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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Our dear sweet Sister Gracie (ATB) tore her ACL one day when she was 12. To this day I have no clue how it happened, she was a big girl (68 pounds) and didn’t jump or play or anything like that. The Vet first suggested taking her to a specialist for surgery that would cost around $10,000.00 and there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money on a 12 year old doggie. We discussed it and he mentioned that he had several doggie patients who were permanently on pain meds for a torn ACL, and we decided to go that route with Gracie. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>I had her on pain meds for probably a couple of months, very slowly cutting back on the amounts she took. Wanted to keep her from hurting, but wanted her off prescription drugs if possible, and fortunately we were able to achieve this after a couple of months.. At first I had to carry her outside to potty using a special sling (thank you Debbie Winchester for sending it to me), we built little ramps for her to use on the front porch and out the pet door in back. Once she was able to walk a few feet by herself, she started begging to go on our nightly walks. So we started walking, the first week I let her go from the front porch to the driveway, then picked her up and made her ride in the little (okay big) red wagon, which I pulled. Next week she got to go half a front yard further, and so on, until eventually (I’m guessing about 6 months, maybe a little more) she was totally rehabbed and could do our regular walks again (about a mile to a mile and a half). Took quite a while. I would let her walk and watch her injured leg, when it started to quiver a tiny bit, that was it, in the wagon she went.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>So to answer the original question, you definitely do not have to do the surgery, start with pain meds and rest, and see how it goes. Just be sure to not allow a sudden surge in physical activity once the dog starts feeling better. Go slow, very slow so there are no setbacks, and your pooch will be fine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>Anita Woodrum<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'><a href="mailto:awoodrum@clear.net">awoodrum@clear.net</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>