I am hoping to gather some inspiration from RTF group. My young lab "Wilson" suffered a medial collateral ligament injury (hock not stifle) requiring surgery and incidental finding of carpal fracture of the left rear foot. The surgery was done in Nov 2012. He has been on leash walking only since surgery. After clearance from his surgeon, we are following a certified rehab specialist with his activity level. I honestly believe that the one advantage that he has with this type of injury is his size. He is 45 lbs of lean muscle.
My question to the group is this, has anyone had a dog with this type of injury return to competition? Wilson is a high drive lab who was competing in agility at the time of the injury (injury not related to agility). It is not the focus of his recovery to return to agility, I just want him to be healthy and happy. However, this little dog is DETERMINED! He is nearly 12 weeks out from surgery and doing great. We are walking approximately two to three miles per day and recently included a harness for added resistance training with recent introduction of steep hills and rough terrain training. You can see from the video his frustration of not being able to run. Please feel free to Private message. I appreciate any replies about your personal experiences.
video 10 weeks post op - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRuU6aGu3J0
Thanks so much, Martha
My question to the group is this, has anyone had a dog with this type of injury return to competition? Wilson is a high drive lab who was competing in agility at the time of the injury (injury not related to agility). It is not the focus of his recovery to return to agility, I just want him to be healthy and happy. However, this little dog is DETERMINED! He is nearly 12 weeks out from surgery and doing great. We are walking approximately two to three miles per day and recently included a harness for added resistance training with recent introduction of steep hills and rough terrain training. You can see from the video his frustration of not being able to run. Please feel free to Private message. I appreciate any replies about your personal experiences.
video 10 weeks post op - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRuU6aGu3J0
Thanks so much, Martha