Took Holly along to the vet this morning to have a very slight limp checked out. Physical exam showed nothing but the vet did see the limp after a few attempts at trotting up and down the corridor . We've come home with meta calm, reduced exercise and a bit of quiet time for the next 5 days. I know they are on here somewhere but I'm looking for suggestions to keep her stimulated over the next few days so we don't all go stir crazy. All suggestions welcome
Re: Hopalong Holly Oh no, poor Holly :'( After Harley's op, I used lots of kongs and brought a game where you hide the treats under flaps and they have to find them.....it kept her busy for a good half hour every time Good luck keeping her calm x
Re: Hopalong Holly Ah poor Holly, hope she's feeling better soon. How about a game of hide & seek - you can hide small treats around the house/garden and ask her to find them, just make sure she doesn't get to over excited if on quiet time!
Re: Hopalong Holly Thank you. She's currently working on a sardine flavoured frozen kibble kong . I feel Kong may be in for a bumper order this week! Kudos to those who have had to manage quiet time for several months with their own pups.
Re: Hopalong Holly There might be some ideas here - written for a dog on months of crate rest, but still, there might be a few things that are helpful. [quote author=JulieT link=topic=6162.msg80965#msg80965 date=1400881585] [quote author=JulieT link=topic=3890.msg45655#msg45655 date=1389291541] In terms of keeping your dog occupied on restricted exercise, this is what I did: Write down everything you can do with and for your dog - eg 10 minute on lead sniffs round the garden, packing up meals in frozen kongs, clicker training, allowed safe chews, teaching tricks, massages, find kibble in boxes, tearing up paperback books, teeth cleaning training. Write everything down. Then stock up on what you need - kongs, save packaging etc. Then look at your schedule and work out how many activities you can fit into a day, and spread them out as much as possible - or grouped around the times when your dog is least likely to settle and go to sleep. Then stick to that routine. In between activities, if the dog won't settle put her in a crate or pen, if that's necessary - it certainly is for us - and they just have to learn that means quiet time. [/quote] [quote author=JulieT link=topic=4350.msg52625#msg52625 date=1391691150] This is Charlie's routine: 6am Out to the garden on a lead for a pee, playtime and cuddles, physio exercises 7.30am 25 – 30 min lead walk After walk: settle down in his pen with a 8in1 chew Mid morning: clicker train any new physio exercises Noon: Physio exercises then 15 – 20 min lead walk Mid afternoon: Playtime 4pm 25 – 30 min lead walk After walk - settle down in pen with a small rice – or similar - chew 6pm Physio exercises, then 10 – 15 min lead walk Frozen Kongs after the 6pm walk Cuddles and back and leg massages mid evening, more frozen kongs 10pm 5 – 10 min lead walk When Charlie isn't doing any of the above he is in his pen, or in the kitchen if someone is working in there. If I let him have the run of the house, he would drive me mad with his constant nagging, chewing and general refusal to settle. In terms of time fillers, I can't claim credit for them - I think every one of these has been suggested on the forum and I've just collected the ones that work for us: 8in1 filled rawhide (small - only one a day) Anco roots Pizzles Frozen kongs Hard packaging with kibble inside An entire newspapers scrunched up in one big pass the parcel with a bit of kibble in each sheet Frozen rice hedgehogs filled with soaked kibble Kong goodie bones (I fill these with sea wraps - sticks of sweet potato wrap in fish skin) Kong wobblers Kibble hidden between the balls of a trixie cube The best quiet game is he has to lie very still (if he moves, we don't play) and catch a soft ball (we use the trixie cube balls) and give it back to me. He loves it, and will play it for ages. [/quote] [/quote]
Re: Hopalong Holly I was very restricted with Charlie because he was on lead both in the house and garden. Plus I couldn't do things that involved repeated sitting, or dummies (because he got too excited). If the restrictions hadn't been so strict, I'd have done more clicker training. There is a book "learning games" published by "learning about dogs" that is excellent - the games are useful things that help with training, rather than just tricks.
Re: Hopalong Holly Our boy limped three times in his first year -- only on the front legs. Once on one leg, and twice on the other. No knowing what caused it, might've been growing pains, bad genes (his brother had bilateral elbow dysplasia at one year), possibly a neck injury from wearing a head harness at training (he was very boisterous and would tug at it, and he would limp very soon after class). The dog school insisted on the use of the head harness, so we changed schools to one that encouraged the use of the redirectional harness, and he never limped again. When he was limping, he had to have complete rest, which really worked. But so hard to deal with a very boisterous puppy! The best activity I found that required no exercise was this: I took three containers and hid a treat under one, and then got him to figure out which container had the hidden treat. I tell you what, after playing it a few times, I was exhausted!! What I think was very effective was a nutritional supplement called Mobiflex -- contains chondroitin and glucosamine, and also green lipped mussels which apparently is effective for joint health as well. I continue to give it to him to this day, a tiny amount on his food once a day. As 2.5 year old he is built very powerfully -- I have got a few comments that he must have Boerboel in him! Hopefully his muscle strength will save his joints into old age. (He is from a reputable breeder, mother has perfect elbow and hip scores, father has perfect hips but one elbow is one point below perfect, but who knows what is in the genes!)
