Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Torn ACL - What to expect?

Our lab tore her ACL yesterday (4.5 years, spayed). No contact, fall, etc., it just popped as she took off running, and she yelped/pulled up lame. TPLO surgery is scheduled for tomorrow.

Our vet was very informative about surgery options, and I’m sure we’ll have more to discuss in terms of the restrictions, rehab timeline, and exercises. Wondering what tips/advice y’all might have for the next few months during recovery?

Dang. I’m sorry to hear of this. I’m interested in the procedure and rehab time as well. Seems like Labs get more than their fair share of this.

Had it happen to a Springer....Vet said if the Dog is active it most likely will happen again. Didn't do anything and he lived to 12 and hunted hard up until the end. Developed a calcification around the area, but he still went hard. I'd get a second opinion re an active Dog. One persons experience.

Be diligent with the dogs exercises post op. Getting them moving takes a lot of time , but it pays off big in the recovery.

My vet also said to expect re-injury or the other side to tear but Ted lived 12 years 10 months and 15 days w/o re-injury or tearing the other one.

Thank you Battue. We did reach out to a couple different vets, ones that we had used living elsewhere. They, and our current vet, acknowledged smaller breeds may not see the same advantages as larger breeds.

Thanks Jeff. We were told the same about reinjury and the opposite leg (around 50% of dogs will experience). Glad to hear Ted lived a full, healthy life.

Hope you have the best of results!!!!

Wilkes, the surgery is intriguing. They will not repair the ligament, but rather, change the geometry of the knee by cutting and repositioning the dog’s shin bone. That shift in geometry makes the knee inherently stable, even without the ligament. Will update as we experience more about the rehab.

Expect that you will do the same surgery and rehab again for the other leg.

Had the same thing happen to my first lab. Right back leg. He was 5 years old. Took his recovery slow until he could bear his weight. Then did not allow him to run for months, but took him swimming everyday for about 6 months. He healed great and was in the best shape of his life that Fall. He live another 7 years and never had a single issue with that leg even when he got old and slow.

Swim, Swim, Swim and swim some more for his rehab. Do rush the rehab until he can support himself without favoring the leg. Don't forget to swim him everyday.

RE: Battue's comment. We were family friends with our vet. He had my brother kennel one of his dogs for an extended period of time, rather than perform surgery on a torn ACL. I think it healed up and returned to normal. FYI

How’s the recovery? Ours had same surgery on 12/28/21. To early to tell here, but fingers are crossed.

my older Springer, same thing, I just happened to have been furloughed from work at that time and took both of them swimming everyday, his recovery was remarkable, it was definitely the swimming, saved thousands in bet bills

Farming, sorry to hear that. Hopefully by now yours is moving around well. Royalwulff, glad to hear your dogs (and wallet) are making it through okay.

The recovery has been difficult, but perhaps not in the way you might expect. Much of the struggle is keeping Karma from pushing herself too much. And, that’s been the crux of rehab since about week 4. Dogs don’t have pain thresholds like us babies, they are much tougher. Cold temps and swimming have helped much, and surely the same would be true during the summer - the water is the key, cold temps are just a bonus to keep swelling down.

The recovery has not been without setbacks. The vet sent us home with a “lick sleeve” to help keep the incision clean. Thanks man. The dog ate said lick sleeve, which resulted in an intestinal blockage and another surgery. Karma also has “pivot shift”, which is a known complication of TPLO surgery. Per discussion with the surgeon and vet, this may be resolve itself as muscle regrows. Maybe not. More to come on this.

This biggest takeaways for me at this point are to progress cautiously after the surgery, find water if you can, maintain a reasonable weight, and be mindful of how your dog reacts to progression in exercise. The tough part is that it doesn’t seem like she’ll be back to 100%, maybe 80-90% is a realistic expectation even for a young dog.

Good luck. X2 on the water Have any water near by> Id suggested get him swimming when the Vet oks some exercise. The toughest thing is preventing a rein jury. Id suggest kenneling him for awhile after surgery to help if the dog s too active to help prevent re injury

good luck

I hope dog is doing well. One of my females has had bilateral TPLO surgery. As stated, rehab was horrible. Keeping her crated and leashed walks was not as easy as it sounds. She tried to push herself immediately. Swimming was a nice way to low impact exercise her. It’s been two years since her first TPLO. The orthopedic vet did have to perform another surgery after about a year on her first leg and removed meniscus. He also done a cross lateral suture technique for added support. She is not 100% and never will be. She has a little post legged gait. I would say she’s probably 80-85%. She’s able to hunt but I do not try to push her.