# Suggestions for keeping a crated dog calm after a spay?



## Cygnet

Ellie was spayed two days ago. Small incision, internal stitches.

She's nine months old, and an _incredibly _athletic, hyperactive, agile, non-stop motion machine. I joke she's a perpetual motion machine attached to a bottomless pit. (She eats twice as much as our other two dogs combined. Our other dogs are bigger than she is. She's skinny, and all muscle, not an ounce of spare fat on her frame.) 

She's part heeler, and I think the other part is catahoula. If you know the breeds, you might be able to infer just _how _hyper she is. 

If she were a calmer dog, I'd let her out, but I'm truly concerned she'll hurt herself running. Let's just say she cleared a three foot rock wall when we had her off leash earlier today, without touching the wall, and then proceeded to get in a roaring play-fight with one of the other dogs. She also managed to get out of the crate earlier while I was outside and jumped up onto my kitchen table -- I saw her adorable little face :facepalm: staring out the window at me. Door on the crate is now wired shut. 

Vet said keep her crated a minimum of five days. 

She's screaming non stop, chewing on her (fortunately wire) crate, and digging obsessively at the floor of the crate. She had 50mg of benadryl a couple hours ago, plus meloxicam for any pain -- though I don't think she's in much pain based on the way she moves. (45 pound dog.) Vet refused to give us an rx for a sedative. (Grrr.)

She has a knucklebone, which she's ignoring. When I fed her, she shredded the bowl (heavy plastic bowl) and didn't eat the kibble. She did eat earlier when she was outside, so she's not refusing food per se, she's just too upset about being kenneled.

Aside from sticking a "no bark" collar on her (which I may do, as soon as I can get some batteries for it) does anyone have any suggestions for calming her down? Or at least shutting her up? (I'm praying for laryngitis.) 

It's only a few days, but I'm ready to strangle her already. And I love this dog.

If I could afford it, I'd ask the vet to board her for the next few days. Let _her _listen to the dog scream. Bet she'd drug the dog within an hour or two ... 

(This same vet initially refused our request for psych meds for an elderly cat who takes her severe anxiety out on the carpet. The vet changed her tune when they took the cat back to draw blood, and the cat apparently threw one heck of a temper tantrum. Coulda told her ....)


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## kalmara

Take her for a long, slow walks on a lead. Tie her to your belt if you need to do chores.
Rescue Remedy in large doses
Leave a radio on next to the crate
To keep her entertained a kong filled with her favourite food ?
Ice blocks of beef broth 
5 days seems a long time what was the reasoning ?


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## Cygnet

Thanks for the suggestions. 

She's not at all interested in food (or even the nice meaty knuckle bone I gave her) when she's in the crate. I also suspect she'd destroy a kong and potentially choke on the bits. She's impressively destructive for a smallish dog. She's managed to mangle every toy we've given her -- we've resorted to "rottweiler" sized bones.

I'm not sure a slow walk on a leash would do much for this dog. She's used to a 2-4 mile run beside a quad several times a week, sometimes twice a day. (She probably runs twice the distance on the quad's odometer, too, as she tends to run laps around it.) -- I will try that, but I'm dubious it will do much good. 

Vet said minimum five days. *shrug* I'm not sure I like this vet, but but I haven't found one better. I am concerned that she might hurt herself internally with some of the acrobatics she gets up to when off leash. Incision itself looks fine.

She's finally fallen asleep ... maybe I can get some sleep now.

(Oops, I jinxed myself. New song on the radio woke her up and she's screaming again.) 



kalmara said:


> Take her for a long, slow walks on a lead. Tie her to your belt if you need to do chores.
> Rescue Remedy in large doses
> Leave a radio on next to the crate
> To keep her entertained a kong filled with her favourite food ?
> Ice blocks of beef broth
> 5 days seems a long time what was the reasoning ?


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## Cygnet

And, I officially give up.

She figured out how to pop the latches open on the door. I tied them shut with rope. Within five minutes, she chewed through the rope and let herself out again. I resorted to tie wire. The crate is about 3X3X5, guesstimating. She flung herself so violently around in the crate that she tipped it over. And when I righted it, she tipped it again within thirty seconds -- deliberately, I think, because she figured out she could. I've used the exact same model of crate to contain 100 pound Nigerian bucks with horns, and multiple similar size dogs, including a pit bull/heeler mix who wasn't particularly pleased to be crated either and who had twenty pounds and a ton of muscle on this little girl. 

I did mention this dog is (A) scary smart and (B) just a little crazy and (C) HYPER? I love her to death. As a ranch dog, she has tremendous potential. That potential may or may not be realized, depending on if one of us here doesn't kill her out of frustration before her first birthday or not. (This is the same dog that ate my father's quad because there was a chipmunk in it ...) I'm mostly kidding about the killing ... but wow, it's been a _long _time since I've seen a dog have a temper tantrum like that. 

