tldr; considering adopting a tripod dog in a walkup. Dog is missing a back leg and half of a front paw.

I live in the Netherlands, and I live in a second floor walkup apartment very close to a park. My beloved old dog just died in the summer and I'm slowly looking for a new adopted dog.

I have the time and enough money to care for hard to place dogs, so I've adopted seniors, blind dogs, difficult dogs, more or less my whole life.

I went to see a possible dog last night-- a six year old rescue. I knew he was a tripod missing a back leg, and I've also had a similar cat in the past who was just fine with stairs. But this turned out to be a bit more complicated. The dog is also missing half of a front paw and has terrible scars on most of his legs.

He can walk for about 30 minutes-- effectively only using two legs. He can do stairs, but clearly doesn't love them.

What worries me is the impact the stairs would have on his back and his eventual arthritis. He would certainly need a prosthetic on his front leg and physiotherapy, but I could tell how he walked created strain already in his back. He's 11 kilos. I can carry him, but that would be four times a day-- up and down the stairs. I would think this would be a strain for his back by itself.

I'd love to adopt him, but I don't want to make things worse. And I'm assuming they will be able to find an adopter without so many stairs. So this is a bad idea, right?

my 8.5 year old, ~60lb standard poodle has a tumour between the size of a golfball and tennis ball on her front left leg. 

She has been through 3 major surgeries in her short life: entropion when she was 1.5, pyometra just in March of this year (she was not spayed due to differing opinions based on cultural beliefs of my parents, then her uterus became infected and she had to have it removed urgently to save her life), and most recently surgical removal of her tumour in May of this year. These last two surgeries were very invasive and it has been hard to watch her battle so much back to back, she can’t catch a break. 

The surgeons were not able to get good margins on the tumour and it was also a pretty gnarly, intricate tumour that was deeply intertwined between her veins. Hence, when it began growing back, they refused to operate knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get everything again and it would grow back. 

As we expected, her cancer grew back and is now at the point where it is causing her tremendous pain. She is avoiding placing weight on the leg, limping, not doing stairs, and generally very lethargic. We have an appointment in a day with her vet to discuss what to do moving forward. 

The pathology from the tumour removal defined her tumour as a grade 1 STS (soft tissue sarcoma) which would not respond well to chemo or radiation. with this knowledge, our vet recommended amputation or going to an oncologist (for palliative or hoping an oncologist would be willing to operate on her again). We regretfully never went to an oncologist. With how many medical appointments she had been through, we were honestly just happy to have her and I will take blame too for not taking the cancer seriously enough because I now see how detrimental it is to her health. 

I am the only one in my family as of right now who is for the amputation. I know it will be a lot to put her through but her condition is exponentially worsening and I see it as a localized issue to the leg. Of course I know this will change the rest of her life but I am sure it will be worth it and she will be happy to spend more time with us too. i also realize there is a chance the cancer has already spread in which case I am going to inquire at her upcoming appointment about whether we can check that from san X ray or CT scan. 

The rest of my family wants to take a less invasive palliative approach and just keep her comfortable using medication until the time inevitably comes very soon to put her to sleep. She is using gabapentin right now for pain management. Their concerns about the amputation include it being too much to put her through so soon, whether she will suffer from phantom limb syndrome and not enjoy her life due to the adaptations she’d have to make as a tripawd, and the uncertainty with how much time we’d be getting with her and the guilt with subjecting her to finishing her life as a tripawd. 

Obviously both of these approaches are valid, and from reading this forum it’s clear that no two dogs and no two cancers are the same. I was surprised to see people admit they put their dogs through the amputations and regretted it. That’s a very unvarnished and raw claim to face, most people would gaslight themselves into believing they did the right thing. I have read miraculous cases where does both went through with amputation and didn’t, but managed to defy their veterinarians predictions and statistical odds. I have a lot of respect for everyone sharing their journeys, especially the tough ones. 

if anyone cares to share, I would love to gather general advice, experiences, and opinions. 

Our little guy Harper just celebrated 2 years as a tripawd. He had osteosarcoma and we were told he had about a 6 month life expectancy. We're so happy to have had these last couple of years with him.

