[Ayoka]

I think sablesmom gave some pretty good advice.

Our experience was that Bear was down for 6 weeks (hind end muscle tear) and then not back to active practice for about 10-12 weeks. Anti inflammatories are not magic bullets but the CAN keep the swelling down so that an injury is less painful. we opted NOT to do them becauee I ahve a dog without the common sense to slow down and I feared that if he was pain free he MIGHT make things worse. We did however try some natural anti-inflmmatories (salmon oil & traumeel) and complemented with some massage therapy which was especially useful to help bear regain some range of motion by breaking up scar tissue (she also gave us some stretches to do) we also did a lot of walking on the flat at first then up and down hills/stairs to keep up muscle tone - unfortunately it was winter and we had no indoor doggy pools at the time or we would have been swimming too. We avoided jumping, slick surfaces and rough play with other dogs.

Maybe I take a more wholistic approach to injury because I do run and play rugby and know that there's more to getting back up and running than taking a few pills and aying on my butt. It is true that limited exercise, is good to keep things going and muscles flushed out and to stay in shape. If you don't know about the elbow x-rays & pano call your vet and ask - explain that you weren't there and your BF forgot to ask. I would ask if he knows of any canine rehab places too. Many vets aren't up on treatment for injuries like this if you know any agility/flyball people ask them about someone who is an injury that is not properly taken care of can come back to haunt you and your dog later.