at it, i said no (the bandage was clearly untouched) and she replied with "do you leave him alone" and when i said yes she scoffed a bit and said he needs an e collar. They said yesterday that he didn't need one so i find that frustrating. Then a different specialist had a look out the back- i couldn't go out with him for some reason. Came out and said 'she' was okay and that he'd expect it to settle down in a few days. Calling him a she made me wonder whether he had even had a proper look. Have been told to ice it three times a day- no idea how as i doubt he is going to let me- and see how he goes. I am seriously thinking about going to see my own vet if i am still not happy with it tomorrow.

I have spoken to someone about the bleeding (which seems to have stopped now) and they have said to monitor for now but leave him be. We went to try and cut the bandage off to check the wound(which the discharge nurse said we could do) and he screamed like i have never heard. I promptly had a self induced asthma attack/ panic attack and sobbed on the floor. Very helpful. Kirty there is no way he will be able to come anywhere with us- he will just get too excited.

Now there is blood dripping from under the bandage. Might be going to the emergency vet. My husband will look after him when i'm gone- and Dexter loves him too, but clearly not as much as me.

My 5 yr old bull arab type has just come home from having surgery after he ruptured a cruciate. He has cruciate disease so there is a 50% chance the other one will go as well. He has hip dysplasia in both hips and elbow dysplasis in both elbows. I have no idea whether we've done the right thing in doing the cruciate surgery but the specialist said it was the only option. The longer he stays not weight bearing on the bad leg the more pressure will be on the other 3- meaning we could create more problems in his hips and elbows and increase the chances of the second cruciate rupture. He is currently not eating unless i am there- wouldn't eat anything at the vet as he stayed there over night after surgery yesterday. Problem is i go to Perth next week for work so it is going to be very stressful if he is still not eating properly by then. I feel like we've made him so unhappy. He has gone from limping a bit but still his normal self to no weight bearing and looking positively miserable which in turn makes me miserable.

What about a well bred Bichon? I know quite a few that are great little dogs, quite robust and there is one of my clients bichon's that i would steal if i could- great dogs. Be careful with lagottos- i know many with temperament issues. Those without such issues are fantastic though so it's just a matter of being careful.

I really, really feel for you Ness. We have one of ours on 3 legs at the moment, having surgery on Monday which may or may not work so really sympathise. It's so awful to see a normally active dog restricted by their physical condition and even mroe frustrating when the path to fixing it is not clear cut if it exists at all.

But isn't all Troy is talking about is having a symbol on an ad that means someone shows? How is that in any way exclusionary?

That is an excellent point Corvus. Using dogs as 'teaching dogs' is great but we must ensure the teaching dogs are not getting the raw end of the deal.

Have again replied to all emails sent. Feedback on the series is welcome and suggestions for a Series Three are welcome.

Bump- few places in each session left.

How many of those people were conducting assessments though? Almost everyone i meet struggles to read dog body language- this is across all breeds and cross breed though, people just generally struggle with understanding another species.

Can you clarify what you mean by reading wrong and what you would consider to be normal?

I have tested a number of LSG's. Some passed outright, others were referred to breed specific rescue for further assessment.