I sprung Chaucer from the vet yesterday. Under the effects of cortisone he is relatively asymptomatic and desperately wants to play ball. He simply couldn't understand me when I told him he needed to take it easy. The fractures are in the bony protrusions (from the spondylosis) and are small however the compression of the disks is significant. Vet says maybe 6 months for total fusion if he can manage not to injure himself again. He's limited to level ground only (although the 3 steps to the bed were okay-ed if I make sure he takes them slow). And NO jumping! He still runs the risk of causing permanent damage at this point. Eeep!
We talked about his activities and agree that the repetitive action that likely lead to this condition/injury is fence-jumping. That is...not that he jumps fences but that he jumps up and down at the fence due to our proximity to the street and the random strangers that reach over the fence to pet the cute dog. A problem I have long lamented. The vet suggested I use a hot wire to train the dog not to jump. I'm not understanding how this will help since it's the humans on the other side of the fence that are instigating the behavior. I thought about electrifying the whole fence but something tells me I might open myself up to lawsuits from the community in that event. Not that it wouldn't be personally satisfying >:}
I will have to accompany the dogs outside at all times now. Probably with Chaucer on lead for at least the next few weeks. I'm thinking of rigging some sort of tether and harness that will allow him to go out in the yard but not make it all the way to the fence. I'm afraid that he will still leap against the halter though for bikes and skateboards and really fun things like that so not until I can be sure of the fusion. What seems more reasonable at the moment (unfortunately) is moving some place with a private yard. Ugh!
12 years ago
4 comments:
Interesting, and I'm inclined to believe that the jumping up could have had an effect. Juneau used to jump against things all of the time: people, doors, fences. I know that Cathy felt that was a contributing factor to his injury.
Keep him quiet. You know that . . . and good luck with that :-(
Still sounds more like Dirk than Juneau - compressed disks and bone spur. Not to mention there was a familial history with Nono.
Dirk lived a good life for a long time with his issues. I would recommend leash only for now (ick) as I can see him lunging and doing stupid dog things otherwise.
Lowes sells 30" high iron fence sections -- removable if you move. When my group has access to the front gate, they are hellions -- throwing themselves against it and barking their fool heads off. I divided the yard using the iron fence sections (which are easy to put in all by yourself). It keeps the dogs from the human foot traffic. Of course, the neighborhood cats still lie on the wall just out of reach -- and that's worth a leap and a bark. I hope you can keep the boy quiet and let him heal.
Yeah, I'd like to be able to put up a solid fence of some sort (chain-link currently) but I'm so close to the road that it would obstruct the view when pulling out of both my driveway and the neighbors. They already complain about the rose bushes for crying out loud! I did see Lowes has 4’x8’ cedar panels, that might be an idea but it still wouldn’t fix the problem once people got close. Not sure how the landlord would feel about me wiring wood panels up…then again not sure if he would care if they weren’t permanent.
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