I tried putting Rusty in his crate. Ha! I knew that wouldn't work as he's always hated the crate and injured a front paw trying to scratch his way out in the past. My next brilliant idea was to put him in with Little Guy. Yeah, right. Rusty kept jumping over the baby gate. We resorted to just leaving him in the hallway with Guy, where he could jump and scratch at the door all he wanted. When home, I'd bring him out and leash him to the dining room table where he'd lie pretty quietly as long as he could see us.
In the past three weeks, Rusty has not shown any signs pain or favored his injured leg at all. I took it into my own hands to decrease the medication dose, which had no ill effect. He's a hard dog to keep down, so I took him to his vet to get her recommendations. Upon examining him, watching him move, and taking into account the full weight bearing he was doing the day after, she thinks that there probably wasn't a tear after all and maybe just a sprain. The only way to truly know would be an MRI and since he is asymptomatic, there's no way I'm paying for that right now.
We put Rusty on the same "gradual return to activity" program Little Guy is on and starting with short walks. I've been taking them together and it's not working. After 3/4 of a block, I have to pick Guy up and carry him the rest of the way and Rusty is wanting to zoom along at a fast pace and for a longer distance. We're also putting him in the hallway with LG when we go out so he's not jumping on and off furniture and running a lot in the back yard.
(The squirrels and birds are happy for the reprieve!)
Things are working out, but there were a few days there where I was freaking out. This surgery that Little Guy had has a tough recovery period. Luckily, he's been pretty mellow and was becoming so inactive before that it's been somewhat easy forcing him to rest. I was just imagining Rusty having the surgery and ruining it within the first week. The surgeon was kind enough to suggest we could give him sedatives. For 8 weeks.
Mostly this has all been inconvenient, more so for the dogs than us. Rusty did miss out on a special event he was supposed to attend and we're now officially on a temporary break from therapy dog work. I also know that he very well may injure himself in the future and need more invasive treatment, but it seems like we've dodged the bullet this time, thankfully. While we're still keeping Rusty reigned in for a couple more weeks, he is going to be in his first movie this weekend. It's a friend's short independent film, but exciting nonetheless. Oh, and it'll be in 3D. How cool is that?
*Little Guy had a fully torn ligament, as well as a damaged meniscus.
Mostly this has all been inconvenient, more so for the dogs than us. Rusty did miss out on a special event he was supposed to attend and we're now officially on a temporary break from therapy dog work. I also know that he very well may injure himself in the future and need more invasive treatment, but it seems like we've dodged the bullet this time, thankfully. While we're still keeping Rusty reigned in for a couple more weeks, he is going to be in his first movie this weekend. It's a friend's short independent film, but exciting nonetheless. Oh, and it'll be in 3D. How cool is that?
*Little Guy had a fully torn ligament, as well as a damaged meniscus.