Broken toe on left hind foot
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just_startin
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- Location: Nortwest NM
Broken toe on left hind foot
My lead dog somehow broke the outer toe on her left hind leg. I was wondering if anyone else has seen a dog with a broken toe and how long I should let her heal/ rest. I don't have a clue on how she got it broken. The toe is swollen but other than that she is ok, just favoring that foot a little.
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Spokerider
- Bawl Mouth
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Re: Broken toe on left hind foot
How do you know it's broken? Did you get an xray? Have you done a thourough check of the whole leg and the joints to discount further injury? What about the metatarsals?
Soft tissue injury will NOT show up on xray, and even if you think it may not be broken, a ligament / tendon injury can be very painful and take even longer to fully heal than a broken bone.
If there is a fracture or grade 3 or 4 soft tissue injury, a splint / cast may be in order.
Bones are very vascular, and for the most part have good blood supply, which facilitates healing. Ligaments can have a POOR blood supply, and is one reason why such an injury takes so long to heal. Another reason, is the type of tissue......cartilage. It does not regenerate well.
Save for any other injuries.........how long do you think it would take for your toe to get better, before you were running and jumping on it again? 6 weeks? 10 weeks? 14weeks?
Watch your dog. She will tell you when it is healed well enough for LIGHT exercise. If after you have allowed her to run for a short while, you see lame again, common sense says back off, give her two more weeks and try again.
Consider this an opportunity for one of your other dogs to take lead for a while.
Soft tissue injury will NOT show up on xray, and even if you think it may not be broken, a ligament / tendon injury can be very painful and take even longer to fully heal than a broken bone.
If there is a fracture or grade 3 or 4 soft tissue injury, a splint / cast may be in order.
Bones are very vascular, and for the most part have good blood supply, which facilitates healing. Ligaments can have a POOR blood supply, and is one reason why such an injury takes so long to heal. Another reason, is the type of tissue......cartilage. It does not regenerate well.
Save for any other injuries.........how long do you think it would take for your toe to get better, before you were running and jumping on it again? 6 weeks? 10 weeks? 14weeks?
Watch your dog. She will tell you when it is healed well enough for LIGHT exercise. If after you have allowed her to run for a short while, you see lame again, common sense says back off, give her two more weeks and try again.
Consider this an opportunity for one of your other dogs to take lead for a while.
Re: Broken toe on left hind foot
I had a dog ran over and broke all her toes on her hind foot took about 3-4 weeks for her to start using it again and I didnt let her run for about 7-8 weeks just to be sure she didnt injure it any further
In times of tyranny and injustice, when law opresses the people, the outlaw takes his place in history....
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BlacktailStalker
- Open Mouth
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Re: Broken toe on left hind foot
One of mine got bit in the rear foot by a bear and broke his second toe in from the outside. It took quite a while to heal and sure enough he broke it again this winter but it seems to have fused real well now, probably stronger than it was to begin with.
He was favouring it the first time but it didn't seem to phase him the second time. Hounds are tough.
He was favouring it the first time but it didn't seem to phase him the second time. Hounds are tough.