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=MF link=topic=7855.msg110684#msg110684 date=1411064704] Our boy limped three times in his first year -- ...possibly a neck injury from wearing a head harness at training (he was very boisterous and would tug at it, and he would limp very soon after class). The dog school insisted on the use of the head harness [/quote] I think that's awful. I hate the idea of a dog pulling on a headcollar. - I declare (a possibly, but possibly not, irrational) bias against head collars -
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=MF link=topic=7855.msg110684#msg110684 date=1411064704] The best activity I found that required no exercise was this: I took three containers and hid a treat under one, and then got him to figure out which container had the hidden treat. I tell you what, after playing it a few times, I was exhausted!! [/quote] That's a good game but not a quiet one for us! I've got 3 severely chewed plastic cups! I did wonder about supplements, will ask the vet when we go back in for her check up. Halfway through our 5 days, thankfully she's got a day off work tomorrow.
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=Steph link=topic=7855.msg110746#msg110746 date=1411077481] I've got 3 severely chewed plastic cups! I did wonder about supplements, will ask the vet when we go back in for her check up. Halfway through our 5 days, thankfully she's got a day off work tomorrow. [/quote] I used plastic containers from takeaways -- so I didn't mind if they got chewed up. I'll be interested to know what your vet thinks of supplements. Some people think they just make expensive urine! Five days rest? We had to do 10 days from the day our boy stopped limping. The vet said that you think, now that he's not limping, that all is fine. But no, she said, he has to then rest for another 10 days to completely heal. It was hard!!!
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=JulieT link=topic=7855.msg110715#msg110715 date=1411070521] - I declare (a possibly, but possibly not, irrational) bias against head collars - [/quote] I'm with you on that. But I am used to people loving a particular type of tool and swearing by it, head halters being one of them. For Snowie, though, he hated it -- spent most of the lesson either ploughing his head along the grass or shoving his head between my legs trying to remove it. As soon as we changed to the redirectional harness (the harness that has the leash attached on the chest), we could actually start proper training cos he was not distracted by wanting to get the head halter off. I did need a restraint of sorts though (a collar or regular harness were impossible, he could rip the leash right out of my hands if he wanted to race across the field to say hallo to another dog) and the redirectional harness was perfect for that. Thankfully at 2.5 years old the training has paid off and our walks are far easier without my having to worry I am injuring his neck (the redirectional harness also pulls on the neck unfortunately).
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=MF link=topic=7855.msg110684#msg110684 date=1411064704] He is from a reputable breeder, mother has perfect elbow and hip scores, father has perfect hips but one elbow is one point below perfect, but who knows what is in the genes! [/quote] The hereditary factor is interesting. I'm a little surprised they're breeding from a dog with less than perfect elbows as I thought generally (partly because of the way elbows are scored) that was a bit of a no-no. Hip scores are much more gradual so you're looking for good rather than 0 on a hip score. Ending up with good joints is such a complex challenge....inheritance, exercise and diet all seeming to play a part. I hope your boy continues limp free and that Holly gets better quickly too
Re: Hopalong Holly As a first-time owner of a Labrador and also of a pedigree dog, it was my first time researching what to look for. The breeder whose dog had the less than perfect elbow scores is considered one of the top breeders here (her pups win so many awards), so yes, I also think it is rather odd that she is breeding with a less than perfect dog. When I asked her about the less than perfect score, she said the dog had suffered an injury from an anaesthetic "leaking into the joint" when he'd been x-rayed, and of course I believed her because of her reputation. On reflection, it makes no sense at all, that an anaesthetic can leak into a joint and cause damage -- and I vet I asked said he'd never heard of such a thing. What I have noticed is that it appears she doesn't use him to stud her own bitches, only to "rent out" to other breeders. When one of the pups developed bilateral elbow dysplasia, she was very defensive when confronted by that owner who happens to be a vet as well. The tricky part was that the male was imported, and his scores, which had been done in the original country, were not on the same scale as here, and in fact, that country apparently has a more lenient way of scoring so the elbow score didn't appear that bad when reviewed. Anyway, we have our boy with all his genes and wouldn't give him up for the world. So yes, diet and exercise are important, and, boy of boy, have I tried to be diligent here, especially when he was a puppy not over-exercising. As a young adult, hopefully the diet and careful exercise has paid off, because he is super strong. But my heart does stop every time he leaps into the air to catch his ball -- he loves to do this, to run after it and then leap up high to catch it in mid-air. When he comes down, I hold my breath until I can see there is no limping!! I try to throw the ball so that it bounces just so, not high into the air, but not always possible with my iffy ball skills! How old is Holly, Steph? Is she still a young pup? I do hope she recovers fully and never has to suffer another limp.
Re: Hopalong Holly [quote author=MF link=topic=7855.msg110912#msg110912 date=1411122550] How old is Holly, Steph? Is she still a young pup? I do hope she recovers fully and never has to suffer another limp. [/quote] She's coming up for 6 months. She's seems to be doing ok, going a little stir crazy but I would much rather have 5 days of quiet time now than face a lifetime of recurrent issues (assuming the best case scenario).
