[Dailydrool] confining ill or injured dogs

[Beverly Szaton]

When Mitchell went down in the rear and we knew he had to be confined for
awhile it presented a real problem, because he is the only dog I have ever
had who hated crates with a passion, who would scream the house down and
chew non-stop on the bars. Being in a crate was not restful for him: quite
the opposite.
We bought a small plastic ex-pen and set it up in the living room, where one
of us was most of the time. I bought some VERY slick waterproof pads that
had a nice, soft surface on the flip side and lined the pen with those,
after putting trash bags underneath. We also put a flat dog bed in the pen--
we knew he could not lift his rear onto a pillow, but he could slide onto a
flat, foam bed. (This is something I have continued to utilize with Llewis,
using crate pads that are flat so that he does not have to try and get that
goofy leg up over an edge.)

We also bought a "suitcase" harness for him that supported his back as well
as his belly.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. He went down in the front after a couple of
weeks and could not support his body weight at all. He couldn't really
move-- we spent a couple of days rolling him over and carrying him outside
and the whole bit before we decided his quality of life was totally suckie.
He apparently agreed, and slipped into that Good Night without so much as a
glance back. We still miss him.

However I thought the steps we took to keep him confined where people were
around, and other dogs so he felt part of things, instead of shut off, was
worth sharing. I don't regret a thing we did, or anything we tried. He was a
wonderful dog, and deserved the best.

MomPerson to Nigel, Llewis, COnley, Cooper and Mitchell(ATB)
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