I thought this was a pretty good book, although I was hoping for new ideas and it didn't contain any for me - but since I've coped with a dog on very long period of restricted exercise before, I guess this might be just because I've figured a lot out, and the book would have saved me time if I'd have had it at the start. The positives are that it does cover the main ground - setting up your house, safe activities for the dog (standard but useful stuff - games, games with food, packaging, training tricks etc), also useful sections on staying calm, crate training and loose lead walking. It is a basic book, I was hoping for perhaps some advanced tips and techniques - maybe they don't exist though, and all there is to managing a dog on restricted exercise is: keep them safe and comfy, and do your best to give them something to do. I guess that's not all that surprising. There were one or two things I found useful, eg opening an umbrella at approaching off lead dogs - good tip. I think the book is not particularly aimed at the average young, boisterous labrador though - it suggests training a "behind" cue to get your dog to hide behind you if dogs or people approach. Hah. This took me months to train and proof and there is no way I would have successfully trained an 8 month old Labrador, busting for a run and some doggie company, to ignore other dogs and stand behind me. This is a difficult thing to proof against strange dogs running up inviting play, and isn't going to be trained in a realistic time frame with a typical young Lab - let alone the risks in doing so if your dog is already injured. The same applies to allowing a dog to interact with others on lead - this would have been a complete mess with Charlie (and still would be). But still, useful for calmer dogs than mine. Bottom line: worth buying if you are coping with a dog on restricted exercise for the first time, not if you've done it before and got your routine worked out and be realistic about what you can achieve if you have a very bouncy, friendly young Lab.
Re: No walks? No Worries I've got the book and am working my way through although perhaps a bit late with Juno coming out of the other side of restricted exercise. I think it is more useful if you know in advance and can plan all the suggested training but I think most of us are faced with surgery with little time to plan. Some useful tips though although there is no way I would allow Jun to meet other dogs due to the risk of jumping etc. but I guess it depends upon why you are on restricted exercise. Perhaps you should write a book Julie and cover all the extra useful tips from your own experience ......
