Dutch Shepherd Forum

When i first met Olaf, and than adopted him, I thought he doesnt need a prosthesis, but in time saw it makes him very tired, especialy now when its hot. It get said to look at him when he wants to play with other dogs, but cant and has to rest.

So..
i decided to try and get him a prosthesis.
I called a vet ambulance specialized for phisical therapy in our capital (i thought: if anybody, they will know), and the said nobody in Croatia and even Europe deals with dog prosthesis. "Only in America"

So, I used my common sense and called local orthopedic shops and asked if they can make, or know somebody who can make a prosthesis for a dog. 20 phone calls later, i found a guy who will see if he can make it, in fact, he made one already foe a labrador!!!11
And its in my hometown, not America!

Cross your fingers!

That would be wonderful! Hope it works out for the best.

That is awesome news!! And great thinking!!

My Grandpa lost his leg in World War2. When he was discharged, he studied under doctors who made prosthesis and became one the leading innovators in the industry. He would patent joints and then immediately release the patent so no one could use his work to jack up the prices on better limbs. He even made a leg for a retired race horse - Mighty Music. Its such a fascinating thing and I will be SO interested to hear how Olaf does with it!

Wow, that is so cool! Keep us posted on the progress

awesome - our paws and fingers are crossed!!

Excellent!!! Keep us posted, so interesting. Christie... that is very cool!

luck!

Christie M wrote:That is awesome news!! And great thinking!!

My Grandpa lost his leg in World War2. When he was discharged, he studied under doctors who made prosthesis and became one the leading innovators in the industry. He would patent joints and then immediately release the patent so no one could use his work to jack up the prices on better limbs. He even made a leg for a retired race horse - Mighty Music. Its such a fascinating thing and I will be SO interested to hear how Olaf does with it!

Wow thats so interesting!

Well I did some research and it looks like dgs dont get easly used to "stuff on their legs", and that prosthesis work best if there are 2 joints (like hip and knee), wich is not the case with Oly. Most of the pics of dog`s prosthesis are for dogs who lost a paw or up to tarsus, so it looks like there arent many dogs who have prosthesis for entire leg.

I only wanted to give him something to help him walk and run so he doesnt get tired so much. It bothers me that I dont know if he is just tired, or if he is in pain. The other reason I wanted to get the prosthesis is because Im affraid for the other hip and his back.

SO

I decided to go see the prosthetrician for an opinion, and wait through summer, and see after that. Its been only 2 months since amputation, and we will go swimming a lot, so he might get stronger. I will also make hip and spine X-rays and consult with vet who did the surgery (he did mention prosthesis once, but I didnt care in that time).

But still, I am very happy that there is an option (or a chance) to get a prosthesis here, just in case

The extra weight on his front end would be my worry too, as he got older the extra stress. It would be interesting to find other amputees and talk to their owners and see how other dogs made it through life. I watched the videos, he is very cute. He carries so much more weight on his front end.

Dutchringgirl wrote:The extra weight on his front end would be my worry too, as he got older the extra stress. It would be interesting to find other amputees and talk to their owners and see how other dogs made it through life. I watched the videos, he is very cute. He carries so much more weight on his front end.

Thanks.
Yes, i joined tripawds.com where they have tons of info for three legged dogs` owners. They are focused on osteosarcoma victims, tho, but anyway its a very usefull site for tripawds

They say dogs carry 60% of their wight on the front legs, and 40% on hind, so its a bit easier for hind legs amputees, so its 30 - 30 - 40 for him. Speeking of that, I just today noticed that he holds his tail a bit to the right (where he misses a leg) when he stands still. I guess he does that for balance. He also uses his tail a lot to help him walk.

You should talk to Fifty's owner! There's a 2 legged pitbull here in Chicago (I used to work with his owner Kelly). He only has a front and back leg, and recently got a prosthesis for one of his back legs. He has quite the following around here. It's probably a long way from you, but he's always quite the inspiration for dogs missing limbs.

There's also Trio Animal Foundation that was started by the owner of a Tripod that lost her leg at 4 weeks when used as a bait dog. They work with a ton a disabled rescues that come in and out of the Vet Clinic I work at and would probably have good advice. Here's a video of Fifty walking around http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XozlfYOpSg.

In Holland there is a producer that specialises in dog protheses, here a link, it's all in Dutch, but you can check out the pictures to see the numerous possibilities. MAybe they can offer some info on "how to" for the guy who is making it for you? They all speak english so if you want to know more you could e-mail them?

http://dierenorthopedie.hodes.eu/nl/pro ... ucten.html

here's a pic of a simple hind-leg prothese they made: