# Keeping them calm on crate rest



## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Jinks had a vasectomy on Wednesday. He had a simple 7 day restricted exercise plan, however he decided that ripping out his stitches and constantly licking (throughout the night when I was sleeping) was a much better idea. Since the incision was starting to get infected, I took him into the e-vet today for a $600 cleaning and restitching... 

So now he has a 10 day crate rest. How in the world do you keep a bouncing-off-the-walls Malinois on crate rest for 10 days without killing himself in the crate?? I'm really looking for ideas here because I canNOT afford to have to get his sutures replaced again.

(Yes, he had a cone collar. Yes, he had an inflatable collar. Yes, he had his back end wrapped in a towel. Yes, he was pretty regularly monitored. NO- those precautions did not stop him from licking. [I do have a better fitting cone collar now.])


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

bad boy

No real suggestions from me, maybe lotsa chewies?? Can you atleast leash walk him?


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## Thorny (Nov 4, 2012)

Impossible request without tranquilizers.

My suggestion would be to put the crate in a dark room.

Just thinking out loud on this one, but would bitter apple work to prevent licking the incision area? Or would it burn like ****?


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Bitter apple is essentially vinegar, yes? I think it would burn like crazy. I don't think the vet tech was familiar with Mals, or perhaps not even WL Shepherds because she looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her how I was to keep a Mal crated for 10-14 days... I think that leashed walking will be my best option, probably. 

It really sucks because he seemed to be doing SO well initially. I guess it's my fault that he got to the sutures, but I really tried hard to prevent it. I'm not sure what more I can do other than to trust that the new cone will be better than the old one (which may have been a bit short- not to mention that he was also able to break it off).

Here's a little sad cuteness...


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Frozen raw bones, stuffed kongs, lots of games like the cup game, and really enforce the "place" command for staying quiet on a bed in the room you're in so they can still be around you and enjoy life but stay still and quiet (lots of treats and a leash to start if you haven't already).

I also agree quiet leash walks and just generally being around them praising them for being still.

I thought Delgado would go nuts after day 2 when the anesthesia officially wore off and the pain meds were fully in his system. I did pretty much everything I listed multiple times a day and thankfully though it felt like forever the two weeks did end and he was back to being able to play like the monster he is. I took it hour by hour and just did the best I could.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Tell me more about this cup game. I assume it's a nose/scent game- find the cookie, yes? That sounds fun!


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

wildo said:


> Tell me more about this cup game. I assume it's a nose/scent game- find the cookie, yes? That sounds fun!


Yep, the ol' "pea and shell" game for humans changed slightly for dogs  Take 3-4 plastic cups and put a treat under one of them, put them in a line and move them around to spread the scent around and allow the dog to sniff and find the treat. It works best if they indicate with touching it with their nose or paw rather then knock it over themselves lol It's super easy to teach and best of all it can be played with the dog in a down so movement is kept to a minimum but their brain is working 

If it's too easy for Jinks then use really small or less smelly treats so it's harder or you can use a small toy if you want in place of the treat


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Cool game! Definitely sounds like fun. Thanks for the info!


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## arycrest (Feb 28, 2006)

Unless it's changed in the past 10 or 15 years, bitter apple and vinegar aren't even close to being the same. The Hooligans will eat pickles, salad w/vinegar based dressing, etc, but bitter apple NO WAY ... it even smells nasty and when I sniffed it it left a nasty/burny type taste in my mouth for a minute or so.

IMHO if all else fails, and I hope you find a workable solution, keeping him drugged may be your only option. Keep him on lead when you're home and can watch him ... find someone who can keep him on lead and watch him when you can't do it ... or drug him when both those options aren't possible.

GOOD LUCK ... hope you don't end up with another $600 bill!!!


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

There must be a reason the vet couldn't stitch the inside which makes it a lot easier.

I would normally never recommend a chill the heck out pill BUT is there anything the vet can give short term that will calm him? You just need time for that site to heal and not risk him getting to it again. 

This is a tough one Willy


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Courtney;[URL="javascript:void(0)" said:


> 4363601[/URL]]There must be a reason the vet couldn't stitch the inside which makes it a lot easier.


Oh! I didn't even know this was an option. That explains why I didn't see any sutures initially. She must have done them internally. When the vet who performed the procedure finished, he looked really good:










I just took a picture at lunch today, but don't have it accessible on this machine. He looks pretty swollen, that's for sure. But that was the very reason I took him in yesterday to get addressed. I'm monitoring to see if the swelling goes down. Hopefully the antibiotics and inflammatories kick in soon.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

Oh- BTW the cone has lasted through the night, and through today up to lunch. Great news! Boy he was raring to go though! LOL! Seriously, you'd never know it if he was/is in pain. I was using a towel to clean up some water in his crate and he grabbed it and started tugging. Silly guy.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Ouch, that looks really painful. I hope he heals soon; you might have to go the route of a doggie tranquilizer otherwise 

Edit - Oops, this is the before photo? I misread the post


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

The cone has been holding up! That photo was from the _initial_ surgery and I thought it looked really good. His pics from the e-vet look pretty bad, though the swelling does appear to be going down. 

This is the day before I took him to the e-vet: 









And this is from yesterday, one day post e-vet: (BTW- I believe that's iodine because he has NOT touched it since I brought him home. He's lived in the cone!!)


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## skier16 (Feb 21, 2013)

mine wouldnt stay calm at all after she got gastroplexy'd and spayed. the vet prescribed her xanax, worked wonderfully. i had a nice calm sleepy pup for 3 days until she could be more active.


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