Cavaletti Exercises – Video

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,…

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Curb Walking – Video

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…

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Weave Poles – Video

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….

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Tightrope Surgery Experience – Ben

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…

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Traditional CCL Repair for Small Dogs – Baxter

Baxter, our 23 pound Malti-Poo came inside from an energetic play session one night a few months ago with a significant limp. We were concerned of course, but by the next morning it had improved and largely disapeared a few days later. Over the next few months, he would occasionally start limping again for a…

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Healing a CCL Tear Without Surgery – Jasmond Baldwin

Hello Everyone, I feel as I must give back some of the invaluable information that I have gotten here on the wonderful website I basically stumbled upon! Jasmond’s story began about 8 days ago. She has always been such a wild child. I rescued her at about 18 months almost 9 years ago; someone had…

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Cruciate Ligament Injury in Dogs

Help!  My dog is limping – Could it be a torn ligament? This guide is a good starting place for anyone looking for more information on dog knee problems, specifically cruciate ligament injury in dogs.  This article will give an overview of dog knee injuries covering everything from symptoms to recovery. What is a Cruciate…

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Conservative Management for a Torn Meniscus, Deuce

In September 2010 our dog, Deuce, blew out his knee. We went to the vet and he’s been diagnosed with a torn meniscus. We are going to try the CM method of healing in hopes the scar tissue fills in the spot where it’s torn. Our family can not presently consider surgery because of the…

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Our Conservative Management Plan

I created this website to be all about the experience.  The experiences we go through as owners of dogs with knee ligament injuries, and the experiences our dogs go through as a result of tearing their CCL.  As a result of my experience I have been through both a Traditional Repair surgery and successful round…

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Modified Traditional ACL Surgery – Beau

At over 8 months post op, I can safely say that the surgery was a success and worth the cost and trouble. Beau (a Golden Retriever) plays as much as any healthy dog and we have had; he is completely healed. We have learned many things from this experience, and the highlights are: 1. Keep…

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