New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Please post questions about pets who are expected to undergo amputation or who have already undergone amputation here, as well as pets born with missing or incomplete limbs.
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Libby
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Joined: Mon Jan 29, 2007 6:48 pm
Location: New Hampshire

New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Libby »

Hi, I am the proud new mom of a 15 month old 3 legged standard poodle. Cassidy lost her right hind leg at birth when her mother accidentally chewed on it. I had a couple of questions. We usually go on 45 minute to one hour hikes with our 5 year old standard poodle. Will Cassie be able to do longer hikes like this, or should we limit her exercise? She seems a little nervous about going up and especially down stairs. Is this usual for 3 legged dogs? Perhaps she is just getting used to her new home. Is there anything else I need to watch out for? Thanks for your help, I found this site very useful when I was caring for my older poodle with IVDD.
Donna
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Donna »

Hello Libby

Good for you for taking a three legged dog into your life. Cassidy may not have had to do steps before or was limited to a few. She should get used to them with out any problems. Are the steps carpeted? If not that may be difficult. My dog lost his left front leg eight months ago and was doing steps a fews weeks after surgery. He will not however do the cellar steps that are not carpeted. As far as 45 min. hikes, I would ease her into that, she may not be conditioned to long walks. You will know how far she can go if you start out with about 15 to 20 min walks and move her up as needed. She is very young and should do very well. I can't do the long walks with my dog like we used to because the missing front legs causes a lot of a hopping motion that really tires them out. Everything else is almost like normal. One bit of information that is something my vet stressed to me is to keep them from getting over weight and adding stress to their remaining legs. That just seems like common sence, but you know how we love to give treats to our dogs cause we love them. Good luck with Cassidy, standard poodles are so wonderful, smart and big clowns. She is a lucky girl to have found a good home.

Donna and Luke
Libby
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Location: New Hampshire

Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Libby »

Thanks, Donna,
I think you are right about the stairs. She was in a ranch house before and may have only gone up and down a couple. We have a large 3 story house and she is a little insecure so follows me everywhere. I've noticed she's getting more confident on the stairs by the minute. We'll try shorter walks for now. Luckily we live on a quiet circular dirt road with a 10-15 minute loop so that will get her used to walks. She lived at the breeder's kennel and ran around a lot but I don't think she ever went for a hike before. In terms of the weight issue, I don't think I've ever seen a fat standard poodle so we should be in good shape there. Does anyone use booties on their dogs? I wondered if it might help protect her paws when we're on rough ground, and especially when we have snow and ice. I would hate for her to get a boo-boo on one of her paws.
Bella
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Joined: Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:40 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Bella »

Hi, Congrats on the new dog!! We have an almost 2 year old Doodle (standard poodle/retriever) who lost her rear leg a few months back due to a non-cancerous tumor. Bella is doing fine with everything, just about back to normal. We also have Maggie, an 11 month old standard poodle and they play from morning to night. I would agree that you will need to ease her into the long hikes and always remember that they are working much harder than a 4 legged dog. Bella can walk for 30 minutes but needs to take a break when we are getting close to home if it is too warm out. Maggie had a hard time on the stairs when we rescued her as well. Her previous owner lived in an appartment so she had never done stairs before. Quite the scene when we went to bed the first night LOL. Best of luck with the new member of your family! Take care. Erin.
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luvmytripod
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by luvmytripod »

Hi Libby,
our 9 month old three-legged girl Jaida (was born with a leg deformity and is now about 1 month post-op, had her foreleg removed) lives in a house of many stairs and hardwood floors (poor kid), and she does pretty well. Carpeted stairs are MUCH easier for her than wood ones for sure...she will do wood stairs if needed, but takes them more slowly and is inclined to slip sometimes. She was very hestitant to do any stairs at first, for quite a few weeks after we got her home at 12 weeks, but eventually was motivated enough to try them on her own, simply by us being upstairs.

I've tried booties on Jaida for the hardwood (to reduce slipping), and didn't find them to be much help. But for the winter/rough terrain, I don't see how it could hurt to try them...good prevention if nothing else.

We can take Jaida for about 30-40 min walks (or will be again soon)...but we had to work up to it quite slowly, over the course of several months.

