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QuoteHi everyone! It's so great to have this community to connect with.
My great dane, Castor, had his rear leg amputated on tuesday. He is doing AMAZINGLY well. He's getting around all by himself, getting excited, etc.
Now i'm trying to figure out the next adjustments we'll be making. I know a lot of people use harnesses, but it seems esp helpful for a front amp. With his size and his rear leg being gone, I am not sure it's actually something that will help at all.
Does anyone have any similar experience? All of the danes I've seen here are front leg amps.
Thanks!
Best wishes,
Mel
ps – I'm telling his story on my blog bespeakme.blogspot.com if anyone is interested. =)
6:58 pm
Moderator
18 October 2009
Offline
Welcome Mel and Castor,
Why did Castor lose his leg? Its good to hear he is getting around and feeling good already.
You should bookmark Jerry's Required Reading list- lots of good info there on amputation and recovery.
On harnesses- you can check out the different kinds in the gear blog. There are a couple kind of harnesses that provide more support in the back end for rear amp dogs. My tripawd was a little pug Maggie who was also a rear amp. She did not need any help getting around, except long flights of stairs. She also hated wearing the harness so she did not use it much.
I have seen many rear leg tripawds here who use a harness- I think it comes in handy on rough or slippery terrain, on stairs, and getting in and out of vehicles. My friend Cemil is an Anatolian Shepard and front leg amp who does not use a harness and gets around fine. I guess it really depends on where Castor will be going, and how he gets around.
You can also check out Linus's blog. He is a rear amp Dane just a couple weeks ahead of you. His posts show up in the forums under starcreek if you want to follow his story here.
We look forward to hearing more about Castor and we always love to see pics!!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi Karen and maggie!
thanks for the welcome. we are happy to be here. (as happy as we can be, anyway)
he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma about 2 weeks ago. we removed his leg tuesday and plan to do chemo.
we do have stairs at home (in san francisco) - about 10-12 leading up to the house. we're covering them with something, probably yoga mats or carpet, but i still know it's going to be hard. do you know anyone with experience with stairs? bigger dogs?
we're optimistic.
i've been keeping a blog, but i can transfer it to one here…is that the best way to get people involved?
Thanks!
Mel & Cas, her boy.
bespeakme said:
we do have stairs at home (in san francisco) - about 10-12 leading up to the house. we're covering them with something, probably yoga mats or carpet, but i still know it's going to be hard. do you know anyone with experience with stairs? bigger dogs?
Hi Mel and Cas!
Karen and the pugapalooza have already given you great advice, but I will put in my 2 cents for whatever its worth (probably not even 2 cents). I technically have a large breed dog (on the small end of that, she is 65lbs post amputation) and she too had a rear leg amputation (left). With regards to stairs, she had to deal with 10-12 wooden stairs that went up to the bedroom. The harness definitely helped her learn to go up and down when she wasn't being a "know it all" trying to do it on her own. Rear leg amputees tend to do better going down since they can place their weight on their front paws. Up is harder since they need to build up the back leg muscle.
Literally she was a pro going down and even up around the 2 week post amp mark. I would suggest gripped mats on the lowest landing because my Chloe did slip once when they weren't there (in the wash…). Luckily no permanent damage, but still scary.
i've been keeping a blog, but i can transfer it to one here…is that the best way to get people involved?
If you make a blog, one of the admins will post a feature on the forum welcoming you to the community, which allows people to immediately start reading it and making comments. Plus the more you post, the higher your blog shows on the tripawd blog page. Forums work well too since you can get more feedback on a particular issue more easily. Just be sure to see what your topic would best fit under. Sometimes an admin will move it to a better location to get more feedback.
