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[alienbump]

because nobody has answered on the Pets board and I've just got back from the school run and his whining and barking has reached new levels of desperation....Any inspiration on what could persaude him a crate isn't a bad place to spend 8 weeks??

original post:
"My poor little pup fractured his leg on Saturday and is now on day 3 of 8 weeks cage rest and he is hating it. He's a six month old Papillon and even though he's tiny he always has at least 2 long walks a day and spends most of the rest of the time chasing round the house after the kids. I'm just after any ideas on how to make it easier for him, he's eating well and luckily he always sleeps in his crate anyway so night time has been fine so far. It's just 7am 'til 10pm we're struggling with!"

What toys can you put in there?

What about something that smells of you?

kongs, stuffed with frozen meat are always a sure bet. My dog fractured his leg when he was 3 months old and has since had 2 more operations as he is a BIG dog, and has spent 7 months of his short 2 years aof life on house arrest!

Also raw bones are good but depends on the age of your pup.

You need to keep him occupied mentally if possible - perhaps a large raw bone to gnaw on - plus kongs filled with frozen food are good.

is he allowed out of the crate at all? Could you do some training with him or games - that wouldn't involve moving around too much? eg. guessing which cup you have hidden a treat under?

Also - would a DAP plug in maybe help calm him down?

I bet minimu will have ideas!

poor puppy!

Not thought of something of mine going in, good idea - I'll go and have a rumage in the laundry. Tried leaving "one man and his dog" on for him last night ,much to dh's derision, have to say he was probably right as poor puppy just looked offended at the sight of dogs running round fields freely... hmm, maybe Animal Hospital might be a better choice!

could he manage one of those little balls they push around and treats fall out of the holes - it might occupy him for a bit. I second the idea of something hat smells of you, we also leave the radio or TV on low for our dog if we go out, she seems to like the sound of a voice.

Is he allowed to walk around at all even in the room? if not maybe you could take him out and carry him round a bit, let him look out the window, or get a breath of fresh air, just for a change of scene.

Oh poor mite!

Lots of Kong toys plus others and rotate them so he doesn't get bored. Be very careful and check toys each time you leave him with them in case of damage to them and thus potential harm to him. Rawhide chews? Pigs ears? (Yuk!)

If you can move the crate to where you are in the house from time to time he may feel comforted... perhaps when you're MN-ing and have time to talk to him and fuss him too?

Also don't feel bad about closing a door and leaving him to bark for a while - he has to learn that attention is not given every time he demands it or he'll just repeat the performance if he associates it with results.

Give him a hug from the Val household please!

oooh what's a DAP plugin? that sounds worth a go. He has a kong but I'd not thought of frozen meat so he's been emptying it pretty quickly of it's squished up sausage, I'l freeze it overnight for him... Great ideas, and I'll try anything really. Have carried him to look at the ducks today but not sure if that's ok under "cage rest" instructions, need to check with vet. Have been contemplating digging out dd2's old sling but fear I may look like mad Paris Hilton wannabe and also that I may do his leg more harm.

Oh thanks Valhalla, I feel so sorry for him and also guilty that I should have prevented it happening in the first place. It's not long ago I posted on a thread about "all dogs should be on a lead and muzzled all the time" sort of thread and I made some jokey comment about if only unreliable children could be kept on leads instead of being left free to maul my puppy. Guess what happened?? One cute little girl picked up cute little puppy (after asking and being told no), he wriggles, she drops him, one broken leg, 8 weeks in a cage and a £1000 vet bill later it doesn't seem so jokey anymore!

Madamedeathstare, that's just given me a fab idea - I wonder if the vet would ok one of those ridiculous dog buggy things that Pet World sell? My daughters have pined for one of those ever since we got him and I've always scoffed - now I'm seeing them in a new light.

This is a DAP www.buydap.co.uk/ you can get ones which plug in to a plug socket.

Also, for frozen kongs, you can mash banana with bio yoghurt and put in kongs, you can seal the holes with either peanut butter or cream cheese. Takes them ages to eat!

Oh poor pup. I don't have any experience of confining a dog to barracks, but the buggy idea sounds great - I've seen elderly dogs out enjoying the air that way.