I have a tough decision to make soon regarding my 13 week old Norwegian Elkhound, Beauregard. He has a congenital defect that has caused his wrist bone to simply not grow on one front leg. (If you look closely at my avatar picture you can see the "lump" on his leg where the bones are out of alignment.) The specialist has never seen a case like his, and has consulted with several other specialists on what would be best for him. He originally thought Beau could wait until he was fully grown, and then they would fuse his wrist and elbow. However, Beau’s wrist has gotten worse much faster than anticipated. The specialist has therefore given me 3 options.

Option 1: do nothing until he is fully grown, while trying to minimize injury, and hopefully the original fusion plan will work.

Option 2: we attempt a low probability of success surgery to shorten his radius and align all of his bones.

Or, option 3: amputation.

I am truly having a difficult time making a decision! I know that he will have a full life as a tripod, but it is still a hard decision. I told you Beau’s story, because I wonder about your pup's experiences with corrective surgeries. One of the fears I have is that I will put him through option 2, the low probability surgery, only to have to put him through yet another major surgery. My other great fear is that he will be in chronic pain from the surgery if it is “successful.” The specialist has, of course, left the decision up to me, but seems to be quite unsure about his future prospects for pain.

Also, the other problem with the surgery is the high probability of Beau developing arthritis on the repaired bones. I feel llike the specialist smoothed over the long term issues that a tripod may have because of the additional stress on the remaining limbs. Which further causes me to question whether arthritis in one limb may not be better than in three. 

I would like to know your opinions on the matter since you have had to make a similar decisions for your babies.

Thank you to all who reply!