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With there being increased neuro diminishment on 7/1 of crossing legs and knuckling, it would be prudent to make sure that disc is healed before allowing an introduction back to family life. Discs take 8 weeks to for secure scar tissue to form.
Couch cushions can slope into a person. A recovery suite is always, flat, supportive and not unexpectedly sloping/moving.
A recovery suite always provides the safety of no escapes that a barricaded couch would not.
IT'S COMPLETELY YOUR DECISION how to care for your dog.
Since I've been on this Forum in 2007 for my dog's disc episode, I've seen all kinds of care reported and their different outcomes.
Some owners explain with guilt why they did not provide strict rest Dodgerslist recommends... "
I never thought my dog would do XYZ" Some dodged a bullet, while others had to restart STRICT rest from day 1 count of 8 weeks plus meds
Other owners give high praise to Dodgerslist for helping them give the best home care and were tickled with the outcome on graduation day.
Owner IVDD knowledge is the 🔑KEY to fighting the IVDD enemy! 🔑 The Forum's goal is to immediately expedite getting things right specifically for your dog's needs to ensure a good outcome on graduation day. In other words, those things that make conservative treatment work for many disc episodes.
In the longer term, helping you to get up to speed on disc disease for living many happy years ahead with your dog.
🔑 "Vet" the information you'd rely on for at home care:
-- Dodgerslist list teams up with veterinarians to teach about IVDD:
dodgerslist.com/2020/04/20/education-team-ivdd -- Owners comment about learning to care for their dog at home:
dodgerslist.com/success-storiesIDEAS to help a dog relax in their recovery suite Consider a parent would not allow a child to take off a cast for a broken arm before the bone had knit back properly. The recovery suite is similar to that cast for the spine via limited movement to allow the disc to heal. Vertebrae moving pressure all discs including the still healing disc.
-- Many members have found a pet stroller to solve the whining problem because the stroller can be wheeled from room to room as you go about your activities. Pet strollers, however, should only be used when you are directly supervising. More details on strollers:
dodgerslist.com/2020/05/17/pet-stroller-conservatve-treatment/-- Put a wire crate on rollers to keep them with you as you move about the house.
-- Put a garment you have been wearing and have not washed in the crate.
-- Thundershirt® to calm anxieties similar concept as swaddling an infant to calm.
thundershirt.com/products/thundershirt-for-dogs-- Spend some time wearing your dog out with mental stimulation with tricks that do not make the back move such a nose touch a paw or a food bowl. Of course the training takes place inside the crate.
www.clickertraining.com/15tips-- Nan Arthur, CDBC, CPDT, KPACTP: According to the book "Stress in Dogs" by Martina Scholz & Clarissa von Reinhardt, the most well-behaved dogs get 17 or more hours of rest and sleep per day.
Teaching self-calming exercises can also help your dog to relax more. You can make something as simple as eye contact a very rewarding behavior that also acts as a way for your dog to “ask permission” when he wants something. When dogs have a focus and an understanding about how to behave to get what they want, they are much calmer overall.
To do this, each time your dog looks at you, say, something like, “Yes!” or use a clicker to mark the second he looks at you, and then give your dog a high-value food reward. [NOTE: for crate resting dogs, shift your body a bit] .... wait for your dog to look up at you again, say, “Yes,” and reward again. Do this exercise 10 or so times and then say, “All done,” and put the treats away. Come back later and do it again until you can see that your dog is really starting to make automatic eye contact in hopes you will say, “Yes,” again and give him his reward.
[NOTE: treats should be subtracted from the normal daily kibble ration so as not to gain weight during crate rest. To dogs the size of the treat matters not. ]
wholedogtraining.com/images/stories/Are_all_dogs_trainable.pdf-- Provide a lick mat in the recovery suite. Freeze with some soaked and mushed up kibble, a slight slather of canned dog food or other lo-cal smear, as a very tiny treat but one that will take a lot of time to consume.
Use as long as your dog is not exceeding the requirement of little neck/back movement during the recovery rest period
www.amazon.com/s?k=lick+mat+for+dogs&hvadid=78202818358910&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_3b30nygjvi_e-- At night, try placing the crate on a sturdy bedside table to sleep next to you.
-- During the day try the coffee table or the dinning room table so there will be a view out a window and a better perspective on what is going on in the house from a high.
-- Make the crate or ex-pen more cozy by draping a blanket over part of the top.
dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/blanketTOP150.jpg **
-- "Dodgerslist Emergency Crate Training" information has even more details:
dodgerslist.com/2020/02/24/tips-to-help-with-recovery-suite/
