Our old dog Millie had this done at around the age of 10. She made a good recovery and was back to her normal self pretty soon. She did have one blip when she got a lump filled with puss, this seemed to bother her more than the op, but once popped, she was ok. It's a hard decision when they are getting older between what can be done and what if any benifits there are for the dog, as in are they in pain, will it add years to there life span, what ever you decide I'm sure will come from loving and knowing your dog.