Increasing Muscle In Back Legs...

[pennyw74]

I have been reading up about luxating patellas...my girl had both knees operated on, so I know what it's all about.

I found this thread http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...uxating+patella and in particular this post (below) in reply and was curious...

What other exercises are good to increase the muscle in the back legs? I heard that this can be a way to stabilise the patella and that pulling on the lead DOES help but I am interested in what else can help.

Thanks.

If it were me, I'd definitely be seeing my regular vet about this. I personally think some vets operate uneccessarily. It can be tricky with cruciate ligament/luxating patella because no action could make things far worse, but please see your regular vet about it.

My dog Ricky did his knee late 2006. I took him to see a vet and was advied that surgery was his only option. Various other dog people told me the same thing. I took him back to my vet who I love and trust and he told me that Ricky's limp wasn't bad enough to operate on, that he'd probably be worse after surgery. He devised a plan for us which involved limited activity (no flyball, agility, fetch or anything involving running and sudden stopping or twisiting), lots of straight line walking (I taught him to walk on a treadmill and he did 10 minutes of very slow walking every day or when we could) and some weight bearing stuff - pulling on lead DOES have some benefits! At first it was hard to see an improvement but after a few months he was back to normal and after 8 months he was back doing flyball and agility and general running about like a moron. A dog at my dog school had surgery mid last year to repair a cruciate ligament after being attacked. She still can't walk properly. The ligament that they put in is very tight and has to be stretched and loosened. IMO this dog should not have been operated on she barely had a limp, she rarely uses the leg now and mostly carries it.

I'm so glad we used physio to get Ricky fixed up rather than surgery. It took time and a lot of work as we basically had to build up the muscle that runs down beside the knee to hold the knee cap in place because the ligament was no longer going to be able to do it (ligaments don't retighten once they're stretched) but it was certainly worth it.

I certainly suggest discussing it with your vet, not all dogs are as lucky as Ricky, but IMO a lot are operated on uneccessarily.

[CavsRcute]

I would contact Helen Nicholson who is a very good canine physio,and ask her advice. I do exercises for my Cavalier's HD and they work well.

[Di*]

All Natural Vets at Russell Lea gave me an exercise program for my boy who has luxating patellas.

Di

[pennyw74]

All Natural Vets at Russell Lea gave me an exercise program for my boy who has luxating patellas.

Di

Ooooh, what is it?

[WildatHeart]

i dunno, run him up a hill - alot.

i do that a bit with horses to get them working off thier hindquraters

[sandgrubber]

In general, swimming or working out on soft sand are used to build up leg muscle mass. Once strength is good and health is not an issue, exercises may go on to carrying, or pulling weight and/or going up steep inclines. I don't know about luxating patellas.