Hi Theo and family, thanks for joining us (sorry you had to). What was the reason for his amputation?

I’m so glad you are working with your vet to help him lose weight. Every extra pound lost means it will be soooo much easier for him to get around. It will also lessen the risk of injury from putting so much force in the remaining front leg.

As you may have seen we are huge fans of the Ruffwear Webmaster harness and especially the Flagline harness for front leg amputees. But these harnesses are merely tools to help a dog get up and into vehicles, do stairs, get off the floor and that sort of thing. They won’t help him walk or make it easier to do any kind of hiking, other than to give you the ability to help him with tricky situations.

Since Theo is on a weight loss plan right now, I’m guessing that any kind of strenuous exercise like a 1 mile hike is going to be too much for him to handle right now. Even fit Tripawds should only go on 15-20 minute walks at a time.

I’m not a vet though, so if you are not already working with a rehab therapy team, please get a referral from your vet to help you find one. These experts can show you better ways to help him lose weight and get strong, so that he can go on longer walks eventually. Walking alone will probably not do it and may put him at risk of injury. The best part of seeing a rehab therapist is the Tripawds Foundation may pay for your first rehab visit !

I encourage you to check out the Tripawds Nutrition blog for our many articles about weight loss for Tripawds, and to get with a rehab therapy team so soon as possible. We will be cheering you and Theo on every step of the way so keep us posted!