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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

will my dogs be ok if I can't walk them for a week

26 replies

HarlotOTara · 05/08/2011 09:18

Hi, I had an accident yesterday which means I have hurt my knee quite badly and can't walk really. I have two golden retrievers who are usually walked every day, my dh is working away this week and my eldest dd is a student working in her university town and my youngest dd has a mild disability which means she can't walk the dogs on her own. I have a fairly large garden and they have access to it at all times. I have looked at dog walking prices and it is too expensive for me. I suppose I am asking if they will be ok not being walked until my knee is better. DH will be back next week so he can do the walking if my knee hasn't recovered in time.

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 05/08/2011 09:30

Well I'd make an effort to go and sit in the garden to play fetch or something with them and possibly see if I could borrow a teenager ( much cheaper than a dog walker)

but they'll not implode without walks for a week, just get a bit bored and not burn off as much energy

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 05/08/2011 09:36

Fetch is ok but for retrievers they are not very good at bringing back! They tend to both go for the same ball and then posture around with it in their mouth. However can sit and have a go. I know it is also mental stimulation that keeps them from being bored so any ideas that mean I don't have to move too much. My knee has blown up like a balloon and is very painful

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 05/08/2011 10:00

Ah but posturing round with it in their mouths still keeps them busy doesn't it, lol.

I don't know what your DD2's disability is, but can she help you play with them? Recover the first toy while you throw another one? ( or third given that there's two dogs, lol)

Or could she be the hider for hide and seek?

Extra training would keep them busy as well and you could do that sitting, find some wee things to teach them and/or reinforce things

um, do you know anyone who could walk one of them and they could take it in turns? So that they've been walked occasionally.

You've also got those toys that you put food in that they have to chase to get it out, or kongs stuffed with food - that'd keep them busy

um, I don't know what else

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 05/08/2011 10:05

Tabula, thanks for the suggestions, I will do training and give them treats. They usually follow me around and sit on my feet! Re. Kongs, which is what I think you might mean, they are supposed to be indistructable - not in this house.

I can keep them amused, just feel bad they can't be walked, will be beautifully groomed however.

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 05/08/2011 10:12

No I never found kongs indestructable either, though they did last more than the twenty minutes other things survived, lol

But you also get hard plastic balls that you fill with dried food and it gradually falls out a piece at a time as they roll it round.

As long as you keep them busy I'm sure they'll be fine for one week :)

Rhinestone · 05/08/2011 20:33

I'm sure they'll cope for a week as long as you sit outside with them as much as you possibly can. Alternatively are you sure you don't know anyone who would happily walk them for free? I would if I was near you.

chickchickchicken · 05/08/2011 20:40

have you thought about contacting www.papas.org.uk/ they offer a free dog walking service for people experiencing health problems, either on a temporary or permanent basis. it does depend on whether there are any volunteers in your area. all volunteers are vetted before being accepted onto their list. i would recommend them

however, with lots of games and training at home i think they will be ok without a walk for a week

Ephiny · 05/08/2011 21:15

If you have a neighbour with dogs, it might be worth asking if they'd take yours out as well? Though I guess maybe two big dogs might be too much for many people to walk as well as their own!

I agree lots of play in the garden sounds good, my dog isn't the greatest at fetch either (this might be a good opportunity to try to teach it though!), but loves hide and seek. He also has a big 'boomer ball' that's too big for him to pick up, and he seems to be able to endlessly amuse himself by pushing it around with his legs/head and chasing it. This works best when there's a hill he can push it up, Sisyphus-style :)

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 08/08/2011 10:15

Hi, Thanks for all the advice, they got a long walk on Sat. and Sun. so that was good. DH home in the next few days. I have spent a lot of time grooming them, any goldie owners will know about that!! So they are looking particularly lovely. They seem happy to sleep most of the time though. At my feet as I type.

OP posts:
BettyTurnip · 08/08/2011 21:49

I'm very envious of the fact that you have two golden retrievers - we have one, a gorgeous boy, and I'd love another but DH won't relentlessly. Our boy does the same posturing with a ball or toy rather than actually bringing it back.

He's lying in his basket now gently emanating waves of stinkiness from the river he was swimming in today, even though he was thoroughly hosed afterwards. I suppose two retrievers would be double the smell, and double the hairballs around the house.

I'm still jealous though Grin.

BettyTurnip · 08/08/2011 21:49

DH won't relent, rather!

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 09/08/2011 22:39

Betty, you are right, double everything including fun. Can't you take him to see some adorable puppies? Tbh two is no more work than one but costs double.

OP posts:
lisad123 · 09/08/2011 23:23

if your near me in herts im happy to help

Cheria · 10/08/2011 08:38

Mine won't bring balls etc back either - or if he does bring them back he won't let them go. As others have said, ensuring they run as much as possible in the garden should be OK for a week. As long as they get a nice long walk at the end of the week they should be OK.

Ideal of course is to bribe a local kid to do it (one you know and trust obviously - wouldn't trust some of my village kids to walk mine; little neighbours kicked him once when they thought I wasn't looking).

