15 week old Llewellin puppy is different dog after being on crate rest

[NorahsMom]

Hi everyone. Our puppy Norah is extremely accident prone (I would like to go one week without a vet visit), and was put on two weeks of strict crate rest.(couldn't even do puppy push ups), followed by a week of "light on leash walks" which we're in the middle of now. A puppy who was excelling in her kindergarten classes, was 95% potty trained and walked decently on lead is now a manic, crate soiling, empty headed, and if I'm being honest, terrifying dog. I get that she's an extremely active breed puppy that can't be active, but she's regressed so so much.

She can't run in the yard, the vet doesn't want her going to daycare for awhile, and I do NOT feel it's safe to take her on walks when she can't go more than one step without trying to strangle herself. I am working with her, but it's so slow, tonight she got into a crazed mood when I was trying to bring her in (she pooped in her crate three times today and peed in it once), she jumped onto a toolbox, then a shelf and launched herself snapping at my face, all in a split second. I caught her because I didn't want her to hurt herself again, but then she started tearing into me, jumping and snapping. Right now she's curled in the crate quiet as a lamb, but I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

I want our sweet smart puppy back and I don't know if it's going to happen.

[Erica]

Can your vet prescribe tranquilizers? Even if only for a few days, it may help. My active poodle boy broke his neck last December and it would have been nearly impossible to keep him safe without them. I did still have to find ways to entertain him - think stuffed kongs, food frozen into blocks of ice, other various calm puzzles, tricks like crossing paws or nose touches (and if we know what the limitation is, eg sprained shoulder, we can try to think of things for you!) - but without the tranquilizers he was ready to fly off the walls with the restricted exercise! I feel your pain, haha (Said dog also got bitten by a venomous snake at 3am a week after I got him, and a year later had a grass seed in his cheek that ended in a couple thousand dollars of surgery. The broken neck was a Christmas Day vet visit. Like I said - very familiar with this kind of thing!)

I think, after only two weeks of crate rest, you will be able to get back to a "normal" puppy - though a normal high-energy puppy is still a handful! - with some work. Go back to a strict potty training schedule, do several short walks and training sessions and play sessions throughout the day, and I would definitely feed all food from puzzles or training, none in an easy-to-vaccuum-up bowl.

As far as the strangling-herself-on-walks, I'd suggest a harness if you don't already have one; that way you can get her out without worrying about her little neck.

Honestly, the crazy mood sounds like fairly normal puppy zoomies. My dog still gets them and tears around the yard at full speed, growling fiercely, then leaps at me and snaps his teeth an inch away from me. I just stand still! There's no malice in it, just a lot of energy and excitement. Obviously if your pup is recently injured you want to prevent this kind of behavior, which may just be management - keeping them on leash when they're likely to get bitten by the wild bug.

[NorahsMom]

Thanks so much for replying. As for what happened, my husband was playing with her in the yard, she went to jump up and must have slipped or something. She went up two inches, came down hard on her rear left leg and started limping. Got x rays (our usual vet wasn't in, and the one we saw wasn't bad just... not intuitive?), vet said she had soft tissue damage and was concerned she had damaged her growth plates. Of course I googled and started freaking out while we waited to hear back from the radiologist. Two days later, radiologist said growth plates were fine and she might have some soft tissue damage. Vet gave us an anti inflammatory/pain killer, so of course Norah thought she was totally fine the next day. After two days of her literally jumping off the walls while walking to the back door to go to the bathroom, I called the vet and she said she knew it was hard but it had to be done and I could give her a half a Benedryl and see if that helped. It did not. She really didn't want to prescribe a sedative. I think she's under the assumption this is just normal puppy antics and we're being lazy or I think Norah is an inconvenience. She doesn't understand how athletic a field bred dog that's supposed to run miles back and forth in underbrush is, and that without an active outlet she's actively hurting herself. We see our normal vet next Sunday to follow up on the ear infection she got from the baths my well intentioned husband was giving her after her constant crate pooping.

PHEW! She recently outgrew her harness, she's been collar only for the past few days. I want to get her another one, but she's growing so fast I'm nervous about spending $40 every month for the next 6 months. The only thing that seems to calm her down are long car rides but I can't drop everything twice a day and take her for a two hour trip.

Training wise she still knows sit and down, so that's a huge plus. Leave it, drop it, settle and leash walking have gone out the window though. We have a bunch of clickers coming Friday which should help (every store we've been to for the past month either hasn't carried them or we're out). I'm trying to find a food puzzle that works, right now her tug a jug is more of a war club than a food dispensing device. I think I'm just really frustrated because she had a HUGE puppy biting problem and we had finally moved past it. I had to buy Kevlar sleeves. My arms looked normal and now they look like they went through a meat grinder again. Its so exhausting, and with her being so smart I feel like I have to be doing something wrong.

She's been a handful, running full speed into a tree, eating a wild mushroom, the limp, the ear infection, follow up visits for all of them, not to mention normal sane puppy stuff, I drive to the vet automatically when I leave the house now.

[Nettle]

Some puppies are so full-on! Take heart - it isn't for ever.

I'd stop the sit and down until she is better as it will strain her leg joints.

Check out our pinned thread Exercise the Mind for non-athletic things you can do with her while she convalesces. The scent work will be particularly appealing for her, given her breed.

I'm anti painkillers unless a dog is in agony. A small amount of pain does remind them to take things easy. See if your vet is okay with you cutting them down.

And absolutely feed out of frozen kongs and puzzle boxes.

[Erica]

I've found the standard roman harnesses tend to have a wide range of sizes they fit. I have one that fits everything from a corgi to a lab! They tend to run fairly cheap too, about $20-$25, and several of the most popular brands have free chewed-harness-replacement. Once the dog is full-grown, then I'd go for finding the perfect, maybe more expensive harness if you feel the need. I had two harness sizes for Delta from 8 weeks to full-grown. (Finding the right brand/style/type of harness took a bit more doing and we've tried...a few, but finally found one that seems to be ideal for us!)

Here's a link to the Exercise the Mind thread Nettle mentioned My dog's favorite game from this is wrapping up a piece of kibble or two in some loosely balled-up butcher paper or newspaper (if it's too tight, the dog may just eat the paper too to get the food), then putting that in a cardboard box. At first you don't want the box to be too hard to get into - maybe just leave the flaps completely open, even. Once she's confident and familiar with the game, make it a little more difficult at a time, until you hand her a fully taped-up box!

...without an active outlet she's actively hurting herself.

More sympathy from me to you! I had to start up short, on-harness walks not too long after Delta hurt his neck. Strictly speaking, he was supposed to be on crate rest for two months, but he was as you say, actively hurting himself with his antics - jumping over invisible objects, bouncing in circles, rolling around on his back on the floor. The walks took the edge off that the sedatives couldn't help and were safer than letting him find his own ways to get his energy out.