Danielle, sorry to hear Prince is having the likely diagnosis your ER vet gave of a spinal issue. Since he is of the breeds prone to disc disease, good to act like it is until you have proof you are dealing with another disease.
Since he is off all meds and showing no pain, that is good. That means Ibuprofen (non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug) did resolve the painful swelling
So going with the likely suspicioned diagnosis of disc disease, you would continue to ensure the disc can heal over the course of 8 weeks of crate rest.
Let us know you are on the same page about the importance of crate rest.
The centerpiece of "DISC disease" treatment is the healing of the disc via limited movement of the back via a recovery suite. 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 for 8 weeks provides limited movement to allow good strong disc scar tissue to form.
--- Super tried and true tips for setting up the recovery suite:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/CrateRRP.htm --- PLUS further guidance on conservative treatment on our "All Things IVDD page:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingpage.htm www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htmSTRICT means:
- no laps - no couches
- no baths - no sleeping with you
- no chiro therapy - no dragging or meandering at potty times.
Carry your dog to and from the recovery suite to the potty place and then allow a very, very few limited footsteps.
Using a sling (long winter scarf, ace bandage, belt) will save your back and help to keep a wobbly dog's back aligned and butt from tipping over.
A harness and 6 foot leash is to control speed and from darting off PLUS keep footsteps to minimum as you stand in one spot. An ex-pen in the grass is an excellent alternative to minimizing footsteps with the physical and visual to indicate there will be no sniff festing going on!
Nerve healing is not expected to fully complete in the short time it takes takes a disc to heal. It may or it may take more like months for nerves to self generate.
KNOWLEDGE
Our goal is to help you maneuver things that can be overwhelming with an IVDD diagnosis in caring for your dog. Getting quickly up to speed on intervertebral DISC disease helps you in understanding the why of what your vet advises and the ability to bring the right things to the table in working together to help heal the disc. You will be very amazed how quickly you can learn a lot about just one disease which a vet is not able to know in great detail for every single disease known to cats, dogs, birds, and many other species they treat.
Keep in mind the key word in the name of the disease is DISC. I encourage you to take a 3-prong approach to become an IVDD savvy pet parent. With knowledge you’ll be able to dialog with your vet in a way that allows understanding a prescribed treatment (meds, rest, etc), and when you do not understand, the ability to ask good, pertinent questions on behalf of your furry loved one.
#1 Why STRICT crate rest for the DISC is so important in preventing a surgery
#2 How/why meds are used while the DISC is healing. A good review of the many things your vet mentioned about his diagnosis, the meds, rest, the rest that you may not have fully processed during that short vet visit.
#3 The very best thing you can do for YOU, the caregiver, and for your dog is to read and learn. Calm your mind about how long each of the 4 phases of healing will take. What treatments for which phase? At what point would a surgery be considered? This is the page to bookmark and return to in the next days to have a full understanding of the now and the future of living many happy years ahead with your IVDD dog. Here is the link to bookmark:
www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm 
