# HUNTING DOG WITH LOWER LEG AMPUTATION



## castnblast15 (Dec 23, 2011)

I had the tragic experience of having my dog hit by a car recently. He was chasing a ball my boy hit into the road. It was a horrible thing to watch. We made the decision to have the lower leg (paw) amputated. My lab is adapting well to his new condition and walks/jogs on three legs fine. However, when he is chasing something and takes off on a dead sprint he will try and run on his "stump." He has proper protection and it doesn't seem to bother him, but I am worried about his hunting (waterfowl) ability in mud. My question is has anyone had this problem and how does a "tripod" do in the marsh/mud when hunting. I understand all dogs are different, but I am very nervous about this fall. Comments? Thanks.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Dont worry about it. Dogs adapt very fast. I've known several three legged dogs and they all got around just fine. My buddy had a Lab female who lost her whole back leg when she was two. She could navigate the mud and water just fine and was a pretty darn good swimmer too.


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## Sprig Kennels (Jan 13, 2009)

somewhere i have a video of a 3 legged black lab running a master hunt test a couple years ago down at lee kay and that dog kicked butt. the missing leg didnt slow the dog down one bit. it just adapted and adjusted to a new way of running. you can take the dog out of the hunt but you cant take the hunt out of a good dog.


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## guner (Sep 25, 2007)

One of the best dogs I saw (For a Non Britt  ) was a black Lab missing it's whole Right front leg, It retrieved duck and Geese, through mud and brush and did a good job on Phez also. Dont worry a good dog might slow down a little, but not much !


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## castnblast15 (Dec 23, 2011)

This is all very encouraging thoughts. Thanks for responding. I am excited to see how he does. He is getting around as good as he ever has, so I am very optimistic.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Dude, really, dont worry about it. It's a LOOOOOONG way from his heart.


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