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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Dante's endurance isn't where I'd expected it to be at this point. At this point we're still only making it around the block for walks, and 95% of the time he still needs to sit and take a break or two (sometimes three). Not much has changed for him in three months since his amputation. We get around the block a bit quicker now and with less of a fight, though.
I don't want to push him to do more than he's capable of, but I also don't want to cheat him out of being as strong and healthy as he can be physically. Need to find that balance.
He seems to have bursts of energy. A few laps around the house then lay down for 5 minutes, then a few more laps. Same thing in the yard - we can play fetch for about 5 minutes before he poops out. He's always full speed ahead and burns out quickly. There is no 'slow' with this boy - all or nothing! But this doesn't actually tire him out for any amount of time.
It's also becoming evident in his behavior that he needs more exercise. He's very restless, wired and just full of energy - but we can't seem to get enough of it out at once to help him relax and calm down. We mentally stimulate him pretty good every day - lots of training, games, playing - but it's evident he needs more physical exercise. Hubby and I have both woken up in the middle of the night, and he's sitting in his crate just staring at us, LOL. He doesn't sleep much at all!
Are there any activities we can do to help build his endurance/strength so he can do more at once? Or is this just kind of life with a tripawd? I'm okay with that - just want to make sure we're doing everything we can to make him a happy, healthy boy as he grows up.
We're going to start swimming soon now that the weather is nicer, so that should help, too, as long as he co-operates, LOL.
munko said:
Dante's endurance isn't where I'd expected it to be at this point.
Are there any activities we can do to help build his endurance/strength
so he can do more at once?
Expectations can be dangerous. Dante needs to heal and rebuild strength at his own speed. We recommend more frequent, shorter walks, with lots of breaks if necessary. Core body muscle work is also a must. On your walks, have Dante step over obstacles, up and down curbs, etc. Have him do reps of transitions – up, sit, down, repeat. And consider using pillows, balance pads, discs or a boogie board (video coming soon) to strengthen core muscles.
We also share Maggie's recommendation of K9 Super Fuel for building muscle strength in dogs in the tripawds Nutrition blog .
Most importantly don't overdo it. Be sure to watch our multi-part video interview with Cal Animal Rehab which includes lots of stretching and exercise tips and advice.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you, just what I was looking for!!
We really haven't seen much improvement in him. The biggest improvement we've seen is his balance. He falls much less now and is able to maneuver better without getting stuck or tripping. But as far as endurance he's still pretty much where he was at 12 weeks old. He does pant less on his walks now, but he still gets visibly tired almost as quickly - which is about 2-3 houses past our drive-way.
We do go over obstacles, but I don't go out of my way to do it - now I'll make it a point to go places where he can do things like that more often. Now that he's getting better with dogs we can go to our dog park more frequently - it has river banks, rocks, sandy beaches, hills and wooded areas, it's a great place. We've only, up until recently, been able to go on off hours - which as the weather gets nicer are becoming less and less. It's nice because we can spend an hour there and have Dante only do about 20 minutes of actual walking, but we can keep Mina going the whole time while Dante rests.
As great as our vet is, they don't have a lot of experience with this - especially a pup as young as Dante. They have more experience with older dogs losing legs to accidents or cancer - so they have some sort of normal to compare them to. Our vet hasn't been very helpful in the sense of how much Dante should be able to do, and things like that, because no one really knows. He did say he thinks he should be able to go a bit longer/further and if he's not getting tired from exercising, he's not doing as much as he's capable of - whether it's because we're not facilitating it, or he's just not interested we don't know. No one really knows what his personality was before - so how much of his behavior/activity level is just who Dante is and how much is do to his physical abilities, we'll never really know.
But now I have some things to try out and see if we can get this little turkey to actually get some good exercise in some day - thanks 🙂
When Comet was 5mths to 2 years old she was a live wire and never seemed to tire out. We played non-stop ball in the back yard. BUT she couldn't go on long walks. At her peak, she could only go for a 1/2 mile at the most. I think the repetition of hopping without mind stimulation is hard on their body. Hence, she could fetch just fine. Which is why admin's suggestion is great.
Plus, swimming will help, too!
Dante also is probably going through that puppy phase where their mind's won't stop working! He's probably a super smart little guy! I've had Rocket (a non-tripawd 14-15month old pup) for almost a year and he drives us all nuts at night because he won't sit down and watch TV! If he's not bugging us all with a torn up toy to throw, he's milling around in the house looking at stuff! You can see the wheels in his head turn! He's only 21lbs and we've walked him up to 2 miles in the evening and he is just as wired at night with or without a long walk. He'll probably get better with age but I keep saying that about Rocket!
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.
I'm sure it's just a matter of time before Dante's endurance and strength improves. He's young and healthy, and I'm sure he just needs more time to heal and adjust. Sadie is going to 10 this fall and she's had arthritic hips and a fused lower spine since we got her 3 years ago. She could only go for relatively short walks to begin with, so we don't push her too much. She plays with her sister Athena (a 2yr old retriever mix with a ton of energy.) That usually involves Athena runing in circles around sadie while Sadie tries to catch her (sometimes she does) I bet swimming would be great for Dante. I'm trying to get the nerve to let Sadie in the pool. I have a life vest for her, but I'm still nervous about it. I know tripawds use lots more energy walking than the dogs that have the extra leg, so the walk around the block probably feels a lot longer to Dante. I know Sadie pants a lot more now and drinks more water due to the extra energy (I was actually afraid she was short of breath due to lung mets, but her x-ray was clear) Well, good luck to you and Dante and keep us posted on his progress. BTW, how did Dante become a tripod?
