A friend of mine has a female DeCoverly setter that tore her cranial crutiate ligament (CCL) when she jumped from the ground to the back of a vehicle after a day of hunting. It was an expensive operation costing between 3 and 4 thousand dollars, but it was successful and she regained full use of the leg. My only other experience with a ryman type setter limping and not using a rear leg was this summer and fall. I have a 2 and 1/2 year old female from a breeding of my Setter Hills male to a friend’s DeCoverly female (not the female above with the torn CCL). Bella started limping and holding up a rear leg after a good woods run. It went away after a few days of rest. When it happened again a few weeks later I took her to the Vet and after moving the joint (looking for the drawer effect) he indicated that their maybe some damage but suggested we put her on medication to reduce swelling and rest her (as little physical activity on the rear leg as possible) for a month. I did that and she started using the leg within a week. I started hunting her in Dec. after about six our seven weeks of rest and she has had no lameness or favoring of the rear leg since the treatment. So at this point I don’t know the extent of her original CCL problem if it was that, except to say that I am keeping a close eye on her and as of now with a month of work she is showing no sign of it reoccurring. I do appreciate my Vets advise to give Bella and her injury some time to recover naturally before we consider CCL surgery. Your inquiry above suggests that problems with CCL injuries in breeds maybe genetic is that right?
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