Ruger’s adventure started in November as he leaped off my lap. As he leapt from my lap his left leg slipped down and got caught by my footrest’s mechanism. As his forward momentum carried him away from my chair, his leg snapped. My heart broke as soon as I saw his left foot flopping in the wrong direction. As the doctor told me his prognosis, denial set in. I truly believed his leg would heal without surgery; because as a former vet tech, I had the skills to help him heal. As the weeks and splints passed and changed, reality had to be faced. His bones couldn’t get close enough to connect and heal. I heard 3 different vets tell me the possibility of it healing. However, our regular vet, who’s known Ruger since he was a pup, told me that without a more expensive intervention, his leg is less likely to heal properly. Plus it’ll add a couple more months to his recovery. So we made the decision to go tripaw…
Trying not to blame myself for the failure of the splints. But I can’t see how it isn’t. I let him be more active than he should’ve been. He’s been such a trooper and adjusting to his splint. He hasn’t even touched any of his splints. He tries to chase the cat even though he’s confined to a short leash.
Regret is looming because I always intended to do agility with him. Now that he’s losing a rear leg, I’m not sure he can.
Now we wait to see how he does post surgery…
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Hello and welcome.
I’m sorry to hear about Ruger’s accident- that must have been so frightening. My little rear amp Tripawd is a Pug-mutt named Elly. She lost her right rear leg after being hit by a car when she was 7 months old, I adopted her when she was 10 months old.
Elly is almost 5 now (Sunday!) and she can do pretty much anything a dog her age and size can do. Our sport is Nose Work, we started it based on several recommendations because Elly was skittish and lacked confidence. We also took a bunch of sample classes and I thought it was a good fit for us. We’ve been at it for 3 years now and it turns out she is really good at it and loves it. It is not too hard on her body, it challenges her mind, and tires her out.
I also keep her strong and fit with trick and obedience training, balance exercises, and food games and puzzles. I also have stairs for all the furniture she is allowed on to keep her from jumping up and down. I do understand the small dog jumping thing though, I’ve had Pugs for 20 years, one of them would leap off anything and even out of your arms!
I know of Tripawd dogs who do aggressive activities like agility, even a cow dog who still worked cattle after losing a rear leg. It’s a balance between letting dogs be dogs and protecting them a little. Tripawds tend to develop arthritis early due to their altered gait although small Tripawds may do better.
As far as regret- when I got Elly I really wanted to do therapy work with her. But once I learned the extent her fear issues I had to give that up and find something that fit her better. You might have to adapt a little now with Ruger- but don’t waste time on regret!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Thank you for the comment! It truly gives me hope that we’ll find something to work on together. We both need to get stronger and fit. I’ve never heard of nose work. What is it?
Nose Work is basically what drug or bomb detection dogs do, only ours is a game. You teach your dog to detect specific odors and then hid them and let them search. We use essential oils as opposed to drugs or bomb components. Here is a forum post I did when Elly got her level 2 title. If you scroll down to post # 10 I talk a little about the rules and how we got started and also about another search game I play with her:https://tripawds.com/forums/shout-outs/ellys-next-nose-work-accomplishment/, and here is the blog post I did with more videos: https://rescueelly.tripawds.com/2018/12/03/pronounced/. And just for fun here is a recent video I did of Elly climbing a tree: https://tripawds.com/forums/shout-outs/hey-elly-can-climb-trees/.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Oh my gosh I’m so sorry about that awful accident. Don’t beat yourself up, you couldn’t help it. And I hope it gives you comfort to know that MANY Tripawds here participate in agility sports, obedience, Rally-O and nosework. Life doesn’t end just because Ruger lost a leg. You’ll see!
Keep us posted OK? We are here for you.