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 10/08/2011 08:59

Lisa - thanks but all ok now - dh home.

Cheria - what is it about retrievers? I always thought they were meant to bring things back. They love balls, especially on walks but it always ends up with both dogs wanting the same one and then balls disappearing that I just don't bother anymore.

OP posts:
Cheria · 10/08/2011 09:25

I assume working retrievers actually retrieve; wouldn't be much use if they ran off with the dead pheasant or duck would they. I assume they can therefore be trained, but I have found training my dog to do lots of things very easy. But he still won't 'give' the ball, or stick, unless it is exchange for a treat.

Maybe that's how they encourage working dogs - here, have a dry biscuit in exchange for that lovely juicy bird Grin

You're so lucky to have two. I would love another one but with two cats and a baby I already get the impression sometimes as I look out the corner of my eye that the floors are actually moving!

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 10/08/2011 11:14

Well mine will do anything for food. My eldest dog is 6 and I have been trying since a puppy to get him to fetch and drop, very obedient in other ways however. They were fed twice last night, dd fed them and 10 minutes later I did as they were acting like it was food time - should have checked really.

I used to have four cats and one dog, cats always had the upperhand. I loved my cats but prefer dogs if I am honest. I do know someone who has four goldies and someone who actually has 12, she shows and breeds but lives with all the dogs in a two bedroom flat - it is true as she told me herself. Dread to think how she copes with dog hair let alone anything else!!

OP posts:
Cheria · 10/08/2011 11:22

Shock at 12 dogs in a two bed flat!

Yes, anything for food, and thieving if they can get away with it. Mine nabbed a whole baguette from the coffee table the other day and took it upstair to eat behind the bed where he thought we couldn't see him.

Our fault for leaving it out but he doesn't steal often - must have been irresistable...

BettyTurnip · 10/08/2011 22:38

I wonder if anyone has a goldie that ISN'T greedy?! Not sure they exist tbh. I'm on high alert in the summer as ours will brazenly pinch food from picnics on the beach and at parks. All recall goes out of the window at the slightest whiff of food; very embarrassing.

Harlot - I've implored with DH on more than one occasion about another one, but his point is about the cost which is fair enough if I'm being sensible.

How are your dogs managing without their walks? Our boy is 6 too. Will have to try to get a photo up, he really is so handsome (not biased of course Grin).

Cheria · 11/08/2011 09:08

There's a MNetter who breeds them, will have to ask her. When our neighbours have a BBQ mine stands on his back legs and peers over the wall. They always end up giving him loads. It's the eyes I think, they are very persuasive. And of course once they started that for him it became part of the rulez Grin

Mine is at the point where he will only eat his dog biscuits if he is really hungry. Leaves it til last thing at night before eating them when he is absolutely sure he's not going to get anything else. Admittedly he is spoilt - our local butcher keeps back meat for him so every week I come home with a carrier bag full of bones and meat cuttings which he much prefers to his biscuits (don't blame him). I make it last all week, and every time I go to the fridge he joins me and does The Eyes.

OP, how are yours doing with the walk free week?

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 11/08/2011 09:34

Hi, they were ok and I did manage to get them walked a couple of times - all back to normal here now thanks - apart from my knee.

Betty - I bet your dog isn't as handsome as mine Grin. He is the most beautiful I have ever seen!! The younger one isn't but has a fantastic personality.

I agree about food my youngest dog sits right behind me when I am cokking waiting for anything to fall on the floor and is right behind me when I look in the fridge. One of them ate 3/4 of a Christmas cake once , rather subdued for a few days! My big dread is for my dogs to interrupt someone's picnic, I always keep an eye out and put them on a lead if I see some in the distance but the day will come....

OP posts:
Cheria · 11/08/2011 12:53

Do your dogs drool? Everyone comments on my dog's long gloopy strands of drool when near food as if it was weird. Are other goldens liek that?

Original poster
HarlotOTara · 11/08/2011 14:30

Yes but not gloopy strands thank goodness - I hate dog slobber, I can manage poos and anything else but not that which is unfortunate. We should start a goldie appreciation thread

OP posts:
Ephiny · 11/08/2011 14:36

Be thankful you don't have a Rottie, I just have to accept that clothes, furniture, other dogs etc will get covered in drool if he as much as looks at them. The first thing he did when we met him was shove his face in my lap and deposit horrible gelatinous gloop all over my jeans and handbag! It's gross but you get used to it, and I don't mind because I love him :)

The only worse slobberers I've seen have been Mastiffs, the owners tend to carry a little cloth or flannel around with them to clean up. One I know has to carry his own drool cloth tucked into his harness.

Didn't know goldies were particularly slobbery, they're absolutely lovely beautiful dogs though.

Cheria · 11/08/2011 15:49

I love rotties too - there was one supposedly guarding a café I used to go to in Paris - he was such a softy. Come to think of it he was a drooler. He'd wander between tables trying to persuade people to hand food over. It was one of the big giant ones. Newbies got scared it put people off but he was lovely.