Could use some help with rehabilitation. A water tank??

I have a dog who had torn his front knee ligament. Currently he is not limping anymore. But you can see he is not always putting full pressure on the leg. He also has practically no muscles on that leg left. I took him in to the vet for control 2 months after the injury occurred, we made a photo and there was no osteoarthritis? so he made the conclusion it had not been completely torn and with some luck and if i kept walking him he would be ok again. We also gave him some nandrelone to support. The problem is he is so intense, and when he sees another animal that he is only making things worse.

Its a valuable dog for me and as a matter of fact he's hooked for autumn. I would hate to put him into retirement, i dont even have space for brood dogs.

So right now im over thinking my options to try to recover him.

1 option i think of is to put an electric mill in my house. When he trots at a certain pace he makes good use of both of his legs. When i walk him outside it goes to slow and he will not always use/bend his left knee.

Another option is to place a water tank in my shed. there is no possibility to put it outside since i live in an urban area where 20 different people could look in my yard. The problem is, my door opening is 89x 180.

I have found 2 tanks. 1 is 140cm x100 cm x 80cm(deep) the other is 1,20x80x100(deep)
I have no experience trying to let a dog swim in a tank, the first thing i would like to know is what are the minimum measurements it should have for a 46lbs dog?

If these are not long or deep enough does anyone have a plan for building one easy?
I think the first is not long enough and i don't know if 80 cm is deep enough so he cant touch the ground.

Any other options on the problem for my dog are very welcome.

There's no way I'd use a dog that's not 100% as you're setting the dog up for failure. Even if he runs at a certain pace on the emill, is that pace enough to be in proper shape? What if he starts to break down halfway through the keep, then what? I just don't think that's anything I would even consider personally.

Frosty, right now im just looking for options to get his muscle back on that leg. We got time.

I rather try getting him as close as possible to that 100% and pay if he breaks down, even if it takes me months. then to give up on him so easy.

I would definitely be letting him HEAL before working him out :idea:

You might also want to read this article. Not exactly the same problem, but similar, and the use of these products can only help, not hurt.

Jack's article plus shark cartilage and msm. Nandrolone doesn't really work, growth hormone and igf-1 work better, but this is not a human so I assume this option is not available, although I might be wrong, the first growth hormone for humans was extracted from cows although it carried disease and death in many cases, mad cow disease. But if it is acceptable by the canine organism, then today's gh is risk free. Try steroids that hold more water, maby testosterones or some other heavy orals.

Jack, i think there is a misunderstanding. It's not a joint problem but a ligament that was cut. If it were completely torn osteoarthritis would occur and then products like glucusamine would be very useful indeed. Or am i missing something?

Im definitely not talking about working him out yet, but rehabilitating the dog. For all i know handwalking is always the advise after an injury like this. The dog needs to build the muscle he lost because he didn't put support on it for a while.

@taso. I thought Deca holds more water then testosterone? Unless you make wrong use of testosterone.

R2L, for what it's worth I think you're on the right track with swimming and light exercise on an electric mill. Or even just hand walking him on a 20ft lead.

There's a supplement called Cissus, although it's mainly for healing bones, it's also excellent for joints and tendons, I know loads of grapplers now supplement with this. Also considering alot of the earlier studies into it's effectiveness were done on dogs, i'd say it's safe to give your dog, and definitely worth trying.

"A study in dogs has shown that treatment with Cissus quadrangularis resulted in the complete healing of broken bones in 21 days, whereas those receiving a placebo were still unhealed at the same time (Deka et al, 1994)."

Good luck.

Theres a catch to using shark cartilage, im not exactly sure what it is though, ill research and post the info.....

Ligaments etc are not considered soft tissues, so all these supplements have something to offer. Also many use vitC, ω3's etc as antiflamatories. Collagen protein also, basically simple jello. I personally used one heavy dosage regime as suggested by Colgan institute with success.They do work and they do offer but they need time and to be used in high dosages, so anabolics come as a cheap and faster solution. when I had some problems with my rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder area due to years of abuse, my orthopaedic which is also specialised in athletic trauma sugested as better solution testosterone propionate instead of nandrolone for topical injections.

Best of luck with the rehab. I would lean more toward the swim tank than anything. Mostly because the dog will not be carrying all his weight in the water and a sudden change in direction will not force him to carry all his weight and forward/lateral motion on that one leg. Rehab in a dog is very tough because very few dogs can pace themselves thru it. Swimming would be best and although I am not a big fan of the emill for conditioning it would be better than hand walking for rehab, as it can be better controlled. On a lead, especially a lead over six feet, if he sees something he wants he will bolt to it, change in direction, sudden burst, and all the rehab in the world is out the window.
Best of luck. EWO

why not both...tred him in water?
http://horsetreadmills.com/

Thanks for everyones help.

Sadly, I decided to put him into retirement after just one race.... showed him to a couple of people and it to each of them it looked this dog was not going to heal anymore. He;s back on the chain, will be bred.

I have only seen two or three ligament injuries over the years and I did not feel comfortable with the rehab. Dogs naturally hide injury and pain. BY the time there is a limp or it is noticeable rehab is set back. Not knowing the dog or seeing him in person I would say you made the right choice. It would be tough on him if the ligament became an issue again but this time around the :30 minute mark. Best of luck with is new career. EWO

Glad I searched this topic before I started a new thread. I have a dog with a similar injury just nothing torn. Im considering using a swim tank to help him get back on track.
Thanks to those who have already given their insight on this issue