When Kiba was a puppy we were sure to crate train him, and it went really well! We loved that it would keep him safe when we were out and he would even take himself in there when we were home.
When we fostered gorgeous boy Charlie, all of them were happy in their crates!
So when I had to crate Kiba after his surgery, I thought “no problem”!
Sadly that wasn’t what happened.
When he was in the crate he chewed the plastic base of the crate! It was obviously stressing him out and it was too risky for him to hurt himself trying to get out.
So then I thought I would put him behind baby gates to enclose the area so he couldn’t roam the house unsupervised…but then he chewed through the back of the pantry to get out!
So then I made the decision to give him free roam of the house but I would block couches and beds! Definitely not ideal (nor do I recommend it) but I was quickly running out of options, I was stressed and he was stressed so I had to make our home as safe as possible for him.
Kiba won’t jump on the couch of there is anything on it so I made sure to load the couches up with stuff, which worked! Yay, a small win!!
Then I placed mattresses on the floor throughout the house so he could choose his own place to lie, and I closed all bedroom doors. Unfortunately our bedroom door doesn’t fully lock so we closed the door and placed boxes in front of it to block its entry…guess what we found when we got home?!? Boxes still piled up, door open and dog on the bed! Nooooooooo!
We then decided to keep the door open without blocking it, it’s one thing to jump on the bed but another one when he’s jumping over boxes too!!
Honestly we struggled. When I told the vet all the trouble we were having he said he wasn’t at all surprised given he’s a husky! That made me feel a bit relieved that he understood I truly tried and sadly the recommended confinement just doesn’t work in all cases!
Thankfully Kiba’s bone healed well despite all these prohibited activities!
So if your dog isn’t tolerating confinement then have a good chat with your vet and try to problem solve together so that your dog maximises their healing…but in the process your stress and anxiety is lowered too!!
I created a home based exercise program for dogs after CCL surgery! Find out more here:
