Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

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gspbrit
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Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by gspbrit » Fri May 04, 2018 5:15 pm

I have a 16 month old Brittany who showed great promise when field trialling and hunting. He was clearly an all age dog and won a 2 point derby stake, but handled nicely in the field.Unfortunately, after 3 good days of hunting in KS he apparently realized we were leaving. I turned to put my gun on the tailgate, turned back to put the pup in the truck, and he was gone. Even more unfortunately some guy down the road tossed him in the back of a truck and was headed our way when the pup jumped out. Blew out his hip and ended with an FHO surgery.

My question concerns what I might expect. He's 3 months post- surgery and runs pretty well. I'm hoping he might be close to normal since he had the operation at a young age. Has anyone tried to either do field trials or hunting after an FHO?

By the way, this question is why I joined the group! I figured someone might have had a similar experience and a big group of experienced dog people might have some insight.

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Sharon
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by Sharon » Sat May 05, 2018 3:03 pm

That is what I call BAD LUCK!
Sorry you haven't had any good replies. I've also never had a dog get a FHO.
The reading I've done though mainly says:

"Most dogs recover fully after FHO surgery and regain essentially-normal function of the affected leg. Although the leg may have a slightly decreased range of motion or decreased limb length after surgery, these impacts are typically minimal and do not impact the pet’s quality of life."

This client information sheet is based on material written by: Catherine Barnette, DVM
© Copyright 2017 LifeLearn Inc. Used and/or modified with permission under license.

Can he still be an all age dog? Only time will tell I guess. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

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zrp
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by zrp » Sat May 05, 2018 6:34 pm

My experience is, with a fit dog, that by the time the hair grows back, most people can't tell which side was the surgery side. A former poster on this forum has a setter female that he is campaigning pretty successfully following an fho.

gspbrit
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by gspbrit » Sun May 06, 2018 10:03 am

Thanks for the replies. Very encouraging. I took him out to run for the 1st time with the 4 wheeler yesterday (didn't want him to run with a horse because the other Brit ran right into a horse's foot right before that !). He pretty much outran the 4 wheeler so it looks good. I didn't know what to expect since he just ran around the yard. Looks like he'll be OK in a competition.

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fourtrax
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by fourtrax » Thu May 31, 2018 8:17 am

This guy has had the FHO procedure done.
Image

He hunts and runs OK. His gait is a bit odd but he runs with a full sized big wheeled Setter type dog. The muscle mass is not as large on that leg but he runs well & big for a small dog
(French Britt).

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DonF
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by DonF » Thu May 31, 2018 8:48 am

A young dog will probably come out of it alright. Down the road may be a problem though with arthritis. Not much different in a human. Every injury plus I had as a young person seem's to haunt me these days. Squirt hurt himself years ago but kept on going. Today he has arthritis there Same thing happened with Bodie. I'd let him be what he want's to be. Down the rod he'll pay for it but probably won't stop. Squirt and Bodie were/are always up to give it their best shot and pay for it later. The nature of the dog!

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mountaindogs
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Re: Hunting or trialling after Femoral Head Osteotomy

Post by mountaindogs » Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:31 am

Does he swim? I would probably spend the summer doing lots of swimming and building strength with low weight bearing activities. Also I'd look into a canine rehab program as they have exercises to help the dogs balance and properly use each of their muscle groups more evenly. It's pricey but might be worth it to get a proper gait back.

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