Mental Stimulation

sillysmiles

So our dog is one week post surgery, 7 weeks more of confinement to go and I feel like now we are entering into a different type of hard work.

For the last week he has been a bit sore and not keen to do much, but is obvisously becoming bored. In the last day or so I noticed he is becoming a little more stir crazy. And we have 7 weeks of "only in and out to go to the loo" left before he can start going for a walk.

I want to try mentally stimulate him but the problem is I can't have him getting excited (he'll try do zoomies around the kitchen) or play games where he has to find things (as he is confined to a small space and his movement needs to be restricted to about 1m x 1m).

Anybody any idea? Cross-words? sudoku?

Ms Doubtfire1

Sudoku lol...try a kong with a difficult solution? whats wrong with doggie?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2__-QAbCpM&feature=share&list=UU1Rz3vE7ht1ygpJ8q4xpNow

I'm pretty sure someone on here (tk I think..?) has some tricks you can train a dog while he's in confinement. Always struck me as a really good way to utilise the time!

sillysmiles

whats wrong with doggie?

He has had surgery on both of his back legs for damaged cruciate/joint stabilisation. So it is really really important that he doesn't do damage to them while healing.

sillysmiles

Deleted User wrote: »

I'm pretty sure someone on here (tk I think..?) has some tricks you can train a dog while he's in confinement. Always struck me as a really good way to utilise the time!

That's what I'm hoping!

ectoraige

I had a similar thread a while back, tk123 posted some good advice on it.
Kongs really helped occupy our guy, and the nose games described worked well. It's an awful lot of hard work, but look at it as an opportunity for training time.
Get a good supply of different toys to surprise him with every few days. Hope he heals well.

DBB

Also hard wearing chews like dried pizzles and beef scalps are great to while away some time whilst helping to release nice feelgood endorphins... You can get them on Zooplus.ie. I bought dried beef scalps last week that must be over a foot and a half long!

Bells21

Could you attempt to make your own snuffle mat or even purchase one? Small treats are broken up and sprinkled on the mat and essentially 'get lost' in it and they have to work to get them out.

Knine

DBB wrote: »

Also hard wearing chews like dried pizzles and beef scalps are great to while away some time whilst helping to release nice feelgood endorphins... You can get them on Zooplus.ie. I bought dried beef scalps last week that must be over a foot and a half long!

How long did they last?

tk123

sillysmiles you got a 2 week head start at us - Bailey is going in on tues to get his knee fixed(!)

My plan is...

meals as normal but may switch to them in kongs if he's got too much energy
morning and afternoon toilet break will be just a break but evenings I'll let him lie out on the floor and sit with him or maybe even sit out in the garden with him and have a coat on him/vet bed to lie on to keep warm (we have slabs)

tricks - hand/nose touch, leave it/take it, stay (obviously he's not going anywhere so it's stay quiet until I come back) and maybe some new ones - cross his paws, guilty etc

chews/treats - pizzles, snouts, tripe, sweet potato, meat strips etc etc - smaller ones in a Kong or he loves the k9 connectible ball things we have so I may get some more of them in different shapes? He wouldn't normally go mad for toys like that since the jaw op but they seem to be just right for him compared to other toys we have - he sits with these rather than going into a frenzy flinging them around. There was a tiny crumb of a treat in one the other week and he must have had it at least 20 mins - well Lucy was having MURDER at the injustice of it - she'd just cracked it open and ate the treats in a few mins but Bailey was being very dainty with them lol!

Comfort - his football so must make sure to keep at least one spare one dry for him at all times to rotate.... and Lucy to keep him company

I'm very lucky to be in the position to work from home as needed in case he's very lame and needs extra help or not settling.
My two are also quite settled too - they'll sleep for hours after breakfast, have their apple at lunchtime and sleep either side of dinner so I'm hoping he won't be too bored. He'll be on 10 min walks from week 3 so from experience from his other ops I know he'll be floored after it and should settle fine.

DBB

Knine wrote: »

How long did they last?

I haven't tried the huge long ones yet... Or rather, my dogs haven't as we're keeping them for a special occasion... But I have given them shorter pieces before. The 4" pizzles would last a 3-4 hour spell home alone, the scalp strips would survive the same with some left over... They seem very hard wearing.
That said, my GSDs are not savage chewers... They're rather ladylike actually (like myself... *cough, splutter*), so that'd need to be factored in for anyone buying them for hard chewers.

tk123

DBB wrote: »

The 4" pizzles would last a 3-4 hour spell home alone.

:eek::eek::eek: They last a few mins at best in our house - even with Bailey's wonky jaw!

DBB

tk123 wrote: »

:eek::eek::eek: They last a few mins at best in our house - even with Bailey's wonky jaw!

Ah yeah... But he's not ladylike

Knine

I need something that lasts a bit longer.


Jez that sounds wrong!

Choc Chip

One of the dogs decided to break chunks off one of the kongs this week (how!) so i need some new long lasting chews- I'm off to zooplus to try out pizzles and beef scalps. ☺

tk123

If you keep an eye on Living Social they often have €12 for €20 worth of stuff at MaxiZoo I prefer to have a look at pizzles and pick the ones that'll suit my two best so usually stock up when they have the vouchers

aonb

OP what breed of dog? is he naturally excitable or relaxed?

When small terrier had his cruciate replaced, we built a temporary barricade to keep him restricted to an area of the family room where most of the activity in this house goes on. His beds and waterbowl were there. ANyone having a coffee or reading the paper, or book or using laptops etc, had to sit on cushions within the dogs 'pen' - to keep him company. I went to the butcher and got regular supplies of bones for him to chew. I bought a couple of mind-training games - morning and afternoon, we'd 'do' those (yawn!) We developed lots of new games - used masking tape to seal up various small boxes with a bit of kibble inside - takes ages to get it out.

you might get some ideas here:
http://www.puppyleaks.com/easy-ways-to-keep-your-dog-busy-indoors/

A snuffle mat sounds like a great idea - I would have a go at making on from some old rags - if you're into sewing/etc

good luck - its the pits having a recuperating dog - but worth it when hes recovered

lorrilou

suggested to me this weekend for my boy was some of the clicker/trick training from Susan Garrett or Sylvia Trkman ... pizzles always go down well in my house ... pigs ears too, but they last seconds ... I've also Kongs, and the Kong wobbler which works ... as does surveying the outside world from the comfort of the sitting room

sillysmiles

Sorry for not getting back sooner.
On Sunday night/Monday morning a piece of metal had started to come through his skin. One of the pins came loose. So back to the vet on monday and they removed it, but say that we are not back to square one but if he does anymore damage by not resting then we are in trouble.

He's a 25kg lab. He's a short stocky lab. He is pretty chilled most of the time but then gets super excited about food. He is incredibly food motivated! Which made training a little easier, but I'm not sure how it would work now as I think he might get hyper trying to work out what he is meant to be doing!
I have sort of given up caring for the next few days whether he is bored or not, as he doesn't get destructive when bored, he just sort of surrenders to it. And in the long run, a little boredom is better for him than a failed surgery.
I think once we pass the 4 week mark I might start trying some tricks and training with him.

mymo

My two just spent 45 mins (bigger boy) and 2.5 hours (smaller girl) chomping and devouring a nice sized hunk of lamb ribs thanks to my very nice butcher. (They looked so nice and meaty I was questioning our bit of mince for fajitas)
Obviously a lab would need bigger bone than the small soft lamb ribs, but would a good meaty bone work with your fella?

I fill the kings with food and freeze them, takes longer to empty them.