Other than medication, I cannot fathom a way to keep an active dog inactive for an extended period of time.

So, my advice would be to take Spot to a Western medicine vet. If he is not putting weight on it, he needs surgery to repair the ligament. I doubt such an injury will mend itself. And by shifting his weight to the other leg, he risks injuring that leg's ACL as well.

My older dog, now 15, had this same problem when he was 9. He had surgery and completely recovered use of the leg.

Good luck!

Thanks Cindy,
he is putting some weight on it and using it. I'm hoping to avoid surgery. My vet actually practiced conventional medicine for over 20 years before he became interested in acupuncture and Chinese herbs. He will use what is best for the animal. He already said that if he injures it further he will need surgery. I guess I should have been clearer about the restrictions for Spot. He can walk around and such, he is just not supposed to run and chase critters outside. That is his favorite activity when in the yard.
Katharina

Actually I have used Rescue Remedy to help my friends dobbie mix recover from surgery where she was suppose to remain inactive for 1 month. My dog had surgery on both his rear legs for ligaments tears. A TPLO (tibial plateau leveling oseotomy) done by an orthopedic surgeon put my dog back to 99 percent. If you have ANY questions about the surgery please do not hesitate to contact me at nfrlprdpr@yahoo.com - There is another type of surgery done to "sew" the injured ligament back together - The TPLO by-passes any need for further surgery (unless a screw comes loose) and there are ways to work around the expenses, you can reduce costs by at lease a couple hundred dollars if you know what to do...I hope your pup gets better soon.

Thanks Mazer,
I will give the Rescue Remedy a try. If it looks like he will need the surgery I will definitely send you an e-mail to ask questions.
My vet is also playing phone tag with a company who makes braces to immobilize/stabilize the leg. Maybe we can try that and see if it helps. We go see the vet again on Saturday morning.
Katharina

Read him War and Peace?

My Casey loves it when I spend the day reading in bed (have had to keep my foot elevated at times) and he stays right nearby.

Get him lots of chews to keep him busy?

Take him for a very long drive in the car - sitting up to look out the windows might make him tired.

Give him a page of differential equations to solve before dinner?

Get one of those "doggie videos" to watch on TV?

Pop a big bowl of popcorn and throw one at him each time he starts to get interested in leaving your side?

Teach him to knit? Get him interested in scrapbooking?

Buy him a gerbil in a cage to watch?

Invite all of his doggy friends over for a game of poker? (Don't forget to take a picture of them - you may as well make money off the art when you are putting out all that money for doggie beer and peanuts.)

Please, please, please contact an orthopedic vet BEFORE putting your loved one in a brace, they can do alot of damage if not put on properly or if not called for, and you can inadvertently atrophy a muscle if the brace is used to much. Ohhhh boy, you are making me nervous. My dog had a regular vet work on his first ligament tear and his leg had to have a second surgery on it to have a TPLO, because of the first vet, who was not an orthopedic, my dog has had nothing but trouble with that leg, he has to take pain pills and anti inflammatories on a regular basis as a result. I hope your dog gets better soon, but please check in with an orthopedic, the money you spend now can save you hundreds later on. Good luck

Mazer, I will.
I'm going to talk to the vet about surgery on Saturday. He is saying it takes about 6 weeks to heal. Acupuncture twice a week will cost me about $800 for that long. That would be fine if it really heals. But if he injures it more we'll end up with surgery anyway and have the cost of it on top of the $800. Just don't know yet about any orthopedic vets in town yet. I'm thinking my best option is probably the vet school at Iowa State. It's only a 30 minute drive.
Katharina

our one dog was having similar problems and was on and off anti-inflammatories for a couple months. We decided to visit an orthopedist and she knocked him out and determined that it was NOT a full ACL tear and that he still had stability so she did not recommend surgery. At that time we were limiting his play and he was not happy. He loves fetch 2x a day at least.

I asked about this and she said, there is NOTHING we can do that can prevent a full tear from happening besides keeping him from moving and the tear will not fix itself, and that his happiness is most important so to play with him. He is a dog and he should be able to do the things that make him happy.

we gave him anti-inflammatories for about 2 weeks (half the dose every other day) and we play fetch at least 2x a day. He was immediately back to his old self and happy. We haven't had another incident where he is in alot of pain since then. He used to limp all the time. Now he rarely dose and he is a happy dog again. I think he feels better because his mood is better. He doesn't sulk around like he used to.

We used to always worry about him also, now we know acl injuries can happen and that it isn't something we can control, except if we kept him in the crate all the time which would not be fair to him. I would also recommend a orthopedist. Like I mentioned, ours said that a tear (partial or full) will not fix itself. So either you let your dog be a dog or do the surgery.

Our dog is now happy again because we let him do what he loves and that makes us happy.

