Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Hi everyone. A few weeks before I lost my Tess, I met a 7 month tripawd pup at a local adoption event for a no-kill shelter. Someone reminded me of him the other day and now I can't get him out of my head. I am thinking of taking another look at him and possibly adopting him. His left rear leg was amputated because of a birth defect. I have experience with an older tripawd who had a front leg removed but not with a younger one with a rear leg amputation. I was wondering if I need to approach obedience training any differently. Is it too demanding to go up and down on that remaining leg doing "sits" and "downs" and "stays?" Any experience, advice, or resources would be great. Thanks! -Alice
Hi Alice,
First off, what a great person you are to think about adopting him!!! Regarding training...I can give you my experience with my rear leg tripawd that now competes in Rally obedience and Wag It Games(some classes similar to rally and other like down scaled agility obstacles). For MY dog, too many sits are very tiring for her. Downs aren't nearly as taxing on her as sits. FWIW, in Wag It Games there is a program that my tripawd inspired called the Heart Dog Program. This is for disabled dogs so that for instance in Maggie's case, I can skip some of the sitting and leave her in a stand for instance. It's a new venue just coming out this year however so may be a while getting in your neck of the woods...
If you were to adopt this young dog, I would suggest some sort of rehab/PT work that you do regularly (at least 3 times per week) to keep his 'core' strong and to keep that remaining rear leg strong. There are some video's on my dog's blog and Admin has many blogs on it under CARE I believe.
Good luck with your decision!
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Tracy, thank you so much! I had not thought of the rehab and core strengthening. The shelter volunteers (bless their hearts) had mentioned this young pup needs help with his strength. I remember reading about the exercises to help tripawds with their core muscles. And I will definitely check out your blog.
I have a wonderful dog trainer so maybe he can find out more about the Heart Dog program.
Thanks again!
Hope it all works out! Keep us posted and share a pic if you
bring him home! So exciting!
Alice that is WONDERFUL!
What kind of dog is he?
As pawrents to Wyatt Ray, a rear leg amputee, we can tell you that it did take a lot of time for his rear leg to get strong, several months. We also have him to lots of strengthening workouts which really help. See our Fitness Page for ideas and this most recent blog post, "Rear Leg Workouts for Lucy."
The class is 1 hr. and there is a lot of sits and stands and walking, which he does fine with during class but he gets really wiped out afterward.
I hate seeing him get so pooped but he needs the training BAD so it's a trade off for sure.
The key to keeping him strong is we are always watching is weight and keeping him slimmer than quadpawds.
Can't wait to hear if you decide to adopt this pup! Keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks so much for the info! I am going to see him again on Sunday morning. My concern is that he is still a pup and will be a much bigger project than the rest of my geriatric crew. However, all of the shelters around here are just packed and I worry he will get overlooked when there are so many 4 legged dogs available. The shelter owner said today that everyone who sees him just feels sorry for him. I laughed because I remember experiencing that with Tess.
So, yeah, I really don't need another dog, and I do know I can't save them all, but I will at least visit him and see what my gut tells me.
Thanks again!!!
tess said:
So, yeah, I really don't need another dog, and I do know I can't save them all, but I will at least visit him and see what my gut tells me
Follow that gut!!! It will tell you if it's right or not! 
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
So, yeah, I really don't need another dog, and I do know I can't save them all, but I will at least visit him and see what my gut tells me.
YEP! I said that when I went back to see Comet! My gut told me yes, but my husband said no! Within 24 hours, I was laying down my $10 bill and walking out with this poor little three legged dog!
Bless you for even considering!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Oh, I do hope your gut says yes! I volunteer for a county shelter, and those cute puppies and other four legged dogs go out before the ones that have special needs...All dogs and pups need out of shelters and into homes...no doubt! But, you will certainly be saving this dogs life if you adopt him! As for therapy, if you have access to someone in your area that does the underwater treadmill therapy, this is great for rehab! I have a golden who does it now for arthritis. Very cool to see!
Good luck!
"Hobbes" is probably the happiest dog I have ever met, and he is coming home with me on Friday for a weekend visit to see how he and the rest of my gang will get along. I think things will be fine but he is still a pup and I worry, of course, about my other guys and how they will respond. But I will give him a chance and if it doesn't go well, then at least I won't have the guilt of not trying. The dog trainer is going to come over and help with the introductions. If it works out I will post some pics!
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