Hi, serious advice needed re dilemma please.

Hello all. Im in a very worrying situation and wondered if anyone can help me please..
I own the love of my life George, a Ridgeback x Staffy, aged almost 14 but very healthy and active. We are EXTREMELY bonded and he is my shadow, even more-so since we sadly lost my Staffy girl to cancer a year ago . George will not walk with ANYONE except myself, not even close family members. I was in hospital for 3 days some months ago and he didnt eat, refused to walk,pined for me and practically led by the front door the whole time. And now I have a major problem...

I have had severe arthritis of the hip for a few years and have now been told my hip is bone-on-bone and that I cant delay having a hip replacement operation any longer otherwise my hip is at risk of collapse. My surgery is booked for June. I will be in hospital for a week, but the main problem is that because the hip is such a mess, I cant have a minimally-invasive operation, so the recovery is likely to be many months, at least 6 weeks of very little weight-baring and on crutches, then very short walks.
My Mum is going to stay while Im in hospital, she is 86, then I will be on my own when home. george is an easy dog to care for so thats not the problem ( Im assuming he will eat after a few days of pining,) but as he simply will not go for a walk with anyone else, I don't know how Im going to cope when Im home re his walks? Im hoping to try walking him on the crutches for about 10 minutes a day after a few weeks, ( so if anyone has any tips on doing that I would be greatful) but I feel so sad for him that he wont be getting out properly for at least 6 weeks! I feel its cruel and he will be miserable. I feel so guilty! He is used to lovely walks, we live in the country and go to woods, Badminton House estate, lots of bridle paths, and he loves being outside!

I only have a small garden, but he does like to sit out in the front garden when the weathers nice, but I know he will bored just doing that for weeks on end.
Lots of the villagers have offered to walk him for me, and we have tried many times, but however desperate he is to go, he refuses unless Im there too. Im worried sick about this. No matter how unwell Ive been he has rarely missed a walk, and I feel like cancelling this surgery because I feel his quality of life is going to be compromised so much! But I know Im in danger of possibly having even more hip complications and an even longer recovery if I postpone surgery.

I guess what Im asking is...is it cruel for George to not leave my garden and be walked for 6 weeks or more? And when I do recover enough to walk him, how do I manage on crutches? He doesnt pull normally but I cant be sure we wont see a cat or even chickens on the paths around here, until Im able to at least drive somewhere else. He doesnt " fetch" so I cant even just throw a ball for him!
Is it too much to expect him to deal with no walks? Is it selfish of me? And has anyone managed on crutches?
Any suggestions will be great, this is playing on my mind so much!

Dont fret pet he will be fine I promise. Dont go extending your recovery by doing anything daft like trying to walk him on crutches. 6wks is nothing and as long as you are there he will be a happy chap. my boy has been on 'house arrest' a number of times (due to his own injury) and hes been absolutely fine with garden only exercise. He had an op in Jan and wasnt allowed out of the house for 2 wks for more than 5mins in the garden a couple of times aday on lead to do the necessary and since then he hasnt been allowed out for longer than 10mins on lead or only to hang out in the garden and hes adapted remarkably well and hes a proper off lead rioting cross country boy.

Id prob reduce the amount of food he gets (or change to a lower fat version) as he wont be getting lots of exercise.

In a nutshell he will be just fine in the garden as long as your there he will not care. You can entertain his brain (which tires them out quicker than anything) by hiding stinky treats around the garden or in the house. The 'find it' game is great

Hello Bebe I am sure your 14 year old dog will be fine in the garden while you recover from your operation.

It might be worth giving these people a ring to see if they can help if you are worrying about it..

http://www.cinnamon.org.uk/home.php

Welcome to Dogsey Bebe
Aww,you're getting yourself in a right state Need to put your health first or you'll be no use at all to your dog,no question about not going for the surgery,you really must
Who knows what will happen,he's refused to go for a walk with others when it was only a few days without.Maybe he will tire of not going out after a week or so and be glad of the invitation for a stroll.Very kind people,you have around you btw
Try not to worry,he has a great home,you're obviously a very loving owner,everything will be just fine,you'll see(( hugs))

Hi everyone, thankyou for your replies
dobermonkey thats very interesting about your dog adapting when he couldnt go for his walks, thankyou. Can I ask though,
Do you think he adapted better because he was unwell, so had less energy, or was in pain possibly? Or did he simply adapt because dogs are more adaptable than Im maybe giving George credit for?
I just feel so guilty , I know he's an old boy but he really is very young for his age activity-wise ( although he is practically deaf now) and has 2 off-lead walks of around 90 minutes a time, and would go further if I could! He does have very slight arthritis, but Im sure his activity has helped keep this at bay, Im worried it will get worse if he is too "stationary" and will seize up. I guess Im worrying that no exercise for weeks will " age" him, as well as make him miserable?

