# Facing a Comeback



## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

How many folks have a dog that has undergone a surgery and was able to comeback as good or better? I talking major medicine, not flea bites or neutering... police dogs would be interesting too.


----------



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

I'm working a dog right now who I would say made a major comeback. Havok is from my breeding, but was given to the stud down owner as a stud fee pup, I purchased him back when he was about 2.5. When he was 5 months old he was set upon by a pack of adult dogs (3 of them) who basically tried to dismember him. They tore open his chest, separated his ribs from his sternum, tore a lot of the muscle, punctured his lung, tore open a back hip, partially severed both ears, and did other general damage. The owner took him to a vet and said "see if you can save him". And they did. The sewed up the hole in his lungs, rewired all his ribs to his sternum, sewed up all the other damaged areas and sent him on home. 

These aren't the best photos, I took them with my cell phone, but these are the x-rays we took when I had his hips done.

Wires in the sternum area, view with Havok on his back









Same area, but with Havok on his side









Close up of the area above his hip (the area that you can feel/see when a dog is thin) 









And after surgery, as an adult

Havok around 4 years old (he's almost 6 now) the only damage you can see is a notch missing in one ear, and the other one stands a little crooked.










Havok on the 1.2m (48 inch) hurdle









And lots of bitework photos of him at http://www.dantero.com/photos.php?k1=havok&k2=havok&s=bitework&n=Havok du Dantero&d=190

There are also videos at http://www.dantero.com/videos.php?did=190

Unfortunately as he gets older I am starting to see some "wear and tear" from those old injuries. Just little things, mainly he doesn't "bounce back" like he used to, if he takes a fall off the palisade he will get right up, but 5 minutes later he may be hesitating or refusing on the hurdle. I would say at almost 6 he acts more like an 8 or 9 year old dog in terms of what he can do before he gets sore, how he bounces back from a bad impact, etc. I had hoped to put the FRIII on him but I think we are going to be stopping soon, maybe do the FRII if I can find some trials in the near future. He's fine for the obedience and protection, but the jumps are starting to become a problem and they just keep getting higher the further you go in Ring, not lower LOL

Still, considering the amount of damage that was done, I'd consider him even being alive a success story, my vet was amazed when he saw the medical records. Is this an "as good or better comeback"? I don't know since he was injured as a pup, but probably not just because he's showing some issues now. But from 1-5 years old I'd say he was "as good or better".


----------



## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Nice dog Kadi. Have not had the luck I guess. Had a male that is now 9 and have him since 8 weeks old. Around 7.5 years old he ended up with a torn crucian ligament. After alot of money for surgery and alot of meds he is back to himself and is perfectly mobile on his own 4 legs but has slow down a good bit. So he is here for the long haul because he has deffently earned it.


----------



## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks, I like him  Unfortunately I don't know any dogs who came back 100% from a torn cruciate. I'm sure they are out there but most seem to be more like yours, they are OK for normal pet type life, but not really sound enough for to continue working. And if they do continue working, they seem to get reinjured pretty easily :-( I think I'd rather deal with a badly broken bone then a bad ligament injury.


----------



## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Yea he was a good boy with a devastating grip. I remember when he was just a young pup and picked up a two by four by 8 feet long and picked up. I said his name he looked at me and try to take off with it with a full mouth bite and turned and put a hole in my siding. Oh the great times of pups. Yea we knew once he had a full torn cruciate that was it for him. But like I said hes done his time and has done good for us so he can sleep and eat and poop and collect dust now LOL.:grin:


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Just curious, Harry, what kind of surgical procedure was used for your boy's cruciate repair? Did he get professional rehab afterwards?


----------



## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Maren Bell Jones said:


> Just curious, Harry, what kind of surgical procedure was used for your boy's cruciate repair? Did he get professional rehab afterwards?


Don't remember exactly to be honest but we had it done after hours because we were training in the dark so had to go to the emergency vet and that was about 4 grand. Then we did most of the rehab at home under the supervision of the head vet there and would take him in for check ups throughout his rehab. If they would of kept him it would of been a hole lot more that 4 g's.


----------



## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

Had GSD, torn ACL. Reconstruction was done at UT, Knoxville Vet School. They also did the rehab on an underwater treadmill. Returned to full duty as a patrol dog/SWAT for another 4.5 years. 

Labrador single purpose drug with right rear leg removed due to cancer. Dog returned to duty as drug dog. I affectionately called him Tripod. I wanted him to be a Master Card commercial; Surgery, $3,500. The look on a druggies face when busted by a 3-legged dog ---- Priceless.

DFrost


----------



## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

David, UTK's rehab program is AWESOME! I hear really good things about it. The more I learn about rehab as the probable career path I'm going to take, the more I really like to see it being done after surgery. The thought being why spend several thousand on a surgery and not spend a few hundred on professional rehab? Same deal in human medicine after surgery and using physical therapy.

Harry, you may want to consider finding someone to try professional rehab with. It's almost always outpatient (unless it's from really long distance travel or something) and it can be great for dogs getting on in years to keep their attitude up and their muscle mass up for good quality of life. And who knows, you may get him back to working at least a little. :mrgreen:

http://www.caninerehabinstitute.com/Find_A_Therapist.html

One of the top rehab practitioners in the country is right near you in North Carolina named Dr. John Sherman. I've helped at two of his seminars and I'm looking into doing an externship with him. He does field trials with his labs and the agility people around here travel 14 hours one way to work with him.

http://www.vethab.com/


----------



## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Woke up one morning and Rory was paralyzed. My vet did injectable Dexamethasone and said he still had deep pain sensation. 6 hours later he could stand but very wobbly. Vet advised that he would need a doggie wheelchair, meanwhile crate rest. Booked an appointment w/ a vet chiropractic 3 hours away. She did acupuncture and said try prolotherapy. She wanted him out of the crate because he had lost his muscle mass. We set up an x-pen and I took him out on a long line. I had read about warm water therapy in humans and decided it was worth a shot. I started swimming him in the bathtub everymorning before work [corgi] and did range of motion exercises in the water. After a month, we finally got in to see the neuro at UMC who pronounced him normal, no matter what I said about his gait still being slightly off. Back to vet chiro who said he was off about every third step. She did think he had really improved though and okayed more exercise and canceled the prolotherapy. By summer, I bought the 8 foot stock tank to swim him in. That fall he was back to the farm work and trialing. We now have a vet about an hour away that has the underwater treadmill.

Terrasita


----------

