There are two separate aspects to jogging. First you will want to show your dog to Walk to Jog, then Jog to Run. Make sure your dog is using the injured leg 100% at a slow walk before even considering jogging.

Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation gives us tips on how to incorporate these transitions between walking, jogging and running slowly into your dog’s routine.

Walk to Jog – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

This exercise is most often used in dog agility, but adapting it for home use can be a great way to help your dog regain strength and range of motion following a cruciate ligament injury. Using cones or any other apparatus available, you can quickly set up a course for your dog to weave through.

of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation’s Dr. James St. Clair demonstrates the use of the Weave Poles (or Cones in his case).

Weave Poles – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

Please note – this exercise SHOULD NOT be performed until your dog is back to 100% with the injured leg. Curb walking is a simple, effective technique that can be easily incorporated into your dog’s daily walking routine.

Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation demonstrates curb walking and discusses how it can help your dog as they recover from a cruciate ligament injury.

Making sure your dog is using an adequately sized curb is key to the success of this exercise.

Dogs over 70 Pounds – Curb should be 3-5 inches high
Dogs 31-70 Pounds – Curb should be about 3 inches high
Dogs less than 30 pounds – Curb should be no more than 2 inches high

Also, keep in mind you should be using a curb that is at least 20 feet in length.

Curb Walking – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

Cavaletti Pole Exercises are an excellent way to help increases strength and improves your dog’s balance. Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation explains the best way to use the Cavaletti Poles to help your dog heal and rebuild muscle, strength and balance following a cruciate ligament injury.

At TopDog Health and Rehabilitation, they use thin PVC pipes as Cavaletti poles. The PVC is then suspended between traffic cones that are pre-drilled with holes. A broom stick handle can work great, as well!

Cavaletti Exercises – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

TopDog Health and Rehabilitation’sDr. James St. Clair show us how to master the “Sit to Stand Exercise” – which are basically squats for dogs.

Dr. James suggests viewing your role in your dog’s recovery as that of a personal trainer, focusing on the form. When performed properly, this exercise can be a powerful asset to rebuild muscle in the hind leg, while also improving overall range of motion in the knee joints.

Sit to Stand Exercise – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation shows a simple, informative technique of measuring hind leg muscle to help track your dog’s progress during recovery from CCL surgery or throughout Conservative Management.

How to Measure Your Dog’s Muscle – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

Dr. James St. Clair of TopDog Health and Rehabilitation discusses the importance of mastering controlled leash walking with your dog during their recovery from a cruciate ligament (CCL or ACL) injury.

Making sure your dog maintains a reasonable amount of exercise during the recovery process helps your dog to learn to use the injured leg again, and may prevent injury of the opposite leg.

Slow, Controlled Leash Walking – Video is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

I am an Office Manager at an animal hospital, and I love to bring my dog with me to work every day. His name is Ben, and he is a Golden Retriever. When the story begins, he weighed 115 lbs.

In early June, I had brought Ben to work. We we playing fetch in the hospital (again, I LOVE my job), and Ben slipped on the tile floor. He had a slight limp for two days, but then he was fine. I had him on Rimadyl/Carprofen, but once the limp went away, I took him off of it. I began to worry about his weight causing problems, and I was able to get him down to 112 lbs.

On Friday, June 24th, I was in my front yard when Ben started running. He stopped very suddenly, and he couldn’t put his leg down. He couldn’t walk to the door. I immediately brought him to my hospital, and the vet was able to feel the ligament tear through the drawer test.

I spoke to 4 different veterinarians and 2 CVTs… 5 of these 6 people said to go with the TPLO. I was shocked at the prices I was being given. Even with a kind “Professional Courtesy Discount”, I was getting estimates into the $4000′s. I was worried about this high price, and I was even more worried about the lengthy recovery time, severity of the side effects, and possibly spending another $4000 on his next leg just months down the road.

I spoke to a vet who we often refer to, but his hospital can only do lateral sutures. After meeting Ben, he suggested I call Dr. Robert Cook of Animal Medic Clinic of St. Charles, IL. Dr. Cook has been performing the Tightrope surgery for some time, and he has had success with it. I set up our consultation for Wednesday, June 29th.

DAY ONE

I met with Dr. Cook at about 10:00 AM. He is extremely thorough in his exam, and he makes sure that I understand everything and all of my questions are answered. He explains the possible side effects of the surgery, and he explains why things go wrong. I feel very confident with him, even more so after he mentions he has performed over 500 of these surgeries since 2008. He explains that yes, it is a newer surgery and surgeons can make mistakes by placing the rope crooked or drilling too close to one side of the bone. After 500 of these surgeries, Dr. Cook explained that he has learned to not make these mistakes.

