Blog Topics
These are topics for dogs who have been injured (or for their owners):
- What should I do if my dog gets hit by a car? What emergency steps should I take?
- Are there any good ways to prevent a dog from digging his way out of the yard or escaping from the yard or home?
- If I am going to talk to my dog’s veterinarian after my dog has been wounded or had surgery, what should I be prepared to discuss? Should I bring anything with me?
- How can we make our dog comfortable when he has been wounded?
- What type of life-style changes can we expect if our canine is injured?
- Should I feed my dog any differently after he has been wounded or injured?
- Will my dog be able to have visitors while he is recuperating?
- How do we deal with taking our dog out to pee and poop if he is injured?
- How long will it take my dog to recover from his injury?
- How can we made this period of time easier on our dog, on our children, and on ourselves?
- How are dogs different from people in how they respond to physical trauma?
- How are dogs different from people in how they respond to their environment?
- If my dog gets hit by a car once, can I expect that he/she will learn his lesson, and not go into the street again?
- Is it possible to teach a dog to look in both directions before crossing the street, and to proceed accordingly? Should that matter in how we handle our dogs when we are outside?
- My dog has hurt his leg. What can we do to keep him from jumping onto the sofa? When he jumps off of the sofa, he may injure his leg again.
- Will the Elizabethan collar (also known as an e-collar or lampshade) prevent my dog from chewing his stitches or bandages?
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Hi,
I have a dog who is 17 years old. She has never been injured, but now that she is basically geriatric, she has a hard time doing much of anything. Her back legs are weak, she can’t jump, she’s deaf and pretty blind. I was wondering you had any advice for ways to amuse or bring some joy into the life of a dog who is so frail and deprived of her senses. Thanks.
jessica
Jessica,
Thank you for writing to me and telling me about your dog. I’m not sure what geriatric means, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that she is 17 years old.
I think this is an excellent question and shows what a wonderful friend to your dog you are, as you care about her and want to know what you can do to make her life more comfortable and happier. Surely she will not tell you, and that is how you all have to work hard to try to understand us dogs.
I will write more later….I have to go right now. I will add more later, for sure!
Thanks,
Your pal,
Joey
Jessica,
Thank you for waiting for my response. Your dog cannot see or hear. At the same time, smell is probably the main way we dogs navigate the world. So if your dog cannot listen or see, she can probably still smell, although probably not as well as before. (For example, when my parents open up a bag of peanuts or peal an orange, I come running. I don’t see the peanuts or oranges but I can smell them from wherever I am in our home.)
Some dogs will start to lose their sense of smell as they get older. But if you heat up foods, and heat up her food so that she can smell it better, she will enjoy her meals more and enjoy the wonderful aromas.
If it is warm where you live, maybe you can take her outside a little bit, because outside there is so much for us dogs to smell. Dogs are so happy in the world of other animals and plants. She can smell other animals and trees. Even if she cannot walk far, she can just sit with you in the garden and enjoy that a lot, or in a small enclosed area that allows her to smell the scents of other dogs and bunnies and squirrels. Be careful: If she is small, never leave her alone. If she is small, she can just sit on your lap in outside where she can safely enjoy the smells of her world.
Maybe you can also put somebody’s sock or glove or other small piece of clothing near her bed, so she has that smell near her, too.
Your dog’s sense of touch is also strong. She can still feel you nearby and she can feel when you pet her. Have you tried petting her paws? Dogs have a good sense of touch on their paws too and that is comforting. If she takes her paw away, like I do sometimes from my mom when she pets my legs and the bottoms of my paw pads, you know that that doesn’t feel good for her. Otherwise, it feels good for her. If she cannot see your hand, she can still smell it and feel its gentle resting on her head or back.
I hope I have given you a few suggestions. Let me know if these work!
Your pal,
Joey