Crate Rest Tips!

The reality of owning high drive dogs is that they’ll likely have an injury at some stage in their life! Halo has been on crate rest for a couple of weeks now while we work with our vets & await a specialist referral to work out what’s causing her lameness. Crate rest is HARD on any dog, but especially when they want to do all the things. Here are a few things that can help keep your sanity while your dog is on rest:

- Crate or kennel training - ideally ahead of time! Having a dog that is comfortable in the crate before you need one makes life a lot easier. I appreciate having access to a good outdoor kennel and run too for safe containment outdoors.

- Tethering indoors. I teach my dogs to go lie on a bed reliably as standard, but when they’re injured, unexercised and like to go a million miles an hour I support this with a short tether attached to something solid as a back up.

- Using their reduced calories for enrichment. When dogs aren’t doing as much activity, we need to be extra mindful of calories going in. Excess weight on sore limbs isn’t good! So we make use of their regular meals in the form of enrichment toys (eg black kongs stuffed with wet food & frozen), and low arousal training.

- Low movement & arousal training. Stationary targeting behaviours (eg chin rest, nose target), holding objects, basic scent work are all good options to explore - using a leash to manage movement if needed.

- Understanding. It’s tough being a high drive, high energy dog not being able to have their needs met the way they usually would. Feeling sore or unwell can also make dogs shorter tempered than usual. While maintaining firm boundaries and preventing practice of unwanted behaviours is important, try and keep perspective of the bigger picture and use management as needed to support them through the tough times while they are recovering.

Have you supported your dog through an injury? What are your top tips for supporting them through the recovery process? Share in the comments below 👇🏻