Anterior cruciate injuries - Page 2

Thanks guys for the info and nice thoughts. I don't know anything for sure yet but I am pretty sure this is the problem. She shows all the symptoms I have found on the net.

I don't know if the vet I am seeing is board certified. All of the "best of  the best" around here are referal only. Realistically I cant afford the "best of the best" anyway. What I do know is I had three people I know and two vets tell me they have had  success with this clinic on orthopedic cases. The doctor i am seeing is the "knee guy" per the receptionist, he owns GSD's, and they are his breed, so that was the best I could do.

I have made my decision. If I can get the surgery done for $1500 and the doctor says the dog can come back 75% and we can do the work at low levels or for fun, I will do it and keep her as a potential brood bitch.

This is the shitty thing about shooting for top level sport. You go out and try to find the best. Who can handle these dogs? Working dog people or some type of experienced sport dog person. These people don't want an injured dog. So what percentage of the general population can deal with these dogs? 5-10%? It becomes an ethical thing for me, the dog, a potential owner, and the general public. I have put bitework on this dog. I have always said if it is within my power; no dog I have trained will ever hurt someone who didn't deserve it. Most people I know outside those who don't train bitework  just don't understand.

I try to be pragmative about these things. She is the third dog I have been through since I have tried to get back in the game. The others I didn't let myself get too attached. I really like this little dog and had big plans for her. My attitude has always been if the dog does not have the temperment or the physical soundness for the work; that is just the way it is. The thing is, I caused this. She came back OFA good on the pre-lims. I started teaching her the technique for the long jump. This one time, I thew the ball up to high instead of out. She jumped straight up and the leg crumpled. If I have to put my dog down becouse of my mistake, I think I will beat myself in the head with a brick.

Well enough of my sad story and boo hooing. I shared this for advise from people who may understand. For those who want to judge me, please keep you comments to yourself, I don't need them. Thank you to those who have given me info and kind thoughts.

I hope your pup gets better, and don't beat  yourself up about causing the injury, mistakes happen, if we don't make mistakes then we don't learn, you weren't to know that this would happen. not your fault. 

You give yourself far too much credit regarding the accident. The fact is, you had nothing to do with it. You could throw the ball higher ten thousand times and it would probably never happen again. It was a freak type accident. She might have sprung or braced from a gap or soft spot in the ground, since you seem to think it happened on her initial take off. 

The more we play with our dogs, or work our dogs, the odds are there, that some accident can happen. I saw a top Greyhound win a $10,000, Speciality Race one weekend. Two weeks later the same dog was bumped around the first turn and stepped in a soft spot in the track and blew his ACL on the spot.  It wasn't anyones fault. Its just something that happens.

The really sad thing is, that both with humans and dogs, these type of accidents usually occur under simple circumstances, rather than in some type of dramatic competition.

My son's mixed breed had this injury, had the surgery, wound up having to have the entire joint resurfaced, it was wildly expensive, but the main point I want to make was that their vet stressed that most dogs don't do well after the surgery, injure the compensating leg, if the rehab isn't carefully controlled. Their vet had them sling carry the dog (who was 6 years old) to go out & potty, and absolute crate rest for 6 weeks, & then slowly started rehab, & then reconditioning. Now (almost a year later), she's as good as new. But it was a lot of work, &  their dog is just a pet, but they are serious hikers, so the dog was , and is again, very active....for what it's worth! jackie harris ps, the dog was on morphine for pain right after surgery, and on pain meds for a while at home, to make sure she didn't fuss with it, as well as to insure her comfort, just a side note.

Get A Real Dog.  You can't control all things that happen to dogs.  I can tell you exactly when my male tore his ACL, it was playing ball.  Guess what we still play ball, he lives and dies to play ball.

I can't tell you if you dog will be able to do jumps, I would think lower level jumps would be some thing she could do down the line.  My male is HUGE, an honest 110 lbs on the Vet scale and only 1 CM over height and you can feel all of his ribs.  So jumping was never anything I really taught him.  He will go airborn to get the ball and land on his back legs first, I cringe a little, but he has not reinjured  the leg and the other leg and hip are fine.

I can only give you my experience with the type of surgery my male had, but 2 days after surgery he was putting his toe down to see if he could carry weight on that leg.   We followed the rehab instructions and almost three years after surgery all is still well.

What procedure was performed?

GARD, I don't know the medical name, but they replaced the ACL with a synthetic one, not a wire one.  We discussed the repair option if it isn't completely ruptured where they over sew the tear.  But I told them I wanted to go for the replacement.  I was told on another board that this is old type procedure, now they shave the bones and remodel.

Get a good evaluation and did you look for the yahoo group called Ortho dogs.  You can do a lot of research beofre your Ortho Eval.

Went to see the vet last night. He did the ACL test, OFA hip view and two views of the leg from top to bottom. He can't find anything wrong. This is a very large clinic and he says he sees 3-4 ACL injuries a month. He is going to show the x-rays at rounds to all th other vets,the radiologist, and the surgeon.

This is good news, but what the hell is wrong with my dog?

I am going to try to post her hips @ 8 months and the ones we took last night so you all can give your opinions.

Thanks for the help and info. Anyone (Rezkat5)? or others in the medical field have any other ideas?

ACL injuries and other ligament injuries often cannot be seen on x-ray.  takes specialized equipment and the know-how of vets who know what to look for sometimes to diagnose it.  My vet - a board-certified ortho surgeon, could get no drawer on the knee, but suspected the knee anyway even though my dog was 100% sound except when she tried to jump up.  Very detailed digital x-rays showed that the "fat pac" was dislodged, indicating a partial tear of the ACL.  The x-rays did not show the tear.

molly

The X-rays were from state of the art technology, I was amazed at the clarity and detail. I have talked to K9 officer that told me a doctor (who I have been told by many is the best in the area) he will take me without a referral because I am a cop trying to make K9. I am going to call and see if he will see me. I will bring all my x-rays and see what he says.

How long was your dog down with the injury? What did you have to do?

Thanks