We have a five year old German Shorthair, Jigsaw. Jigs love to run as this breed is prone to it. If we walk 6 miles, he covers thirty. If we jog 4 miles, surely he will have run 10. When he hunts birds with my husband, he leans and points and does all that bird-dog kind of stuff, but he also puts in his mileage. In February of this year, after many happy bird trips and much success, my husband tells me that there are often more pointy birds than his master can shoot, the templates began to favor his right hind leg. Although he ran with the wind when he was free, once home he would carry his hind leg, working hard not to put too much weight on it.
We thought it was strange, but since he never indicated any pain, we weren’t too concerned. We tried to guess what was going on. He had cut the inside pad of that foot with a sharp rock when he was a pup and we wondered if the scar tissue was bothering him. A trip to the vet turned out negative as that was the problem. She thought he might have arthritis, so we adjusted his diet and added some pills. Some days it seemed on the way to healing. On other days he seemed tired and unwilling to really put his leg to work. Unwell, that is, until we put on our running shoes or headed out the back door. Then he was back to his running nature, ready to run where we wanted to go or to show off his antics as he ran around the yard like a puppy, jumping over the deck, around the trees, through the garden and back for a while. pat on the head
When we went hiking last week, he was excited to join us. We put him on a leash to limit his mileage and keep him from wandering as we reached the summit. Usually a delighted climber, I was surprised when I had to push him up the last mile of steep granite shingles. Where he would normally be dragging me, I had to force him to keep going. Back in the truck, he had a few drinks, ate a few bites, and then did his three-legged act around the picnic table. Once he got into the truck, he sank to the ground and slept until we got home. This was all very strange for our active dog.
We had heard of a surgical veterinary clinic and decided it was time to have her leg checked out by a specialist. After listening to our descriptions, the vet asked us if Jigsaw preferred his hind leg during a run, right after a run, or after the run followed by a break. We had never lined up their pattern this way, but we both commented that after running and resting, the Jigs seemed much worse. After more questions and a physical, he confirmed our worst thoughts: a torn CCL, cranial cruciate ligament. An LCC in dogs is like an ACL in humans. The CCL prevents the tibia from sliding back and forth relative to the femur. It also stops hyperextension and excessive internal rotation. If Jigs were old or not in love with running and hunting, we could probably ignore this condition and make him a homebody. As he is young and very active, surgery is the next step as we fear that leaving him lame in one leg will eventually lead to lameness in the other leg and eventually total immobility.
Next week, Jigs will have a semi-circular cut made in the top of his tibia and then rotated to reduce the tilt that creates the instability problem, plus a stainless steel plate will be installed to keep things in place. while healing. After 2-3 months of gentle care and restrained action, it should be back to its wild, running form. The hardest part for us will be keeping you quiet for 60 to 90 days. Running and jumping will be put on hold and that can drive their owners crazy.
I never dreamed that I would be willing to make such an investment in a dog. Not that I wouldn’t, but there were many years when finances would not have allowed this expense. As much as I love animals, this procedure is relatively expensive but vitally important. But then again, Jigsaw is not a conventional dog. We love him as much as he loves us and as our last “child” still at home, we just want him whole again.