this is a hard question for me to answer because I would be going the vet weekly if I took Lola in every time she bumped her head. If Lola seems fine after running into something and wants to keep playing, I try to get her quite by giving her something to chew on. But bumps can cause a concussion so like Taylor said I make sure she does not sleep, but I keep close watch on her for several hours. Healthy dogs seem to be able to take a bump that would cause a human to scream and cry in pain. However a puppy is different since not all there bones and muscles are fully developed and as we know not all dogs are healthy, so it is a matter of knowing your dog, which is hard with a puppy. With that being said while dogs seem to be able to handle bumps there are dogs on YT that have died from doing something like hitting their head on the edge of the coffee table or falling off a chair so it is not something to take lightly. However I suspect with a sudden death from a bump there could also be an underlying issue.
The problem with going to the vet with these types of things is they often do not much more than look in the dogs eyes to see if they are dilated which would indicate a concussion and there is not much then can do for that. With dogs unlike humans it takes a lot for a vet to decide to do an x ray or an MRI. From experience I know young pups have not developed their sense of what will hurt them and they run into things more often. I have seen Lola as she matured change her play habits, she now stops short before the toy hits the wall because she knows it will bounce back at her. She is more careful when running on our wood floors so she does not slide everywhere. So with that being said you need to try hard to find places to play that are free of obstacles or not toss a toy close to the wall. LOL we are a lot older than you but my husband and I fight about this all the time, he wings the toy all over our house and I have to keep reminding him not to throw into areas where she can go crashing into things like the legs of tables and chairs. I am really afraid around our coffee table since she keeps jumping off and on the couch and lands inches away from the table, I keep pushing it out and he keeps pulling it back in when he wants to eat off it. Anyway I tell you this so you know you are not alone in this dilemma. good luck, because I swear keeping a puppy from hurting themselves is a full time job. |