Need oppinions

I need to here suggestions on how to condition this boy for ADBA show ring. Weight Pull is out He tore his ACL.

 

handwalking, swimming in a pool tanks are some good ways.

 

Thanks I appriciate the info. I asked cause this guy is on the bigger side andto much bulldog for a UKC show.

 

im curious how the dog tore the ACL? Its not hard to condition for dog conf. show. depending on the weight of that dog, few weeks of walking/swimmng will do.

 

Honestly he sat down wrong by wrong I mean a wierd positon and immediatly jumped up limping. I don't roll him or anything if that's what your getting at. He was a GREAT Weight Puller. Sorry I had to retire him.

 

I would think that he would do very well in a UKC show. Just do some "show Obedience" with him. Some down and backs, stop and stacks. depending on how long ago his injury was. A acl takes a very long time to heal and will always be a week spot. How long ago was the injury and who told you that it was his acl? If you don't mind me asking.

 

I hate to say this, but I would drop the show ring idea altogether. Most dogs who have torn an ACL will always have a slight deviation to their gait. Some will favor the injured leg or swing their leg out to the side. These deviations in gait can be very slight, even to the point of being virtually imperceptable, but a judge will pick it up in a heartbeat & will count it against the dog. A dog w/ faulty movement rarely places.

 

I totally respect your point. It happened almost a year ago. I noticed his gait got better around the time it healed. I know what your saying though I actualy had ukc judge tell me he thinks he would place fine, like I said this boy is just so driven alot of the ukc ppl just don't like it. Some look at a bulldog being dog agressive or driven as bad. But hey u never know it just may be time to retire him for sure. He stil puls but I don't do weights right now and won't do heavy with him.

 

It's not something that will go away. It may become less noticable, but it will always be there. I have a dog who tore her ACL 5 years ago & to the uneducated eye she moves like a normal dog. But if you look very closely, (like a judge will be doing) you can see an imperfection in her gait. It is vertually imperceptable, but it is there.

You can try & show if you want to, but I am telling you as someone who shows dogs & had a dog w/ the same injury, you will probably be wasting your time & money.

But if you want to tighten him up & give it a shot, do like Mia said - swimming. Any other condtioning option is out for him.

 

I will also try to find an article that we were all given at the clinic about new evidence showing that the majority of dogs with ACL injuries are showing genetic/hereditary weakness in that area. Although their are a few who tear that ligament & it's just a freak accident, the truth is that it's a very hard ligament to tear in both canines & humans.

And with the rapid increase in dogs being seen with torn ACLs, a large study was done to see if these dogs were genetically weak in that area. The results were quite interesting.

So much so I'm not sure I would breed a dog that has torn an ACL without having it healthtested first.

And before anything is said as a rebuttal, NO ONE can know if it tore because of a freak accident or if the dogs has a serious genetic flaw that resulted in it without the appropriate health testing.

 

What health testing is available to confirm the presence or non-presence of genetic weakness of ACL? I know they have tests for elbows, hips, eyes, cardio, thyroid, etc. but I have never heard of a test for ACLs yet.

:confused:

 

It talks about it in the article. I dunno off hand.

 

OK. I will see if I can find it.