WEEKS NINE THROUGH TWELVE 

Important: To move onto this recovery phase, your pet must have had final x-rays documenting appropriate healing. 

 

Primary goals for weeks 9-12: 

• Condition your pet’s muscles  

• Remove restrictions that were enforced during weeks 0-8 

• Important: Remove one restriction or add one new activity every three days. The first day should be a “trial” day, where you perform that activity at ~25% intensity (e.g. go up the stairs three times on the trial day, to see if this is going to make your pet sore) 

 

• Week 9 after surgery: 

  • Gradually normalize life in your home – You may remove the non-slip surfaces, allow your pet out of their recovery zone and allow them to slowly go up/down stairs.  

  • You may begin to extend your pet’s leash walks to FULL duration. This means that your pet should still be confined to leash walks, but these leash walks may be as long as your pet wishes and tolerates.   

• Weeks 10-12 after surgery: 

  • You may now begin introducing short (5-10 minutes) episodes of off-leash activity AFTER your pet has gone for a full-length walk (so that they have some of their energy out of their system).  

  • Once your pet has tolerated those short episodes of off-leash exercise after their leash walks for at least one week, then you may begin introducing off-leash activity. 

  • The return to normal activity should be gradual – Introduce one new variable at a time, whether that is an increase in walk duration or a new exercise, so that if your pet has a set-back then you’ll have a good idea as to what caused it.   

 

Ten-week check-in: This one is entirely up to you. Send a video of your pet walking and a detailed progress update (as it relates to the points mentioned above) to Dr. Lynch.  

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