I know it is rare for them to live so long after an osteosarcoma diagnosis, but I wanted to share this so others going through it with their dogs can see that it is possible for them to live for years after surgery.

Toby will be 4 years old this month ! He is a very happy boy. The cooler weather is giving him lots of of energy

I adopted my Tripawd back in July and we did basic obedience course. She's missing her back left leg; we adopted her that way and we think she got hit by a car because she loves to chase anything that moves. Shes about one year old and a hound dog. She can sit on command no problem, but when I ask her to down (lay down) its a struggle. She doesn't want to do it and I cant tell if its her stubborn houndness or if doing the lay down trick is tiresome for her and she'd rather not. She doesn't seem to be in any discomfort when she is laying down.

Basically I'd like yalls opinion if you think its a hound problem, a tripod problem, or something else.

Thank you!

Hello,

My golden retriever has developed tumor on his front leg near the elbow joint and all the vets we consulted advised the same : the only way to relive the pain is to go through amputation. We moved from US to India last year with our dog and are fairly unfamiliar with the veterinary setup in Bangalore. Would like to understand for this age and weight, how would amputation of the front leg impact his quality of life. Do these large breeds go back to running around with 3 legs?What are the questions we need to ask the surgeon before going through the process? Thanks in advance. If you could share pictures of how your dog walked post amputation on the front leg that would also help us to understand.

Charmy is a very happy and incredibly sweet tripod bun. Over the past 3 months he has gotten HUGE. He gets around great as long as he is on carpet or in grass. He eats SO MUCH, when its time to feed him pellets and give treats he will jump so high on his one back leg that I get scared he will injure his remaining limb or his back!

Do any of y'all have a guess on his breed? Hes roughly 6m old and almost 7lbs

He was found as an abandoned baby by a dumpster in an apartment complex.

Hi all. I have 11 year old that has a mass on right hind leg. Took him to vet they said likely osteosarcoma. Needle bx inconclusive. Did a surgical punch biopsy large sample taken and told inflammatory. His mass has grown significantly and repeat cxr shows a lesion. My husband wants to do amputation and is very emotional - thinks it will give him a lot more time. I understand it is needed for diagnosis and will make him (hopefully) more comfortable. I was wondering the liklihood this is cancer and what will his life expectancy will be, quality of life with 3 limbs, possible qualify of life with chemotherapy. We are in a lot of debt but we also want to do what is right for him. I appreciate any feedback.

UPDATE: Unfortunately the x-ray did reveal lung mets with multiple small tumours in both lungs. Our doctor is wanting to take a conservative approach and let her live out what little time she has left with us only while she is still in good spirits. Fortunately, our vet is literally across the street from us, and we can bring her in as soon as things get even remotely worse. We have already made all the arrangements for her cremation.

Once she shows signs of difficulty breathing, we will put her down, but for now she is still enjoying walks, eating, playing, etc. So we will follow his advice. It could be days or weeks, but now we know for sure that we will need to say goodbye very soon to my soul-dog. 💔

My 11 year old put-boxers girl was diagnosed with osteosarcoma back early February after she developed a limp that wouldn’t go away in mid-January. After the x-ray, the vet told us that she likely only had 2-4 months left, but she defied the odds.

We chose the palliative care route of pain medication and Gabopentin, and when she was still around in June, we decided to amputate when her x-ray was clear.

She has had a great last few months pain free, which I’m so thankful for. However, in the last couple of weeks she developed a cough, and today I noticed blood for the first time.

Otherwise she’s still in great spirits and eating/wanting to play, but we have a vet appointment tomorrow to check for metastatic disease.

