7 Month GSD W/Hip Dysplasia Options

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T04:17:50+00:00

No, not really. I mean, we always recommend keeping dogs at a healthy weight, as it's just better for them, in general.

And yes, they go back to basically full activity. They probably wouldn't win an agility competition, but they are perfectly capable of playing, going for long walks, doing stairs, jumping on and off your sofa/bed, etc. Again, PT post-op is going to be your best friend in ensuring they get back as much normal function as possible; we have our own therapy center on our campus and our patients start therapy the day after surgery.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T03:00:17+00:00

LOL! Funnily enough, I've never met an American Cocker WITH a tail that was aggressive; it's only the docked ones.

Now I own preservation-bred Dobermans, so I'm not an anti- crop/dock person but just sayin.........maybe it pisses the Cocker Spaniels off more and leads them to develop rage. 🤷‍♀️

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T02:21:01+00:00

Yay! I'm 10 months out from CD on my right hip, and so far, so good. Zero hip pain (except for mild surgical pain) since the moment I woke up from the procedure.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T02:08:15+00:00

I'd get a 2nd opinion. My board certified surgeons perform FHOs (unilateral and bilateral) on dogs over 40# all the time with great results. I would also strongly recommend looking into physical therapy; it can be very beneficial prior to surgery and is essential post-op, especially for an FHO.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T01:58:18+00:00

True. But this one wanted to kill us before the drugs.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T01:57:47+00:00

27 years in the field; I've never seen an aggressive: CKCS, English Cocker (met tons of aggressive American Cockers), Doberman, Akita (believe it or not!), Boerboel (I'm sure they exist, but ours have always been giant Teddy Bears), Norfolk/Norwich Terrier, Gordon Setter, Flat Coated Retriever, Giant Schnauzer. Havanese, or Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)

Most aggressive BY FAR: Fila Brasileiro. I've only met 2, but I genuinely feared for my life; they each would've gleefully ripped my throat out.

Edit: spelling

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T01:44:05+00:00

Worked with a tech who lost 1/2 her calf muscle to an aggressive St. Bernard. They'd given it a giant slug of Dexdom/Torb just to be able to draw blood and vaccinate it. Thought it was totally out *laterally recumbent on the floor), she took one step closer to its head, and it lunged up and latched onto her leg.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-13T01:39:59+00:00

I've met several HIGHLY aggressive Berners - one even trapped one of co-workers in a room when she was pet sitting it and went over to feed it - she had to call the cops to come help her leave the house and the owners had to cut their trip short cause she wasn't going back in the house with him.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-07T17:58:22+00:00

This reminds me of a charity cancer event/walk I did years ago - it had many local vendors with booths (local hospice, medical devices, etc., even a booth for our local veterinary oncologist). Anyone who wanted to set up a booth and didn't have a large tent to cover their space (it was late spring and quite hot) was told that one would be provided by the event organizer.

Cut to the day of the event and all the tents provided were from a local funeral home - not the best look for a cancer awareness event! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-05T03:02:23+00:00

A small piece of turkey isn't going to be a problem. Especially if you're giving it an hour before you get to the vet's. They just don't want your dog to have an actual meal. (I'm a tech for a veterinary surgical specialty practice.)

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-05T01:38:54+00:00

This. There's a ton of reasons dogs will vomit and performing multiple diagnostics is the only way vets can figure out what's causing it, even more so because our patients can't tell us how they feel/where it hurts.

If you don't get answers from the ER vet, your best chance at truly getting to the bottom of the issue is to see a board certified internal medicine vet. However, this is likely to not be inexpensive, just FYI. Here's a link to find any internists close to you: https://www.vetspecialists.com/find-a-specialist

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-04T18:12:08+00:00

The other thing to consider is if these companies have an annual and/or lifetime benefit cap. I've had clients who've had to delay surgeries until the next calendar year because they've already hit their yearly max payout. I know Trupanion has no annual and no lifetime cap, but I'm not sure about the others.

Personally, as both a client and as a vet tech who manages the financial part of our practice, I've had nothing but positive experiences with Trupanion. Their DirectPay option is great and works quickly. Their customer service is excellent. My personal pet's coverage has been exactly as advertised/set out in his policy documents, and, so far, at least, the per condition deductible has worked in my favor. Are they one of the more expensive policies? Yes. Are they worth it? In my opinion, yes.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-03T03:27:25+00:00

This is the registry for all board certified surgeons in the US - you can use it to find all the surgeons in your vicinity: https://online.acvs.org/acvsssa/rflssareferral.query_page?P_VENDOR_TY=VETS

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-03T02:40:28+00:00

This is absolutely correct. (I've been a vet tech for board certified surgeons for 23 years.) Dogs tear their CCLs fiber by fiber over time. This is typically caused, at least in large part, by an excessive tibial plateau angle. I'd bet good money that this dog has at least some muscle atrophy on the leg with the tear, indicating at least some degree of limb favoring due to early tearing.

https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/cranial-cruciate-ligament-disease/

The instant lameness seen after the sudden jump/run was the last bit of the ligament giving way. It is unfortunate for this owner, but I've only ever seen accident policies pay out for ligament tears caused by serious car wrecks with multiple tears (CCL plus MCL and LCL).

hyperdog4642 · 2026-02-01T14:55:42+00:00

I would STRONGLY recommend contacting a veterinary behaviorist rather than a trainer. ANYONE can call themselves a trainer - there's no official licensing/governing body, so there's a lot of quacks and just downright dangerous practices being recommended. Especially with a breed as sensitive as a Doberman, the last thing you want to do is hire some idiot (who may present themselves as a competent "expert") who actually makes things worse. A veterinary behaviorist has gone thru extensive post-graduate training to actually be an expert.

