Hello!

I'm a sled dog race fan! :-) Beautiful photo of your pup!

The great thing with your dog is she is a young age, so her stamina would be more than an older dog like mine…(11 yrs next week).

I think this is on a per dog basis but some things that I worry about with my dog, who is also a rear leg amputee, is her injuring her other rear leg's ACL…so you have to keep that thought in your mind.  Also, the constant torquing of their spine being out of kilter with the tripawd stance is another thing I worry about.

With my dog, she can't handle anymore than 30 minutes of walking at a time.  I'd LOVE to do skijoring with her again but highly doubt she'll be able to for any length of time(even though running/going fast is far easier on her).  And mind you, my dog isn't overweight, never has been and has been fit all her life – doing agility, hiking and skijoring in the winter.

I would just be mindful of her remaining rear leg.  As with most dogs, they will overexert themselves as they "live in the moment"….we need to be the brains for them for what would happen if they do overexert themselves…JMHO.

Tracy, Maggie's Mom

I concur with the others, consult a vet, and make sure she doesn't overdo anything. Great picture of her! It's wonderful to see her having a fun time in the snow.

Cathy/Jane/Spirit Skyler/Chloe

It sounds like it's been a while since her amputation.  If you have taken steps to build up her endurance and stamina I would think free running would be the safest activity.  I would probably steer clear of the harness because of her breeding.  She's going to be naturally inclined to "work" with the harness on.  As others have mentioned pulling against the harness may also affect the curvature of the spine and cause problems.  Dogs bred as working dogs are usually willing to work themselves beyond the point of safety, and will often mask fatigue or injury to get to continue doing the work they love.

I have a young border collie and try to limit Kess's work to 15 min, but allow her unlimited free running.  When the ball or toy is out it's work time for Kess, and when she's working she has no sense of self preservation.  So we only play fetch in flat open areas to minimize the chance of injury.  I also always do some warm-up trotting and stretches both before and after strenuous activity.

ACL injury to the hind leg is pretty much my worst fear, but I decided that humans do all kinds of crazy things that can hurt us because they are fun.  Dogs should get to make that choice as well, and it's my job to make it as safe as possible for my crazy pup.  Of course there will always be some activities that are justto risky, we had to quit Kess's absolute favorite thing, flyball.  I just felt the continued impact and the recklessness with which Kess competes to be to high a risk. 

I XC ski with my tripawd. I think that when it comes to 'endurance' exercise for tripawds, it comes down to the dog itself. My girl is a bit of a maniac for the sights and smells of the great outdoors, so I've worked with her for quite some time to build up her stamina. She keeps up with the other dogs easy, but I do take more short 'rest breaks' when she is along and I tow a small jet sled when we ski (in the event she should injure her 'good' leg and require help out. For hiking and snowshoeing, I pack her harness in case there is an emergency and I need to carry her out. Safety first. Enjoy your adventures!!

Cheers,

Kat (Hurricane Rosie's Mom)