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Crate Rest w/ Weak Stomach


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Does anyone have suggestions for crate rest activities/treats for a dog with a weak stomach? Tripp came up 100% non-weight bearing lame on his rear hind leg last Thursday. There's been some very slight improvement with rest since then -- he'll occasionally hop on it here and there -- but it's slow going. He has a nylabone, a favorite stuffed teddy bear, and isn't a big fan of plain kongs. His stomach is easily upset so I'm reluctant to try too much in the way of edible chewies. Rawhide type chews, for instance, give him diarrhea. Yogurt doesn't seem to bother him, so he can have that frozen in a kong, and I may try some peanut butter... if I can get up the courage to risk it. I was just wondering if anyone else has any suggestions for managing his crate rest time, especially for dogs with generally weak stomachs. I hate to give him digestive upset on top of the crate rest, but at 8 months old keeping him crated is rough on everybody.

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I've posted a list I got from someone some time ago to a couple of threads here, but the gist of it was you can do all kinds of stuff that involves him laying down with you on a short leash...like laying outside chewing up leaves, that sort of thing. DO a search for crate rest and see what comes up.

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Jovi, fantastic idea with the kibble, thank you! I'm not sure what's going on with him. There was no pinpoint-able event that I know of that caused it and he does not react at all, in any way, to palpation, massage, or flexion in his foot, leg, hip, or spine. No visible injuries and nothing on or between his pads. He went to bed Wednesday night just fine and either woke up with this Thursday morning or went out and then came back in with it first thing. Unfortunately, my daughter let him out so I'm not sure which it is. I have to be out of town until Friday for work, so it was either take him in today or wait until Friday and see how he is. I talked to the vet today and since he has improved -- even if only incrementally -- they agreed it would be fine to continue to rest him this week and see how it goes.

 

Rushdoggie, thanks for the suggestion. I did do a search before posting but found most of the suggestions to be iffy given his history of stomach upset. I'll take another look. He is already allowed to come out a little bit, when he's able to remain calm. Sometimes even on a short leash though, being out of the crate is too much for such a young pup and he has a hard time laying still (understandably at that age.) Regardless of *where* he's laying he just needs something to do. And since I will be gone for most of the remainder of the week he's going to be spending a lot of that in the crate.

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I feel for you! Going through the same thing right now with my Seamus. Lucky for me he is older and (not so great) we've been through this a lot. He knows the routine so well now.

 

What about ice cubes or broth cubes? My guys LOVE raw green beans and lettuce cores or celery butts.

 

Jennifer

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Is he into toys - while Kenz was on crate rest she would get by with having squeakie balls to play with.

 

I also use to take her for drives in the car for a change of scenery. We would head out to a park with a newspaper and a cup of coffee or something and I would allow her to sit down and watch things.

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Jennifer, I'm so sorry to hear about Seamus. I really hope this doesn't become a repeated thing with Tripp. Thanks for the suggestions, I bet he'd love the broth cubes and they probably wouldn't be too hard on his stomach. I'll put some in to freeze up tonight before I go to bed so DH has them readily available all week.

 

Ness, yes and no. He's very into some toys, but then not much interested at all in others and it's hard to predict. He LOVES his teddy, but then other things seem hit or miss and only seem to hold his attention for a short time -- other than stock, and the barn kitties but I don't think I can fit sheep in the crate and I suspect the barn kitties would object. LOL!

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Category: Fun Stuff ¤

Author: Susan Fraser ¤

Title: 101 Things To To With a Dog IN a Box ¤

 

Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 23:08:18 EST

 

Sez Andrea:

<< **Susan, I remember that someone else had asked for "resting" c/t

and I thought

of you but I had not kept any of those posts. Maybe a recap of what

you did with

Shammie might be enjoyed (please pretty please..... G) >>

 

Well, since you said pretty please... <g>

 

First, I took the Rx for crate rest to mean "lying down" rest. So I

put a mattress

on the floor next to the crate and when Shammie was awake, I tried to be on the

mattress with her. She had already learned "down" so she got lots of c/t's for

just staying in a down. Now remember too that she was just 3 months old, so some

of these games might be too juvenile...

 

We played a lot of "mouse under here" where I put my hand under a towel and

scritched and moved it around by her front feet, and she would bat at

it with her

front paws. Then I would put a sheet or towel over her, and tickle

her. And I would

hide a treat or toy under a towel and she learned to nose under it.

That progressed

to treats under empty cans, even sliding the cans around - "guess which can"?

 

I stuffed torn strips of an old sheet in a FisherPrice plastic ball

with holes and

she would puuullllll the strips out. (Again, again, and again!! :)) I also would

leave a tail of a strip dangling thru the door in the crate, and she

would pull it

in there, too. I let her shred a few pages of the newspaper every day

(probably not

the best idea <g>).

 

And she got lots of ice cubes (beef, chicken, even fruit), carrots,

broccoli, hooves,

real bones, and STUFFED Kongs (my husband said that HE was tempted to lick the

stuffing out a couple of times! LOL!), etc. Also drill holes in

Nylabones and fill

with cheese, pate', etc.

 

As far as teaching with the clicker, she learned to put her paws over her nose

("Shame, shame!"), Hold (she's a retriever!), and touch her nose to the correct

one out of three toys in front of her when I said it's name.

 

And then there's the Fisher Price crib toy. We spent a LOT of time

with the Farmer's

Pop-up Barn. When she pushed the round thing (with her nose) the

chicken popped up.

She used a paw to slide a bar, and that popped up the cow. Also a dial

for the farmer

and a lever for the sheep.

 

The chicken was her favorite, and self-rewarded, as it honked and

popped up whether

she got a treat or not. (Now, it's a cute party trick for little kids,

who get more

of a kick out of her getting it WRONG - I say "Where's the cow?", she bonks the

chicken, and they say "That's not the *cow*, Shammie, that's the *chicken*!!"

Over and over...:->)

 

I also taught her "speak" and "quiet". And we watched T.V. shows with

animal sounds.

And she got brushed with one of those hand mits, and learned about

brushing teeth.

Did I mention belly rubs and aroma therapy?

 

She had vet's permission to go out to potty on a leash. He never said she had to

come right back in....<g>. So we sat in the yard and tore up leaves

and pine cones

and made cloud pictures pretty often, too. And there were the car

rides in suckerdaddy's

arms...

 

Oh, and she had a stuffed bear almost as big as she was, that she took

out a lot of

aggressions on. It's name was "Omega Bear". :) (We're on about the 5th

generation

'Mega now...)

 

I'm sure there's more, but the bottom line is that this doesn't have

to be such a

bummer for you *or* the dog. We both got frustrated, but really,

having a dog lying

down and looking to you for entertainment is an incredible bonding experience.

 

My biggest problem was keeping the OTHER dog from going nuts!!

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