Sadie is my 9yr old Rott/Shepherd mix. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right scapula 1/28/10. Our brave girl had her amputation 2/13/10 and her last chemotherapy on 6/6/10. Unfortunately, a tumor appeared in her back right leg and on 10/7/2010 Sadie's earthly journey came to an end. On 10/24/2010 we adopted Ranger, a handsome Rott/Lab mix tripawd (got hit by a car) I think Sadie sent him to us.
http://ranger.t.....pawds.com/
We're not entirely sure what exactly happened to Dante. The owners returned the puppies to the shelter at 8 weeks, after having them at home for two or three weeks. When they brought them back, Dante's leg was wrapped and at that point had completely died and was going necrotic. The owners said the Mom got excited and jumped on Dante's leg and it broke, and then the vet wrapped it too tightly. Our vet, who performed the operation said Dante's injuries are consistent with an attack. His neck is full of scar tissue, the first vet had done neck surgery on him, he has a droopy eye lid on the same side that looks like it might've been bitten and torn. He's got scars in his neck that look like puncture wounds, and scars on his side. His behavior around dogs is also consistent with an attack. Unfortunately for whatever reason the initial vet refuses to release the medical information on him, and won't tell our vet what they did for the him, or what had happened. So, at 8 weeks, he had his left foreleg amputated - but had likely been walking on 3 legs for at least two weeks prior to that. He's 5 1/2 months now - and is a week shy from his 4 month ampuversary.
Dante is also 100% stubborn. When he doesn't want to do something he just sits and does not budge, even on walks - so sometimes it's hard to tell if he's had enough because he's tired, or because he's bored. As he gets older it's easier to see when he gets tired in his movement, but as a young clumsy pup who was close to the ground it wasn't quite so obvious.
Dante is definitely a live wire - he does not stop. Mina has an off switch, Dante doesn't. Again, another thing we're not sure if it's just how he is, or because we're not doing enough for him. He sounds just like rocket. We'll put on a movie, Coda will curl up on her bed, Mina will crawl up on the couch and snuggle in the for night - and where is Dante? Hopping around, grabbing toys, jumping on Coda, jumping on the couch shoving his face in ours, back down, hopping around. Over and over, the entire time.
Coda was like that as a young pup too - but hers came out in destruction. I could run her all day long on hiking trails - and she'd come home, sleep for 20 minutes and be ready to go again. Thankfully Dante isn't destructive, they're both really well behaved for puppies - but he sure can be a pest! Especially to the girls who DO like to lay down and relax - he usually won't allow it.
Sadie we're also worried about swimming. We're going to set up our big blow up pool this weekend so we can right in with him and hold him up by the handle of his life vest and help him. He doesn't paddle over water like a lot of dogs do, so I'm not sure he'll figure it out right away. I hope he likes it though - I know it will probably be our go-to exercise in the summer, especially being that his coat is dark. He over-heats easy enough because of his coat as it is.
Thanks again for everyone's help! We'll get this little goober sorted out some day. I actually enjoy his energy level - it's quite comical, just mostly concerned we're not pushing him enough or doing the right things to help him grow up big and strong!
Hi there,
Check out my dog's blog for some rehab ideas:
http://maggie.t.....er-maggie/
I can say that Maggie has gotten so much stronger after doing her rehab sessions. I try to do every other day and for sure I do her sit/stand reps on the balance pads. Do a search here for the notes on the Live Chat session with Dr. Waldman as she had good suggestions on what to do. I got these balance pads after that chat session. I have since duct taped the two of them together as Maggie was concerned about the gap between them.
Is your dog a front or rear amp? If front, I'd suggest reps of sits and downs too. I do those too but more sits to stands.
FWIW, Maggie can only handle MAX 1/2 hr. walk and then she's pretty wiped for the rest of the day but she is 10 years old and fairly large dog at 65 lbs.
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
Dante can do about 15 minutes - Our walk around the block takes about 25 mins and that's with two 5 minute breaks, or a few shorter ones. Our block isn't big, it takes the girls less than 10 minutes to get around the block at a slow pace.
We do lots of down and sit repetitions - but we were doing training. The little goober doesn't like to lay down on command. His stays are fantastic, sits on a dime, auto sits on walks, leave it, drop it, take it, etc. They were working on 'down' in the shelter and we have every day since we got him home - still won't do it on command!
Thanks for the link Maggie! It'll be really helpful!
It's best to do the sit/down/stand reps on some sort of cushion....the instability makes it tougher and more beneficial...per Dr. Waldman 
Is Dante front amp? Could that be why he's having a tough time doing a 'down'?
I know Maggie was refusing lots of sits(rear amp) before I started doing rehab work with her.
Tracy
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Thanks!
I read this right before I was going to do a training session - so I did the whole thing on his puffy dog bed. He tired pretty quick. It was definitely physically harder for him - I could see it.
Although he is a front tripawd - He doesn't have physical trouble doing a 'down' - he just doesn't get the word 'down' yet. Looks at me like I grew a second head - but will do it the instant I lure him down. So far he's been the type to not really 'get' things quickly - but once he does, he's pretty reliable. His sister picks up almost instantly - but she's a lot flakier when it comes to listening and being reliable. One day we'll get down under his belt, too.
Thanks a lot again guys - I feel a lot more like I know what I'm supposed to be doing with him now!
1 Guest(s)