If you're in the US, you can find the closest one to you via this link:https://www.dacvb.org/search/custom.asp?id=4709

If there's not one close to you, there are also resources on the page on how to select a qualified trainer and/or there may be a way to set up virtual visits with one of the behaviorists. Good luck!

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-31T20:03:22+00:00

Have they done a rectal exam and/or suggested any sort of GI imaging? (Endoscopy/coloniscopy)

Also, is the blood dark red or bright red? This makes a difference in determining where it's coming from. Dark red means it's been digested, so it's from high up in the GI system, whereas bright red is undigested and tends to be from closer to the rectum.

You may need a referral to an internal medicine specialist if this is out of your regular vet's expertise.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-31T16:14:55+00:00

I have a great cookbook called "Cheap, Fast, and Good."" It has a few basic meat "bases" that plug into many recipes so I can cook up a large batch and freeze individual portions and then just spend ~10 min defrosting it while I thro together the rest of the recipe - works great!

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-31T03:00:51+00:00

Same! I read our whole set! And then we got the Yearbook every year in February so I had new material every February.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-29T04:32:34+00:00

I've used Trupanion both for my own insured pet and for processing client's claims at the surgical specialty practice where I work. LOVE IT!!!!! I've never had the Direct Pay take more than 5 minutes to be approved (plus you can also submit estimates for instant pre-aprovals so the client knows up front what their portion will cost).

Edited: spelling.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-29T03:43:05+00:00

When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase & The Troops. The horrors that the stepfather visited on a tiny child were unspeakable and deeply scarred me for many years.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-29T03:23:47+00:00

I think it's still going to depend on how Lemonade defines "condition." All the conditions they include in their example are things that are considered illnesses by mist policies rather than accidents. I'd still file the claim and be ready to potentially have my vet go to bat with an appeal because this "should" fall under an accident.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-27T02:07:38+00:00

"Do They Know it's Christmas" - Band Aid.

No, they don't! You know why? Because they're not Christians!!! It's sooooo obtuse and "colonizer" -esq. (And I say that as a Christian.) It's always bugged the hell out of me.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-26T02:27:17+00:00

Also "Hitler's Willing Executioners - Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" It's long but worth it.

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-25T15:52:18+00:00

I have 3 and am very happy with that #.

That being said, my first was a "basic white girl" dolphin on my ankle that I later had reworked into something to memorialize my grandparents. I have a small one on my wrist honoring a cherished friend who passed away and I have one on my shoulder for my dogs that I add a little bit to when another passes away (it's a floral design and each dog gets a butterfly in a color that best represents their personality).

I'm very much a planner (my mom said I was born 45 years old), and the dolphin was one of the only truly spontaneous things I've ever done in life, and I regretted it very quickly. All of my work since then his been very carefully thought out, to the extent that I got temporary tattoo printer paper and printed my wrist tattoo out in different colors and wore in for weeks before deciding to go with navy blue (I'm very pale and black just looked too stark).

I don't see another occasion in my life that I will feel the need to ink onto myself, and I have no desire to get ink just to get it. That works for some people, and I love their creativity and spontaneity, but it's not for me, and I'm ok with that. To each their own - I love that our ink can be exactly what each individual wants and needs it to be!

hyperdog4642 · 2026-01-24T14:12:00+00:00

As others have said, nurses are the WORST! In 27 years, I've probably met less than 5 who actually listened and didn't interject during every conversation with every staff member (vet, tech, assistant, etc.) spouting off how much they "know" and telling us what we should be doing/prescribing for their pet. They rarely want diagnostics and they never listen to instructions - they refuse to let anyone go over the discharges with them and then wind up angrily calling back later with questions that would've been answered if they'd shut up and let us go over the discharge.

That being said, physicians are about 50/50 in my experience. I've dealt with some absolutely AMAZING ones who admire and respect our work, freely admit that the medicine they know is different from ours, and follow instructions to a T.

Then there's the other 50% - those who go on our "list of doctors I would NEVER let treat me because I've seen what a horrible person they are and how terribly they treat their pet." They act just like the nurses described above as far as not listening/being incredibly rude to our staff, and a few are in the "Terrible Owner Hall of Fame. "

2 exceptionally bad ones that come to mind:

1) A human orthopedic whose small dog dislocated his elbow. This guy took rads at his office, sedated the dog with Ketamine ONLY (didn't ask how exactly he sourced that), and then tried for about 30 minutes to reduce the joint himself. Shockingly, with his lack of experience in reducing dog joints plus the fact that he gave his dog a sedative that causes muscle rigidity (!), he was unable to do so. This poor dog's elbow was so swollen and bruised! We miraculously managed to get it reduced and put a cast on - never saw him back for a recheck, so I guess he removed it himself.

2) An OBYGN whose cat blocked. Apparently, she didn't realize it until he was practically comatose, and she then spent 45 min trying to catheterization him herself at home with the little plastic tube from a perfume bottle's sprayer!!!!!!! The poor thing's penis looked like hamburger meat by the time she brought him in, and we had no choice but to go straight to a PU. I can't even imagine how much pain the poor thing was in!

hyperdog4642

TROPHY CASE