Thanks everyone, for checking back in. It’s so nice to know my guy’s not been forgotten, and hopefully the things we learn from one another’s experiences will help others down the road.
I emailed my vet as soon as I read about the splint, and sent him links to a few websites featuring them. In his opinion, they, like the back braces people used to wear, ultimately do more harm than good because they allow the muscles to atrophy (and can’t support the shoulder anyway). He’s also a veterinary acupuncturist, but doesn’t travel. I’ve considered asking the vet to come out and treat him in the parking lot, but… So far, my dog is still plenty perky-- to the point where he scared the cr__ out of me yesterday tearing after a German Wirehair that had come to play in our beaver dam:( Yes, the problem/biggest fear, is that the bone will break because he goes to do something “very normal and mundane”-- which for him means zipping around, rolling in the grass, leaping in the air after anything I toss, and going bananas when other dogs invade our farm. Things we mere humans can only wonder at-- like the power of horses. I’ve got ramps all over the place which he does remember to use to prevent the pain of landing from a jump from the furniture or car, but outdoors, it can very suddenly be a different story, and that’s where the choice got hard for me. After a few days of keeping him on a leash, I made the decision to let him enjoy considerable freedom-- he’s off leash, wearing an electric collar to bring him back ASAP if he darts off as he did yesterday. My heart was in my throat until I had him back and could see the leg had not snapped, but I am still resolved to make sure he does enjoy his last days (and I sure hope there will be many!) feeling free, not imprisoned.
Please don’t worry, RaeHughes-- I’m downright phobic when it comes to putting any animal, let alone my heart dog, through needless suffering. That’s why I chose not to amputate although I did put one of my horses through 2 colic surgeries: no one can tell me that amputation is not excruciating or that it is even likely to cure the cancer, which has almost certainly metastasized anyway. My mare only had a 15% chance of surviving her 2nd surgery, but if she did (and she did!!), she could return to life as a normal, healthy horse-- which she did for 6 years. Even with amputation, my dog would remain cancerous, with one year being a relatively optimistic prognosis. I will put him down long before I see him suffering anything resembling the pain I know comes with major surgery.
Monday, a friend lost her big (123#) dog to osteosarcoma. The week before (about 2 weeks after his diagnosis), he’d proudly caught a rabbit. Days later, the leg swelled enormously, apparently broken: my worse case scenario, about which I’ve asked the vets repeatedly: how to control the pain until someone can get here to euthanize? Can I do it myself? I was relieved to find out that by doubling up on the pain meds and icing, my friend was able to maintain her dog’s appetite for food, company, life itself, to the end, when she put him down because, much as he wanted to, he could no longer get up. Painful as this disease is, this ending does not seem much different from that of my 15 year old lab whose hind legs eventually gave out on him.
Meantime, I do see no harm in trying alternative therapies (forgot to mention homeopathy, too-- and my chiropractor gave me the name of a really good dog masseuse who will travel). After all, my dog seems to like them, too-- Artemisinin in cream cheese, cell salts rubbed into his gums, twice daily bathing of his mouth with the homeopathic remedies. He’s basking in all these novel attentions 
So far, so good. One day at a time. Doggie just got up and wants to go outside.
Maybe I should put pictures on my website.
