Something really interesting has happened over the past few days. After Harley cut her paw, she allowed me to clean it and bandage it up. She carried on as normal in terms of playing etc. We went to the vets yesterday to get it checked and they bandaged it up to prevent her licking it. When we got home she spent the evening on the sofa, not getting up even when I tried to entice her with a ball!!!! She wouldn't go outside and have a wee or poo. Today she has been the same - not playing, lying on the sofa, not my girl at all. I eventually got her outside for a wee (she held it in for 24 hours!) and because the bandage got wet (she had a waterproof bootie on!) we had to take it off. Wow, what a difference it made........she has hardly stopped since - playing with her ball, throwing teddies around, nicking cushions, pouncing on her bed and in the sofa. She has literally led down in the past 5 mins. It has really made me understand what it means for a dog to 'shut down'. I thought she was being unusually quiet be ause maybe her paw hurt, but it clearly wasn't! At least now I know how to calm her down if she's a bit hyper (joking!) he he
Yup, that's an excellent description! Anything wrapped around Charlie has that effect too...a bandage on his paw would absolutely do the same. The sad thing is, I've seen that in dogs and it's been sort of permanent. I met a flat coat retriever that had been driven into that state through rough handling.
It had to be very serious for Harley to ignore a ball. One of our previous dogs had a similar occurrence. Her paw was bandaged because of an infection under her nail, then she reacted to the antibiotics so we had her on chicken and rice. She was so miserable that she could barely be bothered to get out of bed. After a few days we took the bandage off, then the course of antibiotics was completed, and she returned to her normal self. We sometimes forget that even the happiest dogs can feel down when things aren't going well.
Dexter didn't seem any quieter than normal,when he was bandaged up a while back but he didn't like the boots I got him to wear to take him over the road to the toilet .....he didn't poo for 24 hours either so it did affect him... How's the paw today Ternaya,do you feel like, it's improving ?
Wow, thanks for sharing. There's so much I have absolutely no idea about so it's posts like this that could save my Ella in the future ☺ I hope Harley is feeling better today x
Doug totally shut down when I went into hospital as an emergency. He didn't wee or poop for 38 hours. I got my OH to bring him to the hospital and I wheeled myself out to toilet him(doug not OH) there. When I got out i had to retrain OH and Doug and prepare them both for another emergency and try to prepare Doug for me suddenly not being there. My friend has a dog from a local rescue centre who was totally shut down. He's obviously been through Hell and its taken about 3 years just to get him to the stage where he sometimes seems happy. We Think he was taken from his mum too soon then isolated as a pup and the trained using a shock collar and/or handled very roughly. He is much better now but he's definately not wired right . His development has definately been damaged by his dificult start in life. He does like big Mac's which to us seems to say it all
My parents' current rescue Jemma, is permanently shut down. She never looks happy. She had a very hard start to life - lived permanently chained up outside in a breaker's yard. Unspayed, she ended up having her own brother's puppies, and just didn't have any good human interaction at all. In some ways she's perfect for my parents because she's so quiet, but it's so sad to see - she just doesn't seem to have any personality whatsoever. My parents don't get it, either. They think she's warm, she's fed (over-fed grrrr), she goes on lovely walks and she has a sofa to sleep on all day and night; why wouldn't she be happy? I think when you have a dog that's normally bouncy and you see it shut down, it's completely obvious, whereas if you've never seen it before, it's hard to spot in a dog you don't know.
It so sad but once you've seen a dog that happy and forfilled its so easier to pick up on this kind of thing. At least she is fed dry warm and comfortable and loved even if she can't get passed her earlier life My friends dog was seen by some great dog trainer/therapists and they all feel pretty much the same as she thought, that his early life has made him incaperable of interacting normally.. my friend says she keeps him as happy as possible and small tiny steps have been made. He is not like a dog or what i think we see as a dog, he also bites. Its hard to see and he just looks detacted he hates going outside but loves pubs. My friends husband now takes him out on his own and that seems to have helped, as too many people or dogs seem to depress him. Another friend has taken on a Romanian Lab dog he repeatedly had his legs broken to see how quick fractues can heal and stuff put down his ears. He came to her as a large angry suspicious unpredicable dog who could not be touched and very shut down understandably. After about 3 months we could all see a dog now lived in his body body, strangly his eyes changed he was looking out. He started to interact with other dogs and people he allowed people he trusted to touch him and stroke him. its not been plain sailing and she still gets him to wear a muzzle sometimes but he's doing brilliantly. He ran passed me chasing a squirrel the other day with some of his friends he looked like them. He's happy now and having a dogs life
Harley's paw is improving. She refused to put her boot on to go out for a wee this morning. In the end I let her out minus the boot and she went straight away. I cleaned it as soon as she came back in and she was fine with me cleaning it! She has taken herself back to my bed now . We are back at the vets tonight and will see what they say. I found a smaller cut on her other paw last night....feel bad that I didn't think to check her other paws
Good to hear that Harley is her normal self minus the bandage. Fingers crossed all goes well at the Vets tonight
Sad to read stories of dogs that have had such tough starts..... good to know they are safe and loved now x Hope you are on the mend Harley ,Dexter sends you a 'Hi-Paw' and says send one back when you are all better! X
