To worry dog may impact abdo surgery

[Greengrasslover]

Hi All,
A bit of a dilemma I am worried about and would welcome advice.

I usually walk a friends dog for her twice a week, big strong dog (40ks) who pulls significantly

I had abdominal surgery 3 months (hernia) ago, Dr has said I can resume normal activities now.

Will being pulled by the dog impact abdomen at all? Friend has tried training it out of dog but been unsucessful so far, dog is 5.

Quite worried about resuming walking the dog as surgery and recovery was so stressfull!

Thanks for reading.

I think you are right to be concerned, that does sound like a fairly large and powerful dog ( even the friendliest dog can hurt you accidently ).

Maybe taking a few more weeks to recover would help reassure you 💐

Go with where your comfort levels are.
For me personally, I wouldn't be worried. I am very strong (I do powerlifting) and so my ex's 35kg dog with a strong pull drive wasn't even remotely an issue. I could control her quite easily in most circumstances except for when she would pull unexpectedly trying to chase a cat or a squirrel. Even then. I was more worried about shoulder injury than any pressure on abs. But that's me. I don't know your circumstances .
Did you tell your Dr that your "normal activities" involve this?

I think you should go together with your friend just to test it out. Does your friend pay you for walking services, or you do it for kindness/enjoyment - could influence the answer

Thanks for the replies

The dog is lovely, but a terrific puller on lead and very strong.

Its just an arrangement to give my friend a break a couple of times a week.

Im just nervous of doing anything to cause a hernia recurrence as this one was very large and painful before surgery!

I think you're better off asking your doctor the specific question rather than asking on here where you're likely to get a range of replies and be confused!

I wouldn't walk a 40kg dog that pulled and I'm not recovering from surgery - it's not safe.

Nope. At least another 3 months for that kind of activity. If you were going back to the gym at 3 months post surgery you'd start with lighter weights and build up. Your scar will only just be healed and will be strengthening and if a dog pulls you could easily damage the healing process.

I would be concerned. I also think it’s sad that the dog has not yet been trained and is still pulling in the lead.

Tell the owner that you can’t risk injury and she needs someone else to walk the dog and going forward the dog needs to be trained properly.

Thank you, that sums up what Ive been thinking!