The " find it" game is something I used to do a lot with my staffy, she had a lot of "issues" and went through phases of being agoraphobic for a few days at a time, she loved playing the find it game and was so good at it! George was never good at it, bless him. He is actually very..ummmm, NOT BRIGHT, is the kindest way I can think of putting it . Its a family joke that he is the dumbest dog in the world, but that just makes me love him more .
I will watch his food intake too. He had pancreatitis 8 years ago and we almost lost him, since then ive watched his diet closely and he is fed only on Nature Diet with occasional tripe stick treat, and a dental chew, weight-wise hes in good shape, but I will watch that, thankyou.

Hi Meg, thankyou for the link to the Cinnamon Trust ( Ive just told a neighbour who is having some problems about this charity, I think they could help her!) but I don't see how they could help me really, as the main help would be walking George and he wont go with anyone else but me, but thanks for the thought.

Lacey, yes Im in a state arnt I, George is my main concern re this surgery. Thankyou for your kind words
I know I have to have this surgery, I so wish I didnt have to though. I truely dont think he will walk with anyone else no matter how desperate he is to go out. I will definitely be trying for short walks as soon as Im able, although I wont be silly about it. But I feel so sad for him. This is a dog that LOVES his walks...he will whinge at me if Im even a few hours late in taking him out, hes very good at doing a "tragic" face as if hes ill-treated if he doesnt get his walk when its due.

My family say Ive made a rod for my own back with him, because Ive made him too reliant on just me. I can kind of see how it looks to them, Ive not had a holiday in 14 years because the thought of putting him into kennels filled me with horror. So its my own fault hes such a shadow where Im concerned. I know I have to put myself first now with this surgery, but the guilt is terrible. I feel cruel that he will be stuck here and bored for weeks. Its not fair on him. But I cant see any other solution?

Hello Bebe, welcome to Dogsey!

I'm not quite sure where to start. First of all though DON'T put off your op as your hip will only deteriorate further and recovery will take much longer. Second, dogs are very perceptive and if my experience is anything to go by, George will adapt whilst you're recovering, as I discovered with my own two dogs.

I had a hip replacement two years ago this month. Two years before when I fractured my femur I'd had a plate and pins which had to be removed due to necrosis of the bone. I was in hospital for a week, then spent another 6 weeks wearing a brace 24/7 because as the surgeon put it "He had to glue me back together"! During that time I had to sleep on my back, wasn't allowed climb stairs, take a bath, drive the car (not that I could get in it), bend down or lift my leg above a certain height. Because the brace was bulky using crutches was difficult and it was easier to use a zimmer. Any thoughts I might have had of taking the dogs for a walk went out of the window.

After the brace came off, I graduated to crutches, which are fine if you're walking along the flat but difficult when walking up or down hill. I did manage however to take my tiny dog for a short walk occasionally, but couldn't mange the larger one even though she was the better behaved. One of the main problems I found was trying to cook, whilst balancing on crutches and more often or not I dropped one of them then had to work out how to pick it up from the floor! My two were wary of me wafting my crutches around, but soon got used to getting out of my way! I was also fortunate that my DIL would give them both a long walk every evening.

It's now two years and although I still can't walk as far as I could I can manage to walk them both with one hand and using a stick to help my balance. But I have a neighbour who also will often take them walking if I feel I'm not up to it. Perhaps, with George before you go into hospital you could get a neighbour to accompany you on your walks and when your dog is calm, hand the lead to the neighbour whilst you walk beside him? Once you're on crutches or a stick you could then take a slow walk beside them ... just a thought!

Hope that helps and good luck with the op!

I have an idea Why not have a look online.see if you can get a reasonably priced wheelchair.People sell everything on Gumtree and other buy and sell sites That way,you could go along on the walks with the kind people who offered to help.I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking you too.You could hold the leash and your dog will happily trot along beside you.Just a thought
Or maybe ask at the hospital.explain you're not great on the crutches and they might have one available,its worth a go.

Eileen the BritishRedCross have a short term loan scheme for wheelchairs (and other things) I have used them in the past and found the service excellent..

http://www.redcross.org.uk/en/What-w.../Mobility-aids

His previous injury was a pulled shoulder. He would be hopping lame after rest but at the drop of a hat quite happily go out for hours off lead chasing hares x country if I let him. Any hint of exercise and his pain was forgotten. Same now. We are on about wk 12 of lead only but he would happily drag me for hours if I let him. He had me off my feet yesterday when a dog ran at a fence we were passing and he felt the need to show it who was the dog round these parts. There was an audience, I was mortified.

Omg chlosmum you really have been through it!

My surgeon has given me those restrictions too, about sleeping on my back for 6 weeks, no bending past 90 degrees or driving for 6 weeks etc, so I guess its a very similar recovery to yours? It sounds as if its a long recovery that cant be rushed. Its very hilly here, and footpaths are few and far between, a lot of uneven bridle paths, so the using of crutches might be a real problem when trying to walk George. I think I will try your suggestion about giving the lead to someone else and walking besides them as a practice run before the op. Anything is worth trying. Thankyou for sharing your story with me, its nice to hear from someone whose been through it. I wouldnt worry about any of it if I only knew George was going to get walked, its my main concern and Im willing to try anything.