Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello, I hope I'm putting this in the right area. I am looking into adopting a 2 1/2 year old rescue named Gale. The foster mom says that stairs are no problem, but I am concerned that going up and down stairs often would cause too much wear and tear. I live in an extension to my parents' house that has about 6 steps going down to it, and Gale would be expected to be with me during the night (and as often as I am down there). I am curious if anyone has any tips. I want to make sure Gale can go to a house that is suited to his needs. I also only work part time and am still a full time student.
I also want to make sure I can care for Gale as much as possible, so I was wondering if there are any general tips and wellness to be considered.
Thank you!
Hi and welcome! Your future posts won’t need approval so post away.
Most Tripawds can handle stairs as long as they are carpeted and have traction
. Tripawds bigger risks come from being overweight or getting the wrong kind of high impact activity. We have lots of tips about appropriate exercise in our ebook Loving Life on on Three Legs and the Tripawds Gear blog
.
Also check out this article about what to expect when adopting a Tripawd:
https://tripawd.....a-tripawd/
Thanks for thinking of adopting this girl, keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi and welcome.
You are wonderful for thinking about a Tripawd. If you do go forward he will bring you so much joy!
How big is Gale? What kind of pup? Missing a front or rear leg?
My current Tripawd is a little Pug mix named Elly. She lost her right back leg at 7 months old after being hit by a car, I adopted her when she was 10 months old, she is now around 5.5 years old. Elly is little, around 15 pounds, but she flies up and down our stairs. I live in a split level house which means we have two sets of 6 or 7 steps (inside and outside) so she does stairs multiple times a day.
Both sets of inside stairs are hard surfaces so I have added carpeted stair treads for traction . Elly also has learned to wait before coming up or going down a set of stairs to make sure I'm not coming right back. I also have stairs or stools close to all the furniture she is allowed on, and I always help her in or out of my truck with her harness.
I spend lots of time keeping Elly fit and strong. We do lots of trick and obedience training, balance and strength exercises, and food puzzles and games.
Just for reference- a rear amp dog will be more challenged going up stairs and a front amp dog will have more challenges going down.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Gale is an Australian Shepard missing a rear leg and he's 43 pounds, according to his post. Thank you for letting me know about how Elly can deal with stairs! I was worried I was overthinking it but was so glad I found this community so I could ask 🙂 The stairs I have are outside stairs so I will be spending some time finding traction for those.
I'm sure it will vary but how much time do you spend doing other training (that is not walking related)? I'm looking into traction pads right now but next is tricks, games, and puzzles.
Awww we are glad you found us too!
I think the time spend on training really depends on the dog's breed type. For an Aussie, you'll need more time to keep the pup busy and "working' than say, a Great Dane. As an example, check out Minnie's story.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
We have 3 sets of outside stairs, each set is 5 to 6 stairs. One is painted wood, one is stone and one is concrete, Elly has no traction issues on any of them.
My first rear amp Tripawd Maggie was a little Pug who lost a leg to cancer. Back then I lived in a single story house but I had a trex type deck in the backyard that had a couple stairs. Trex is a little slippery- Maggie wouldn't even try to go up or down unless her traction rugs were in place.
As far as how much time I spend on games and such- I look at the whole day to gauge how much time we spend. In general we walk in the mornings and do training in the evening. If the weather doesn't allow walks or Elly is on a off day from walking then we will play a game or do some training in the morning. Our training or play sessions are usually 15 to 30 minutes, occasionally 45 minutes, but that includes more than one activity. I should mention our walks are not traditional dog walks- we spend most of our time off the concrete with the goal to be fun/enrichment time for Elly. She looks for gophers, sniffs every blade of grass, we explore open areas. In general we go at her pace (although she is very fast!) and we stop where ever she wants. We do spend a little time each walk training 'with me' (heel) and we work on not being reactive when other dogs pass.
We also do the sport of Nose Work which I highly recommend. I started NW to try and help Elly overcome some of her fear issues with no intention to compete. But it has really built her confidence and she absolutely LOVES it. It's a great low impact game that really challenges their minds and scent games are amazingly tiring. If you want to learn more we train under NACSW rules, and I did a blog post that describes how we got our level 2 title about a year and a half ago.
It took me a while to dial in the appropriate amount of daily activity for Elly, you will have to do the same for Gale if he joins you. One other thing- be sure you account for all the treats handed out during games and training!
And here is a video I put together recently showing some of the games Elly plays.
Keep us posted!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thank you everyone for your help! However it seems like I waited too long--there are 5 other families hoping to get their shot at adopting Gale and I do hope he finds his forever home, but it most likely will not be with me ^^;
Aww what a bummer! Well we hope her future parents also find their way here, and that the perfect dog appears in your life too. Stay pawsitive, it'll happen!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Awww, we could tell what a good hooman you would be for Gale!
The dog that has already picked you, but you don't know it yet, just put you thru this "tripawd process" to make sure you really wanted a dog! Can't wait til you two connect❤
Keep us posted okay? Can't wait to hear about this lucky dog😉
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
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