My 8-year-old Doberman seems to have a significant shoulder injury, and I’m trying to understand what I might be facing before making decisions about treatment.  
About 18 months ago, he pulled extremely hard against an Easy Walk harness while chasing a cat and suddenly screamed and held his neck to one side. The ER vet was concerned about a possible slipped disc and recommended an MRI. I couldn’t afford the MRI at the time, but with pain medication he improved dramatically within about 48 hours and was turning his neck normally in both directions. I kept him on strict rest for about three weeks.  
Since then, he’s occasionally had a slight limp after longer runs, but otherwise he seemed completely normal. He had also dragged a leg occasionally after strenuous hikes before the original injury, so I didn’t initially think much of it.  
Recently, however, he has started groaning when landing at the bottom of stairs and hesitating before going down/up stairs. After a recent 3-mile hike with a couple hundred feet of elevation, he got noticeably worse.  
I’m now pursuing a proper orthopedic evaluation, and I’m concerned about the possibility of a shoulder tendon injury/rupture, chronic tendon damage, or mineralization/calcification and what that means for his prognosis.  
For anyone who has dealt with something similar in a Doberman or another large breed:  
● For an 8-year-old otherwise active dog, would you pursue surgery if the orthopedic specialist recommended it as the main option?   
● Most importantly, how realistic is recovery if the owner travels frequently and can’t personally be present for every part of the rehabilitation?  
I travel for work and have a small support network, so I’m trying to realistically assess whether I could provide what he would need after surgery. I obviously want to give him the best chance at a good quality of life, but I also don’t want to commit to a procedure without understanding what the recovery would require.

● If this turns out to be a tendon rupture, what was the prognosis with conservative treatment vs. surgery?  
● If there is significant calcification/mineralization in the shoulder tendon, does that substantially change the treatment or prognosis?  
● How successful was surgery, and what did recovery actually look like?  
● How long was strict activity restriction, and how much hands-on care did your dog need?  
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through a similar shoulder injury, especially with a Doberman or another large, active breed.

Doberman shoulder injury — prognosis with tendon rupture vs. calcification, and surgery/recovery concerns?