Canine hip replacement

rfberan

Active member
This topic may have come up before, but I would appreciate the opinions of anyone whose dog has undergone a hip replacement. I need to make a decision and right now I am very reluctant to consider in my 9 1/2 yo female lab. I know she lives to hunt, but I'm leaning towards retiring her so she can function okay without further stress on her hips. Appreciate any experiences and thoughts.

Thank you
 
rfberan said:
This topic may have come up before, but I would appreciate the opinions of anyone whose dog has undergone a hip replacement. I need to make a decision and right now I am very reluctant to consider in my 9 1/2 yo female lab. I know she lives to hunt, but I'm leaning towards retiring her so she can function okay without further stress on her hips. Appreciate any experiences and thoughts.

Thank you

Sorry to hear it, bummer. I have no experience to share other than having had older dogs and that given that 9 1/2 is getting up there for a lab, it would be extremely unlikely that I'd consider it very seriously.
 
Sorry to here about your partner. My Past 2 retrievers, one chessy, one lab, I seen the signs of slowing down in them at 10 yo. Seeing this I bought their replacement and had it trained to hunt by the following season. Both chessy and lab lived to 13 before their health deteriated to point where they were put to rest. As much as we love to hunt with old partners it gets awful hard on them especially if they,ve got swimming retrieves. Can get dangerous for them in certain circumstances. A little pond walking or field retrieving maybe they can still go on occasion. Took my 11 yo lab along with pup a couple times where retrieving wouldn,t tax the old girl to much. My advice would be to retire your ol buddy and get on the ball with its replacement.
 
Thanks for the sound advice and right now that is the plan. I'm hoping to breed my 8 yo lab this spring or will get a pup. My 8 yo was my wife's lab and didn't have formal training but he has picked up from Kate to be a functional retriever and a great companion. Much to my wife's desires. But she understand how much he loves the marsh and hanging out with all the other dogs at the club. So I believe he can get me through this season and next while working on a new companion.
 
I know in human hip replacements some movements are limited.
With That said you may not be able to hunt your dog, even with the replacement
Just another thing to think about
Pat
 
Time for a nice retirement near the fireplace. My female hunted until 11 and then had hip problems. I tried cosaquin which worked really well for her to have a good life. She could get in and out of the pickup by herself, slowly.
Maybe a few land retrieves now and then. They still have that desire...
 
I've been giving both Movoflex supplement and just started Adequan injections. Hopefully she can enjoy retirement ambulatory.
 
When I was considering breeding my last female lab Vet advised that breeding could be done up to 7 yo. Might want to check w your vet before you get to far if you haven,t already.
 
We're breeding my 8 year old male to my friend's 2 year old female. I wasn't aware that was a problem with his age, but will check again.
Thanks
 
I bought a Wildrose dog that eventually was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, diagnosed at 1.4 YO. It was largely unilateral based on assessment at Fox Valley Animal Hospital in Appleton, Wisconsin. We elected to have the worst hip replaced at age II, partially because my wife received a professional discount on the surgery cost. We were told that he would likely not have the same duration of activity as a fully sound hunting dog. This didn't prove true. I stopped hunting Dugan at eleven, and he lived past 13 as an active house pet. His unrepaired hip never faltered, nor did the prosthetic hip.

Have you ever had a hip exam done on your wife' s dog to determine whether he is sound?
 
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Yes, our male has been cleared. Thanks and I'm sure at 2 yo I would go with the hip replacement. At 9 1/2 I think not. But I appreciate your input. Good decision on your part.
 
Rehab consisted of several weeks of confinement on his bed with minimal movement and NO jumping. We bought a hexagon cage (used now to protect the tomatoes from being ravaged by deer during the night!). Once the wound was fully healed we began a two, three and then four day per week Lake Superior beachwalk and swim program, all while he was fully leashed. I would peg 90% recovery at around six months. We hunted NoDak that fall.

When you sum all of this and then apply it to an older dog whose recovery interval would likely be much longer, I would say you are making the right decision.

We sure did get a LOT of pushback from Wildrose's owner, Mike Stewart. When we were assigned a replacement breeding without input or consult, I knew I would never own another Wildrose dog. When our replacement pup was diagnosed at age six with a brain tumor, that decision was reinforced further The dam "disappeared" two years after our replacement breeding.

Stewart, NOW, has hip scores performed on all his breeding stock dogs.
 
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