our dog’s ACL tear

2 days before we went on vacation our Chocolate Lab tore her ACL. As many of you probably know the surgery isn’t cheap so we are left with the decision of what to do. She is 9 years old and is currently not using the leg at all but also doesn’t seem to be in much pain. What we are looking at is if we get it fixed will the other one just go (no one knows the answer to this)? If fixed how many more years will she have and will she still be able to hunt? If we don’t fix it how will her life be? If she would have a good life without much pain I would think of retiring her to the easy couch life but I don’t want her to be retired and in pain for the next few years. Has anyone out there had this happen to their dog and not fixed it? How was the dog after that?

If she is not using the leg I would assume there is some pain. You have a tough decision to make and it’s not easy either way you decide.

Get the surgery, money should not matter if the dog is a family member, if your wife tore her ACL would you not get it fixed?

I would tend to think that it could be more strain on the other leg if its not taken care of, which would lead to other issues with that knee/hip/leg. A 9 year old dog still has a good 5 years of life left. I am with bigcrappie on this one, get it fixed for the family member. I’m not sure about recovery time. Probably close to year like people?

Hi,
Thats a tough call at that age. My 5-1/2 year old yellow lab tore his ACL last fall and we had the surgery done the day before Thanksgiving. It was a no brainer at his age and he loves to pheasant hunt.

Its a long process post surgery, but it was well worth getting the surgery done…. (though very expensive). He is running and jumping around now with no problems at all. The surgeon did warn us though, that within a year, the other leg has a good chance of tearing also. we are crossing our fingers.

You will get alot of opinions on whether to have the surgery done or not (due to the age of your dog), but in our case, we are glad that we did it.

I would agree with bigcrappie. A lot of your questions can/should have been answered by your vet or the surgeon specialist, who know more than any of us…

bigcrappie wrote:

Get the surgery, money should not matter if the dog is a family member, if your wife tore her ACL would you not get it fixed?

Better question, would she get mine fixed?

My GSP Fritz has had the TPLO surgery on both knees to fix torn ACLs and it was expensive (about $3800 each) but very worth it. He was 5 and 6 for the surgeries and made a full recovery after each – running and hunting like usual with one exception. He doesn’t sit like normal now and often hovers his butt so as not to completely close his knees while sitting, and that’s totally fine with me. He will be 11 this June and I’m glad we did the surgeries.

A dogs not using a leg IS a sign that they’re in pain. It hurts too much for them to apply their full weight to the leg and that’s not going to be a long-term solution, even for a retired couch dog. What will you do if you don’t do the surgery and the other leg needs it? You’ve run out of options and they won’t have a good leg to help them heal from the surgery.

I say go for it and be sure to take the time to do the physical therapy afterwards. Fritz loved the attention and massages during his physical therapy and often relaxed so much that he’d toot!

bigcrappie wrote:

Get the surgery, money should not matter if the dog is a family member, if your wife tore her ACL would you not get it fixed?

my wife’s days of retrieving pheasants are long behind her so probably not.

The vet said she would probably heal fine without the surgery once scar tissue built up but it would slow her down. With her bloodlines I don’t think she will make it past 12 and with the surgery she wouldn’t be back to full speed until she is 10.5. I was planning on doing the surgery until the vet said she would probably be fine without it.

Our Rat Terrier/Blue Healer Mix just had TPLO surgery on both knees, one last July and one just in Jan, she was 7, still is when the first incident happened.

I believe she favored her other leg so much immediately after the injury and during recovery that it caused the other knee to pop. It was never a question between the wife and I if surgery was an option, once there was an open spot she went in. The recovery is tough, as it’s a dog you’re dealing with and well they do dog things; like jump and run without thinking about consequences.

Right now she is almost exactly 8 weeks since the second surgery and is really starting to act herself again.

Best non-decision I made was getting her in for the surgery. She wasn’t even shadow of herself after the first surgery likely because the other knee was close to going. Now, she’s back to almost ~90%, only thing she hasn’t tried yet is jumping on our bed. But it’s nearly 3′ off the floor so I can see why she hasn’t tested that yet.

My black lab was 7 when she had the acl surgery done. She is 11 now and never had a problem with the other leg. It wasn’t cheap but every time (almost daily) that I walk her through the tall grass filter strip along the creek near my house and watch her flushing birds, I never regret it for a second. Good dogs are very special and it will be very hard when this one goes. Enjoy them while you can!

Skip one vacation and the dogs back in buisness.I would’nt wait because it is hard on the other knee.

We love our dogs.. I get it, I have 3 with one on the way. For MY dogs who are hunters and family dogs (in that order) and 2 kids to send to college.. NO way do I put that money into a 9 year old dog- especially with the probability of the other needing to be done. Many 3 legged dogs do just fine. Id obviously follow vets’ advice but sounds like there is a good chance it can live reasonably w/o surgery. Just figured Id throw out a different opinion. Skewer away!