Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Robyn said
I've read here that a tripod really should not walk more than 15-20 minutes at a time.  Is that meant for his entire life?  Since he is an energetic puppy should he still be restricted to a mile at a time?  The route I walk every morning by myself is 1-1/2 miles...will he never be able to walk it with me?  I know he is able--but should I restrict his activity?

Robyn, you are really doing a great job keeping tabs on his activity. So, what we have been told by therapists is that in a perfect world, a Tripawd should take shorter, more frequent walks throughout the day. Each one should be approximate 15-20 minutes, max. Ideally, yes, for his entire life. As we say around here though, every dog is different. These are general guidelines. 

Here's what we have learned with our Wyatt Ray . He could do anything and everything when he was younger. We were conservative with his activity level but we didn't always curtail it the way we should have. He's a dog, after all, and we always want to make sure he is living the best of a dog's life. Sometimes his walks have been longer, sometimes shorter. We try to balance everything out over the course of, say, a week at a time. And now at 11 years old, I'm glad we didn't let him go all out, all the time, throughout his life. His therapists say that for a dog who's been on 3 for most of his life, he's not in terrible shape.

If you want Totem to be able to go on those longer walks, that's totally fine. But in order for him to do that throughout his life, you'll need to engage in other activity besides walking in order to keep his stamina up. Long walks do not strengthen. Focusing on core-building activities does. Balance work, coordination games and other fitness fun all adds up to a Tripawd dog with the ability to have a rich, full and active life. 

Our Tripawds Gear blog has lots of tips about core-strengthening and other activities.

Spot-on advice Stacy! Thanks for sharing.