When we left Texas we headed to Carlsbad, New Mexico.  We did a self guided tour through Carlsbad Caverns National park.  Very beautiful.  We traveled down an elevator over 800 feet below ground.  You can also choose to walk down a windy path.  This would take over an hour in itself.  The ride in the elevator takes less than a minute. I’ll take that option, thank you very much.  Once there, you are in the beginning of your journey.  The caverns  stay a very pleasant 56 degrees year round. These pictures really do not do these caverns justice.  To say they are huge is an understatement. The ‘Big Room’ is the size of 30 football fields and can reach upwards of 150 feet in height!

As some of you may know, our 13.5 year old German Shepherd Tasha had torn her left rear ACL right before we left for our trip.  Based on her age, we thought, along with the vet, that we are better off to let it be vs surgery and scar over to heal.  You see, she had gone though that in August 2008 for her right ACL.  (Hey, athletes rip theirs all the time and some choose not to repair it.)

So when we got back home I started to research on the web to see if their was any type of braces for dogs just to help her out.  Again athletes do the same thing so I figured I would look into it.  I came across a few manufacturers that did such a thing.  One looked very cumbersome to put on and the other you see above, seemed to have the right approach.  The company is Ortho Pets which was founded by a doctor that actually started making devices for humans.  We spoke with them in detail and made the choice to move forward. (Not exactly cheap mind you.)

First we needed to make a fiberglass cast of Tasha leg so they can then make the orthopedic to fit her directly.  After all, it needs to be right.  We then sent that to Ortho Pets and the brace was made and sent to us here in Gaffney, SC.  We received it today and give it a shot.  After about 15 mins nervous minutes or so, Tasha showed us why she is so special…she began using it like it needed to be used.  As time slowly went by, she continued to test the water so to speak. (That fits seeing it is raining for the last 18 hours.)  The photo above was taken right after we put it on and she tried it the first time.