Libby (short for “Lady Liberty”) was born on the 4th of July, 2004 and sold to us as a show prospect- our first “show dog.” She started limping off-and-on in one and then the other front leg by 4 months of age. I had been told that both of her parent had both of their full clearances. I found out later that Libby's sire did not have an elbow clearance. I had some radiographs (x-rays) taken and had a board-certified radiologist look at them- he didn't see anything wrong. At 6 months, she was limping basically every day, and would yelp if she turned wrong.

She seemed really sore in her elbows, and looking at her conformation, she simply isn’t a good representative of the breed standard. So, Libby was spayed by a veterinarian friend after determining that there was no way that this limping puppy would be a show dog, and he took radiographs of both elbows, both stifles (knees), shoulders and hips. Turns out, she has right hip dysplasia, and bilateral FCP's (Fragmented Coronoid Processes- aka “elbow dysplasia”). I told her breeder about the diagnosis and was told that I could return Libby back to them if I wanted and they're replace her with another puppy. There was absolutely no way I would send her back there. After all, who would give up a puppy that has been a part of their family for several months? Libby was already an integral part of our family.

After taking her to a couple of board-certified orthopedic surgeons, she had to have surgery on both elbows. She is 100% better than she was pre-surgically, but still has days where she is gimpy. She is on supplements, special injections for her joints a couple of times a month now (initially twice a week), and we keep her as light as we dare (weight-wise). I let her breeders know about all of this occurring, and I haven't heard from them since.

Libby was a pretty difficult puppy, especially as an only dog in a family who had never owned labradors before but who had always loved them. We worked really hard to get her through her mouthiness/nipping (possibly because she was taken away from her family early on?), chewing, and potty-training: she would poop in her crate until she was about 16 wks old or more without uttering a peep...until she realized what she did and then proceeded to panic and scream, then stir it all up trying to get out of the crate. We had to give her baths about 2-3 times a day. Ugh!

It was a good thing that she grew out of that obnoxious puppy stage, though. Libby earned her CGC at 11 months of age and one “leg” so far toward her Rally-Novice AKC title because of a lot of training on our end, and we are working toward trying to go for our CD...I doubt that I'll be able to allow her to jump in higher obedience/rally levels because of her elbows, so I don't think we'll be able to go any further than that. It is really sad, because when she's paying attention, she is a dream to handle. And, she does a great "Bang- you're dead!"

 

2007 HDLRC Specialty Show, 2nd place all-breed/2nd place labrador rally novice with score of 198!	Libby wins 2nd place in a run-off between 2nd and 3rd place, and her first qualifying score on November 11, 2006 at the HDLRC Specialty under Mrs. Shirley Indelicato