Right now, because we've got young gals, it's all about prevention...doing whatever possible to prevent early degeneration of the joints in her remaining legs. You're better off because she's lost a back leg instead of a front, since the front legs are the ones that carry the most body weight (your pup is carrying about 40% body weight on the remaining back leg, Jaida carries about 60% on her remaining front leg), so that's going to be helpful in the long run. Some tips from our vet:
-avoid letting her jump down from heights much bigger than a step or two (carry is better)
-walk her on grass whenever possible instead of concrete
-feed a good joint/mobility food and/or supplement with glucosamine/chondroitin for joint degeneration prevention (we just started her on Purina JM)
-supplement her diet with fish oil...cod liver oil is a cheap way to do this
-keep her weight on the lean side
-exercise is important for sure, but be mindful not to overdo it. (We find that Jaida is quite good about letting us know when she's tired...good self-regulator). Water exercise i.e. swimming is a great no-impact activity.


Congrats on the new family member!
Bella
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Location: Toronto, Canada

Post by Bella »

How are things going?
Sheryn
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Sheryn »

This is such an awesome post to find. We are about to welcome a 9yo 3 legged standard girl into our family. I am very nervous as we already have an 8.5yo girl. We are getting the new dog as company for our girl who lost her best friend earlier this year. We specifically wanted another poodle so had to wait. I've never dealt with a handicapped dog before and am not sure if there is anything important i should know! The breeders assure me her missing leg doesn't impede her at all. And to be honest I'm more worried about how my current 'baby' is going to cope. She's used to dogs coming in and out of her home all the time as we are an open home to friends dogs but as a permanent fixture? The butterflies are having a good party in my tummy while we wait for her to arrive! Thanks for any advice you can give!
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critters
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by critters »

:strobe: I consider tripods disfigured rather than disabled because they can do everything anybody else can do. They run loudly, just so you know!! They thump mightily!! :D
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CarolC
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by CarolC »

That is wonderful that you are adopting a 9yo! :trophy:
If you have any slippery floors in your house, you may want to get some mats or rugs or runners. They are helpful for any older dog when standing up or lying down, but especially a 3-legged dog. Some tile floors have pretty good traction, others are quite slick, it depends on how smooth the surface of the tile is.
Is she a front amputee or rear?
Sheryn
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Sheryn »

Thanks guys. She's a front amputee and has even carried 2 litters (albeit little ones) as a 'tripod'. We do have a lot of tiles but they have pretty good traction (unless you are having a loopy moment- and when my silly girl is being loopy she even skids on carpet!)
We're all single level and easy outdoor flow so I'm hoping she'll find things easy enough but I'll certain.y keep an eye on how she moves.
Thanks heaps folks.
Sheryn
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Sheryn »

Hi all, well our new addition is settling really well into our home. After a few days of having her nose firmly out of joint the encumbent lady of the house has accepted her new sister very well. One of the things that has us in fits of laughter is how much faster Tyra (our tripod) is when we are out walking than Shady her sister. And therein lies my current dilemma. Because of her hoppy bouncy walking gait, all the leads I've tried on Tyra bounce up and pelt her in the face as she walks. I have a combination car/walking harness that I tried but because she doesn't have her front leg it just rolls around her body. Is anyone able to suggest anything to help? Thank you in anticipation.
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critters
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by critters »

Hmm. That's a good question. People have similar problems with walking aids and rear tripods.

They're hard to find, but harnesses that are like little vests exist, and I wonder if they'd be more secure. I suggest making a raid on local pet stores and seeing what you can find, because it seems to be easier, especially for unusual circumstances, to be able to try stuff on. If you get it from Amazon, say, you can't try it on her.
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CarolC
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by CarolC »

The Tripawds website has been recommending the Ruff Wear Webmaster harness for years.

http://gear.tripawds.com/shop/#harnesses
Sheryn
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Re: New mom of 3 legged poodle: questions

Post by Sheryn »

Thank You ladies. I've had a look at the Tripawds website. What awesome products. Now to see if I can get them in NZ because I'd like to see and try on before I buy! Awesome advice, thanks again :thankyou:
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