My 8 month old pup (heavier breed spaniel) had this done on wednesday and is doing really well and full of beans!!

Just looking for advice from anyone who has had this with a puppy as he is very restricted on exercise (5mins on lead in the garden 3-4 times day for the first two weeks), there is to be NO running or jumping up onto furniture etc or playing with my other dogs.
I have him in a large cage as although he doesn't have to be caged this is the only way to stop him doing the things he's not allowed. They said he can be in a small room but all our rooms have furniture and I know he would hate being shut away where he couldn't see anyone, plus he would jump up if we entered the room. We have him out the cage on a short lead periodically through out the day in the lounge with us just sitting on the floor with him but he's mad and if we give him any of his toys (other than nyla bones which he's getting bored with) he tries to toss them about and trot about like a little pony.

Even taking him on his short lead is tricky as he tries to bound around and do stupid looney spinning or little jumps with excitement, he's just bursting with energy. I have been lent mind game toys for him which he does but will paw and dig at them if he can't get the treat - will this to be too  much pressue/use for his elbows?? I have a large kong too and filled it with treats but he still digs at it.

All the restrictions of no running or jumping or playing is for 6 weeks but lead walking increases every two weeks but only to be done twice a day.

Its hard knowing what will cause the most damage to him and if he does do a bit of loopyness will this be really detrimental on the healing process?

Sorry - I haven't had a dog with that particular illness or operation but as I understand it the recovery is very similar to when our BMD had his operation for his hips at 7 months (triple pelvic osteotomy) - if this is right then you really do have to be massively strict since the recovery process can affect whether or not further operations in the future end up necessary. With our boy it was essential to be really strict for over 6 months to ensure that the pins did not have any movement whatsoever during recovery and we were told that the absolute worst thing we could do was allow him to bound, jump and especially do any sort of rough-house or tug of war play with any other dog. It was a really horrible time because we had to prevent a puppy from being a puppy in many ways - and you have my total understanding and sympathy with that - but really really does have to be done to avoid future ops and also the likelihood of severe arthritis in later life.

Swimming is your best bet - hydrotherapy is good for building muscles and repair after most joint or bone operations - but importantly it is a way for your dog to have fun, bound about all he likes, and tire him out but without any damaging stress on his bones or joints.  Perhaps this is something you could look into? The vet would need to do a little referral letter to any Hydrotherapy pool you take him to first just so they know that it is okay for him to swim and if there are any restrictions they need to be aware of or any types of swimming or water exercise that would be beneficial.  Maybe you could look into this since its a way to tire your pup out but at the same time let him bound to his hearts content in the water and play.

At this moment my dog is recovering from a double TPLO ( double cruciate) in her back legs. We are 4 weeks into the recovery and I have been very strict with cage rest. The bones will not have knitted together for another 4 weeks at least so I have cages in the lounge, bedroom and office and she moves from one to the other to make sure she has company. She goes out for gentle lead walks only however she now manages to walk without the sling that was necessary for the first 3 weeks to support both back legs. Usually it is just a quick out and in for a wee, but twice a day we go a little further so she can get worked up enough for a poo !!!
I realise that it must be harder with a puppy as my dog is 5 but pup has his whole life ahead of him, so it would be a shame to spoil the recovery by letting him do too much too soon.

I must make sure I do everything by the book as I am having a hip replacement myself mid July and need to make sure my dog is healed enough to stay with my daughter for a few days - then we can hobble around together like an old couple.

Just to add, I use a harness to take my dog out which helps stop her pulling around so much as she is eager to get going and to do more than she should. I found the collar gave her too much freedom to pull, so the harness worked much better

He hasn't any pins in his elbows as with arthroscopy they take away the fragments of cartilage & bone that cause the pain and irritation. It's not major surgery like a full op.
This is why now I think he feels whoopie no pain let's go!

I have a cage in the kitchen and lounge so he's with us all the time and can watch the other dogs .......sleep!

It's just when on a lead no matter how short it is he can manage to twist and do skitty circles or jumps up.
I have had him out the cage in lounge just now (watching tennis), kept on a lead but he's so excitied if he has a toy and wants to toss it about like a dead animal, so we have to take it away and go back to boring Nyla bones, but then he chews his lead.

Must have been so hard having hips done on a pup as this is even more restrictive by the sounds of it!
Is so sad for them as they are just babies with energy and enthusiasm.

My 2 Chow Chows had this surgery at 5 months old. They had to be on cage rest for a full 6 weeks, only on the lead to go to the garden for bathroom visits. It is heart breaking to put puppies through cage rest but it is very important for their future health.

After the 6 weeks I would take them for very short walks but they always came back lame so I would leave it a couple of weeks before trying again. I found they would often go lame and walking had to be intermittent as I was so scared they were being damaged. When they stopped growing at around 2 years of age all lameness stopped and they continued to be sound.

I lost my Balto 5 years ago to stomach cancer but I still have his brother Baloo at 11 years of age, he has quite bad arthritis now, not just his elbows unfortunately but when they had their surgery I was told not to expect them to live past 8-9 as the arthritis would become too painful. Baloo has not reached that stage yet but he will not make the 13-15 years that this breed will often make.

I do not regret my decision to have the operation, Baloo has had a lot of good sound years and the cage rest was soon forgotten (by them anyway, I found it devastating). I'm sure your boy will be sound in future too :)

Thank you lunamoona, its hardest keeping him entertained as he's not that interested in bones and kongs in his cage, but as soon as he comes out on a lead he picks them up ready to play with! Tried giving him his tennis ball in the cage to mouth about with (its his favourite) but he just pawed heavily at it and tried rolling it about so i had to remove that.

Its hard because he obviously feels ready and relatively pain free. He rakes and digs at the carpet and bedding in the cage which can't be good for elbows but without anything on the bottom of the cage his elbows were looking sore where they had shaved him and him laying on them all the time, so he needs some protection.

He also has bi lateral luxating patellas which one side is grade 1 and the other is grade 2, ortho vet said at some point i should think about getting the grade 2 side repaired as it will be become arthritic, but surgery also causes arthritis to a degree! I'm not convinced his hips are good either but don't know if I will bother with hip scores plus it maybe his knees making him look odd at times, he's never going to be bred from, can't even show him now.

Lets hope the surgery has worked for him, the joints looked pretty healthy a part from the big fragments they took away.