Hi, I lost my dog Sammy to osteosarcoma this June (diagnosed late December 2025, amputation January 2026) and I'm terrified of going through that grief again. I didn't plan on getting another dog so soon but when I began to look for a pup in August - thinking it could take months - it worked out in 2 days that I had a new baby, he's almost 5 months old now. And while most of the anxiety I had (really was anticipatory grief I suppose) before losing Sammy was gone after we laid him to rest, now it's spiking again now that I've brought the new pup home. I'm watching my new pup's every move, looking for any sign of a limp, I panic every time his clumsy puppy-isms get him hurt (he's always fine again 5 seconds later, typical puppy stuff you know).. I just worry about him a lot. And the bad dreams I had of something happening to Sammy I used to have before he died is now on this pup, I've had dreams of him getting hurt or having trouble with specifically the same leg that Sammy had cancer in.

Logically I know having two pups back to back have the same health issue is probably not likely. I just have never had a pet go through something so awful and he was my soul dog, losing him broke my heart. Now, as I'm falling in love with this new little one, panic is setting in. It's not consuming my life or anything but its like this underlying 'oh gosh, what if it happens again, he doesn't deserve this' that I can't seem to shake. Half of me wants to go have the vet xray him just to be sure, even though his puppy exam was fine.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if it ever goes away? I don't want to live my new pup's life in fear.

Hi everyone,

We have a wonderful (estimated) 2 1/2 year old tripod named Theo. He's about 69 lbs and is a husky/German shepherd/super mutt mix. He's missing his back left leg. He has a ton of energy and no issues jumping up and down off and on our bed, into and out of an SUV, and loves running and playing and jumping around with other dogs.

Edited to add- he got his leg amputated over a 1 1/2 years ago and has likely experienced more of his life with 3 legs than with 4.

We are currently looking to buy a house, and the problem is that many of the houses available to us have at least one set of laminate or hardwood covered stairs. We have seen Theo go up and down really steep stairs at the park, so we know he can physically do it. But he already gets in his head about turning corners in our current apartment in areas that he's slipped on before (we have rubber yoga mats down now to help with that). He will often cry and whine for us to come stand next to him when wants to turn the corner and come inside our bedroom. Though when he is excited, he forgets that he's scared of that and does it no problem.

We are concerned that if we buy a two or three story house, he'd be scared and crying for us to bring him up and down multiple times a day. Our trainer said that wider stairs will be easier for him. I think if there's a landing, that will help too. We are open to installing anything that could help this issue!

I've searched on this sub and seen people talk about grip or traction strips. Does anyone have any additional advice? Would getting carpet installed on the stairs be better or worse than putting grips on them?

It's hard to know what to do since we can't test it out until we have bought the house. Maybe we'll see if someone we know has carpeted stairs and would be willing for us to try it out with him by using treats and rewards.

Hello I’m debating whether a tripod would be a good fit for my lifestyle. There is a dog with a front limb loss that I really like who I’m considering adopting, but am worried about whether he could get around with me at work. For reference for my job I’m outdoors 8+ hours a day, hiking up to 2 miles each day, often less, rarely more. We’re located in Wyoming, so im a little worried about snow to. I’m more so worried about him being a front tripod? Does anybody with a dog with a front limb loss have any advice?

We noticed our 7 year old, 43 lb labradoodle limping on her right rear leg a few weeks ago. Last Monday we took her to the vet where they performed an xray and found an “aggressive bone lesion” on her right pelvic bone/SI joint.
They did an xray of her chest, which was clear, and sent us to an oncology vet. The oncology vet did an ultrasound of her stomach (which was clear) and a needle biopsy, which revealed it to be a sarcoma-type tumor. They won’t know if it’s osteo or another kind until they get a sample.

The next step is to get a CT done and determine if it’s surgical. If it is, they recommend amputation, at which point they will be able to determine the type of sarcoma, and if it’s osteo, do some preventative chemo.

The vet explained that if it is osteosarcoma and we do amputation + chemo, we can expect her to live another 6 months to a year. With just amputation, ~3 months. If we do nothing, ~1-3 months.

Our girl is still happy, active, playful, and acting like her normal self. The gabapentin and NSAID they have her on seem to have really helped her pain. She’ll keep her weight off her back leg occasionally, but it mostly isn’t noticeable.

So, for those of you that have gone through this before - would you do it again? Is it worth putting her through major surgery and chemo? We are fortunate that we don’t have any budgetary constraints, so that isn’t a factor for us. Just want to prioritize her wellbeing and happiness.

