My pupper has developed an angular limb deformity, where one of her bone plate's growth is being stunted by another through some event I have no idea about. However, her paw has been progressively rotating towards 45 deg when she stands and finally we were able to see an orthopedic specialist who recommended surgery. We will probably do it late May and I'm trying to mentally and logistically prepare for the aftermath. She is so active and thrives on being outside and seeing/playing with other dogs (you know, young husky ).

I would love any advice on how to keep her stimulated and happy as possible while she has to recover for 2-3 months. I'm working on her staying in a closed crate (she likes it, but I've never kept her closed in it for longer than a couple of minutes while training). Has anyone else gone through this?

Thanks in advance!

Just as a short edit - I'm looking into youtube videos of sounds to play, snuffle mats, seeing if I can borrow more kongs and such and borrowing play pens to isolate her to our living room. I'm not sure she'd even use the snuffle mat well but I'm willing to try any tactic others have used. I will have to start bending some of the rules of the food trial she's on and I'm not too fussed about that anymore...

I would talk to your vet about if swimming would be an allowable exercise after surgery. Obviously open wounds would have to close first but if weight needs to be moderated for a time then swimming could be a nice low impact way to burn off some energy. With the timing of surgery you should have more water options available.

Oh, thanks! Never thought of this. I will certainly ask.

PolarPup21 wrote:

Oh, thanks! Never thought of this. I will certainly ask.

Yeh, @Twisterii is always full of .... oh, 'scuse me, got sidetracked ... all sorts of good ideas.  It should be workable for the vet, it's definitely low impact and excellent exercise!  How she feel about standing water?  Some are great about taking a 'bath' and some aren't.

Glad I don't have to think about swimming.  In the first place I have one dog, Avalanche, who's deathly afraid of water unless it's in a bowl.  In the second place there's no place I can take them where they can swim ... unless you want to consider a pond the cattle use for drinking.  (( and those are nothing but MUD puddles when they get done! ))

For the first few days you probably won't have to worry, she's probably not going to feel up to going anywhere ... you may even have to convince her that she needs to go outside when it's appropriate.  Then you might ask your vet about some 'relaxers' (tranq's) for a week or so.  By then you might be able to get her out for some short walks and some swimming.

Each time kenzi has tried to swim she has sunk so it doesn't hurt to invest in a dog life jacket just in case your dog is like mine or may tire easily the first few swims. A life jacket allows for a little longer swimming time and that much more ease on the joints if they aren't having to work super hard just to stay a float. As more healing happens then you should be able to work away from the life jacket assuming she is a buoyant swimmer.

Oh, doggy swim vest!
She is not a fan of baths, I usually have to airlift her into the tub. She's become more tolerant if we switch to the over head shower mode instead of immersing her in a tub of water.
I did take her once on a trail and let her jump into the water a little bit, but not enough data to actually know if she enjoys it

Squirt is not a fan of baths and prissy about rain and mud but loves the river. She even Tried to jump off a bridge to get to the water about 30 ft below. Liking a bath does not give any indication of like or dislike of water. Spider hates water in any form short of her dog bowl. Typical desert dog.

Becareful of bluegreen algae. I stay in cold running water where it isn't but it has hit almost every state in the usa and can kill dogs and make people sick.

She has a pool party over the weekend in a kiddie pool so I can confirm she doesn't hate water!