Bit of a limp

sazzybum

Hey hey. Bit of advice needed.

Brucie (1 year 2month old staffie) had been limping on and off for the last few weeks, so we took him to the vet tonight (Madam Zelda needed a manicure as well so thought we'd get him checked out). The vet couldn't find anything obvious-he's not in pain and not whinging when it's manipulated-so has given him anti inflammatories.

The trouble being is that he LOVES his ball, and it's the only way he ignores other people, dogs etc, so when we go out he just chases his ball. The vet has said NO ball games, just a tootle on his lead, no jumping up on the sofa, or bed(help) for at least a fortnight.

What on earth do I do? As soon as I get his lead , he grabs his ball and starts dancing! I feel it's cruel to just walk him on his lead, even though I know in the long run it'd be better for him-when he's used to ball chasing all the time.

Anyone else had this problem?

Fire_Fox

Watch some episodes of 'It's Me or the Dog' and see how Victoria Stilwell trains the dog to pay attention to her whilst on the lead. She uses a particular type of lead/ halter, turns 280 degrees as soon as his attention is even slightly taken by another dog/ human/ cat and so on.

There_Goes_Trouble

Will he carry the ball?

I've never liked excessive ball throwing/chasing although I can see why some people use it as a distraction. However personally I think that the repeated chase followed by a screech to a halt and twist as the dog tries to catch the ball, can potentially harm the dog physically in the long run. It could be that your dog has caused his injury in this way.

Personally I would say that no ball chasing means no ball chasing. As Fire Fox suggests, maybe it's time to investigate other ways of distracting Brucie, or maybe training him not to be as reactive to people/dogs (I'm assuming that's why you use the ball, apologies if I'm wrong!)

krlyr

I'd find other ways to entertain him. For example, stick him on a long line with just a few metres and hide his ball in long grass before sending him to 'go find it'. When he gets the hang of it, make it more complex by pretending to hide it in a few different places so he can't spot where you left it, and so on. The sniffing out will be lower impact than dashing after a ball but he still has the fun of finding it and fetching it back to you.
You can do other things to entertain him on a walk, like teaching him tricks or teaching some scentwork.
http://www.youtube.com/kikopup and http://www.youtube.com/pamelamarxsen have some good ideas on things you can train while out and about

sazzybum

Fabulous! Thank you.. You'd think after many years of dog owning I'd know things like this, but my mind went blank!

Thank you

zaksmum

Could there be anything in the paw? Maybe between the pads or under a nail?

Helen2k8

I like the "sniff it out" idea. Exercises a different set of senses. My allegedly clever dog snuffles right past a smelly treat hidden under a rug corner, so we've pleeeeeeenty of time to gradually make it more challenging!!

sazzybum

zaksmum wrote: »

Could there be anything in the paw? Maybe between the pads or under a nail?

No- he got thoroughly checked at the vets. I had looked but got the vet to really give him a going over, and there was nothing. I spoke to a dog trainer earlier today who said that the worst things invented was those 'flingers' and to 'fling' mine away! I've to roll the ball for him and not let him jump at all.

It's very difficult- you'd have thought I was abusing him this morning when I didn't take his flinger-ears and tail down. He totally ignored the ball when I tried to hide it and let him find it...

Just a case of time I guess:(

Sagz_2

You are going to have to get him mentally tired instead of physically tired. Time to teach all those little silly tricks like :
Put your toys away
Shut / open the door (cupboard, draw)
Bang! drop down dead
Pull the blanket up and go to sleep

If you google you'll find lots of cute tricks that will help wear Brucie out until he can play ball again.

Good Luck x