Ruptured Cruciate Ligament, anyone have a dog that's had this?

[BirdieGirl]

My 14 month old golden retriever pup turned up lame a few days ago, my neighbors dog had both cruciate ligaments torn and had to have surgery and Jetta is showing the same signs he did. But not NEARLY as bad, she still puts weight on her leg, she just won't completly distribute the weight on her pad. So I'm hoping that she has only partially torn it, it may also be just a pulled/strained muscle. I have to wait until tomorrow to call the vet since they aren't open on weekends.

Has anyone here ever had a dog that tore her cruciate ligament? What was recovery like? Because trying to keep Jetta still is like trying to keep a fat kid off of a cupcake...

If she has torn her cruciate then that REALLY bites, I had big plans for her...I was going to start agility classes this fall but after all I've read I don't want to risk hurting her joint further, the articles all said that some dogs may have nasty arthritis as they get older...I love my girl, and I really hope for her sake that she has a fully successful recovery because she's so active I'd hate to see her become one of those fat house dogs because I have a feeling it would break her heart to not be able to run and play all day like she normally does. She's laying next to me right now and just has this pathetic look in her eyes, like she wants to go do something but it hurts so bad that she doesn't even want to get up...I think I'll cry if I have to see that look in her eyes for years to come.

[sassynan]

Sassy had it when she was alot younger. Her full and total recovery was about 6 weeks or so. As long as you don't let the dog get overweight, you shouldn't have any more problems with it. Sassy had hers done about 10 years ago and it hasn't bothered her since then. She still tussles with the kids, runs like a maniac and acts like nothing was ever wrong with the leg.