I have an 7 month old Leo pup. She weighs about 38 kilos and we are very aware of protecting her joints so she can hopefully live a long, happy life, free from pain and joint problems.

My problem is my FIL, every time we see him he insists on throwing balls for her, making her twist, turn, brake hard and jump off steps etc. He even throws them into the air for her to catch mid air!
His own, 8 year old dog is crippled with arthritis, contstantly lame and has been for several years. He doesn't listen to any advice as to why this might be.

We are always asking him to not do this or that, but you have to keep on at him like a child!

Today he went out in the garden where the dogs were happily mooching about and before I could say anything, was throwing ball about. He threw it up for her to catch, she leaped in the air, twisted round and landed hard on her back. She seemed absolutely fine afterwards and I stopped him straight away. But I'm really worried he may have done her some permanent harm.

Am I over reacting? If not, can anyone suggest a way of dealing with this?

We don't see him more than every few weeks and never leave our pup alone with him.

i have a six stone six month old newfoundland,its the first time i have ever had a large breed. I am doing the minute walk per week of his life,so at the mo he gets about a 25 to 30 min walkevery time he goes out. No up and down stairs or onto sofa etc.He does like to play fetch with the kids,i let him,but if he did do the whole jumpy thing i dont think i would feel happy,they are so heavy for soft bones at the mo you cant be too carefull,at the end of the day he i your dog and if others cant live by your rules then i would suggest not taking him,it may seem harsh but it may get the point across
jo

If he is behaving like a child (which he is, ignoring you) then I'm afraid that he would not be allowed to visit, and would not visit him.

Give HIM time out.  Explain that you have no option unless he grows up.

hide the balls :)

Ask him he is willing to pay the £4000+ costs of OCD in the limbs.

Its your dog insist he listens.

It cost us above and tablets every day for the rest of his life, he was 8 months first op and only 3 now.

Explain to him the outcome of the wrong type of exercise for your dog and just DO NOT ALLOW him to do it, tell him to stop, if he doesn't then he cannot visit until he alters his attitude.  If you are having problems with your FIL about your dogs you need to nip it in the bud it will only get worse if you don't and get your OH to speak to him too.  Put your foot down, he will probably be the same when you have children so best setting out your rules in your house with your family - albeit dogs or children!

Unfortunately I have a 6 month old SWD that dives on and off everything she's a total nutter.  Hoping that it doesn't affect anything later on.  I was getting paranoid that her front didn't look right but people at training say that her front end is fantastic.

I would not let him visit end of story!! 

Thanks for the replies.

We already have 2 children and it's the same with them, constant battles.
He's not a nasty man, but a complete pain in the arse and never listens to anyone.

I've told OH he needs to keep on top of it more and not keep leaving it to me. I'm already seen as the family dragon ;)

I can see we're going to have to confront him, which may mean another ding dong...I'd happily not visit, but that wouldn't be fair on MIL or the kids.

I just hope he's not done her any permanent damage as we've been so careful to keep her weight gain steady and build her exercise gradually. Part of me wonders if he's doing it on purpose, as we've always been on at him about his own dog. But OH says I'm being ridiculous.

Try putting a massive guilt-trip on him, keep your boy on a lead and when he says 'ohh poor pup etc' tell him it is ALL His fault as you need to safeguard your pup.
friends of mine did same using crate when out-laws visited and kept feeding lab pup from table or winding him up on visits.

That's not a bad idea. Thank you.

He used to wind her up into a frenzy with over the top greetings, until she jumped up, nutted him in the face one day and made his nose bleed quite badly. Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of sympathy around :)

Hi,

Long time no see. Hope you're well :-)
Is this something that your fil does at his place or just at yours or both? If at yours then i'd hide all balls and toys which can be thrown. If at his, is there anyway of not taking her with you?(I'll happily babysit her if i'm not working)
I personally wouldn't be having this either and can understand your worry about causing damage in the long term, let alone the short term..

It would be easier if it were raining and then there prob wouldn't be much of an issue, but alas its great weather, its the only time i can see a reason for wanting bad weather :-D

Hi Sue,

Hope you're well. We should meet up for another walk at some point.

FIL seems to do this anywhere. It seems to be the only way he knows how to play with a dog.
I think we are going to have to get very firm with him or keep her on the lead when he's around. Otherwise, yes, she'll have to stay behind till he gets the message.

Do you think the fact she didn't seem injured afterwards means no harm done?

>> Do you think the fact she didn't seem injured afterwards means no harm done?

I couldn't honestly tell you, as to what may happen in the future and you'll never know if any problems if they are linked to this or not..
When my eldest was about 6 months old he ran full pelt into the back of my legs on a hill and took me out, he stopped and I landed on him. I really hurt myself but could only think about him, he's never done that again since.
Who knows what damage that may or may not of done.
I'm free on sun for a walk, will bring the youngster this time round :-D

Hi there
Although I don't have a giant breed (I have Golden Retrievers), they still need to have joints protected as they're growing. I would say no chasing of balls at all at 7 months.  Jumping, twisting, leaping about in general is very bad!

I have a boy who was quite the nutty puppy, he's a big boy & at 6 months developed a limp which was diagnosed with OCD. Now, I will never know if it was a genetic problem or if, more likely, he caused excessive stress to his joints by throwing himself around so much. He never had a ball thrown for him, never went up the stairs, but I used to say he was the "boy who swings on chandaliers" or "jumped off wardrobes".

Even after surgery on an elbow and months of recuperation, he followed a Staffy when we were at the beach. I followed him onto the promenade, whereby the Staffy owner promptly threw a ball for his dog, who leapt over the wall, six foot drop the other side onto the beach... followed by my 8 month old puppy. It was the first day he was allowed off the lead for free running since the surgery and I walked all the way home with him in tears because I just couldn't believe the other owner.

We had to go back to square one with socialising and training after this, I was completley mortified, luckily it didn't have any long lasting effect.

He's now almost 5 and has just had to go back onto medication and supplements as he's starting to develop arthritis due to his OCD. It's something he'll have to have for good now, but at the moment we have it under control.

From my own experiences, I would never throw a ball for a puppy until probably a year old, and as far as your FIL is concerned, I would be tempted to shut the dog away when he visits. If your pup developed a problem after taking a fall as you've explained, you would find it very hard to forgive him, and I doubt he would take any blame anyway, just how some people are with dogs.

I hope you manage sort it out & not put your pup at any more risk of long term problems through someone else's thoughtlessness or lack of knowledge of large breeds.

Mmm relatives can be a pain, I too would ensure the FIL and dog did not have chance to 'play'.  When I got my first dog, a rescue GSD my step sisters husband insisted on staring at her and really upsetting her.  Despite my request not to he continued - for some reason he wouldn't stop.  I had to keep taking her away (found it difficult as the youngest and everyone being a lot older than myself, now I'd give him I right telling off!).  Why he did it I've no idea, wasn't as if he didn't have a dog, but they didn't really know about them.  One visit my step sister put them (hers and mine) in the garden and shut the door, I said it was a bad idea as mine didn't really do being shut out, but again, didn't listen.  2 minutes later and the door banged back against the wall, with my dog standing on the threshold like Arnie Swarz.... saying that 'someone had shut the door!' needless to say it was left open after a while.  I think when I was younger (be in my 20s then) I wasn't confident enough to take a stand.  Don't think anyone who knows me would believe this, mind!