Glaserberl,

In the mid-1970s I had horses and lived in Kansas. Twice, I took injured horses to Iowa State veterinary college for surgery. What a great place! I think that is an excellent option.

Also, I do acupuncture with my 15 year old dog...not for pain, but for Cushing's, (IMHO he is too old to do the Western medicine "chemo" they normally recommend for treatment). I am a firm believer in holistic medicine, but for Spot, I think surgery is your best option.

Lol, Nancy. Popcorn and a movie might be worth a try. Poker with his friends would have him jump around too much. He is a very enthusiastic greeter.
Scryn, if your dog didn't have a tear was it just stretched or strained?
I have no intention of letting this go on for an extended period of time. Right now he doesn't want to play, he is pretty contend resting and chewing on a new Kong.
Cindy, I'm glad to hear that ISU was a positive experience for you. I checked out their web site and they do the TPLO surgery. Their seems to be only one other orthopedic vet in Des Moines, I might use him for a second opinion.
Katharina

Katharina, how is it going?

Nancy, it's going OK. I didn't get around to post an update because we spend all weekend at a soccer tournament.
Spot is settling into the routine of just being allowed out to do his business and coming right back.
We went to the vet Sat. morning and he had another acupuncture treatment. We discussed surgery options and decided to try a brace first. It will be custom made and support the joint and give the muscles time to strengthen around the joint. It is kind of hard to describe, but I will post pictures after we get it. It will be probably a little over a week. It is designed by a "human" orthopedic surgeon who had a blown acl on his dog and was less than thrilled with the surgery result.
I was asking the vet about TPLO and the other surgery and he recommended not doing the TPLO. He said that it has been advertised as the best thing to prevent arthritis later on, but people are finding out that the first dogs with it are getting arthritis now (6-7 years later) anyway. The vet tech told me that the had the ligament connecting surgery done on a couple of her dogs and they are doing just as well as dogs she knows with the TPLO.
But we are not at that point at the moment and are taking a more conservative approach. I'm having a hard time to convince my husband to even do anything less alone surgery. He thinks it is just a dog and when he grew up they just put them down when something like that happened. Over my dead body, is all I can say.
Here is Spot sharing his new pillow with one of the cats. A few minutes before both cats had been laying with him. And he is not overweight, he just looks like it in this picture.
Katharina

Your dog can have a partial tear. Our dog had this however it was small and he didn't have any instability so they couldn't recommend surgery. After a week or two of antiinflammatories he was pretty much pain free. He just needed the swelling to go down.

Yes, it is only a partial tear. Vet said the joint doesn't have enough play to be a complete tear.
Spot seems to be doing better today, he is limping but putting weight on it and actually stood for a couple minutes on all four legs. He also shows more interest in what's going around him.
I'm pretty sure he would do probably OK without the brace, but I guess I want a little insurance. I have been going out with him in the yard to make sure he isn't doing anything stupid. This morning at 3:30 I just let him out, thinking he really had to go (he usually doesn't go out during the night), but instead he trotted to end of the yard and jumped off a 3 foot retaining wall. Apparently he is feeling better!

Just a quick update. Since yesterday Spot is walking and running without a limp. The only sign that something is wrong is that he won't jump up on anything and walks up the 3 steps from the patio kind of funny. I won't let him try the stairs in the house until we get the ok from the vet.
Katharina

My dog tore his ACL many years ago. He never had surgery - he was not a working dog or show dog. We limited his activity until he started putting more weight on it.

This is one of many instances where having a crate trained dog really is an advantage. In the crate, is an automatic activity controller.

I promised pictures once Spot got his brace. It is a pretty complicated contraption, but it only took him a couple hours to get used to it. It made an immediate difference as to how he is walking up stairs. Without the brace he was walking almost sideways, with it he is able to go up straight.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brace

Such a sweetie! I am glad the brace is making him feel better. I can only imagine what you had to do to get all those straps on and the right tension.

Nancy,
the vet did it. I doubt I will take it off. He kept licking around the cuff that is on the other leg, so I took it off to see if the skin was irritated. Everything is fine, but it took me 5 minutes to get just one part back on. There is a snap I can't find the other end for.
Katharina

Katharina,
Glad to hear Spot is doing fine. Keep checking for skin irritations (one clip at a time) as my dalmatian wore a harness for a while and we found he was laying on one of the clips creating a sore.
I'd love to get contact information for your vet, as I'm an acupuncturist. My neighbor's dog Max has an ACL injury but in California I'm not permitted to do acupuncture on animals (must be a vet). Max's vet acupuncturist doesn't do herbs, so I'd like to do a quick consult, as I can recommend herbal formulas for Max (odd, right?)
If you don't want to post the info, please email me directly.
Thanks,
Michael

Michael,
there is no link to e-mail you. But he has a web site. According to the info listed in the contact area there will be a fee.
Katharina

Here is a link that might be useful: Vet