Track Injured Hounds

[Guest greytful4]

For those of you who have adopted a track injured hound, ie. broken legs, etc, did they have any problems later on from that injury. Would they likely have trouble in the future ? I've been ogling a beautiful black boy who had a lot of races and was retired because of a broken leg. Any thoughts, opinions?

[GreytHoundPoet]

Timmy broke his leg so he has the bumpy hock and we've had no problems. But, he's only 2...so I can't speak for an older one.

Edited September 15, 2008 by GreytHoundPoet

[jenn8]

I would try to get any information they had on his injury and whatever treatment he received. But if I had a special fondness for this pup, I wouldn't let the injury affect my decision to adopt him. It just helps a lot to know everything, so you can fix him up right if he needs it.

 

Jenn

Edited September 15, 2008 by jenn8

[Jester]

It's just like a kid who breaks his arm. If it was set right, you will never know. He will be slightly more susceptible to arthritis (just like the kid).

[Guest LadyChester]

I have 2 broken leg boys; one is 10 and the other is 4. The 10 year old had a stifle injury and surgical repair, and the 4 year old had a broken hock that was surgically repaired. Other than a small incision, the boy with the broken hock runs and plays completely normally. My other boy still has "debris" in the joint and gets gimpy (this is not a very common track injury), but it doesn't stop him from doing anything. Dasequin (supplement) has done wonders for him! I sure wouldn't let a broken leg stop you from adopting a hound you connect with

Edited September 15, 2008 by LadyChester

[Guest GiJenn51]

Most injuries heal well without further problem.

[turbotaina]

Most do fine, but we've had four dogs in our group now reject hardware and one recently rebroke her leg. If there's no hardware in the leg, it's obviously not a concern. I don't think any of the dogs we've placed who had broken hocks and no hardware has had any further issues.

[GreyKarma]

My angel girl Molly came to me with a healing broken hock in 1998. Once healed she did zoomies and all the crazy things young dogs do. As she aged the titanium screw started to back out so we removed it. Sure she had arthritis set in as she aged and her foot turned outwards, but she lived to 12.5 yrs with very little help from pain meds. What took her in the end, no medicine could fix.

 

She lived a long and full life with a wiggle to her walk.

 

Gosh I do miss her

[Guest KennelMom]

I think it would depend on the severity of the original injury and the quality of treatment and care the dog received during recovery from the injury.

 

That said, our Annie retired due to a broken hock and, though DH adopted her when she was 12 as a bounce, you would not have known she was a broken leg dog at one point.. A slight limp after heavy running or towards the end at 14 when her arthritis was getting really bad.

[Guest houndlover]

Daisy broke her hock when she was 3.5yrs and was retired for that reason. She never had surgery and there is a bump where the bone fused together. I have had her for almost 5 yrs now and of all of my dogs, she is the one that I would expect would have arthritis and she doesn't! I give her glucosamine supplements and she does very well. Her leg bothers her a little after a long walk or a hard run but still nothing that I would worry about.

 

I am not sure what the extent of the pup's injury is that you are interested in but I would certainly get more info from whoever has the dog. Most recovery very well from leg injuries.

Edited September 15, 2008 by houndlover

[Brindles]

Dazzle broke his hock at 3 years old. He's almost 7 now and has no problems whatsoever.

 

One word of caution though with old injuries! A few pounds underweight is better than a few pounds overweight for a greyhound with an old injury.

[Guest greytfulhounds]

My Kitty had a broken hock that was surgically repaired and you would not even know she had an issue with that leg. My Danny had a hock injury that was not surgically repaired and he sometimes shows discomfort if we walk too far or he runs too hard in the yard and will carry his leg.......but, not often. I give all of the hounds a joint supplement that I think really makes a difference for them.

[Guest crazy4greys]

Lola broke her hock a year ago racing. She runs like the wind through the backyard and doesn't limp anymore. She turned 3 in July. I don't think it was surgically repaired as there is no scar.

 

She is on Springtime Joint Health and Fresh Factors.

[Guest LynnM]

There are a zillion ways that a dog can get hurt, and when you factor in treatment and aftercare, there's no one definitive answer. The orthopedic rehab dogs that pass through my house don't usually leave until they are walking and trotting evenly and have started some very limited free running. As long as they're treated promptly and rehabbed slowly and carefully, most of the time, you'd be hard pressed to ever know the dog was injured. I'm going to be watching the foster that was my most challenging rehab- his leg looked like a Tinkertoy project, resistant infection, the works. Now, the only way you'd know he ever had something wrong is on x-ray (there's a drill bit broken off in his calcaneous process.... a souvenir, LOL) or if you can feel the tiny bit of arthritis in his ankle.

 

IMO, a well repaired and rehabbed fracture is a non-issue for a greyhound being adopted as a pet. Of course it should be disclosed, especially if there is hardware remaining in the leg (over time, enough screws may break that the plate needs to come out, or the broken screws can cause some pain... an adopter should be aware of this). Also, for dogs that will be living in very cold climates, if there is a plate in a thinly fleshed area like an ankle/hock, sudden temperature changes like going from a warm house to outside in the snow will cause the metal to contract and that doesn't feel very good.

