sel destruct/zero self preservation dogs and managing injuries - Page 1

for those that do not have dogs with an off switch or any sense of self preservation and who's drive will override much pain how do you adjust their training and what if they got an injury how do you get them downtime other than just crate and forget.

just had one that needed three months off. worked with vet on a combo of ace for a few days followed by herbs (valerian type mix) while establishing a change in routine. took about two weeks for him to come down and get with the new routine. after that, he was off the meds/herbs except for nsaid. in severe cases, talk to your vet about reserpine. we used  it on a couple different dogs that needed downtime and it worked well but it's heavy stuff and you and your vet want to stay on top of it.

Depends on how bad the injury is, what kind (open wound, muscle, skin, etc.) and where the injury is. Crating could be the best for some, but not "crate and forget". More like crate and pay attention to progress. Too many different kinds of injuries to give one solution for all. Need to be more specific.

was hell scared of ED or something and will still get x-ray. he has been avoiding full weight on right front when locked in the house. as soon as he is out he is in full drive at the first moth that flies past.

he is oblivious to the pain when in drive which indicates the injury is not presently a complete mechanical failure at this point.

the "positive" is i observed some minor localized swelling in the paw which makes me think  not elbow issues. the dog did have a nasty cut on the inside of his leg going up most if the length on the affected side. he never showed any lameness while the cut was recent the cut  has healed over and just some hair loss, i would be happy if this explains the pain but why the time lag of 3 weeks after the cut healed to lameness.

anyhoo will book elbow x-rays and affected  foot??

thanks for comments.

My female likes to jump. She jumped out of a building during a training search and luckily didn't get hurt. The other time she jumped off a cliff and got hurt. She broke a nail climbing down a mountain which ended up needing to be surgically removed. Shortly after I retired her for numerous reasons, mainly for perinal fistula. I simply refuse putting more money into a sick dog...

I rotated her in and out of the crate and kept her down for the most part. Crate rest was the only thing keeping her quiet though.

Age of dog?  Could very easily be nothing more than panosteitis, which still is best treated with confinement and restricted exercise as opposed to any sort of NSAIDs unless absolutely necessary. If dog is older than 2 yrs of age, however, pano isn't going to be on the differential list.

For this type of dog, you need to keep their brain bizzy or they'll just be atrocious to live with during confinement. Nosework games in the house, clicker work for fun stuff [100 things to do with a box, etc.], interactive toys that can dispense kibble a few pieces at a time..

It's not a pleasant experience to try and keep a live wire chilled out for a recovery period. Good luck to you if you find yourself in that position.

he was 2yo in may, posted this vid in another thread but is said dog a few weeks ago AFTER a hunting trip with my running dogs, it was a long strenuous day so x 1000 after 30 seconds rest;

oh and yes my gsd has to hunt for real with the rest of them if he wants to stay on the team, structurally/mechanically i not sure that was a good idea..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNVw7-tIxkA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUJzlbxvvCyyxmA--2OSWIyg

Always check for tick diseases when searching for unexplained joint pain that causes lameness. Imho

I went through 6 weeks of crate rest over the loss of half of a toe pad (oh it was bad) and if left to run free, the dog would not limp, would run and play, reopen wound etc... It was a very long 6 weeks.. HE did not feel like there was anything wrong worth the time of day.


This was after 4 weeks of crate rest, it was MUCH deeper at the beginning.

I also had a younger dog that caught his front leg under the chain link fence and ripped it to shreds. Another that didn't care he was bleeding all over the place. This dog ate the cone off of his head while wearing it, routinely broke out of the crate etc... what a PITA. That was 3 weeks of ACE and bennadryl. He got the "special crate". One that holes were drilled in to accomadate rebar on both the inside of the door, and outside to keep the persistant pup in. All fence was redone at the bottom after that incident btw, and we have since changed our kennel to welded wire only.

I feel your pain.
Melissa