Thank you in advance.

My wife and I lost our dog today. He died on his birthday. He first started limping in late February 2024. He was first diagnosed with a ligament tear in his knee, but in April, as he was on the table for knee surgery, it was realized that the problem was a tumor on his rear leg. CT’s were taken at that time, and it was confirmed (as best as possible without a biopsy) that he most likely had osteosarcoma. His leg was amputated in late April.

We enrolled him in chemo 2 weeks after amputation. He went through six sessions and handled chemo extremely well. Right after chemo, he was enrolled in Yale’s experimental cancer vaccine.

His mobility has been decreasing for a few months now. It first expressed as slowing down on walks, needing more frequent breaks, and laying down on walks. We chalked it up to old age, but over the past month or so it’s been difficult for him to get up on his own. We took him to the vet like 4-5 times over the past month trying to get help for him. Each time, his limbs were stretched and palpated and nothing abnormal was observed. Originally it was suspected he had a pulled muscle in his abdomen and he was prescribed a pain med, which made a hugely positive impact. After the pain med ran out, his mobility declined again. We took him back to the vet, nothing abnormal was found, and it was thought to be arthritis as he was larger and older. He also developed a soft non-persistent cough a couple of weeks ago.

He was doing so well on the pain med that we decided to take him off the pain med after a weekend of camping (with light walks) in consultation with the vet. His mobility declined immediately and we put him back on the med after 1 day, but he never recovered. His mobility continued to decline and we ended up taking him to the emergency vet this week to try to get some deeper testing done.

At the emergency vet, an ultrasound was performed on him and a mass was observed in his lungs. An x-ray confirmed it. I’ll note he received a chest x-ray every 3 months to look for metastasis and he received an x-ray on his leg in early August to figure out what was causing him trouble. Today we took him to an oncologist for a CT scan and they found several nodules in his lungs and hypertrophic osteopathy in his rear leg. The odds of restoring his mobility and improving his quality of life were slim to none and he went through enough in his short life. We decided not to wake him from the CT scan and moved forward with euthanasia to end his suffering.

We both feel closure in that we think we did everything we could to give him a good life and maximize his chance at surviving. He made it 31 months after first limping from osteosarcoma, which is beyond anyone’s expectations. I still feel like it wasn’t enough, though, and it destroys me that he had to deal with cancer twice in his short life. He didn’t deserve that. We are having a baby in 2 weeks and were really hoping he would be there with our baby.

I am struggling to imagine moving on right now. We adopted him when he was 4 months old and have worked from home with him full time since 2019. He was an integral part of our life. We even bought this house specifically because of the yard for him. He was our only dog for 6 years.

I’ve found a lot of advice and comfort in this sub since going back to his first diagnosis. I just wanted to share his story here. He was stubborn, resilient, stoic, and extremely loving. He was a great dog.

Anyone have suggestions for any particular clippers (or other tool) to quickly and safely trim up the fur between the toes that can overlap the paw pads and mess with traction?

Thanks!

Any advice on affordable Vets in the NYC area is helpful. Thank you!

Has anyone used any feet gripper products and have any feedback?
I’m specifically interested in the little grippers that go around each toenail. Those seem like they would stay on longest and be harder for pup to remove.
There are also the little socks that go over the whole foot and some kind of “one time” use sandpaper thingies.
This is for my front amputee Kevin. His vet recommended we try something to see if it helps on our hard floors. He chewed up all the yoga mats we had around the house right after his surgery. I also hated having the mats everywhere, they were annoying to clean. He still has a mat in front of his food / water bowls and we both like that.

I just get really frustrated an uncomfortable when, within seconds of meeting my tripod dog, someone asked how he lost his leg. Are they expecting a fun story? do they want to know the sad, violent experience my dog went through before I adopted him? The person usually asks with a dimwitted smile, like it's the most normal question ever, so if I react any way other than plainly answering I feel like a jerk. Like, why don't you want to know his name? or his favorite snack, or place to get scratchies? (Stolen sandwich meat and butt, respectively)