My 1 year old lab has been cooped up for nearly 2 weeks because of a cut pad, which has meant absolutely no exercise for him. The vet gave me some sedatives to give him when he got overly excited so that he stays off his paw. My concern is that whenever the pills are wearing off, he gets a crazed, wild-eye look and starts scooting around like he's on fire. He also starts barking a lot, which he used to do whenever he didn't get enough exercise. This frenzy leads us to having to give him another pill. I plan on taking him to the park for a nice LONG run as soon as he's better (in three days). My question is: Do you think he's suffered any irrepreable, long-term harm from a lack of exercise? Or do you think he'll be back to normal as soon as he burns off some of that penned up energy?

I think you could do damage by letting him tear around once he is allowed out!

You should build his excersise up gradually, as his muscles will be slack, and he could damage tendons and joints.

He will be frustrated, but I suggest a lead walk of five minutes then 10 and so on for the first week, and then only free excersise of no more than 15 minutes in your own garden.

Second week a short walk and some off lead in the park, but not too long and build up to normal by end of second week.

He has been rested for two whole weeks, so would imagine two weeks of building up to normal is likely to be needed!

have to say that to stop his excercise for a cut pad sounds ludicrous.....good heavens, mine would get about 3 walks a year on that basis...think your vet is being a bit oversensitive.

It wasn't just a simple cut, although I'm starting to wonder if the vet is also being too sensitive. But he did lacerate the pad right in half, and he had to have eight stiches.

Wasn't it bandaged? (I know foot bandages are a nuisance because they have to be changed every 48 hours or the foot goes all sweaty and manky) :( but when my dog had a toe amputated I was told to put a plastic bag over the bandage if the ground was wet, and to just lead walk him so that he got some exercise.

It sounds as though it was a really nasty injury.

He has a splint on his foot, and the vet has changed his bandage twice since he got the stiches put in. The cut was really bad, but now I'm really starting to worry about the lack of exercise he's gotten. I thought that I was doing the best thing by keeping him off his foot so that it could heal properly. The vet was also very worried about the wound becoming irritated by the bandage, but thankfully it hasn't. Perhaps I should start taking him on short walks even though he has the bandage on? (It covers his entire back foot, nearly half his leg).

All I can say is that I was told to walk my dog, even with his bandage. I am loth to disagree with your vet (not having done the years at uni!) but I wouldn't think short lead walks would do any harm. (Harry and I were doing two halfhour walks a day with his bandage on.) When the bandage was eventually taken off I used to put on a boot for walks to protect the scar till it toughened up.

If your dog had a toe aputated and was still going for walks, I don't see how one or two walks a day could hurt mine. I feel absolutely terrible for giving him all those pills, although the vet did say that no harm would come of it! Maybe he was wrong!!

He'd have been off the walls if he didn't go out! :D Walking slowly stopped him limping, so he didn't strain his back trying to keep all his weight over one front foot, and having to overcompensate at the back.

It being a front foot was very confusing for the poor boy - unless it was at a very sturdy tree to lean against, when he cocked his leg he fell over!!!

Edit: In the house and garden (as long as the ground was dry - otherwise it was the plastic bag again) he was free to move as much as he liked (though they never go upstairs anyway), and even play with his brother and the rest of them, so he got quite a lot of free moving as well.

Hi,

Unfortunately a cut pad is one of the hardest injuries to heal, and it it very unlikely to be fully healed for normal free-running exercise in 3 days ...... I have had one of my dogs do this (yes, accident-prone Lil again, folks), and would strongly recommend that when he is allowed to exercise again it is controlled exercise on a lead for some few weeks yet - or you may find you're back to square one very quickly. Controlled exercise on the lead will avoid the twisting/turning and sharp stops that are likely to split the wound again.

Sorry!

M.

Please don't let him loose to tear about straight away - he's almost certain to pull a muscle or tear a tendon or damage himself in some other way. Controlled (lead) exercise for at least 2 weeks (to match what he's been off). I'm surprised he hasn't been allowed any exercise at all, but then I'm not a vet and I haven't seen the cut.

If he were mine I would take him for several short (5 minute) lead walks on the first couple of days (walking only, not trotting, so that he slowly exercises the muscles, and don't forget his pads will have got very soft having not been on the pavement), 10 minutes for the next days, and gradually build up that way, before you risk letting him off the lead outside your garden.

Might it be a reaction to something in the sedative ?

Does anyone think it would be all right if he played a little fetch inside the house? We live in an apartment, so he couldn't do too much running, but I'm afraid he thinks we've hidden the tennis balls forever!

Hi My Border Collie cut her pad really badly .At first it was stapled but by about 4 days later it was obvious it wasn't healing so had to have the pad removed under anaesthetic .It then took 4 weeks and 12 dressing changes for it to heal my vet sold me a boot to put over Wishes bandage so that she could go for short walks while this was going on. She was allowed free run of the house and her pad granulated in beautifully.Could you try getting him a dog boot so that you could take him for short walks.Best Wishes Gillian

He has a thick plastic bag that goes over his foot when he walks which helps because there's around two feet of snow on the grass! Thankfully, he gets the stiches out tomorrow, so things should return to normal soon!

Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice -- I hadn't realized that he could pull a muscle or worse by letting him tear about. I started taking him on walks a few days before he got the stiches out and playing a little indoor fetch. The vet has advised him to stick to just walks for a week so that the wound doesn't open up again. We've just had a snowfall and there's salt all over the sidewalks -- should I keep the bag on his foot so that it doesn't irritate the wound?

Ooooh yes, definitely! Salt in wounds stings! I've had a dog who really suffered from the salt, even though her feet were normal. I'm sure he'll be a lot happier if you put a boot or bag on his foot.

Hope he's healing well. :)