Not sure what to do about our (very small) dog

[Knickerbockergloryonthebeach]

We have a small crossbreed dog. She is much much smaller than we had expected her to be (we had thought Jack Russell sized at a minimum). She's a year old and we've had her since about 8 weeks I think, but is still very puppyish in her behaviour. She's very lively and forgets her commands when she's excited although she's quite well behaved at other times.

We also have two small children, who we are trying to teach to be calm around the dog but who do get a bit overexcited.

Over the weekend, the youngest managed to somehow injure her. No one saw but possibly by leaning on her. It's put one of her legs out of joint at the elbow. We've been to the vet and had xrays and we have the option of an operation with a long recovery or leaving her to see whether she manages it. If we have the operation we have no idea how we stop her from jumping, running, etc. If we don't have the operation we're worried her leg(s) will get worse as she ages.

And we're also worried that with two small children she's simply too small a dog for our family (although she's lovely in every other way, very friendly and loves our youngest).

Wondered if anyone had any advice either about the operation or if it would be kinder and safer to rehome her?

WTF?
You pay the money and get your poor dog’s leg repaired!!!!
I’ve literally heard it all now.

Has the dog been in pain & struggling to walk since the weekend?!
Get her operated on then rehome, otherwise that’s just cruel.

Sounds as though she needs her operation - following that you need to have a long hard think about whether you can provide for her or whether the poor dog will be better off with new owners .

What the hell.

You have an injured dog and can't be arsed with the hassle of repairing her leg because you have young children?

Relinquish the dog to a charity who will give her the care she needs and never, ever get another pet.

As pp said, your dog needs the operation so she heals properly. After the operation you need to contain her to an area that she can't jump on anything so that the leg heals. Teach your children to be gentle and calm around the dog or keep them separate until they are old enough to understand.

I think, with small dogs, there is merit in a wait and see approach to injuries. If there's a real prospect of recovery without an op, I'd be tempted to delay the op and see if the leg heals well without it. That's on the understanding that any pain is managed and that you can enforce bed rest.

Regardless of what you decide in terms of treatment, you really really need to reinforce gentle treatment of the dog by your children. Is there somewhere the dog can escape to or are there clear rules about what behaviour is allowed around the dog ? Talk of rehoming is premature and it would be more appropriate to ensure that the children are fully aware of how they need to behave.

Good luck and speak to your vet if you have any concerns about making the wrong decision.

Sorry I don’t quite understand.

I’m no vet. So if the vet suggested leaving her leg/joint that will still have to be carefully managed I would expect. With no running/jumping about as much as with an op.

If you’re looking at rehoming wouldn’t you need/want to fix the dog first? You couldn’t expect a rehoming charity to pay for the op.

Did you see her parents? What are they? How big are they?

If she’s a lot smaller than you expected is she healthy? Is the vet happy with her condition?

When you say 'out of joint' what do you mean, exactly? Has the vet said it might heal by itself?

I think you need to resolve the injury before considering rehoming - an injured dog would be very hard to rehome.

Presumably the vet has told the op her options that include waiting to see if she manages the leg without the op?! And this is why she's unsure what to do? I have no idea why there are replies insinuating she can't be bothered to pay or get the dog treated. That's not how it reads at all.

Children and dogs should never be left alone together! Poor little thing.

I have no idea why there are replies insinuating she can't be bothered to pay or get the dog treated. That's not how it reads at all.

It reads to me as though the operation would require a lot of aftercare and that it's too much hassle to cope with when they have small children in the house.

You could only keep her if you could guarantee that she could be kept separately from your dc. It’s not fair on her otherwise and you can’t put her in the position of being accidentally hurt again, or reacting by snapping and hurting one of your dc.
I don’t know why people are accusing you of just leaving her with an injured leg either, it’s obvious it’s one of the options suggested by your vet.

She's not in pain! Sorry, I thought I'd put that. The vet doesn't think she's in pain, she's eating and running around, and being her normal self, it's just the leg comes out so she doesn't put weight on it, then it goes back in and she does. For clarification, the vet has also not said one way or the other whether to do the operation and it was him that told us to take her home and see how she got on. If she was in pain we would have done the op immediately! Sorry, I should have been clearer.

You manage it... it won’t be easy and will require crating her and carrying her in/out to pee for duration of recovery period. You get the poor mite fixed and you teach your small children how to properly behave around her or you keep them separate unless supervised at all times. In other words you be the grown ups and you put the work in for a creature that you took responsibility for.

Fair enough, sorry.

She got injured because you haven’t kept her safe. That’s on you. Keep your kids away from the dog and keep the dog safe. And if it’s dislocating and popping back in then it will hurt. A LOT. Do the decent thing and get the dog treated.

And it's not the hassle of the recovery, it's that we are really really worried about how we prevent her from doing herself more damage, as if she jumps etc after the op then she risks doing herself permanent damage.

I guess I was after advice about how we would manage preventing a lively puppy from jumping.

And no, I'm not trying to get rid of her because she's damaged and I can't be bothered to fix her, we've had 4 very dodgy rabbits who required long term care so we are happy to do that, I was asking whether having a very small dog around young children was a good idea.

The children weren't left alone, my mum was washing up in the room but didn't see what happened, and it was literally in seconds. They weren't messing around, just sitting down watching tv.

I saw parents, one medium poodle, one medium jack Russell.

It is unlikely to 'heal' but she may become adept at managing it.

The children weren’t supervised. Being in the room isn’t good enough. And “trying” to teach the kids not to hurt the dog isn’t good enough.
You use a crate or a puppy pen. You limit exercise and give a LOT of attention to doing brain games etc to stimulate this poor dog.
You took the animal on. So do the right thing.

It would mean not just being in the same room as your dog and your dc, but watching their every interaction. Dc can be clumsy, dogs can be unpredictable and jump around so not where you think they are ( I’ve tripped over mine often enough and it’s awful when you think you have hurt them so your dc will probably be feeling bad about it too).
Only you can decide if you’re able to monitor every single interaction plus keep her calm and quiet while she recovers, so look at it honestly and carefully and base your decision on that.

How cruel...take the dog to the vets

Ok but accidents do happen. It could have been one of us that did it, as she has a habit of running in between your legs, or it could have happened anyway as the vet said some dogs are susceptible. I just said they weren't being rough, they were sat down watching telly.

I was asking a genuine question for advice to see if others had had a similar experience and could offer advice. I think I'm being a responsible owner as we've taken advice from the vet, from the lady who looks after our dog when we go away, and I had hoped from others with more experience on the subject. I haven't said I'm giving her away, or dumping her on a charity(!?) or that I can't be bothered to take care of her. I also explained that we had not expected her to be so small (yes to answer a pp, she is perfectly healthy, the vets are happy with her weight, she is just very slight).

I am genuinely unsure what is the best course of treatment because EVEN OUR VET DIDN'T KNOW.

But thanks to those of you who've made me feel about 12 years old.

Yes, you need a crate and a more structured approach to supervision.

Will a stair gate keep her out? She needs to be in her crate while the children are unsupervised, or loose in a room with only you. When everyone is together, you need to be actively watching,

@Aoibhneas we did? 👍

I have a bouncy jack Russell. She had to remain calm after an operation so basically she stayed in a large crate if I wasn’t around to watch her, she is created trained anyway. My sisters dog has a large playpen ( small dog) tostados in when she needs to be calmed. Try one of those!

Bear in mind, OP, lots of these posts happened at the same time- people haven't all read all your and other people's posts. It sounds like they are nagging, but they were all posted separately IYSWIM