I don't know what I'm talking about so please ignore me if this doesn't make sense. But I'd think you could beg, borrow, rent, or buy second hand some sort of electric mobility scooter . . . and continue to 'walk' George without compromising your recovery.

Thankyou all so much for all your suggestions and support. I cant write much this evening as I shut my hand in the car door today ( Im a disaster ) but Ive read all the posts, and Im definitely going to look into a mobility scooter. I cant afford a new one, and the ones I looked at to hire are about 50.00 a week, which I cant manage, so am looking at 2nd hand ones. Im 100% going to cope with this somehow, will post more when less sore, but THANKYOU all

Hi Bebe I had a quick look at scooter hire the other day and some of them seemed to be £20 a week and lower. I would have a good look around at what is available and get some prices .
I hope your hand is better soon.

Hi all, hand much better, thankyou

Ive looked right into the mobility scooter thing...bit confusing really.
Yep I did find one for just around £20 per week, but they are the ones with just one wheel in the front and not so stable, only mainly for use for quick shopping centre trips. I think Id need the kind with 4 wheels because the one pavement here in the village is small, uneven and very sloped to the right, almost into the road. Then I read that only certain kinds of scooters are allowed on the road, and that on "rough terrain" or bridle path types, an " off-road" scooter type is needed for stability? And those are WAY out of my price range for hiring!

I think Im just going to have resign myself to the fact that George will have no walks for a few weeks then limited ones as I get stronger, and learn how to walk him on crutches. The main hurdle to get over is how Im feeling so guilty about this. Im looking at him, running through the woods, chasing deer and rabbits, sooo happy, and all I can think of is " you have no idea how your quality of life is going to change soon...you wont be doing this!"
I was always so proud of the fact that he was so bonded to me, loves me so much, but now thats backfired because if he wasnt so reliant on me, he would be able to be walked by someone else.
Anyway, it is what it is. i just hope he doesnt get too depressed at having no walks. Im wondering if I should start shortening his walks now, already, so that he's more used to shorter walks when Im strong enough to take him out? Do you think that would be a good idea?

Bebe a few years ago I tore the tendon in my knee and could hardly walk at all. My dog was used to 3+ miles a day walking and had to mange until my knee healed, it took three months.

stop beating yourself up , George is still a lot better off with you and no walk for a while that many dogs who are rarely walked at all.
Think of the lovely walks you will have after the operation...

If a mobility scooter won't work . . . and you live in a village . . . maybe someone has an ATV you could borrow. Or for that matter, a ride-on lawn mower whose deck is shot but still drives. I don't know what sort of second hand market you have in your area . . . here it's Craigslist, in Australia it was Gumtree . . . but check the farm and garden section . . . or even put an ad in yourself saying WANTED.

As someone who's been there, done it and still got the crutches to prove it, realistically I feel you're just going to have to resign yourself to the fact that George is going to have to go without walks for a few weeks. The most important thing is that you follow the restrictions the surgeon places on you to ensure a speedy and safe recovery and you don't take any unnecessary risks which could result being back in hospital with complications.

I'm not sure what the procedure is in your hospital ... I was in Truro .. but a couple of weeks before I had my op I had a meeting with the physiotherapist who gave me booklets on how to walk on crutches,get in/out of bed, get dressed/undressed etc and exercises to be done several times a day. She also arranged for various gadgets/aids to be delivered to my home and gave advice about the correct heights for my bed and chairs.

Something you might not appreciate is that EVERYTHING is going to take you much longer to do than normal. Even the simple process of getting out of bed, washed and dressed is a chore when you can't bend below waist height to pull your briefs on! Hopefully it won't happen to you but my leg and foot were swollen for several weeks after which made wearing shoes uncomfortable. I can't say I felt ill but but I did feel incredibly tired all the time. Pottering around the house and in the garden I found it much easier to use a zimmer frame rather than crutches because a zimmer frame is much more stable especially on uneven ground. Mine didn't have a basket or caddy on the front which would have been useful for carrying a mug of coffee or my dinner plate from the kitchen to my chair in the lounge. Zimmer frames are not expensive and you can get ones that fold up and go in the car.

Pleas don't feel guilty about George, if the truth be known he'll probably cope better than you do! Each time I came out of hospital, my two young dogs who normally sleep on my bed, decided to sleep on the carpet next to it instead. Dogs can be wonderfully understanding!

I can't think of anything else and apologise in advance if I come over as a Job's Comforter!

Again something that may be able to be borrowed from Red Cross .
With both my Husband and my Dad I was able to borrow a number of things from the Red Cross wheelchair/commode/zimmer/tripod stick/bath aids.
It seems a much better option than buying something you only require for a short time and the Red Cross welcomed a donation from a happy customer

Y'know I thought of a Zimmer frame, I think it may give you more stability than crutches. But I would recommend that you get the advice of your physio. What about my suggestion earlier in this thread, is there anyone who could take you and George out in their car to the park?

I don't know whether it's the same with all hospitals but the physio department of the one I went to lent me all the aids I needed free of charge and delivered and collected it as well.

Popster ... A zimmer frame is a standard walking aid in hospital. I had four operations in total on my hip ... two in Hungary and two in the UK and the first time I was allowed out of bed I was given a zimmer frame to use which was left beside my bed in case I needed to go to the loo. The nice thing about a zimmer is that you can lean your waist against it when for example you're doing the washing up which leaves both hands free, whereas with crutches because they loosely grip your forearm, you tend to lose them then have the problem of trying to pick them without bending down!

As for going out in the car I was advised not to for the first three weeks and in any case you can only get in and out in a certain way in order not to twist your hip or leg. I was advised to put a plastic bag on the seat to make swiveling my backside around easier LOL!