posted 03-16-2004 06:49 PM         

In addition, I'll add that it is VERY important to keep him at a low weight, especially since he's already a large breed dog. Dogs generally carry 60% of their body weight on their fron legs, so even factoring in redistributing of weight in a tripod, you're still figuring on about 1/2 his weight supported by the remaining front leg. Couple that with the fact that tripods hop, rather than walk smoothly like most dogs, and that's a lot of stress on the remaining leg. Best to not put any more stress on that than possible, which is why it's important to keep their weight as low as possible (while remaining within reason of course).

Some other considerations are that long nails will make it harder for him to get around, and might actually make him uncomfortable if they're too long (our dog's front foot turns a bit under her weight, so her nails wear unevenly if left to grow out). If they are too long (long being where they touch the floor while he stands), request that the vets cut them back past the quicks while he's out for the amputation. He won't feel it, and then you'll just have to keep them trimmed to a nice length, rather than fighting to get them shorter.

At first he will be easily fatigued as he adapts to not having the other leg, and as was already mentioned, may have trouble going down stairs (not usually so much going up though). Keep walks short while he learns to accomodate for the change, and try to stick to soft surfaces like grass/dirt, rather than pavement. Most dogs adapt fairly quickly to the change, and do not act "depressed" like humans do upon such a change. He may do a bit of tipping forward (watch for scrapes on his chin) as he relearns to balance himself, but this will stop as his muscle tone increases and he learns to compensate. A sign of fatigue in some tripods is pulling their feet in close together, so the weight is more evenly balanced between the 3, so it's something to keep an eye out for on walks, etc.

Sometimes other dogs meeting your dog may be put off by his strange gait, so be aware of that as well when introducing him to them, and allow them time to realize he's just a normal dog, nothing scary.

As far as taking care fo the amputation itself, our dog's was treated as any other incision, and she had no problems with it. The stitches were out in two weeks, and it was pretty much healed soon after. Just watch closely for signs of infection, and keep the incision clean and dry (your vet will have more instructions, I'm sure). Do you know if they're planning on taking the leg off at the shoulder, or if they plan on leaving that? In cases where a "stump" is left, there can be some trouble with the dog banging the stump onto things (the ground for one) as they learn that the leg is gone, but it generally resolves itself in time.

posted 03-17-2004 08:12 AM         

I wish them both well!

posted 03-17-2004 08:36 AM         

Goob - your dog looks just like one in my Best Friends Magazine I got yesterday. Now I am going to have to go home and look at hit again. There is an article about dogs being amputated for medical testing and reasons why they shouldnt be put down and they have all of these picures of happy dogs that have been amputated.