[Dailydrool] Crating for heartworm recovery

[Pamela McQuade]

I brought Horton home on Friday, after his heartworm shot  and a spell 
at the vet's. If I have a brain left by Monday, I will probably be 
greatly blessed.
 
Yesterday wasn't all that bad. Horton was barky, but kinda tired, so he 
mostly slept in his crate as long as I was nearby.
 
Today is another matter entirely. He slept outside the crate last night, 
since I forgot to crate him after his last "outness." After he came in 
he settled on Holly's bed in the living room, so I left him. This 
morning he was dancing around, asking to go out. So I put him in his 
crate, following his visit outside. Barkbarkbark-
barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark--you 
get the idea. Unless I am in the room with him, barking is inevitable. 
So I let him out of the crate, set up a bed in my office, and he is 
sacked out on it. All he wanted was his mama. (Spoiled little boy.) So 
much for crating. Not sure how much the vet will like this, but I don't 
think the barking was all that good for him either. As he proved on 
Wednesday, on his way out to the vet in PA, he can bark for an hour and 
a half, nonstop. My ears were tired after his barking today, and my 
neighbors were very good for not complaining, but we all have our 
limits.
 
I've tried giving him a Kong ball with food in it. He would have been 
the size of a house by the time he finished the week out, because he'd 
have had to be constantly eating in order to shut up. And the other dogs 
were jealous that he was getting treats and they weren't given any.
 
I'm one of those folks who tries to do what the vet says, but I wonder 
if vets own bassets. They probably have more tractable dogs with less of 
a stubborn streak, or they wouldn't say those fatal words, "strict crate 
rest."
 
Crate rest for 6-8 weeks? I think not. At least, not unless I want to 
lose my mind. I just hope that Horton doesn't get a real burst of energy 
in that time, 'cause I do want to keep him quiet. Looks as if he'll be 
glued to my side for more than a month, maybe two.
 
And the next mosquito that tries to get near my dogs better have a death 
wish. It's all the fault of one of them (though probably not one from 
New Jersey) that we have to go through all this, and I am not feeling 
benevolent.
Pam, crazy food slave to the Dashing Bassets