Background: adopted a Staffie x from a foster home last January.  He was a stray pup rescued by the charity in November 2008 aged about 4 months, grossly underweight.  Even when we got him he was very skinny and with bad dandruff.  After a difficult month of figuring out his diet (diarrhoea pebble dashing the kitchen units!) he began to grow and grow and grow...  He was also playing with dogs and eventually going for off lead walks of 1 - 2 hours by the end of May 2009.  After one play session he developed a bad limp on his right foreleg and the vet diagnosed bilateral elbow displasia.  While waiting for the insurance yey or nay, he completely ruptured the cruciate ligaments in his left hind leg at the end of June; leg up in the air, not even toe touching over the weekend.  Had a TTA op which failed (partly for lack of proper guidelines from the vet and also due to an infection setting in).  Plates had to be removed, infection brought under control (took over 5 weeks) and then he underwent a TPLO end of October.  He still has lateral movement in this knee which the surgeon admitted he was not expecting.  Has seen 1,200 cases, not one like this.

Started lead walk in November, gradually building up to 20 minutes - operated on leg went up in the air 24 December, not using it!  Has been making a dull 'clunking' noise (can't describe it as clicking really) and when I put my hand on his left thigh I could feel an impact coming from the hip.  Dog went back on crate rest and started walking again last week 5 minutes at a time.  Friday morning his right front leg was in the air, unable to weight bare (elbow displasia, remember).  Surgeon examined him this Monday said bone fragment in joint, will go away in 2 weeks!!!  I had to insist on surgery as he was scheduled to have this done back in May/June so at the moment we're waiting for this.  However, he also mentioned that the dog has a partially ruptured cruciate in the right leg! (I suspected there was something up with that leg as he's been wobbly on it when trying to stand on it to pee.)  His hips are also dodgy.

Has anyone experienced all of these problems at the same time?  What did you do?  (Not feeling I'm getting the support from the surgeon.)  Could the lateral movement in the left knee be the result of the hip 'popping' out of place?  He's only 18 months, any advice will be much appreciated.

We have a dog wil hip problems we do hydrotherapy with him once or twice a week with great results as he is building up muscles but it is non weight bearing excercise.
my mum had a dog with cruciate ligaments  problems we also did hydrotherapy with her and we have avioded surgery with her always worth a thought.

Ahh, poor boy, he's been having a rough time of it hasn't he :(

> Has anyone experienced all of these problems at the same time?  What did you do?

I've only experience of unilateral elbow displasia (UAP), diagnosed when my mastiff pup was 5 months old. Amazingly the specialist agreed with the breeder - don't operate if management will work. So an exercise plan (slowly building up lead-walks from a very slow paced, 5 min stroll, where we would only get a few yards) . Along with that was a low-protein diet to slow the growth rate, weight management to keep him lean and glucosamine suppliments to help keep the joint healthy, basically everything to retard the onset of artritis. To start with he was on Metacam while his exercise help strengthen his leg.
He is 2 & half years old now and still shows no sign of needing an opperation, but does have the occasional limp from his bad elbow, particularirly if he has stumbled* on it or has over done it on a walk, but a few days of taking things slowly (but keeping up with daily walks to keep movemt in the joint) gets him back to normal. He has stumbled and giving himself a limp, but I stupidly rested him up for 2 days, this did not help and I ended up having to buid up his walks from a shorter distance again.
* (He doesn't have the range of motion in the elbow that he would have if he didn't have ED, so sometimes will not pick the leg up enough when walking over large tufts of grass/steps, but surgery is no guarantee to gain range of motion for him).

>Surgeon examined him this Monday said bone fragment in joint, will go away in 2 weeks!!! 

Did the surgeon xray him? I remember when Buster was being examined when he first had his limp, there was no way anyone would give me a conclusive diagnosis (allthough UAP/OCD/FCP was suspected) without doing xrays. And surgery was not even discussed until xrays had been checked. Now, if Buster was to start getting problems with that leg again, further xrays will be done to see what is going on in the elbow before deciding on treatment (for example, arthritis, brought on by a dysplastic joint can cause problems/limp but may not be operable).

Before insiting on surgery I would insist xrays were done. From my limited exprience of Buster with elbow displasia that has not been operated on, the elbow can become sore/show a limp where a 'fit' elbow would show no problems, and carefull excerise (and maybee some anti inflamatories for a couple of days), will help get things better again. I'd imagine having surgery on his back leg has caused strain/stress to the 'bad' elbow' (from shifting weight to the front, off the back leg) . With xrays you could rule out any major problem and therfore avoid surgery opting for management instead (depending on results of the xrays).

I've no experience of cruciate problems, but I'm sure somebody can offer some advice on that.

Best of luck, you must be worried and frustrated and all the problems :(