My daughter's dog tore both ACLs and she is having them repaired.

Don't ask.

Have any of you had this done on your dogs? How long and what was involved in recovery? Any helpful tips?

He is a 2 yo lab pyrenees cross. A pyrador.

Ughhhhhhhhhh tore them both?!
It’s hard enough with one because they overcompensate and eventually tear the other.
Usually involves NSAIDS, rest and PT including laser therapy

I’d look into water therapy if you can find it close by

Are these full or partial tears? Is this dog overweight at all?
Weight loss is crucial if so

He was a tad on the heavy side but not obese. He was ~100 lbs.

Got him scheduled for TPLO assessment on Tuesday. Can't decide if we should do both at same time or one at a time. I am afraid of him messing up the leg with surgery before we can get to the other leg.

Read a story of a woman who did both and it wasn't bad.

Decisions??????

Don't know if they are full or partial. I do know he can barely walk 15 ft without laying down and his hips pop with too much activity. His spirits are not down.

Taking gaba and carprofen.

My cat Geisha had tore her meniscus because she was overweight from steroids from an autoimmune disease. She was thus not a candidate for surgery. We did strict rest and laser therapy and buprenorphine as needed because she couldn’t take NSAIDS while on a steroid. I did laser therapy for her at home and she healed well. I know these surgeries are crazy costly but the dog is young …
It’s a toss up as to what will occur. I wouldn’t own a giant breed dog. I wanted an Irish Wolfhound for the longest time till my co worker started having crazy ortho issues with her St Bernard

I had a lab that tore her ACL, I had it repaired at the tune of about $3,000. Recovery was about 6 weeks with doing PT with her. About three months after the repair she tore the other ACL. I did not repair that one as she was going on 12 years of age. She got along fine with it for another two years until she passed. It did slow her down it (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) her off she could not chase squirrels any more.

I had a shorthair that tore one at 6 years old. Had it repaired and that dog hunted until it was 14. I live on a lake so rehab was easy with swimming and wading every day. It was trying to slow the dog down on land.

Our lab mix tore both of hers about 2 yrs apart when she was 3 and 5. She did great with both surgeries. If I remember right, it was about 6 weeks recovery before she was back to normal. The first one was around $700. Second was pushing 1k. Told the wife if it happens again, that’s it. She’ll be 13 this fall and still going strong. She’s just like us, you can tell she’s hurting and stiff with the weather changes. The worst part was keeping her from getting on the couch with her splint

How are these dogs doing this? I've had dogs all my life and never had that happen before...

My lab has a bad CCL, i believe its what everyone calls the ACL. One vet said its a 50/50 fix, other vet said its reallly arthritus. Dunno who to believe but at 400 a visit cant affird to many more. Have prescription pain meds for her. Shes not old but not young. She gets around fine for the most part unless we hu t hard then she starts feeling it.

Our previous Golden Retriever tore both but not at the same time. The first one was a success story the second one not as much but she was a few years older at that time and that one also happened late in the fall so we couldn't water rehab her.

The rehab on the first torn ACL was able to be done outside along with the stretching exercises on her leg that we done inside. We bought an above ground pool that held like 1200 gallons. It was pretty good size. My wife would get in and I'd lift the Golden over the side to her and she'd work with her making her swim (tread water) to rehab that leg. We also had a floatie for her so she could rest while she was rehabbing. That dog loved laying in that floatie. She'd fall asleep floating around the pool. My wife had her own so she'd sit out there with her floating in the pool. It was a lot of work but it was worth it to us to get her back to running around like a normal dog.

I wish you, your daughter and the dog the best on the rehab process.

X 2

And my dogs exercise hard every morning with full speed retrieving drills. They hunt hard all fall and winter too.

What is causing the torn ACL's?

I have had dogs all my life also. I could not tell you why it happened.

But let's be real. How many dogs are there in just your county? I would say a minuscule to microscopic amount have torn an ACL.

My dog is a big lanky puppy with long legs who is still all puppy at 100 lbs. Crap happens.

I don't think it's the epidemic that some are portraying. Some dogs just get a bad deal when it comes to genetic predisposition.

I had a lab that tore both, not at the same time....

If I recall right, there are several options you can do surgery wise. The way it was explained to us, younger full blown hard hunting or sport comp. dogs go the expensive full rebuild route. That is the $3-5k one. There is a less expensive procedure that is less durable, but works for older or non sport dogs. This is the $800-1,500 one. This one can and will give out if the dogs overdo it. My lab was a smaller dog who only hunted the occasional rabbit or squirrel int he backyard and mainly patrolled the house. We did the lesser route and she lived happily for several years with no issues, until the cancer got her.

Good luck to your daughter and her pup.