[Dailydrool] Bob and backs

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

> changing the IDEA of the crate is sometimes an option with a dog  
> who hates crates.
>

After our late Jane Basset went through surgery for her ruptured  
disks, we were told to put her on crate rest for a couple of months.  
Her crate was in the back bedroom, nowhere near where we did most of  
our living in the house, and there was no way I could (or would) drag  
her metal crate across the wood floors to wherever we happened to be  
at the moment.

I knew she'd be very lonely back in that back bedroom, and there  
really wasn't room in the rest of the house for her crate, so I  
bought a plastic yard cart from Home Depot, built up the bottom with  
quilts, a plywood base, and then a foam dog bed, and popped her into  
that. She actually had slightly less room to move in the cart than  
she would have in her crate. The cart let me wheel her all around the  
house and keep her right next to me while I worked during the day. An  
added benefit to the cart was that we no longer had to bend over to  
pat her when we were sitting--the cart put her right at the perfect  
patting level. She felt an added benefit was being higher up and thus  
closer to the table top when we were eating dinner and she was rolled  
up close to us. The only time she was allowed out of the cart was to  
be carried outside for a quick potty break or to be put into her  
crate at bedtime.

I didn't worry about Jane trying to jump out of the cart because with  
the cart practically in my lap all the time, I could monitor her  
every movement and put a restraining hand on her in an instant. She  
didn't really try to leave the cart, though. By the time she was  
starting to feel like being more active, her orthopedist said she  
could be allowed to have the run of one room. We put Jane in the  
central, carpeted hallway then and the cart in the garage. It was at  
this stage that her recuperation became difficult. Try finding ways  
to entertain a cooped-up dog who doesn't play with toys, shouldn't  
spend the entire day working on chewing treats, and isn't allowed  
walks or unsupervised time in the yard.

If a vet recommends "crate rest," take that to mean the dog's  
movements are to be strictly restricted to a space of approximately 2  
feet by 3 feet--big enough to turn around and lie down. This can be  
accomplished with a crate, but there are other ways to confine a dog  
that will accomplish the goal of minimal movement in a way that works  
best for a particular dog's personality.

Elizabeth