I'm not sure if this is typical after a foreleg amputation, or if it's a result of having an amputation as a puppy – or if it has something to do with the neck surgery he had before his amputation (we still don't know why or what happened to his neck for sure, the other vet never released the information).  Or maybe this is just the way he's built. 

But, Dante's spine is very crooked. Almost in an S shape like you would see in a human with scoliosis.  His spine appears to start to the left of his neck (same side as his missing leg) and curves to the right, eventually straightening out towards his back end. It's REALLY obvious when his hackles raise. It's like everything is off center and out of place on his back. It doesn't seem to affect his mobility, YET, but I'm really worried it will in the future. 

We watched it as he grew, and it hasn't improved.  I worry mostly because being a pitbull he's got a lot of weight without a ton of size to support it. He's not overweight by any means – just the typical pitbull build. Lots of dog in a small, dense package. 

I recently read a few stories of Tripawd Pitbulls becoming arthritic and immobile by the age of 5 or 6 and it's got me quite worried.

Is this normal for his spine to be this way? Will it affect him in the near future?

The pups have their 1 year booster shots and yearly check up at the beginning of next month and we are going to consult our vet about it at that time. Unfortunately as good as our vet is, this is somewhat new territory for him. There aren't many tripawds where we live, and even less have been tripawds since 8 weeks old.  So he can really only speculate as to what he thinks is normal or what may be a problem in the future.