 

So... a couple of small issues, but nothing major.

 

Lynn

[Guest greytful4]

This is the boy I'm wondering about....

 

Anybody know anything about him other than he's Be-Yoo-Ti-Ful!!!!!!!!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

I adopted Bart 7 months ago. He had a severe rear right hock break. He had 2 rods and 8 smaller pins implanted to repair the break. 4 months after the implants, his body started having issues with the hardware, they then went back in and removed the hardware. This was all done before I adopted him. I adopted him about 8 months after his initial break. The vet here in Chicago told me to give it to almost the 1 year mark before we let him run free. We did daily walks and rehab excercizes. He got his rear muscles back to where they were before the break. We have now had him running free (fenced area of course) for 4 months now. The only way you would know he had a break is because of the scars on his rear leg, as well as some odd bumps also. He has been out running with other greyhounds at the adoption kennels and has NO issues. Of course he is a bit slower than those uninjured dogs comming right off the track, but a SLOW greyhound is still faster than ANY other dog. We feed him a gluco suppliment every dinner, and we will do this for the rest of his life just to be sure to help stave off any stiffness. By the way, he is 4.5 years old now. He broke his leg when he was 3.5 years old. I am in the process of adopting a female companion for him now, and when we were looking, we never were once concerned about track injuries.

[Guest Stretchy]

My Isis suffered an achilles injury that ended her career, then a few months ago she reinjured it doing zoomies in my backyard. So, she does kind of hold that leg up quite a bit. That being said we love her very much, and her injury was never a concern for us when adopting her.

[Jiffer]

Atlas broke his hock at age 4. It wasn't set properly.. or at least, it just healed really knarly looking. He walks with an odd gait, and shuffles on the floors... but with Glucosamine in his system he has no issues at all. He runs, he plays, and he's a total silly goof.

[turbotaina]

This is the boy I'm wondering about....

 

Anybody know anything about him other than he's Be-Yoo-Ti-Ful!!!!!!!!

 

 

He's our boy. Pretty nasty, career ending fracture, and I believe he's got hardware, likely a 7-hole plate, but I haven't seen his x-rays. He's not one of the ones who has rejected his hardware (yet ). He's very timid, does not do well with loud noises and should be in a rural environment - he completely shuts down in the city. He may come around over time - he was noted as being an outgoing, friendly boy in the kennel - but whoever adopts him has to take it slowly.

 

His foster family has done a fantastic job with him so far, I'll add, but he'll need ongoing counterconditioning and desensitization training.

[Guest runner615]

Heat it up Creed is a handsome boy....if you can, give him a chance.

 

Here is FTH Redmoonrisin (Toby)....living it up & loving live at the Jersey Shore! The big guy had a terrible break ( right stopper bone? rt. rear leg). He had surgery and Cathie and Bill rehabilitated him back to running form. (It was only for, imo, Bill's love for Toby that they decided to retire him). Lucky us! The surgery went exceptionally well....Toby had come through with flying colors. Thanks to a great surgical team. Anyhoo.......here he is. You tell me if you think his break is hindering his retirement

 

 

 

Bill & Toby.....two guys having a moment.

Edited September 16, 2008 by runner615

[Guest SusanP]

Dr. Doug broke a leg at age 2. He is now 8 and has no trouble with it yet. When he first came to us at 2 1/2, he sometimes cried while running and held up the leg, but by the time 6 mo-1yr passsed, that stopped.

[SPDoggie]

Kingsley broke his hock to end his career. They did not set it at all, so it healed oddly, but besides some stiffness he has been fine (he's now 8)

I would totally get another broken-legged dog.

[Guest greytful4]

Heat it up Creed is a handsome boy....if you can, give him a chance.

 

Here is FTH Redmoonrisin (Toby)....living it up & loving live at the Jersey Shore! The big guy had a terrible break ( right stopper bone? rt. rear leg). He had surgery and Cathie and Bill rehabilitated him back to running form. (It was only for, imo, Bill's love for Toby that they decided to retire him). Lucky us! The surgery went exceptionally well....Toby had come through with flying colors. Thanks to a great surgical team. Anyhoo.......here he is. You tell me if you think his break is hindering his retirement

 

 

 

Bill & Toby.....two guys having a moment.

 

 

Wow ...is there aything more beautiful than a hound in flight ?????

 

[fsugrad]

This is the boy I'm wondering about....

 

Anybody know anything about him other than he's Be-Yoo-Ti-Ful!!!!!!!!

He is a total hunk!!!

[Guest tanner]

Does this amaze anyone at how many broken legs there are in racing dogs? Maybe something should be done to pervent this.

 

My tanner broke his hock in training. The trainer put him in a crate for two weeks without any medical attention. Needless to say his leg has had lots of problems. Very stiff in the morning and a bad limp all the time.