Ideas For A Seriously Bored Dog On Crate Rest?

[Kirty]

I have a feeling there was a thread on this recently but I can't find it. Maisie has just had a TPLO and is on crate rest. She is an EXTREMELY active 10yo and she is going mental being caged. I had to sedate her the first day after surgery because she was so wound up (she was rested for 2 weeks prior to surgery as well). Maisie is the type of dog who will play all day. If nobody is playing with her, she will make up games and just make herself busy all day.

Does anyone have any ideas on things I can do to keep her mind happy? She has a few more weeks of rest ahead of her and she is going mental. :D

[D & D]

Try a pig's ear stuffed into one of these type of toys :D

Hard to get in, but kept him amused for days.

Or a deer antler bone (from SwaY). They're great, they don't smell so are good for inside.

[halfthewords]

Dog puzzles, kongs, bones, anything she has to work at. Do some clicker training with free shaping, it doesn't have to be elaborate - just teaching her to touch things with her right/left paw, nose, etc can be challenging and fun.

[kiesha09]

Can you do simple training with her? I had a dog on crate rest for nearly 2 months and would do simple shaping exercises with my boy. Some examples are:

Turn head to the right

Turn head to the left

Yawn

Nod (head up and down)

Lick lips

Twitch ears

Head on paws

I know they sound a bit boring but all can be done stationary while the dog is still in the crate. They are quite precise too so greatly improves your shaping abilities.

The mental stimulation for my boy was a god send!

Also, move he crate around to different parts of the house so she doesn't have the same 'scenery'.

Edited April 18, 2011 by kiesha09

[Guest]

How big is she? When my Yorkie had a broken leg and was not allowed to move at all, I used to take him on walks, holding him in my arms. Or I just sat on front porch of house, read, did some computer work, etc. while Pep was watching traffic going past. Thought that was better than just being stuck inside all day.

You might be able to buy/borrow a dog pram...

Good luck.

[Guest]

Can you do simple training with her? I had a dog on crate rest for nearly 2 months and would do simple shaping exercises with my boy. Some examples are:

Turn head to the right

Turn head to the left

Yawn

Nod (head up and down)

Lick lips

Twitch ears

Head on paws

I know they sound a bit boring but all can be done stationary while the dog is still in the crate. They are quite precise too so greatly improves your shaping abilities.

The mental stimulation for my boy was a god send!

Also, move he crate around to different parts of the house so she doesn't have the same 'scenery'.

I like your suggestions!

[kiesha09]

Oohh I also thought of another thing I did - I put the crate on my bed so that he could see out the front window and watch the world go past. He really enjoys just watching

[wagsalot]

When Riley had a sore leg Id give him a big bone, that always occupied him for at least a few hours.

[poodlefan]

Does anyone have any ideas on things I can do to keep her mind happy? She has a few more weeks of rest ahead of her and she is going mental.

Talk to your vet about sedation. If she's really not coping, it can be one method of managing her.

[Kirty]

She was sedated for the first day, but even the lowest dose completely knocked her out. She lost control of her bladder, couldn't stand, etc. I am lucky that I can take her to work with me so she at least gets some attention and complany, but she is such a physically active dog that she has all this pent up energy bubbling out!

Thanks for the ideas guys, will give them a go.

[Staff'n'Toller]

When Geordie had tendon surgery he was on about 4 kongs a day.

Did you use ACE? Valium is a nicer chill out drug, shouldn't zonk her out.

Hydrotherapy as soon as she can- that will make her tired.

[Kirty]

Yes I used Ace. I gave her half a tablet and she was completely out of it. Poor girl. Once her stitches are out, we'll try and get her swimming.

[Staranais]

I had this situation a year back - try a teenage malinois on crate rest.

We tried the chewy things (cannon bones, fish heads, pigs ears) and food dispensing toys, but she got sick of those pretty quick. I think the only things that kept her sane were firstly clicker training different tricks, and secondly taking her in the car with me (in a crate) so she could see the world going by. Driving them to a park where they can watch people & dogs for half an hour while you drink your takeaway coffee stimulates them mentally at least.

[corvus]

Try some concept training, maybe. I think Kay Laurence might have some videos on YouTube about it? Try doing a YouTube search for 'match to sample'. There's a poodle person that has videos up about match to sample as well. At the APDT conference last year Ken Ramirez talked about concept training that he first started doing to keep a working line GSD happy when it was on crate rest. He taught the dog to move left and right on cue and told a very cool story about these skills saving a man's life in a fire. I can't remember the exact story, but I think the man was trapped and the firefighters couldn't find him. They sent the dog in with a radio, who found him, and he was able to direct the dog with left and right and up and down to bring him a book from a shelf that had a map of the building in it so he could then tell the firefighters where he was and how to get to him.