[JAR0023]

We hunt with Labs. Have lots of friends that hunt with Labs. These are hard playing and even harder working dogs so injuries come with the territory. My dad has had TPLO done on his last two dogs. Both were done when the dogs were relatively young so they were in their prime for rehab. First dog made it to 15 and died of natural causes. He was still jumping into the back of a pick up weeks before he passed. Second dog has a couple years on the TPLO and is still going strong and showing no favoritism for the repaired leg.

Some years ago we had a nine year old Lab tear her CCL. Money was tight and she was a retired house dog. The Vet suggested Extra Capsular repair which we did. Maggie ended up with a little hitch in her walk but she was still kicking around quite well all the way to sixteen.

Whatever you decide keep the dog as lean as possible. The extra weight just puts that much more pressure on the joint. Way too many fat dogs out there. When Maggie tore her CCL our Vet referred us to another Doc in town that had performed a ton of surgeries. When he first heard 9 years old and 85 lbs he didn't want to do it. When he saw she was still a tall skinny 85lbs he said sure no problem. -J