Any ideas? (re restricted exercise for lame dog)

I had to take Jago to the vets yesterday as he's been lame, it's a long story but basically they 'think' he's broken the tip off his bone within his elbow joint. He's booked for x-rays next week. Obviously he can't be walked just now or do any running etc I need to think of calm ways to entertain him instead but I'm at a loss. He is very exciteable and games such as find the toy, hide and seek etc get him hyper. I am going to work on teaching him to leave treats on his paws, nose etc. He also has a dog brick which I will do with him BUT as he's a lab I don't want everything to be food based. Lab + no walks + extra treats + fat lab. To add to his misery I have had to cut back him food too due to less excercise. Poor boy!
Any ideas at all? It would be really appreciated.

How old is Jago ?

We had something similar when our Delyth was a pup. She was lame and in great pain. My GP vet X-rayed the elbow joint and it came back showing a little triangle of bone seperated from the end of the radius/ulna by a jagged line. They said the elbow was broken and bandaged her up.

However I was not happy and took Delyth for a second opinion and discovered that this little triangle was actually a growth plate and perfectly normal in a youngster. She was very ill and treated for something entirely different.

Needless to say, I changed my vets.

However, the elbow thing turned out to be quite a serious sprain which was cured by rest and painkillers. The specialist said it was very unlikely to be a broken elbow so we hope that Jago's problem is not too serious.

THalice's Mum

Thanks for that, interesting Jago is 5 so middle aged for a lab which is why the vet thought it was more likely to be a break than a sprain but I guess the x-rays will show us for sure.

Do you have a place he can swim? Last year I was using a ramp to help Aster into the truck for the ride to the pond.

The things I'm going to suggest worked for my girl, but maybe some will get Jago too excited..

Firstly, you can still use food treats, but take it out of his breakfast/dinner. You could give him a normal breakfast and then the equivelent of his dinner as treats throughout the day.

In terms of things to keep him occupied. I bought a load of cheap stuffed toys (from charity shops etc) and stitched a squeeker into them (she was only interested if they squeeked). Then I let her just rip them to pieces - but she was very good at doing this whilst staying lying down. I'd get old pillowcases and T-shirts and things and wrap the toy in these so she had to get the toy out first before she could rip the squeeker out (again all lying down).
Evidently you have to balance up whether you think it will encourage him to rip other things up - I knew that Hoki wouldn't. With the pillow cases/t-shirts I wouldn't let her just chew her way in, but encouraged her to find the openings.
We did lots of 'stay', 'down' and 'leave' work.

We did 'find it' with her lying or sitting, using plastic cups to hide a treat under and she had to put her paw on the one it was under.

You can also buy a variety of games on the same principle as the treat in the cup - the dog has to work out how to get the treat out by pushing pegs etc.

We played catch with her lying down (hence why it is worth spending time working on the down and stay).

When she got a bit more mobile we did heal work (left and right side) round the house.

Bones are a good way to keep him entertained without him eating too much. I also used kongs filled with low fat yoghurt and then frozen.

Hi,
When Molly was diagnosed with elbow displaysia at 4 months old we were in a similar dilemma. As Hali says food is ok but needs to be used wisely. A kong kept her occupied for a long time(and still does). I put something smelly and tasty at the top the soaked her usual dry food from her daily allowance and stuffed the rest of it with that.
I also substitued some of her food with cat biscuits and put them in a toy that she had to work out how to get them out. Is your dog insured? They may pay for her to swim. Molly used to swim once a week at a local centre for dogs who were unable to exercise in the usual way. This gave her a real work out and the effects seemed to tire her out for a couple of days. She also got a free bath and grooming at the same time

I hope your dog has a speedy recovery.

I didn'r realise that swimming was ok, that's good news as Jago loves to swim We don't have hydrotherapy pools here but we do have a lot of sea! I'll get a kong in the freezer for tomorrow and think of some 'calm' tricks Thanks all!

Hi Peedie maybe it would be best to hold off on the swimming until after you have had the x-ray/spoken to the vet or you may cause more damage if there is a loose piece of bone.

To keep a dog occupied I find the Everlasting Treat Ball from 'Dog Games' (Google it) is very good, the dog licks it so isn't eating lots of extra food.
Also as Hali says instead of feeding meals in the normal way put them into a hollow toy or Kong so they last a while.

Molly had been diagnosed and the tip of the elbow that had broken off removed before she started the swimming, the hydrotherapy pool she used was at the rear of a pet shop so they can be found is the most obscure places. The only advantage of this was that she swam against jets to strengthen the muscles round the joint and keep up her general condition.

Good luck and happy swimming!

Thanks again, I'll maybe wait until after his x-rays before I take him swimming then I'm just off to stuff and freeze a Kong! I'm also going to get my thinking hat on and dream up some tricks that involve staying still. Think I could teach him 'musical statues'?!