My dog had a TPLO last December. His recovery is going well, and if it continues to go well, we should be starting some beginner tracks toward the end of the month. My question is if anyone else has been through this or anything similar, and what insight can you share with me regarding re-starting TTD after a 6 month break (we had been doing TTD for about 6 months prior, and FST for about 4 months prior to that)? Also, how did surgery with a long recovery affect your dog's work in the long run,if at all? Did the TPLO or previous injury affect future work? Anything you can share that might help us to avoid any common pitfalls? Even if it seems obvious, I might need to hear it! I'm not looking for a training program, just some words of wisdom from anyone who has experienced something similar and learned anything from, or, even if you just know something about tracking and think you might have an opinion to share!

OK, either nobody here knows anything about TTD, or nobody here has any input for me, or I am on everyone's ignore list! LOL! That's cool, I was really hoping for some helpful input, but I'll take what I get!

L wrote: "My question is if anyone else has been through this or anything similar, and what insight can you share with me regarding re-starting TTD after a 6 month break (we had been doing TTD for about 6 months prior, and FST for about 4 months prior to that)? Also, how did surgery with a long recovery affect your dog's work in the long run,if at all? Did the TPLO or previous injury affect future work?"

This is a pretty rare thing to happen. I don't think to many board members have re-started a TTD dog after a problem and 6 months. That might be why you aren't getting a reply.

Work a track that is easy(for what you were doing before), see how it goes. If it sucks start at the begining, if it is ok, move ahead. I have no frigging clue how TPLO is gonna affect your dog. It will come down to the intensity of the dogs drive to hunt/track.



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 Quote:

Originally posted by VanCamp:
This is a pretty rare thing to happen. I don't think to many board members have re-started a TTD dog after a problem and 6 months. That might be why you aren't getting a reply.

Work a track that is easy(for what you were doing before), see how it goes. If it sucks start at the begining, if it is ok, move ahead. I have no frigging clue how TPLO is gonna affect your dog. It will come down to the intensity of the dogs drive to hunt/track.



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Woohoo, a response! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I had planned on starting at square one, as if we were beginners. For one thing, after a 6 month hiatus, it would be a good way to gauge where to go from here, and for another thing, there are a few handler/training errors that I will take this as an opportunity to correct. As far as the stifle joint, the surgeon says it should be better than new, but since we haven't been able to do much in the way of swimming, I'm concerned about conditioning, especially now that we're getting into the warmer months. We've been walking and retrieving in measured doses as part of our rehabilitation plan, up to this point. I don't think his drive has suffered any, but I won't know for sure until I put him on a track; to be honest, I'm not at all worried about that. I understand that my question may be theoretical in nature to some, but I want to avoid as many pitfalls as I possibly can, hence my seeking input from this board. I do have good in person help, so I'm not on my own here, but I want to be open to ideas and avoid the kind of tunnel vision that *can* happen when training toward a goal. Plus, I want to know if I'm on the right track in my thinking.

All Canine Units will periodically experience downtime with various dogs for various reasons. I have seen very few dogs laid-up for this long, but my guess is that you will not see much difference in his tracking behavior after the first few tracks to "refresh his memory". Don't worry too much about it...get him out and track.

I concur with most of what has been said here... would recommend starting as though it were the first day. Don't expect the dog to "remember" the command the first time. But after about 2 or 3 tracks, you should be back in business.

On the bright side... sometimes a layoff period can be advantageous because you know what "problem areas" to watch for from previous exerience with the dog and can get a "fresh start."

VanCamp, ikor, and Dave Lilley, thank you for the feedback! I can't wait to get back out there again, but I must remain patient for the next 3 weeks if I want my dog's healing to be complete. I'll let you know how it goes when we get back into the swing of things. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />