Cruciate Ligament surgery round 2

[Leo90]

Ddog has just had his 2nd cruciate ligament operated on and we're only 4 days in to the recovery and he's utterly fed up I honestly don't know how he's going to cope with the next 11 weeks. He got very depressed the last time. He had his first leg done back in January so this is his 2nd forced rest this year. Any ideas to cheer him up.

Anything he can chew, deers antlers, stuffed kongs etc? A new chewy toy?

Hoping the 11 weeks goes quickly.

He's got a new toy which he takes with him whenever he gets out his pen. However don't really want to be giving extra food has he's only get about 10% of the exercise he's use to.

My jack Russell had this surgery done a few months back, it was as stressful as having a newborn! Sorry not much help but I know what your going through

It's really stressful and he's one of those dogs with a really high pain threshold so as far as he's concerned he's recovered and should be allowed to resume his usual activities such as zoomies up and down the stairs.

“However don't really want to be giving extra food has he's only get about 10% of the exercise he's use to.”

Cut down his actual food to compensate for the chewy stuff and give him it in a way that also keeps him busy and takes up some of his time.

How big is he , when my dog was on rest we used to take him out for long car rides and then take him out to lunch at the beach or garden centre , but he’s only 13kg so easy to carry .

He's a boxer cross so bigish. And definitely not well behaved enough for garden centres.

Sympathies, I had the same and am convinced that ddog went grey from the stress he ruptured cruciates on both sides within six weeks of each other.

He loves being brushed, so I used to get the kids to sit in with him and brush his ears which he loved and passed some time.

Snuffle mats are really good, and and keep them entertained for a while.

If we were watching TV I lifted him on to the sofa and kept him there. ( and lifted him down again)

We had loads of non slip vet bed on the floor so he good have strictly supervised potter around the house safely.

A year on and he is back to normal and running like the wind!

Can you take him out for rides in the car you will get fit, hopefully not injured from lifting him in and out!)

We had a buggy for ours and took him our for "walks" We used doggy huts - we actually sold it for a profit on ebay when he was better:) Although don't walk around St Ives we got loads of nasty stares -everywhere else seemed ok though!

If he is fed kibble soak it in hot water so it expands then put it into a kong and freeze it - this will take him longer to eat so will tire him out.

There is also a book called no walk no worries that has other ideas

It is more effort for us to do other activities -going for a walk is so much easier but you will find that this kind of interaction will really help your relationship with your dog and keep him happy and not depressed.

Good luck and lets hope the weeks fly by - at least you are not having to get up at sill yo'clock to walk them in the cool -(trying to look on the bright side!)

Dog had one done in 2012 with no issues, she had the other leg done in June 17 which failed. We had to wait a while and had it redone in March this year...it failed again. No idea why, we did everything right, she's crate trained so was rested appropriately, had the recommended walks etc. It's so frustrating, we're back at specialist on 9th July to see where we go from here but I'm not putting her through a 3rd op.

I feel your pain OP, hope all goes well

vallahala it's when we take him out he's at his worst if he sees other dogs he gets excited and starts bouncing about on his back legs.

kinky oh no that's sounds awful I hope you get a solution.

Oooh as a dog trainer I would use this as an ideal time to work on dog reactions but maybe not what everyone wants to do

I hope he does well

Yeah I found last time this got worse the longer he was confined to his lead. He's use to a lot of socialisation with other dogs as he goes to daycare.

He basically spends a lot of time looking at me as if I've ruined his life.