Hi all,

Poppy, my 10 month staffie was speyed two days ago.  Untill today she was still suffering from the anaesthetic i.e extremely sleepy and inactive.  In addition to the trauma of the op, she also has to wear one of those Elizabethan style collars which she is coping admirably with. 

Now she is beginning to return to her normal self.  Taking my shoes, barking for attention, chewing her toys etc etc.  My question is though, how do I exercise and entertain her for the next few days.  My vet told me she can only have very short walks on lead.  She is used to off lead walks more than on lead as we live in a village surrounded by countryside.

Every day we have quite a few sessions of playtime.  Now she can't understand why she is not getting this.  She loves nothing more than playing fetch but I am told she can't even do this for risk of splitting her stitches.  She is also used to sleeping with us which means her coming upstairs but I have spent the last two nights sleeping downstairs with her.  Spoiled, maybe but that is our choice.

She barked for the first time today since her operation.  For once it was joy to my ears.  Yes, things are certainly getting back to normal.

What can I do for the next few days when she may feel she is capable of a long walk and plenty of play, even though her body may not be willing?  Any advice would be much appreciated as I am really concerned.  She doesn't understand that the vets advice is for her own good!

When my girl was done in January, I had the same problems - she's an extremely energetic dog, never stops if she gets the chance :) She was up and about the day after the op!

I used frozen stuffed kongs (peanut butter + cat biscuit stuffing, or cherrios, or whatever i had really!), and frozen raw bones - they last a good while, and keep the dog entertained.  I also used rawhide chews - the thicker white ones, they seem to last longer.  Careful with them though, rawhide is fattening!

Otherwise you're just going to have to grin and bear it - it may feel mean, but the quieter you can keep her now, the faster she'll heal, and the sooner she'll be running through the countryside again :)

I know this isn't as easy as it sounds but giving mental exercise is probably more tiring than physical exercise. She needs lots of training games. Teach her quiet tricks, no jumping or excessive twisting. Stuff like targetting is ideal. My dogs are more exausted my an hour of training classes than they are by a 2 hour off lead run. Kongs are good for keeping dogs quiet too. When i want to give my dogs something to do i get a portion of their dried food and throw it out into the garden and then let them loose to search for it. Don't worry after 10 days the stitches will come out and it will be business as usual! (i may be wrong in saying this by the way, but both of my girls went upstairs on the day of their operation, and they had no problems. I work in a vets, but sometimes i think they are a little too overcautious in their suggestions- i must stress however that this is my own personal opinion and if anything went wrong i know i am the one to blame.) If dogs are really hyper after spaying, hyper enough to do damage to themselves we will prescribe a low dose of sedatives, just to keep them calm.

i know how you're feeling sezi. I had my bitch done last august, and she was a nightmare. She had to stay in overnight, but come the next day, i picked her up, and you'd never known she'd just had a hysterectomy!

i tried to act calmer myself to try and calm her too-it worked a bit but.....

i just grinned and beared it. As it happens, she did pull a few stitches, but she'd healed very quickly, so didn't need staples.

why not take some extra time to work on more training? I'm sure she'll be pleased about having so much attention!!!!!!

nicola x