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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My tripawd hikes a lot of miles in the backcountry. I'm looking for a product that can help me carry him several miles if he were to injure one of his remaining legs while on a camping trip. There are lots of rescue harnesses, emergency slings, and canine sport-sacks big enough to fit a dog his size on the market, but none geared for tripawds.
Hopefully we'll never need it, but I'd rather be prepared. Does anyone here have experience using a product like this, that they could recommend?
He's a front leg amputee, and weighs around 50 lbs. We're looking for something that will be comfortable for him, and that I can realistically transport him in for 3-4 miles over rough terrain.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
RuffWear just came out with this https://ruffwea.....k-evac-kit - I haven't bought it, but it looks like a great thing to have if you hike far/often with your dog.
Yes, I'd agree that the Ruffwear evac kit is ideal. If you'd like to order one from Tripawds, message me and I'll get that handled for you. We don't have it in our store, but as a dealer can order it for you (and your purchase helps support our community so thanks 🙂
Gidge must be pretty strong for hiking so many miles. Most front leg Tripawds wouldn't be able to do that without eventually showing pain signals . Sounds like he's in good shape! How old/young is he and what kind of fitness games do you do together to help keep him so strong? We'd love to learn more!
That would be great, thanks! The evac kit looks ideal, I'd be happy to order it through y'all to support the org.
As for Gidge... ask me about my dog, and I'll yak on and on! He's about 4 years old, border collie. I had no clue how much trouble I'd have keeping up with a tripawd!
For his daily routine, we go walking off-leash in the mountains for about two hours daily (usually spread across two or more walks), longer on the weekends. He gets to set the pace while I try to keep up, and he zigzags all over, so if I hike 4 miles, he's doing closer to 8. And since we're on off-leash trails, there's also plenty of variety - romping with other dogs, herding cattle off the trail, digging for field mice, swimming creeks - to round out his exercise. I encourage him to swim a lot.
On rare days when I need a break from hiking, I'll set him agility courses, scentwork challenges, load up on puzzle toys, and play tug.
We have an active lifestyle, and live on a mountainside, so fitness is kind of baked into his routine; we aren't consciously focused on fitness games. This works for us, because he was already a tripawd and in good physical shape when I got him. And unlike other border collies, he has an 'off' switch - he'll take breaks as frequently as he needs to, decide for himself that he's done with agility lessons, etc.
I do find that he can run forever only so long as we're following a drainage, so he has access to creek water (or snow in the winter). When he gets tired, he'll lay in the creek (or bury himself in snow) for a few minutes, and then - if he's not distracted by chasing water bugs - he's racing down the trail again. If we do a trek where the only water is what I'm able to carry for him to drink, then he won't last long at all.
I also notice that when he walks on a leash, he tires out very quickly. So if we're downtown for dinner, he needs to rest after just a few blocks. I'm guessing it has to do with body mechanics? Walking consistently at my side seems to be more tiring for him than running ahead, pausing to sniff, and then running again.
We had a couple -40 degrees F days last winter where we couldn't go outside for more than a few minutes, and he made his displeasure known by unmaking my bed and tossing some silicone bowls across a room.
So yeah, being always off-leash, near cool water, and on forgiving ground (no concrete) is how we make it work. Frankly, I'd be happy with less hiking some days, if he'd let me! Anyways, that's probably enough of me oversharing.
Waaaaait a minute ... is this THE Gidge? As in:
Tripawd Tuesday: Three-Legged Gidge Gets Political in Missoula
OMD! Now I put 2+2 together, it's THE GIDGE!!! 
WOO!!! Thanks for posting here Katie. I'm so happy it's you. Overshare away, you and Gidge are such an incredible team!
Border collies are unstoppable whether they have four OR three legs. I worked on a ranch and saw how even in old age, even after farm accidents and getting stomped by horses, they rarely have an off-switch.
Gidge has a great lifestyle. I totally get what you are describing, about how his activity takes the place of formal fitness games done inside a therapy center. In fact, many indoor games therapists teach us to do are made to mimic a dog's movements done in the outdoors, like high stepping over logs, balancing on uneven, moving surfaces, leaping over water crossings, etc. So many of those hiking activities you are doing with him are really what therapists train us to do with our dogs indoors.
I also notice that when he walks on a leash, he tires out very quickly. So if we're downtown for dinner, he needs to rest after just a few blocks. I'm guessing it has to do with body mechanics? Walking consistently at my side seems to be more tiring for him than running ahead, pausing to sniff, and then running again.
Yes and no. Being a front-leg amputee is just plain hard work. I do think that those sniff pauses on off-leash walks are little mini-breaks that are very helpful. So try encouraging more of that when he is walking downtown. You don't want him to get to the point of where he has to sit to rest on his own, because that means he's gone too far. On walks, remember to make him take a sniff break before it gets to that point.
Over time, his remaining front leg will pay the price of a modified gait. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, it's just what happens to dogs with a missing limb. See Spree's story as an example. Elbow dysplaysia, osteoarthritis, and a bowing of the leg are common in front-leggers over time.
Did you know that Missoula has an awesome looking AAHA-accredited clinic with rehab? I really recommend getting to know Pruynvet's team and rehab services (they seem excellent). Gidge doesn't "need" therapy now, because you're doing much of that work already. But making a connection with that practice can give you a rehab therapist point of contact for him, just in case he wakes up with some aches and pains one day. Getting him evaluated now while he's young and strong will give you a good baseline to know where he's at physically in his current state, so that as his body ages and changes over time, those changes are more easily recognized and handled by you and the team. And remember that Tripawds Foundation can pay for your first rehab visit too so you've got nothing to lose.
I love rehab can you tell?
Anyhoo, it's great to have you and Gidge join us!
I have the RuffWear Evac kit for my Starla, she is 72lbs so I wanted to make sure I could get her back to the car before taking her out on the trails. Luckily we've never had to use it. Starla is a rear leg amputee so I emailed RuffWear to see if they thought it would work since it's supposed to wrap around their hind legs. They hadn't tried it on amputees but thought it should work and we've tried it on in the house and seems like it will work just fine if we ever need it. It does take up a decent bit of space in a day pack and weighs about 1lb 4oz (size large)
How long has Gidge been an amputee? Starla and I are out on the trails and the beach frequently and she too seems to do better running around and sniffing on the trails than she does while walking on the streets. She's never off leash, being part husky she has a stubborn steak and I don't trust that she'll recall if she doesn't want to, but we have a long leash where she can run 20+ feet ahead and do her own thing. I usually go about 2miles while she probably goes closer to 3 lol. That seems to be her max distance at this point but I hope she'll get back to longer hikes again as she gets stronger. Although if she doesn't that's fine too.
Often I'll cut our hikes/walks shorter than she wants trying to be careful so that she won't overdue it and then I'm left trying to decipher if she's showing pain signals by stopping and sitting down on the way back or if she's just being stubborn and not wanting to head back to the car yet. Most times I think it's the latter and I think I'm getting better at telling them apart. Glad to hear that a lot of the therapy exercises are designed to mimic trail type scenarios. I bought a balance pad for Starla to build core strength but so far have been completely unsuccessful in getting her to use it.
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