Quote: Jennifer Mullen

how does his range of motion seem to be?

Lifting the leg straight up, like if he were to go up stairs or jump up, seems difficult.

He can fully extend both back legs behind him when he stretches them out. He can also evenly bear weight on both hind legs when he stretches his fore legs out.

hard to say. sounds like his range of motion is compromised, somewhat at least.

i didn't have any significant inflammation on any of my tears (though i did i have some extra swelling and blood pooling w/the ankle tears, but that was b/c i needed to get myself back to the trailhead about a day post-tear, not from the initial tear itself). i know swelling is supposed to be a symptom of tears, but in my experience, not necessarily.

i really can't say whether or not surgery would be best for true - but talk to your vet about how bad the tear is, and whether stabilization/rest plus rehab could be an option, if the tear isn't total. i'm a big fan of active rehab, as it also helps with stopping/lessening muscle atrophy, but i suppose you'd have to be careful if true is one of those tough guys who keeps on going even if in pain.

Thanks to all the good advice I got off this forum when True was diagnosed with HD, the dog is an Ironman. The vet was really impressed with his muscle development and I don't want to lose all that.

So I agree with you, rehab is going to be very important during this process.

Jenn, for this kind of thing would warm or cold packs be helpful? If so, which do you do first...heat or cold?

true has HD too? wow, poor guy. actually, i might pm you, i've been changing up teagan's routine lately but wouldn't mind hearing what you're doing.

i'd ice it. follow the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevate)....not that i'm sure the 'elevate' would be all that easy with a dog.

normally icing is for acute injuries (like tears) and swelling/inflammation. even if there's not visible swelling, i would guess he probably does have some swelling/inflammation going on, however small. heat is usually for chronic muscle problems, stuff like that. (or so i understand)

while i didn't properly treat the patellar tear, mostly b/c i'd hurt myself in an embarrassing way, and refused to admit i was 'really' injured (despite not being able to bend the knee for a few weeks), when i partially tore 2 ligaments in my ankle, i did compression/ice (or, stand in lake superior, i had to take what i could get) and elevation. i think the compression was actually quite important in terms of stopping the severity of the swelling, and it also allowed me some much-needed support, without which i'm not sure i would have been able to get out (or it would have been even more painful than it was).

that said, within about 2 weeks of tearing the ligaments, i was doing short (less than 5k) runs again with an ankle brace. it hurt, but i did them, and while that's probably controversial, my doctor supported it. having to take luc for walks (with rests, i felt so pathetic....i was so slow) helped me as well.

which is long-winded, but just meant to say, the support REALLY helps when something is torn. could you wrap true's leg? either with a tensor, or some kind of tape....i know a lot of tri folk use horse tape, that i forget the name of. not sure the best way to tape a dog, but your vet might be able to show you? it should help in the meantime w/support and inflammation.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

could you wrap true's leg? either with a tensor, or some kind of tape....i know a lot of tri folk use horse tape, that i forget the name of.

VetWrap is great! Comes in many colors, for the color coordinated pup, and sticks only to it's self. It is stretchy, so be careful how tight you wrap.

We uses ColdFlex VetWrap on the horses too. It is really neat stuff!

VetWrap I've got but the ColdFlex stuff looks good. I can ask about taping it for support.

And thanks, Jenn, for clarifying heat vs. cold. Elevation shouldn't be too hard, actually. He often sleeps with his legs straight up in the air.

 Quote: Sarah Morris

Elevation shouldn't be too hard, actually. He often sleeps with his legs straight up in the air.

awwwww....pics? that sounds so cute! (sorry, off-topic i know)

As far as bracing goes, there is this option:

http://www.woundwear.com/product3.cfm#
http://www.woundwear.com/pdf/Brace%20Components%202007.pdf

I started looking at this stuff on Sunday and this A-Trac System seems to be the most *serious* brace available that I could find. It's quite a contraption and pretty expensive.

My vet, as I found out, has worked with this company and she really likes the product. I've seen humans wearing ortho braces but never dogs.

you're not kidding about it being 'serious'. WOW! that looks pretty amazing, though expensive. i really don't know enough to say what would make a good dog brace.

are there other makes of braces out there? i don't remember, can this brace also sort of 'reduce' in seriousness (i think there are different metal supports for different parts of the healing process)? so that as he heals (either post-surgery or if you elect not to have surgery, and it's a partial tear with good prospect of healing on it's own), you could kind of dial down the support?

Yes, it can. You can use it pre-op and post-op in the recovery phase and it has different support rods to use, depending on what's needed.

Even if the brace is jive, I thought the web site gave a pretty good over-view of ACL injuries in layman's terms.