The Dysplastic Dog

Drake was about 11 weeks old when I noticed that he would sometimes limp on our walks. When he was 4 months old, he wouldn't want to bend his elbows after a lot of exercise. I remember carrying him home a few times when we were out of walks. It took multiple x-rays and multiple trips to multiple specialists to confirm what we and our regular vet suspected: Drake has elbow dysplasia, which is an abnormal growth in the elbow joint. Dysplasia is more commonly seen in some breeds than others. Labrador Retrievers, and some other large breed dogs, are most commonly known for hip dysplasia. One hopes that a breeder has been selective in his or her breeding, in an effort to minimize occurance of these conditions. Even when careful, these conditions can arise. There is no cure for dysplasia; the joint will never be normal. Some surgeons like to go in and reshape the bone when the dogs are pups; other surgeons recommend waiting until the dog or owner's quality of life has been negatively impacted. We went with the advice from the surgeon that falls into the latter category. Early on-set of arthritis is a condition which is secondary to dysplasia. Drake's arthritis started at 6 months; now he has a bulging right elbow and usually walks with a slight limp. There is a chance that surgery is in our future, but one never knows for sure.

So, what does this mean for the owner of a very active, high energy dog with dysplasia? It means trying to make judgments that are in the best interest of one's dog, since he cannot and will not. This means that whenever possible, Drake swims instead of running. Drake should not chase anything on land. And, he should especially not chase balls on land because he always stops short, does a little stumble, and starts limping. Drake should not play with other dogs for more than a day at a time. Drake should not, and at this point, does not go on long hiking trips with me. Walking on hard surfaces at a steady speed, such as heeling, is very hard on Drake's elbows. At this point, I almost never walk him on pavement and we make only occasional trips to Lowe's or Home Depot, because the concrete floors do him in. When Drake is sore and limping, descending our river bank is too hard on him, so we take him to a boat ramp to swim or some other place where he can enter the water easily. We also give Drake Meloxicam, an anti-inflammatory, to help with his discomfort, and pain killers when necessary.

But, even humans cannot always judge what is "too much." On July 4, we took Drake with us to our annual Independence Day celebration, where there is an in-ground pool. We do this every year with Drake. He swims for hours, runs around the pool, determining which angle is best, before he splashes in. This year, Drake did full-force, full-body leaps off the edge of the pool in order to retrieve the ball. He did this about every 3-10 minutes for 2 straight hours. After the humans got a much needed break from ball throwing, he started up again, this time with a slight limp, which quickly progressed into a hard limp, and then to only using 3 legs. When I leashed Drake to keep him out of the pool, on several occasions he tried to drag me down so that he could get back into the pool - all on 3 legs. He's a beast, I tell you!

Drake - making a full-body launch into the pool

So, the last few days have been rough for Drake. He's been getting by on 3 legs. Today is much better - 3 days later. He is putting pressure on the bad leg now. He's also very busy nursing the bald spot on his chest, where he scraped off all the hair each time he launched himself out of the pool. Here's to hoping that Drake will be well enough for swimming tomorrow. I suspect that he's getting ready to explode with all of this inactivity!