Limping after cast... here for good?

[Christyledawn]

My 7 month old pup was attacked by a presa canario back in May. Since then he was in a cast for 7 weeks healing a broken ulna and radius. When the cast came off, finally, his leg was obviously weak and small so limping was quite apparent and I was instructed not to let him run around still for another 5 weeks. (Let's just say THAT was easier said than done with a rambunctious pup after 7 weeks in a cast prior to then!) We went on short walks to strengthen and mobilize the leg as well as swimming as often as we could. When the day arrived he could be free to run again he took full advantage. I'm beyond pleased to see him happy and running again BUT there is still a slight limp sometimes. It's most visible when he "trots" if that is a dog term as well as a horse term. Also, while he has built back a lot of muscle, his left shoulder is still noticeably smaller than the right when you look at him head on and he still puts a bit less weight on it than his other legs. Soooo... my question to anyone is whether I should expect more improvements do you think this is the norm now? Has anyone gone through a bad break that can shed some light here? Any thoughts are appreciated. Obviously I will love him just as much: gimpy or no :P.

[emma_Dad]

I'm so glad to hear he's doing better! I remember reading your post before the crash. What ever happened with the other dogs owner?

I have no animal experience, but from my personal experience. I suffered a compound fracture on my left elbow where both my radius and ulna broke skin, I was 9 year old, till this very day my left elbow looks smaller then right, and it took forever (Over 1.5 years) to be able to build back enough strength that it didn't affect me in sports growing up. So I would think his body would be able to recover, considering that he's still young. Just going to take some time.

I would do a lot of swimming with him since its not weight bearing and its a great workout for building up muscle

[Christyledawn]

Thankfully the other owner paid for the bills in entirety. All 3,000 dollars worth. His dog is a jerk but I can't be mad at the owner since he took responsibility.

And yes! Swimming! Thankfully Douglas loves the water. I had to get him a life jacket right after the cast came off but he was giving it 100% in the water and loving it. He tried to fetch my friends in their floaty tube from the lake the first day swimming! If they weren't tied to the dock I think he would have dragged them all the way to land :P.

[arentspowell]

Christyle, get your post count up so you can get PMs.

[smartrock]

So glad to hear how well he's doing after that very scary incident with the presa! If you live near a place that does canine rehab, I'd imagine they could help you find ways to selectively rebuild the muscles some- kind of like physical therapy for humans, only for dogs. I wouldn't know how to do it without guidance. There's a member on here who does canine rehab but I haven't seen her around for a while.

[Christyledawn]

You're right! I still haven't posted enough since I had to remake my account.

[Christyledawn]

I also did look into physical therapy. After looking I realized there is almost no options near kansas city. I did find one near me where the lady does some physical therapy along with massages and acupuncture. It's expensive though. 160$ for the first consultation and treatment (after she makes sure she thinks it will be beneficial). Then prices range from 40 to 80$ for each additional session.

[Christyledawn]

i think this makes 5 posts

[POPTOP]

So glad to hear he has healed and that the other owner paid the bills. It takes time for muscle to get back into shape. Hopefully, continued exercise and/or physical therapy will help.