Fritz's Surgery Today

My GSP Fritz has been limping lately so we took him in to get checked out. It looks like he has a partially torn ACL and is scheduled for surgery today. I can’t help but worry. He’s my first canine fur baby and I just want to get this fixed and help him recover quickly. I know he’s got a lot of running planned for the summer, but he’ll have to settle for easy walking with Momma as he heals. He’s an amazing companion to our home and a wonderful hunting buddy and I hope this goes well and we can let him heal all summer before fall comes. Since it’s shaping up to be a hot summer that will be helpful in the healing, as my boys don’t like to run much in the heat. They tend to lazily lay in the sunshine, munch on ice cubes, and snooze during the summer heat. I may have cried a bit when they said he needs surgery, but I’m sure I’m just being an overly-worrisome dog Momma.

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Don’t be sorry!! Hoping for speedy recovery!

Good luck Fritz! Hoping for a speedy recovery.

Fritz and his brother Remi.

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Hunting buddies.

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I hope it goes well! Give him a treat for me.

Follow the doc’s orders to a T. A lot of dogs will tear the other ACL while overcompensating.

Sharon wrote:

Fritz and his brother Remi.

Funny how one looks so calm and the other looks like mischief.

Thank you everyone for all the kind words and support. Billy and I really appreciate it! I just got the word that Fritz is out of surgery and everything went well! He’s in recovery and we can pick him up this evening.

Sharon wrote:

Thank you everyone for all the kind words and support. Billy and I really appreciate it! I just got the word that Fritz is out of surgery and everything went well! He’s in recovery and we can pick him up this evening.

Excellent! I’ve been waiting all day to hear that.

Dad

Good to hear Sharon that all went well. Keep him calm. I think from what I have heard minimum steps. Hope your hunting buddy fully recovers.

Glad to hear things went well.I went through that with my last pooch.I had to carry her up and down the stairs for a couple of weeks,that sucked.Fritz will be up and hunting in no time.

Good to hear!

Well, it was a long first night but we are doing okay. Fritz is still quite groggy and doesn’t have much of an appetite. But he did eat a little bit of breakfast which made us very happy. Billy built a ramp for the stairs so we don’t have to carry him to go potty, and I teared up once I saw it. He’s so amazing, handy, and thoughtful. Fritz’s post-op care says he can be groggy from the anesthesia for up to 24 hours. He also keeps trying to lick his stitches so we got him a cone collar. He does not like it as expected and we didn’t get much sleep. But the first night is the hardest, right? One day at a time!

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Awesome news, glad the pups doing alright. If you got him a standard cone, you might look into trying the blue donut style collars. When I put one on Reagan, he loved it and used it as a pillow. He may still be able to get at his stitches, however. They usually work best for body injuries.

The first 24 hours are tough because of the anesthesia. After a day or two, you’ll have a hard time keeping him inactive! It always amazes me how they have have a major surgery and want to play within a day or two.

404 ERROR wrote:

If you got him a standard cone, you might look into trying the blue donut style collars.

Yeah, he’s really not digging the standard collar. His sleep schedule is all goofy, and all the forced resting isn’t helping that, but he doesn’t seem to want to sleep in a regular collar. Where do you think the best price for a comfy collar or donut collar?

Sharon wrote:

Where do you think the best price for a comfy collar or donut collar?

I got mine at Chuck and Dons, so I’m 96.8% sure I overpaid…But it’s right down the street, so it’s convenient. Pretty sure my vet sells them also (Eagan pet clinic).

Also consider using a sling under his belly toward hips when going up/down any steps. You can use a towel too, but the sling is handy. You may feel silly with a leash in one hand and a sling in the other, but it is what it is. Good luck for a speedy and full recovery.

Nice Fella wrote:

Also consider using a sling under his belly toward hips when going up/down any steps. You can use a towel too, but the sling is handy.

A tip from my buddy of mine, who is a surgeon and has done lots of doggy ACLs. Cut the sides out of one of those reuseable grocery bags. Put it under the dog, and it makes a cheap sling for helping with stairs.

Thanks for the tips guys. Fritz is improving with each day and we all slept better last night than previous nights so that makes a big difference.

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How’s that shaved leg look.I thought my dog’s leg looked like big old turkey leg due to the color of her skin.Glad to here things are going well.Get well soon Fritz.

Tell Fritz “woof” for me!

chuck100 wrote:

How’s that shaved leg look.

It looks weird! But the hair is starting to get a little longer now and it looks less weird. Fritz is a GSP and I didn’t realize the spots and splotches in his fur were actually the color of his skin too! Which makes is skin look all spotty and splotchy.

Fritz is continuing to improve. He had his stitches taken out and the vet is happy with how he’s using his leg. We continue the physical therapy and the biggest challenge of course is keeping him calm and resting. He really wants to play, run, and roughhouse, but we have a while before we can do that.

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@sharon
How’s Fritz doing?

He’s doing better each day! His incision looks great and has scarred over nicely and he’s pretty much walking normally. For his physical therapy we are on the stage of doing massages and sitting exercises. His leg placement when sitting is improving nicely. We are only about half way through his restriction period, so we still need to keep him leashed outside so he doesn’t run and roughhouse.

Both boys want to run and play so badly and it sucks that we have longer to wait, but we don’t want to rush recovery and risk injury. Luckily it’s been either warm or raining so they don’t feel the need to run around the yard like crazy.

Our next hurdle will be slowly reintroducing Fritz to a flight of stairs. I’ve got a reusable shopping bag ready to cut some leg holes into to help hold up Fritz’s rear end as you suggested, Ryan. So hopefully we’ll see our basement again soon. We miss the big TV that’s down in the family room!

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We are now done with Fritz’s restriction period after his knee surgery and he is doing very well! We are still doing physical therapy as part of his recovery plan and we are working on stairs. He and Remi can’t fully rough house in the yard just yet, but he’s allowed to start jogging as we gradually increase his speed allowance and he’s loving that.

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Good to hear Sharon. Give him a treat for being such a good patient.

Glad to hear he’s doing well. He should be good to hunt this fall, right?

Yes he should be. We did the surgery that should allow him a full recovery so here’s hoping!