Losing my mind over keeping my pup entertained post spay surgery

[lauriesinglemom]

My dog (9 month dachshund x aussie) recently got spayed a few days ago and it’s safe to say her energy levels are back in full swing- but obviously we are having to limit exercise and take it easy for the two week recovery time.

We’ve been learning new tricks, snuffling, playing hide and seek with toys, shredding boxes and paper with treats hidden inside, frozen kongs, chew toys, just sitting on the front porch to observe outside so we aren’t just in the house, etc etc. Basically everything I can think of to provide mental stimulation- but she wants to RUN. No, she wants to bounce off the walls.

Inside, she is restless, frantically playing with her toys or frantically flying through the activities I’m providing as if she is being timed. When we go out for potty breaks, she is going absolutely berserk; pulling on the leash, barking and lunging at everything… Generally being extremely reactive and unfocused. Big crazy eyes. We’ve had to work on her reactivity a lot from day one when I got her, and we’ve made soooo much progress, but now she’s acting like how she was months ago and it just feels so frustrating.

I know she just has a ton of pent up energy plus going through an invasive procedure and a change in hormones… and it’s probably (hopefully) not actual regression- but I am losing my mind and feeling so frustrated and unsure of what I can do to help her right now.

Sorry this is so long! Just wondering if anyone has any insight or advice to offer! Thank you so much in advance!

 

[spectrehallow]

@lauriesinglemom I have several friends who had this issue and they asked the vet if they could get some meds to help (lol) while their dogs were on restricted activity - not sure what drug the doc gave them but they said they did and it helped, so just an alternative option if it’s really bad. You could practice place and long downs and stays - that might mentally exhaust her

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@spectrehallow Thanks for the insight! I had no idea it was such a common option to get some meds to help with this- I’ll talk to my vet about it!

 

[devinc]

@lauriesinglemom Yes! Did the vet give you trazodone? That’s the only drug that worked to keep my dog calm post surgery.

 

[cruwbewq]

@spectrehallow Mine just got spayed last month and the vet included an anxiety pill to keep her calm as needed-I was soooo grateful.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lauriesinglemom Would she ride in a wagon? When my dog was injured I found one for like $10 second hand and we strolled around. She would often go to the door to go outside, but was in pain so she really couldn't do anything when we got there. The wagon rides really seemed to fulfill her need to get outside and see things.

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@imagebeastmarkbeast That conjures up the cutest most wholesome imagery! Great idea!

 

[fridil]

@lauriesinglemom Our vet gave us some Trazadone after neutering our dog, because he would not be still.

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@fridil That would definitely be helpful! I didn’t even know this was something I could ask for!

 

[jorge_costanza]

@lauriesinglemom Might be a good time to practice being bored on place. Our GSD is also the kind of dog that absolutely needs to run at least once or twice a day so I was really nervous about her recovery time but in addition to snuffles/puzzles/shredding/kongs, we did 20-30 min on place at least twice a day. It looks like they’re doing nothing but for my dog it was harder mental work to lay there and have to settle down. Same with the crate if you’ve crate trained, helps the dogs self-soothe and chill out a bit instead of needing to constantly be stimulated

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@jorge_costanza Thank you for the advice!!! We have been working on learning to relax and “turn off” and it’s obviously been so hard keeping her in that place for longer than a few minutes especially now that she has isn’t getting enough physical exercise… Any advice on how to get her to stay and hold the “do nothing” time for longer periods?

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lauriesinglemom I really like the Sit on the dog exercise, but I worry now would be a really bad time to start. In my expirience, the first time you do it it can take over an hour for the dog to settle if they aren't used to being tethered, but with your dog, I have no idea.

I always recommend a good exercise session before the first couple of sessions, just to help put the dog in the right frame of mind, and make the training go faster... since you can't do that, try some mental puzzles, and then just give it a go. Give her at least two hours, and if she doesn't settle by then, I wouldn't try again.

These too weeks are going to suck for her, and that's okay.

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Thank you for this! Great advice and resource. I’m going to bookmark that link, and if it doesn’t work out to do it now, I definitely will after she’s healed and able to exercise again!

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@lauriesinglemom Let me know how it goes! It is for sure one of my favorite exercises

 

[jorge_costanza]

@lauriesinglemom Sure! We have a separate elevated bed that we only take out for training that we use for this. Tbh, we’d been doing place work for awhile before her spay so you may really need to scale back expectations for building up duration since she’s recovering from surgery. Do you have a duration marker? Ours is “good”, so she knows to keep doing what she’s doing. Easiest thing to do is send them to place (where they should lay down) and then slowly build up duration there from 30 sec to 1 min, to 5, etc. Keep a leash on her and if she tries to get up early, just guide her back to place. No need for conflict, just help her understand that there is no option but to lay down until you say otherwise. And lots of treats! When we first started doing duration on place we fed probably half a cup of kibble during the whole thing, intermittently feeding kibble with a “good”. Maybe aim for 5 or 10 minutes max over the next 2 weeks and later on you can work on staying there longer. We also do it after walks / play so she practices calming herself down after a state of excitement - good practice for calming down after seeing triggers outside too!

 

[ryannate]

@lauriesinglemom This breed sounds like a nightmare lol vocalism of a daschund and energy/intelligence/drive of an aussie

 

[lauriesinglemom]

@ryannate Haha I like to think of it as a fun keep-you-on-your-toes mix of adorable, loyal, and spunky… Makes for a great companion buuuut yeah… Especially in the puppy stage, my hands are very full indeed lol

 

[ryannate]

@lauriesinglemom I can only imagine. Good luck, lots of mental stimulation

 

[ryesenova]

@lauriesinglemom For others looking to avoid this ordeal with an active breed, laparoscopic spay is only a few hundred dollars more and has near-zero recovery. It's minimally invasive compared to traditional spay.

 

[gsfaikacs]

@lauriesinglemom Literally just go on long leashed walks. So simple? Wtf?