I also explained that I was concerned about Ben’s size, and other veterinarians did not feel the tightrope would hold. He explains that this surgery was designed for the larger dog. He has done it on dogs larger than Ben with great results. We discussed Ben’s weight, and as of today, he is down to 103. Dr. Cook wants me to get him down to the lower 90s to assist with his recovery, and he should probably be at his ideal weight then. Overweight dogs have a higher occurance of blowing their second leg.

THE TIGHTROPE SURGERY

I really recommend finding a vet as experienced in this surgery as mine. I ended up paying 2500, and while the outcome is still unknown, this is how my surgery differed from others I am reading.

The surgery was performed that day. I dropped him off at 10. They performed bloodwork, and they gave morphine, acepromazine and an epidural. They were in surgery for about an hour. They also found a tear in the meniscus, and this was trimmed. I brought Ben home THE SAME DAY at 4:00. There was no cast, and there were no bandages. There was a transparent, sticky adhesive placed over the incision which was to be removed in 3 days. The external incision was about 2 inches long, and the other small incisions were all under a centimeter. The incision was closed with staples, rather than sutures.

NIGHT ONE AFTER TIGHTROPE SURGERY

Ben was in a lot of pain. I was able to get him to eat a little and drink a little. He held his leg in the air the entire time. He would not stand on his own. He was so depressed, like he had lost the will to live.

DAY TWO

I take Ben outside at 730 AM. We have four stairs at my house, and I have to basically hold his back end while he walks down the stairs. He peed and laid down. I COULD NOT get him to stand up. I’m so happy I had called off of work… I wasn’t able to get Ben back into the house until after 9:00AM. Ben was still very painful, even after medication, and he would growl at me if I would pet him. He has never growled at me in his life, so I found this concerning. He laid around for the rest of the day. When he would stand later in the day, he would begin to toe-touch. His appetite was normal, and he was drinking. My brother was able to carry him outside in the early evening, and again, he wouldn’t walk to the door to come in.

DAY THREE

Ben is starting to walk and follow-me around. He is putting weight on his paw. His pain seems to be going away.

DAY FOUR

I leave Ben alone for the first time since his surgery. He stayed in my room all day. When I got home, he began to run in the house. I had to stop him from moving so quickly. His function appeared to be back to about 50-60%.

DAY FIVE

This injury came at a bad time. Ben is crazy afraid of fireworks, and this was the 3rd of July. I made a hiding spot for him in my room with a lot of blankets. I had given him 100mg of Tramadol and 75mg of Benadryl, but he does not seem to calm down whatsoever. At one point, I walked out to my car. I came in about 5 minutes later, and Ben was in the bathroom with a blanket attached to him. I’m assuming he heard a loud firework, and he ran out of my room and tripped over the blanket, because he was holding his leg high in the air again. I was concerned that he did something to reinjure himself or screw up the surgery. I got him to go back in my room and I blasted classical music. I was able to get him to fall asleep.

DAY SIX

The Fourth of July!

I brought Ben with me to work. I know he was supposed to be bed resting for two weeks, but I wanted my vet to see his progress. He was walking around a little too much for my liking, but my vet thinks he is healing well. The incision looks healthy and normal, and no swelling is present. I cut his Deramaxx from 100mg once daily to 75mg once daily.

That night, I gave him 25mg Acepromazine. He hid the whole time without any pacing. Thank goodness!

DAY NINE

Ben is at about 70 to 80% percent function during the day, but he drops back to 50% at night. I wonder if it is because his Deramaxx is wearing off.

I am slightly concerned that initially, he was showing steady signs of progress, and now it is slowing down. The other problem is that he is getting sick of sitting in this house. He is being way too active when I get home, and he runs to the door if someone gets here. He’s pretty good about stopping when he is told to do so, but I’m worried that these small instances can cause big damage.

Ben is able to completely go down stairs quickly, without assistance (just the 4, as approved by my vet), but he shows a little difficulty when going up. I am lifting up his rear to get him to climb.

Tightrope Surgery Experience – Ben is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

At this point, it seemed likely that his problem was structural and so I took him to see a vet that specialized in orthepedic problems. He spent a considerable amount of time asking questions about how his symptoms had appeared and progressed as well as looking over his medical records. Finally he examined Baxter’s leg and diagnosed a CCL rupture. He showed me as he examined him how his knee was moving to an extent and manner that was not normal. (and was obviously painful)

We discussed two alternatives, extended inactivity (also called Conservative Management) or a traditional extra-capsular repair. He said that smaller dogs often will recover with extended inactivity and without surgery, and that Baxter at 23 pounds was right on the line bteween where he typically recommended surgery vs inactivity.