(My now twelve year old heeler/aussie mix broke her shoulder blade at 10 months and had to be crated for six weeks to allow it to heel as it was not a break that could be repaired surgically. She screamed non stop the entire six weeks, but she never managed to tip over the crate or get the latches open.) 

Anyway, she's now outside in our small pasture -- it's relatively level, so she won't be jumping anything, and she's separated from the other dogs. The worst she could do is run a lot, which I expect she'll do, but she was flinging herself around in that crate so bad (and tipping it over!) and I was afraid she was going to hurt herself. 

.... She's now sitting outside my door yelping to be let in. (My trailer is in the pasture.) She's not normally a house dog, but it seems like she's decided that she's allowed in the house since she's been inside for two days. (Albeit in a crate, except for potty breaks.) 

I can't win. 

I need a beverage. Or the dog does. I'm not sure which. And I don't normally drink.


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## Chickensittin

Well, it sounds a little too late for your situation, but maybe this would be useful for future reference. When we had our hound spayed, I told the vet that I was concerned because I wanted to keep the dog in the house while she recovered and, at that time, she avoided going in any building (shop, barn, etc.). She was so high-strung, I didn't think I could get her to settle down no matter where I put her. The vet gave me some pills to help her to relax (she slept a lot), which gave her time to heal. No crate, just lying on a bed I made up for her.


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## Cygnet

Chickensittin said:


> Well, it sounds a little too late for your situation, but maybe this would be useful for future reference. When we had our hound spayed, I told the vet that I was concerned because I wanted to keep the dog in the house while she recovered and, at that time, she avoided going in any building (shop, barn, etc.). She was so high-strung, I didn't think I could get her to settle down no matter where I put her. The vet gave me some pills to help her to relax (she slept a lot), which gave her time to heal. No crate, just lying on a bed I made up for her.


We specifically asked the vet for meds, and the vet refused. 

(Not my first rodeo with a high strung working dog. Sigh.)


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## mrs whodunit

My vet had said for my doxie no jumping, stairs, blah blah blah. That dog had no pain and we couldn't keep her still, she was sitting up, running, jumping stairs everything.

She healed up wonderfully even though we couldnt follow the vets instructions. keep her quite.... Ummm Yeah. Right.


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## TedH71

I have high strung working catahoulas and they're all crate trained...even the one I got a few months ago who had been chained for a year and half. Probably too late but I would recommend that you crate train all of your dogs when they're pups...it'll save you trouble in the long run. People who work their catahoulas frequently have to pen or crate their dogs when taking them places to prevent them from getting into trouble. It's ALWAYS a good idea to do so even if you keep the dog outside all the time w/o supervision or whatnot. Personally when I had the dog that had never been inside throwing a snit fit in the crate, I slammed my hand on top of the crate and told her to shut up. She does now because she knows if she keeps on barking for no reason (she usually barks if she really needs to go to the bathroom outside but I can tell when she's barking to be LET out), she gets drug out and her bottom whooped a bit and told to shut up and put back in the crate. Took her a week to learn to shut up. I don't whoop my dogs as a general rule but when you have catahoulas, you have to emphasize that you're the alpha.


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## Cygnet

Yeah, crate training her in advance would have been ideal. There were reasons that it didn't happen.

(Also, I suspect she was soured on a crate before we got her. She tried to run out of the room when she saw it, which was before she was spayed. She was about four or five months old when we got her.)

And re: emphasizing you're alpha -- yup. I don't normally smack dogs either, don't need to, but this one's gotten a (non-painful, but startling) boot, scruff, or swat from me a few times from me for general stupid puppy testing-the-limits behavior. Not enough to hurt at all, but enough to get her attention.


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## aoconnor1

Yea, good luck with crating a young Catahoula that hasn't been crate trained as a little puppy. I rescued a one year old Catahoula female. She had been run over (and I don't mean hit, I mean RUN OVER) by a truck, my husband saw her in the road right after that and stopped to help her. He brought her to me, I ran her to my vet, and from there to the orthopedic surgeon. She had both hips and her pelvis crushed. They rebuilt her over a week and two surgeries, and then released her to me to rehab. Said get her in a crate and no letting her out for 2 months except for potty breaks. I had to put a towel under her tummy and lift her every time she needed to go out, and I kept the towel under her for support while she walked. 

She hated the crate. She cried, fussed, and carried on! A lot! She was moving around so much I feared for her recovery, so I got a couple of orthopedic dog beds for her, stacked them together next to my bed, and let her recover out of the crate. She did fine. 

I don't think your dog will mess up her spay incision or stitches by being out, just keep an eye on her incision for redness or swelling. She should be fine.


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## motdaugrnds

Wishing I had some good information for you; however, I don't. Sending you some good wishes and hoping she doesn't pull those stitches.........