Finally, to welcome you to the site that nobody wants to join but is the best tripawd community ever, I would like to extend this offer to you (as I have with the rest of the tripawd website). My dog Chloe and I will be doing a K9 Walk for cancer in October and I am making a shirt for the event. I am asking people who have had dogs diagnosed with cancer, are survivors, or have passed if they would like me to write their dog's name on the back of my shirt. Chloe and I would be honored to walk for Castor in this event (its free for you, I just write the name!). He will be with 31 other named dogs so far on my shirt! You can check it out in my forum post in the link below. You might need to hunt through the pages to find the pictures 
http://tripawds…..-4/#p39060
-Chloe's mom
11:27 pm
24 January 2009
Offline
Hello Mel and Castor
As Karen told you, Cemil doesn't us a harness because he's too tall and I'm too short, and he gets around fine. But we don't do stairs. There are only 2 steps to get up into the house, and he manages those on his own–we visited a friend with 4 or 5 steps up into their house and he was fine on those too, but we've never tried a flight of stairs. In everything else, he's self-sufficient. I don't have any suggestions except that dogs seem to be pretty inventive and good at problem-solving. But if you're tall enough to use a harness, it wouldn't hurt. You'd only use it if he needed help.
Welcome, and….sorry you have to be here.
Have you met Queen Nova yet?
Mary and Cemil
3:31 am
Moderator
28 November 2008
Offline
Just wante to add a welcome from me and Troubs. We've been here a long time, and hope you have a long and hoppy journey as well. This is an amazing group of folks who will give you more support than you ever thought possible. Together we make the journey bearable.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.We honor our fellow November Five members who will always remain forever in my heart: Nova – the lone survivor, live proud and long; Spirits Max, Cherry, & Tika – who made half the journey with us and greeted Trouble at the Bridge
http://k9cancer.org – a canine cancer support community
9:40 am
Team Tripawds
25 April 2007
Offline
bespeakme said:
…I am not sure it's actually something that will help at all.
The Ruff Wear harness will certainly help you assist Castor on stairs and in/out of vehicles. The primary support is under the chest area, but it will help with rear leg amputees. Our Wyatt is a rear legger, and he doesn't leave home without his.
Thanks again for joining, and welcome to Tripawds!
i've been keeping a blog, but i can transfer it to one here…is that the best way to get people involved?
FYI: You can use the Import tool to transfer Castor's blog to Tripawds once you create a blog here. The old blog would just need to remain active for all the photos to display, but then you could contiue uploading new photos to your tripawds blog. New posts will be displayed in the Recent Posts widget throughout the community, like at the top of this page, and be syndicated to all subscribers of the Tripawds Global Posts RSS feed.
If you choose to keep the current blog, just start a Share Your Story topic to provide a link every time you write updates about Castor.
Here are complete details about free Tripawds blogs and advanced features for Supporter blogs.
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"Dogs are born with three legs and a spare." — Jerry G. Dawg (10/98-10/08) Please Support Your Tripawds Community! Have you started a Tripawds Blog yet? |
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| Looking for quick answers? Download the new Tripawds eBook for the best tips and advice! | ||
12:46 pm
Moderator
18 October 2009
Offline
Hi again Mel,
While it would be wise to have a blog here for Castor so you can post pics and more details of his story most of the action takes place here in the forums, especially if you have questions or are asking for advice.
Also- keep an eye on the Tripawds Parties forum- there is a group of us here in NorCal that get together once a month, usually at a dog park in Mill Valley. When Castor is ready to travel we would love to meet you guys. Castor and Cemil can have a leaning contest!
Of course now that I said that- the September meet up might be closer to the east bay, I'm in Livermore, and the October meet up will probably be the Morris Animal Foundation K9 Cancer Walk in Los Gatos.
On stairs- Maggie could go down anything, up was a challenge for her because she was so small, about 12" at the shoulder. She also turned into a long term survivor (she had mast cell cancer) so as she aged a bit I was more cautious about what I would let her do. I would guess that Castor would be fine going up and down stairs once he has his strength and balance, but the 'handle' that a harness provides would give you some peace of mind (assuming you are tall enough to make it work!!).
Karen and the Pugapalooza
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