3-Legged Dog

Jigglypuff

My female dog is having her left hind leg amputated on Friday. It's a pretty big op and the whole family is worried about her recovery. Does anyone have any experience of 3 legged dog? I was wondering how she'll be able to go to the toilet, as to squat it seems like she would need the two hind legs?

seamus

She won't notice the difference.

Our Staff manages to squat just fine, though sometimes she's a little unbalanced and ends up hopping a little while peeing.

The only things to watch out for are slippery surfaces - wood floors, ice, etc. With one hind leg she'll sometimes slip and fall on her arse if she's running, or if she's jumping up on something, her foot will slip prematurely and she'll only half make it. Obviously you should minimise the amount of jumping up she has to do, but it's not something to ban her from doing, once the surgery has healed.

They're hardy little creatures. Ours has only had 3 legs as long as we've had her, so I don't know, but I'm sure it's upsetting to have to remove the leg. But you will be uplifted by the "I couldn't give a crap" manner in which she adapts. Dogs don't wallow in self-pity or whinge about losing the leg, they just get on with it. Plus you always have a story to tell anyone who asks

She also gets tired very quickly when walking uphill, but I don't know if that's because she's lazy or 3-legged.

ISDW

I had a lab cross, quite a large dog who lost her left hind leg to cancer. She was absolutely fine without it, would still chase the tennis ball around. It didn't seem to affect her at all, she loved her walks just the same as always and didn't seem to have any problems going to the toilet.

Best of luck, its hard to have to watch them go through something like this.

username123

The DSPCA up at Mount Venus have a 3 legged cairn terrier called Maggie and I didnt realise until around the 4th time Id met her that she was 3-legged - its a hind leg too. She certainly doesnt care at all!!!

A neighbour has a 3 legged boxer and sometimes she looks a little awkward in motion (much heavier etc than a smaller dog) - she seems to be happy as well.

Ive also known a lurcher missing a front leg - no bother to him, although he definitely had an awkwardness that is different to a hind leg being gone.

It depends on the breed, weight of the dog and how generally active they are to begin with - a lot of the time small dogs cope as though they arent missing the leg at all and larger dogs can look a bit awkward but be fine when they get used to it.

Best of luck - hope it all goes well.

dammitjanet

My gran's dog has 3 legs too (a rescue dog that came to her like that) and he never has a problem with it (except for as said, slippery floors).
The other day in fact when I was out at hers he was up on the hind leg and trying to drink out of the bird bath!
It'll be more of a shock for yourselves than for your dog, I wish you the best with it x

koneko

Dogs are incredibly resilient and take stuff in their stride, they put us humans to shame

Clare Bear

My family has had two three legged dogs over the years, one lost his leg in a trap (:mad:) and the other had his broken in to tiny pieces by another dog. Both were absolutely flying it in no time, they were grand. I've seen many dogs in my work with three legs and they've all been fine. She'll be grand don't worry, she'll feel sorry for herself for a few days but she'll be up and about in no time as if she never had that fourth leg

s-cogan

My grandad has a dog with no legs called Woodbine.
Every evening he takes him out for a drag.









I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
Hope the op goes well!

theghost

We got a 3 legged JRT cross from a rescue centre 7 years ago (it was her left hind leg that had been amputated, too). The leg had only recently been amputated when we first got her and she was very wobbly and unable to walk far, but my daughter gradually increased the length of the walks as she got stronger and within a month she was down in the park with our other dog. Two days later she was chasing balls and is still one of the fastest dogs in the park. The only thing she can't do is swim.

Jigglypuff

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am of course very nervous to see how she will cope, and how it affects her, physically and mentally, but I'm holding out hope that she will bounce back like the dogs mentioned above!
She's such a sensitive dog, I almost think of her as human and how it would affect me if my leg was removed!!
But of course, reality-check, as mentioned, it's more of a shock to my family than to her! She's a resilient little thing and has recovered quickly from ops and illnesses before, so hopefully with lots of encouragement and taking it step-by-step she'll gradually build up her strength and be back to herself, running about (but not on slippery surfaces :rolleyes:) in a month or two!

wendyjohnson

We adopted 3 legged Miniature Schnauzer from the animal shelter. He had 4 legs when we first saw him but had to have his hind left leg amputated because it was broken for 6 month and the previous owner didn't take care of it.

I don't think he knows he's missing a leg. He still try to scratch himself with his missing leg. And sometimes he lifts his good leg to pee and balance on his two front paws. He never seem to get tired from running and chasing.

He doesn't like to sit down on hard surface (but then who does!) and sometimes slips on hard slippy surfaces like wooden floors (as stated before).

He's a happy little dog and I am glad we got him!