Soft tendon tissue problem and rest

piperh

My boy has hurt his leg and the vet has said she THINKS it's soft tendon tissue damage but he's not reacting and letting her know where it hurts so as well as tablets he needs as much rest as possible. Part of the problem is he appears worse in the first few seconds after getting up and then he stops limping completely after a minute or so.

At the moment he's in his crate but is totally confused as to why I won't open it up, his door is never normally shut. Any suggestions on how to make the next week easier on him.

aonb

Poor chap - my fellow is post op replaced cruciate ligament, so Ive been here. My dog is really clingy, more so after this op - so heres what I did: the vet said rest rest rest, but my dog isnt crate trained. I put his bed and lots of blankets on the floor, into a very limited space in the family room - his water, and toys were in there. For a barrier, we took apart a wire stove fire-guard - its like 4 panels about 3 feet high - but moveable/light. I went to the butcher and got lots of nice bones, bought 2 new kongs, stuffed with his fav treats (sardines in 1, peanut butter in 2nd) - alternated them into the freezer. I put a beanbag in the contained area, and one of us would sit and read or use our laptop in there... left the radio on all day. In the evening while I prepped dinner and we ate, we moved him into the kitchen, at night, his bed was in our room - moving the 'barrier' with us from room to room. He had a bone or a kong when we were out/away/busy. Carried him to the garden, on a leash MANY times a day - luckily the weather was good, and secured his leash, so he could be outside without being able to move. All about keeping him distracted/entertained and occupied. What breed is your dog? Is he fairly calm anyway? I tied my dogs leash to my belt while I was working in the garden - he was with me but couldnt move... Hope some of these suggestions help

Just brought my dog to the vet tonight for his check up - vet very pleased with his progress, and can start SLOW walking on leash for 5 mins/day

piperh

Thanks aonb glad to hear your boy is doing well. They do give us grey hairs don't they.

That's very helpful, he's also very clingy mind you he is at the best of times. He even lies outside the bathroom door if I'm in there so the movable pen/barrier is a great idea and i'll certainly use that. he loves his bones and kongs so I need to get better prepared with them. We have a memory foam bed for him, did you use something similar?

Toileting and being outside is a problem as if someone goes past he gets very excited and dashes to the wall so I'd worry about the jarring if he was leashed. Its a shame as he'd lie outside all day. Its been a case of look out let him out and straight back in.

He's a wolfhound cross and nearly 50kg so a bit heavy to carry around and has loads of energy, good job we adore him ;-)

aonb

As you say, good job we adore them - Im taking my boy over to UK for several weeks - had visions of the two of us rambling along all the fantastic bridleways while there - now its 1 bloody 5 minute SLOW walk per day - so frustrating! Oh well, as long as he recovers.

My boy is currently out sunbathing on the patio, with vet bed inside his "barrier" - could you set your fellow up outside if he loves being outside so much - with a barrier/restricting setup? Being a nervous dog, he wouldnt touch anything 'rattly' so I can put up barriers like a clotheshorse on its side against the patio door, with 2 kitchen chairs & a bit of wood panel - though if your guy goes nuts at passersby, that would be an issue. As you say, much better not to be "jarred" while on the leash...tricky!

I use vet bed, with a couple of blankets on top - memory foam would be nice too.

piperh

aonb wrote: »

As you say, good job we adore them - Im taking my boy over to UK for several weeks - had visions of the two of us rambling along all the fantastic bridleways while there - now its 1 bloody 5 minute SLOW walk per day - so frustrating! Oh well, as long as he recovers.

My boy is currently out sunbathing on the patio, with vet bed inside his "barrier" - could you set your fellow up outside if he loves being outside so much - with a barrier/restricting setup? Being a nervous dog, he wouldnt touch anything 'rattly' so I can put up barriers like a clotheshorse on its side against the patio door, with 2 kitchen chairs & a bit of wood panel - though if your guy goes nuts at passersby, that would be an issue. As you say, much better not to be "jarred" while on the leash...tricky!

I use vet bed, with a couple of blankets on top - memory foam would be nice too.

Thank you u read this at work and came home and created a small blocked in seating area in the garden where he couldn't see much of the garden so didn't get excited but could still be in the sun.
There now a very crude wall made out of an old table and a fence panel in my front garden, my neighbours must love me ;-).

Aww that's going to make it a bit more awkward but it's a good excuse to go back :-) . As I'm from the uk I can vouch for the fact there's some fab dog friendly places