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## Chickensittin

Cygnet said:


> We specifically asked the vet for meds, and the vet refused.
> 
> (Not my first rodeo with a high strung working dog. Sigh.)


Did your vet offer an explanation as to why he/she refused? I didn't ask for meds, my vet offered them and, if I remember correctly, it was 2 pills a day for 3-4 days. In my opinion, not enough to get excited about but they made a world of difference. Our dog was a drop off, obviously someone's hunting washout. (She was microchipped, I called the first number and it was out of service, called the second number and it was this person's grandmother who had no idea where her grandson was-she hadn't seen him in months :hrm


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## rxkeith

we had a toy poodle, had springs in her legs and liked to jump. we had her spayed, and were told keep her activity down for a few days. the day after surgery she was jumping on and off the couch and running around like nothing happened. she popped a stitch the third day, another one the next day, then another one. she had one or two stitches still in before the week was up. she was perfectly fine. she lived 15 years.
i think everyone would be much happier with your dog out of the crate. it doesn't seem like she is going to come to any greater harm being out than being confined.


keith


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## secuono

Vets are buttmunchers. My dog had to be crated after exploratory surgery, he went nuts in his crate and tore ligaments in his leg. Vet still refused to give anything to calm him and blamed me for the leg injuries.
I don't see that vet anymore. 

Might be easier for you to have her on leash and with you at all times instead of in a crate. If not and she's running around in the cage, smaller cage might help. But nothing stops the crying, chewing and trying to escape if they aren't 100% crate trained.


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## GrannyCarol

I think you were wise to let her out of the crate and give her room. Maybe you can wear her out a bit by training her to do tricks or something (be sure you want her to always do it though!). Using their brain tires a dog out without harming their body. Sit/down/sit/stand iterations use a lot of concentration and mental energy. Our brains use something like a third of the sugar in the blood. Think of exercises that don't involve her jumping and running (no retrieving for instance) and lead her through them, give her a treat and do it over. Maybe something constructive would help... hmmmm train her a down stay!


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## offthegrid

secuono said:


> Vets are buttmunchers. My dog had to be crated after exploratory surgery, he went nuts in his crate and tore ligaments in his leg. Vet still refused to give anything to calm him and blamed me for the leg injuries.
> I don't see that vet anymore.


I don't blame you! Wow, my vets have been great, and have offered meds before in order to keep post-surgical dogs calm. 

Obviously the crate training would have helped but that's water under the bridge. I agree that tethering her to you in the house would have been another option. Actually, keeping her in the house but off lead would probably have been ok. I'd be mostly concerned about flat out sprinting than anything else, but hopefully the stitches will hold and the incisions are small. Walking on a leash is better than nothing. Our dogs also run twice a day and while a walk doesn't tire them out, it is still the "routine" of going out, and then coming back, getting a bone...etc. etc. 

I have a post-surgical ***** here that has had sutures in for 10 days for a mastectomy. Cannot wait until tomorrow to have them removed so we don't have to be so careful. (I think 10 days is very long! But...it's a pretty big incision so I guess it could have gotten messy if they popped open).

Good luck!


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## GrannyCarol

One of my little Silkys had breast cancer and had a mastectomy on one side, here is how my vet protected her stitches (she left this alone until we took it off to remove them). Sadly she was found to also have mast cell tumors and after the one side healed up didn't live long enough to have surgery on the other side. I'm still sad, she was a sweet and special little dog.


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## offthegrid

GrannyCarol said:


> One of my little Silkys had breast cancer and had a mastectomy on one side, here is how my vet protected her stitches (she left this alone until we took it off to remove them). Sadly she was found to also have mast cell tumors and after the one side healed up didn't live long enough to have surgery on the other side. I'm still sad, she was a sweet and special little dog.


Aw, I'm sorry about your little girl. That's a great set up to protect the stitches. My girl is about 38 lbs, and the surgery was on her last two teats so the incision goes under her back leg; that's the hardest part. I have a little "cape" that a friend made for me to flatten the coat before showing my dog, and then I pin it underneath. It's a big pain in the rear end though.


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## TedH71

My 2nd catahoula that I have now had never been in a crate and been chained outside for 1 and half years before I got her. She LOVES her crate and hates being outside if it's too cold, windy, or rainy, lol. However she is far more energetic than my older male catahoula.


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## Guest

Acepromazine. Doggie Downers.


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## fixitguy

When we got our border collie, we put a windup clock under the blanket in the crate. In about 1 hour, problem solved. 
I don't know if it works with older dogs, but it worked for us.
Just be sure to disable the alarm feature, LOL


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## GrannyCarol

How is she doing? Are you all crazy or is she back to her normal life already?


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## okiemom

I refused to give our hyper dog pain meds as I knew if she felt good she would do stupid things. She never acted like she was in pain and keeping her calm was crazy until I just let her do what she felt like within reason. Watched the stitched.


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