Ultimately, given Baxter’s energetic temperment we decided that surgery would be a quicker and more reliable route to recovery.

This particular Vet would only consider traditional repair for Baxter and would not recommend TPLO or TTA. I don’t know if it was due to Baxter’s smaller size or his own experience, but he was quite adament about it. Given that this surgeon had done 200 to 300 of these proceedures a year for many years, I figured he knew what he was talking about and scheduled the surgery.

The surgery went well and Baxter did not need any miniscus removed. (a complication I was told was common) He stayed overnight at the vet and I took him home the next morning. I was very surprised to see him led out to me on a leash and walking with less limping than he walked in with! He was a little out of it the first day home, but continued to walk on the leg with some limping. By day 4, he would sometimes forget to limp if he was in a rush to get somewhere. (the refridgerator usually)

After 10 days, his stiches came out and he was allowed to start taking short walks although stairs, jumping, and playing with other dogs was still forbidden. As of today (21 days) he is doing great and although he sometimes limps as he walks around, he often doesn’t. He is also clearly in much less pain than before the surgery and hasn’t taken any pain medications since his stitches were taken out.

I was prepared by stories on this site and other resources for a much more difficult recovery for Baxter. I know that he is not “fixed” yet and that will still require many months of carefully monitored activity, however I was amazed at how quickly he has recovered to a happy and pain-free condition. I spoke to the surgeon about it and he admitted that Baxter was doing better than average, but that he had seen plenty of dogs recover as easily as he has.

I will try to update this as he continues to recover, but I wanted to get his story out to anyone considering this surgery. It can clearly be a difficult proceedure to recover from, but it isn’t always as bad as some of the other experiences shared on this site!

Post Surgery Update

You would never know anything was wrong. It was a great thing to do and the recovery process went much easier than expected.

We work full-time and have 2 young boys, but kept him safely in a dog pen with the “cone of shame” on as long as necessary. Let him out to go potty and to walk. The walks also helped with some weight loss.

Kept him on a leash through week 12 – even when out of the pen so he couldn’t run around the house. It was not as daunting as I first imagined. I do cringe a bit now when I see him leaping over things in the yard and chasing birds!

Traditional CCL Repair for Small Dogs – Baxter is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries

Hello Everyone,

But sadly, against my better judgement, I let her rip when we were out, because she has such a high prey drive, it was the only way to rid her of some of her restlessness. She is supposed to be Chow/Border Collie, which explains the high prey drive! So last week, at the park as so many times before, ZOOM, man she’s gone chasing a squirrel up a tree.

She came out of the bush, with her left rear leg, just gimpy, limpy along. Not until later at the house that night did I notice the extent of her injury. I freaked, cause I knew this was not good. The injury occurred on (I believe) Sunday, and by Monday we were off to the vets.

Long story short, she has blown her ACL and I am devastated. Moving along to a few weeks later, after getting her on Deramaxx for the pain, I wind up at the Idaho Humane Society. I had a visit with the executive director of the center, who is an orthopedic surgeon. We did the exam, had x-rays taken for the first time, and much to my despair, not only is her left leg shot, her right is even worse!

Much to my horror, she also has hip dysplasia in both hips with arthritis and arthritis in both legs also. So in trying to decide to do surgery or CM, after reading about all of you guys that have taken that road I figured, what the hell…. I can not do surgery on legs, hips, and God knows what else! I was so bummed, I am so worried about my girl.

It is horrid to see my wild child, become crippled. (tears, and more tears) So as it stands, right now I too am having to just try to keep her comfortable and out of pain. I restrict her movements, am trying to get a little weight off her (she’s 48 lbs or so) and I have her Rimadyl and Tramadol also. Doc. said to give her 2000mg. of MSM and Glucosomine, which is good to know cause I only was going to give her 1000 of each. That for about 2 months, (2000mg) while she is trying to recover.

This is a difficult thing to watch, but thank goodness I will be home with her not having to work (unemployment!). I can assist and watch over her! I am an old lady myself, but have no children, so you know how neurotic us pet owners can be with “our kids!” So, keep writing guys, this is very helpful – I don’t feel so alone and sad, knowing others out there are struggling with the same problems! Thank you all, and I will keep you guys informed, as we travel this very bumpy road of destiny!!

Appreciatively,
Eilen Baldwin
Star, ID.

Healing a CCL Tear Without Surgery – Jasmond Baldwin is a post from: Dog Knee Surgery and Ligament Injuries