Postoperative young spaniel

JP08

Our 11 month spaniel is supposed to be taking it easy post spaying after a case of pyometra (yes, she's VERY young for it).

But spaniel and taking it easy don't fit together very well, and two days after coming home she's bouncing off the walls ... and the furniture .... and us ... with boredom and pent up energy. We've got another 10 before the stitches come out.

There's only so many hours a day you can give her intense fuss, only so many treats and cheese she can extract from a Kong, and she's only stoned on her tablets for an hour or so.

So, anyone any ideas how to keep her amused without getting physical ?

sheramber

Spend the time training her to 'settle', by lying down and relaxing- a useful thing is later life as well.

to lie down and cross her paws left over right, then left over right,

Cover her eyes with her paws, again when lying down.

look to the left, look to the right all on cue.

Mental exercise is much more tiring for the brain than physical exercise.

Look up Kikopup on youtube for trainingg ideas

Scatter her dinner around the house or garden so she has to search it out.

JP08

Thanks for replying.

The problem is that she doesn't really stay still long enough to play in depth training games in the first place as she's so full of bounce. And while find games are greatly enjoyed, it's a bit like watching one of those drug bust dogs ... where everything up to 6 foot high is considered a potential location for a hidden ball in her mind. Great fun to watch but not good for stitches. And the garden is even worse ... three foot retaIning walls and a fourty foot bank to hurtle down, with the option of rousing a rabbit or pheasant into the bargain.

Oh, and the cone collar of shame is now history. Someone was flexible enough to get hold of an edge. The result was shredded plastic.

Spaniels are just so ... enthusiastic ...

sheramber

You need to keep her on a lead so that she cannot jump about.

You really need to be cruel to be kind as she could cause damage to herself meaning even more restriction.

My dog's collar was more duck tape than collar. He just barged though anywhere it didn't fit