Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

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v1cky
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:54 pm

Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by v1cky »

Hi all,

I have been reading these forums for a few months now, and have found the advice extremely valuable in working with my first ever dog - a Rottweiler called Wotan. He is 5 months old and about 50lbs now, and we have been enjoying walks and games in the fields across the road from my house. His recall is really improving (thanks to all the great advice here!) and so he is enjoying lots of off leash fun as well.

Unfortunately though I badly sprained my ankle in a car accident a couple of weeks back and it is just not getting any better and I really need to rest it for a couple of weeks while it heals. I don't want Wotan to suffer and be bored though just because I am out of action, so I wondered if anybody had any ideas of ways I can keep him occupied and busy while I am recuperating on the sofa?

I have a large fenced garden which he has access to, but he prefers to play with me rather than on his own, so he won't run around in the garden unless I am there to play a game with him. Also, my partner has been putting in a lot of effort to tire him out with ball games, but Wotan still has the extra energy to burn.

I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Vicky
RhysMom
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 9:09 am

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by RhysMom »

You could always bring a chair out to throw ball with him. that's what I do when I'm really tired and Rhys is all bouncy. I would look into a dog walker to get him out and about while you cant (or ask a friend to take him for a walk). I know Rhys is never happy no matter how much ball I play with him until he gets his walk in for the day.
dontpugme
Posts: 1294
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:01 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by dontpugme »

Have a look at this thread about exercising a dogs mind:
http://www.positively.com/forum/viewtop ... f=6&t=1135

Here's something emmabeth said on an old thread:
Kong fillings:

Scrambled eggs made with grated cheese in it, and little pieces of bacon or ham, stuffed into a kong and then allowed to cool and put in the fridge to set quite firmly - i believe it is possible to make a Kong omlette also but ive yet to find something suitabley runny egg proof to block the hole at the bottom whilst it microwaves.

Chunks of carrot and apple in a garlic cream cheese smeared kong. Smear the cream cheese inside with your finger so theres plenty in there and its quite stinky and then fill with chunk sof apple and carrot. Good for dieting doggies as the majority of the filling is veg/fruit with only a bit of the cheese but it smells good and strong so they like it and feel it is a treat.

Leftover Kong - bits of left over people food - put one of the more stinky items in first so its up against the small hole where doggy can smell it but not easily get to it. Then fill up with whatever you have and wedge the big hole with either a dog biscuit or a big chunk of carrot.

Dinner Kong - if you feed kibble that can be soaked, fill the kong with kibble THEN soak, and then feed immediately... or freeze on a hot day.
Alternatively mix the kibble with grated hard cheese and then microwave, and then cool so the cheese sticks the kibble filling together.

For raw feeders, stuff with raw meat and freeze. (Raw feeders can feed frozen meaty bones as well though, no need for a kong there!).

Kong-pops:

Make up a gravy either weak with gravy granules (dont use as much as you would for people as its usually quite salty), or with real chicken or beef stock (dont add salt) - use that as your base, blocking the hole in teh kong with a bit of cheese or something and then fill the kong with veg, fruit, dog biscuits etc.. and then top up with the gravy-water and freeze.


Giant Icepops.. to keep dogs amused on summer days, fill a washing up bowl with water, you can flavour with a little real fruit juice or a weak low salt stock or gravey if you like. Chuck in chunks of fruit, veg, meat if it will be eaten fairly quickly, dog biscuits, bones... whatever your dog likes really... Freeze until solid.

You can make this morefun by freezing a rope ragger toy into it too if you like as a handle, though beware a lump of ice being flung around by a dog can make a lethal weapon!!
I hope you have a swift recovery.
--dontpugme
v1cky
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:54 pm

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by v1cky »

Thank you for your answers - they have been very useful. Already Wotan has had a ball extracting a banana from his kong and I taught him to play 'Find the Mousey' last night from the sofa!
emmabeth
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Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
Location: West Midlands
Contact:

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by emmabeth »

I have problems standing for too long, and so much of my clicker training is done with me sat down - so if you can get a chair outside, you can work on things inside, then change to outside to proof in a new location and against more distractions. With the increased space you can probably work on some distance stuff (you might need a helper to move targets and things though) and 'bigger' behaviours (like spins and circling you etc) that are less suited to indoors.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Sarah83
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:49 pm
Location: Bad Fallingbostel, Germany
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Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by Sarah83 »

After I've had a seizure and don't want to move much because muscles I didn't know I had hurt I work with Rupert on things like him closing the door, opening the door, going into his crate, fetching me my keys and picking up various objects from the floor for me. I can do all these from the sofa for the most part so the only movement involved is pressing the clicker and giving him his treat. Oh and pointing out something with the target stick if I want it picked up. And believe me, when you hurt all over it's extremely handy to have a dog who will pick something up off the floor for you. I attached a piece of fabric to my keys because he's not a big fan of metal in his mouth and while he'd pick them up without it it was clear he wasn't keen on doing so.
maximoo
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Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:07 am
Location: South Florida

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by maximoo »

A "fox on a stick" (aka Flirt Pole) would be a great toy/game to use while you recover (and beyond! Puppy gets to chase thus satisfying prey drive and will tire him out.) You can buy a " Chase It" about $25 or a horse lunge whip (at a horse supply store) about $14 or you can make one. Just sit in a chair and cast the fox (or any stuffing free toy, old towel, fleece, etc) out & swing it around.

I made my fox on a stick with a thin piece of pvs pipe. It's cheap & durable. Simply drill a hole in one end (both sides) & thread a rope (or bungee cord) thru it, tie, add a stuffing free animal (Like SKINZ sold in pet stores) to end of rope & tie. The pipe should be about 18 in long but you can make it any size that's comfortable. I also added tennis racket grip tape to mine but that's purly optional. It's an inexpensive toy & if the rope or animal get destoyed, its very easy to replace.

Some dogs also like to chase a laser light. They are about $4 at the petstores.

Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Leigha
Posts: 1211
Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 8:02 am

Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by Leigha »

Mine happens to be a nutso who likes the laser light. It works better if you do it at night, and if you do it outside, so get yourself outside with a chair and they'll run all over the backyard (if you have a dog who's into that kind of thing. The weenies could care less about it).
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Nettle
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Re: Mum's sprained her ankle and puppy wants to play!

Post by Nettle »

For anyone reading who has collies - never laserlight with a collie or collie cross because they can get obsessive about it and then start getting obsessive about other light sources.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
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