Hip Hugger (Willie, the 2nd SDog)

Willie is a pure-bred black lab. He was born on St. Patrick's Day . He's now 7 years old and he's defied all the odds.

Willie was born with severe hip dysplasia. X-Rays done at 4 months of age showed almost no hip sockets. It was obviously a severe birth defect.

I spent the next few weeks scouring the web, sending out emails, and traveling to Dallas and Pflugerville for second and third opinions. I even contacted Marvin L. Olmstead, the man who literally wrote the book on Small Animal Orthopedics. I wanted to find out if any Wheelchair Service Dogs working today had hip replacement surgery and continued working. No one had heard of one.

I finally found Dr. Stephanie Beardsly right here in Austin. Part of her opinion was the same as all the other vets: Willie was not a candidate for TPO. But the other part of her opinion was just what I wanted to hear: let's just wait and see. In otherwords, train Willie normally, strengthen his muscles once he turns 18 months old to get him ready for pull-training, and let's see what happens.

Needless to say, Willie went on to become a great WSD. His hip and rear leg muscles are huge, his chest is deep, and he pulled great.

But, when Willie was about 5 1/2 years old, he started hesitating pulling me up ramps, and he wasn't pulling consistently. He'd had yearly hip x-rays and checkups, but this time his hips really looked bad. The arthritis was terrible. We knew this would happen eventually, but up until now, he had showed no symptoms of pain or lameness.

In Oct 2003, he had his right hip replaced. Dr. Beardsly was kind enough to give us a very generous "service dog discount", and the hip-replacement manufacturer gave us the implant for FREE. Their only provision was they be allowed to document the surgery and follow our progress. No problem with that!

Willie and I spent 4 months sleeping on our living room floor together. I couldn't have him jumping on/off the bed. So we endured. And it was all worth it. After a short rehab period, Willie's pulling stronger than ever!

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