Yogi is one week post-op and doing great. Other than his ugly naked leg, you would never know he had surgery last Tuesday. I've included a photo. He looks like a poodle who chickened out after the first leg was shaved.
Goldens are much cuter with fur and feathers! Originally we thought Yogi would need 2-3 months of physical therapy. After the surgery the vet said if he's not limping at all at the end of 14 days of limited activity and meds, he can go back to regular activity and won't need any more rehab. Considering he's hardly limping after only a week, I'm confident Yogi will be available for adoption very soon!
Potential adopters should know that surgery is not a cure. He still has the disease of elbow dysplasia. As I understood the vet, the best case scenario is that the surgery will buy Yogi 5-6 relatively pain free years before the arthritis starts to set in. The surgery delays the onset of arthritis and will hopefully slow it down once it does set in. He will never be a jogging partner, an agility or flyball dog or any kind of canine athlete, which is why I made the painful decision not to keep him myself. Dog training and competing are a passion of mine and with my own dogs at 8 and 10, it's time for me to start thinking about my next generation of competitors - and 3 dogs is my personal limit of choice.
While being a canine athlete is not in his future, Yogi will be able to walk and run and play like any normal pet dog. He will require regular exercise to keep him limber and muscled and to keep his weight down. One of the worst things for dogs (or any animal for that matter) with arthritis, or who are prone to arthritis, is to have any unnecessary weight to carry. Every extra ounce of weight will speed up the onset of arthritis. Like people with arthritis or bad knees, one has to take good care of themselves and try not to overdo it, and if they do, take it easy for awhile and take an anti-inflammatory. The U of M sent home some excellent materials on monitoring and treating arthritis which we will send to his new home with him.
If all goes as anticipated, my next posting will be to say that Yogi is available. What a bittersweet day that will be.
Yogi has been with me since he was 8 weeks old. When he first arrived as my new service dog puppy, he looked like a hamster. He was a chubby little fluff ball with stubby little legs. As you can see by his current photo, he's matured into a very handsome teenager. He will be 9 months old on May 25th. He suffered from pneumonia the first 2 months I had him and his activity level had to be restricted to allow his lungs to heal. This may have affected his growth and I don't think he'll be a very large dog (as Goldens go), but he does have a big, beautiful blocky head. In spite of his restricted activity during the most critical times of a puppy's social development, Yogi remains an extremely confident, curious, friendly and outgoing dog. Very little seems to concern him. When something new does cause him to be cautious, a simple "Wow - let's check that out" from me is about all he needs to go from cautious to "Oh - cool - something new!" 