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Originally Posted by cidneyI  Thank you all so much for your helpful tips and information. I think I am way more concerned about the crating than the surgery itself. Sam is a very, very active dog. Acutally, I think nature played a cruel trick on a Lab or some type of retreiving type dog and put him in a Yorkie body, lol. Sam would retreive something in or out of the water all day long if he was allowed. Retrieving is how he tore his ACL. Crating this highly energetic dog is not going to be easy, I need to find ways to occupy his mind while his body is on rest. |
Dogs are so highly adaptable that it may not be as difficult as you think. Try to adopt the attitude of a nurse when crating him and don't let him sense you feel sorry for him or or worried about him when you do. He'll come to accept it as the way things are - and he'll be a bit slowed by surgery & p/o meds so he'll likely accept it if you train him to do it. Still, with the lively dog once they start feeling better, keeping them quiet is way harder on us. Can you put a small TV right next to his cage on low volume. If he starts to get all excited, put a large shawl over the crate to remove some of the stimuli of the environment and sit quietly yourself so he accept it's time to quiet down. Remove the cloth after he's been quiet for 5 to 15 minutes. Some of the toys with the treats in them could keep him working to get the goodies out. Tibbe will work on a kong toy for 45 minutes or longer.