Luanne shared this in our Alumni Forum today but I want to make sure it gets posted here too in case someone's Tripawd is in the same situation and seeking information here.

The doctor who developed this procedure is also Murphy Swindell's doc.

Unfortunately we can't embed the video but a story & video link is here.

Elbow implant saves three-legged dog

BOZEMAN - Dogs suffer from arthritis just like humans. One of the more complicated forms of canine arthritis occurs in the elbow.

Belgrade resident Paul Englund's dog suffers from elbow arthritis. He and his wife adopted Levi about six years ago. At the time Levi had just lost a leg in a Coyote trap, but being three-legged didn't slow him down. "If you'd go hiking he'd go up the mountain four times before you even got half way up there and then about two and a half years ago his elbow started to deteriorate," said Englund.

Levi's vet Dr. Christine Kenyon explained the complexities of elbow arthritis. "Basically the elbow is the most complex joint in the body, many joints within one joint so it can be very tricky to fix and in a dog it's a weight bearing and until recently there wasn't anything we could do about it."

The Englunds tried everything to help Levi, from acupuncture, a wheelchair and even water therapy, but nothing helped the pain. "I couldn't put him down as happy as he was just being alive," said Englund.

Dr. Kenyon recommended that Levi get a Tate elbow, an implant designed by Dr. Randy Acker in Sun Valley, Idaho. "There's a machine that goes out and makes a big space in there and then the implant goes in and it takes away those articular joints surfaces that are causing all the pain," explained Dr. Kenyon.

READ MORE & WATCH A VIDEO

The Tate Elbow was developed and named after Dr. Randy Acker's yellow lab, Tate who suffered from severe elbow arthritis. To learn more about Dr. Acker and the Tate elbow click here.