Anyone have any ideas on how to entertain a hurt pup? Our 1 year old lab had to get stiches in his foot because he lacerated it on a piece of glass (poor guy). Although he's sleeping now, I know that he's going to be bouncing off the walls by tomorrow, and the vet said that I should try and minimize even his WALKING!! This for a dog who needs to run at least twice a day. Any advice or tips greatly appreciated!!!

Lots of chest rubs and wildlife programmes on the telly.
Julie :)

Why don't you teach him some new tricks to keep his mind occupied, that's what I did with Thistle when she had kennel cough. For example hiding a tidbit under a beaker , say 'on' and put his paw on the beaker, then say 'good boy' and give him the tidbit from under the beaker. Afer a couple of times he will learn to put his paw on the beaker himself. I'm sure you can think of some other tricks to teach him. Thistle loved it. Make sure you take the tidbits out of his food ration or else he'll put on weight, especially not having exercise. I hope his paw gets better soon.
Jane

I wrote a long reply, then the computer crashed!! To put things in a nutshell, you're going to have to suffer! Lead walking, and I mean WALKING!) is the only answer. I've been through the same thing, first witha cut pad from glass (as far as I am concerned, folks can start moaning about dog poo when there is far more dangerous human litter left around!) and then from a toe amputation. Keep him walking, rather than trotting, so that he puts weight on all 4 feet. At least its only for a few days!

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply, but unfortunately, he's not even supposed to go for walks, unless he has to go to the bathroom. And, unfortunately, it's for 3 weeks. He's going to drive himself (and myself) nutty!!!

Hi my puppy actually lost a full pad from her back foot due to glass and it took about 6weeks to heal properly.Shes a border collie so it took some effort to keep her quiet I found stuffed kongs were great obviously had to cut down her meals so that she didn't gain too much weight also cocentrated on training her to do little things like high five lots of extra grooming as she likes being brushed Hope your pup recovers quickly Gillian

Does anyone know if vets will prescribe some kind of take-home sedative for him? I'd hate to drug up the poor guy, but I just can't seem him staying off his feet for three weeks. It's struggle to get him to take a nap even after having a run!

Could you not use a crate. Your vet may know where you could hire one for a few weeks.
I know he'll still be bored etc but at least he won't be charging around.

He has a crate, but I can't keep him in there all day for 3 weeks. He'll go crazy and bark his head off. I think I'm going to have to resign myself to a very unhappy dog for a while.