Bird dog with broken tibia, any experience?

[tinsleystyle]

Our 5 month old black lab broke her tibia yesterday, just as she was really picking up on wing retrieves and water retrieves. She needs surgery which includes a plate and screws to repair her leg, sounds like a lengthy rehab and crate recovery, up to 6 months. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with a bird dog that has had a similar injury and if it noticeably affected their capabilities. I'm concerned about cold weather and bone pain, or a bum leg. She is supposed to be my field dog and occasional a duck blind dog. She gets cut on Monday, the injury is her lower left rear leg.

[3dvapor]

just like a human its going to take a while to heal should be good as new.  It would be much harder on an older full grown dog. 

[Mudman]

Hey not sure which Vet ya using but my wife works for a good one in our area.  Maybe the one your dogs seeing.  PM if ya have any questions specific.  Crate sucks but if ya follow post op rules dog should be great.

[shootem]

My spaniel had a broken mid tibia at about 13 weeks. He had full recovery. No surgery was needed. That said we had to replace the cast about weekly because it kept sliding done a big thigh to a little lower leg.Surgery may stabilize a bigger dog better. If you are confident in your vet go for what they recommend.

[Skyvalhunter]

Shouldn't be a big issue except for the time and keeping her from doing too much. They recover relatively quickly but you have to go by the vets time for recovery and not let her do too much too soon. Even an injured or old dog will follow you to hell and back but it is your responsibility to leash her back.

[pens fan]

 Forgot to respond to this sooner. My girl Nutmeg had her leg broken when she was about 12 weeks old. The hardest thing was keeping that cone of shame on her for about 10 weeks. And there two surgeries involved. It cost me almost 2500 to get her fixed right. I lost a lot of training time in those early months. She has rebounded perfectly and other than possible arthritis later in life, she is as tough as Boykins get.

[AspenBud]

Our 5 month old black lab broke her tibia yesterday, just as she was really picking up on wing retrieves and water retrieves. She needs surgery which includes a plate and screws to repair her leg, sounds like a lengthy rehab and crate recovery, up to 6 months. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with a bird dog that has had a similar injury and if it noticeably affected their capabilities. I'm concerned about cold weather and bone pain, or a bum leg. She is supposed to be my field dog and occasional a duck blind dog. She gets cut on Monday, the injury is her lower left rear leg.

If you want to speed up the recovery you find a canine rehab facility, preferably run by someone who is certified, and drop the coin and time for it.

Good luck either way, I had a lab run over the top of my Pointer pup while chasing a tennis ball and break his foot several years ago. What followed was not fun.

[Happy Gilmore]

most vet rehab clinics are crazy expensive. keep them rested the whole time as directed. Swimming about the time things are healed to build up muscle is going to be more difficult because water will be getting cold and that is bad. See if you can find a dog swimming pool somewhere where you can join in a class or something. Seems like a saw something about that online somewhere but, you'd have to search it out. Laser treatment has produced good healing results for some dogs I know.