I need some dog help

[nomad100]

So Willow had a bum knee/leg.  She is supposed be taking it easy but she is going stir crazy.  Part of it is the weather and part is Cricket, our other dog, getting her all riled up.  Plus he is also stir crazy too.  (Stupid cold weather).  So they are feeding off each others crazy "we want to run around and get into trouble" energy. 

We tried leashing her in the house but Cricket loses his mind whenever he sees the leash (he LOVES going on walks) which then gets Willow all riled up and trying to dance all around, which defeats the whole purpose of leashing her.

How on earth do we keep her calm?

The vet gave us some meds which are supposed to help calm her but they aren't working that well. Maybe we need something stronger? She is already on thyroid meds and prednisone. And now an anti-inflammatory and the calming drug so I am not sure about adding anything stronger into the mix.

We could get a crate (we haven't crated her in almost 5 years) but how do you handle it when you have a dog that likes to be near you and you move around the house.  She doesn't relax when she is too far away from a person.  And since she is 60 lbs any crate we get won't easily be moved from room to room. 

And as an added bonus, she refuses to poop while on the leash since she is a private pooper who doesn't like anyone near her or looking at her while she poops.  

[isabel]

I think you need to kennel her and try to be sensitive to the fact that she can't move around with you. Let her out in the yard for short periods of time to go to the bathroom and take her with you when you go to bed. Aside from that, she should probably stay crated.

I know how hard it is. Our beagle had an issue with her neck when she was younger and had to be crated basically 24/7 for nearly a month. We had to pick her up and set her down outside. It was pretty extreme. She recovered beautifully, but it was very hard because she was just so sad about it.

[darkling_glory]

Can you get an x-pen? We have one that's large and about 4 feet tall. It will keep her contained and let cricket still have run of the house.

[usuallylurking]

Crate it sucks, but it seems like the most reasonable option. If you want her to lounge with you and Cricket won't let her just chill then maybe put him in the crate to give her a break. Our beagle had a slipped disc last spring and we had to crate him almost 24/7 for a month.

[nomad100]

Mar 5, 2015 22:22:25 GMT -5 al dente said:

Freeze some peanut butter or whatever in kongs so she isn't moving a lot but is entertained.

This might be totally wrong to do, but could she maybe take benedryl? My dog has to take it for allergies and it completely knocks him out.

I would be worried that if she hasn't been crated in 5 years she might get more worked up being inside a crate and cause damage. Could you seperate your dogs by floor at all?

With all her other meds I am worried about adding Benadryl.  

That is my worry too (re: the crating).  

We have a ranch house so we would have to put Cricket in the basement since stairs are a no no for Willow and I know he would freak to be alone down there since he is a velcro dog too.  

We have been using PB filled Kongs maybe we just need to use them more often.

[isabel]

Mar 5, 2015 22:42:23 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Crate it sucks, but it seems like the most reasonable option. If you want her to lounge with you and Cricket won't let her just chill then maybe put him in the crate to give her a break. Our beagle had a slipped disc last spring and we had to crate him almost 24/7 for a month.

lol You and I just posted the exact same thing.

[nomad100]

Crate it is, I guess. Here's hoping she doesn't freak out and I won't be back here in a couple of days asking how to keep her calm in a crate.

My poor pup.

[usuallylurking]

Mar 5, 2015 22:52:42 GMT -5 isabel said:

Mar 5, 2015 22:42:23 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Crate it sucks, but it seems like the most reasonable option. If you want her to lounge with you and Cricket won't let her just chill then maybe put him in the crate to give her a break. Our beagle had a slipped disc last spring and we had to crate him almost 24/7 for a month.

lol You and I just posted the exact same thing.

Poor little dwarf dogs I felt awful for him! He's gonna be crotchety when he's old.

[usuallylurking]

Mar 5, 2015 22:54:01 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Crate it is, I guess. Here's hoping she doesn't freak out and I won't be back here in a couple of days asking how to keep her calm in a crate.

My poor pup.

Can you or your H go and run the crap out of him so he's just dog tired and will leave her alone uncrated?

[nomad100]

Mar 5, 2015 23:09:01 GMT -5 usuallylurking said:

Mar 5, 2015 22:54:01 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Crate it is, I guess. Here's hoping she doesn't freak out and I won't be back here in a couple of days asking how to keep her calm in a crate.

My poor pup.

Can you or your H go and run the crap out of him so he's just dog tired and will leave her alone uncrated?

If it wasn't 5 degrees outside that may be an option.  But with this cold, Cricket can't handle being outside for very long.  Stupid Winter.

[nomad100]

Mar 5, 2015 23:20:37 GMT -5 Que? said:

Mar 5, 2015 22:54:01 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Crate it is, I guess. Here's hoping she doesn't freak out and I won't be back here in a couple of days asking how to keep her calm in a crate.

My poor pup.

I don't know if your vet has suggested Arnica. It's a homeopathic pain killer/anti inflammatory that works well for my dog when he's stiff, which will happen if you're crating for a long time. Good luck.

She is already on an anti-inflammatory/pain killer.  Would this be in addition to that?  

She has Addisons and hypothyroidism so adding more meds, even if they are homeopathic, makes me nervous for her system.  

[mala]

You do the best you can and know it probably won't be to the letter what the vet wants.

Anna tore her cruciate before thanksgiving and her recovery has been long because we couldn't keep her as quiet as she should have been. Ideally we would have created her, but we don't have a crate big enough for her or anywhere to keep it. We tried confining her in the kitchen but that upped her anxiety and she was up and down more than ever before. Mostly, we yelled at her to go back to bed and lay down. After awhile she got used to the new rules. We couldn't use a sedative for her because of her size (it would have made it more difficult for her to walk and at her size I can't pick her up and carry her if she fell).

As far as benadryl goes, it affects dogs very differently than people, and the dog who gets calm on it is the exception. Most dogs don't have a behavior change at all of you're giving the correct dose. Always talk to your vet before trying a new medicine.

[mala]

Also, if you pm me your address I have a "keep occupied and entertained" toy that I bought for Anna but proved too small for her. As long as you don't mind slightly used dog toys. Is that weird? It occurs to me that it might be weird. Anyway, it is supposed to be for dogs 40+ lbs but Anna popped it apart in 20 minutes, so she didn't get much use out of it. (Which doesn't bode well for the toy, but Anna is huge so I'm not too surprised.)

[5hole]

One other thought... Maybe put her in a cone? I know it has nothing to do with her knee, but it might keep her from playing and rough housing and slow her down a bit in general.