The pens are practical because as Jasper progresses that can easily be expanded in size to give him more room. It will expand to 8 ft x 8 ft and will go down to 2 ft x 4 ft.
The crate is necessary for trips and when he is routy.
The Martha Stewart anti-fatigue mat? Well, I keep the soft bath rug over the top of it and he loves it. Its his place of choice when lying down. If the bath rug isn't over it, he starts destroying the vinyl mat.
I am hoping this blog will help people in the future make the decision on what to do with their dog that has a severed ACL.
Oh, by the way Jasper's original injury only tore the ACL. If it had been diagnosised correctly in the beginnning and treated with conservative management, it might have saved us $1800. We went to 4 vets before we got an accurate diagnosis. The first vet wanted to operate on his foot! For $2000! Right that moment! The problem was his knee.
The 2nd vet started him on anti-inflammatories, but didn't suggest conservative management. The 3rd vet said it was ACL, and wanted to send him to San Antonio to a specialist for a TPLO for $3500. I don't have $3500.
The 4th vet was a surgeon and she suggested Tightrope. So here we are. I don't want to tell you the total price after all these vets and all these meds.
My suggestion is. Immediately after an injury, see a good vet with surgical skills, because the others admitted not being qualified to diagnosis the problem. This will insure you are treating the right condition. But whatever your vet says. Put your dog in a small kennel. Don't let the pet jump or run for 8 to 12 weeks. Antiinflammatories are good. But leash walk him for any trips outside the kennel. Kennel - play yard 2 ft x 4 ft. The dog is walking. He seems happy. He is running all over the place. That doesn't mean anything. His ACL can still be torn and your dog will run like crazy over his acre wide yard. Trust me. Mine did.
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