[mogrann]

As most of you know Owen has elbow Dysplasia which limits his exercise. He can on average walk for about 20 min before limping. If he does too much one day it can carry over to the next day. For example when his friend Charlie comes over to play, you don't see the limp until AFTER the play date is over. I am constantly watching for the limp as I don't want him to be in pain.

This is what I am thinking. It is only an assumption, as I have said before I am no dog expert.

This is causing issues for him in that he has too much built up energy. Due to this he is chewing clothes, paper, toilet paper, books etc. Nothing is safe from him. He will go in the bathroom garbage and strew it over the bathroom. We put him in a kennel if we go out for this reason. He acts like he knows he did wrong when caught as he will appear to be sorry with the lowered head and puppy dog eyes. I do show him the item and say "Leave it". He learned that command in obedience class.

I have talked to Binx and she wondered if it was psychological. That worries me as then it means I did something to cause this.

Please give it to me straight as I want my boy to be happy and well adjusted.

Our way of exercising is when he starts to limp and lower his head to walk we go home with him. When he is limping I let him set the walking pace due to the fact sometimes he will walk slower. If he gets to an off leash park it is harder to notice the limp as he will hide it(that is what I think). If we call him over to us and stop play time he may or may not limp and that is when we notice it.

Susan and Owen.

[Lucky098]

Find an indoor pool for dogs. Swimming takes a lot of pressure off joints.

You might also want to look into the elbow replacement. Do it now while he is still young and can bounce back quicker. There is no pointing babying a young dog. You'll go crazy and so will he. I would definitely suggest the surgery now rather then later.

[mogrann]

Thank you Lucky. We had assumed(yeah I know the meaning of that word) that we had to wait until he stopped growing. After your comment I did some googling and discovered the best results are obtained in dogs under 2 years old.
We will find out a cost and go on super saving so we can get it done as soon as possible. The vet told us it was expensive but not a cost and silly me thought I plenty of time to save. No worries fellow dog lovers it will happen I will go without before my boy suffers!
I will be calling 311 for the city to see if there is a place for me to take him swimming. Thank you for the suggestion.
A bad update : Owen will have to be kenneled at night and not sleep with us. I woke up today to find out he had chewed up my cross stitch frame and project while we were sleeping. I understand why he is doing it BUT I can not allow it to become a habit. I feel that will be too confusing for him to change after he is better.

Susan and Owen

[Lucky098]

OH geez! Well, I hope you can find an outlet for him! Just think of this as a 5 year old boy having to sit still lol

Also, something that might help you, do an overload of obedience.. make him sit, stand, lay down, sit up again, stand up, lay down.. It's a serious I call Puppy Pushups. It really works their mind because you want to mix it around. Maybe even teach him a few "dumb dog" tricks like shake, roll over, etc. If you can stimulate his mind he might become tired mentally. You can also get treat cube that you hide treats in. he has to roll it around to get a treat. The frustration alone will tire him out. You can also give him a kong with frozen peanut butter. Same concept minus the rolling of a cube. He is a breed that doesn't require a lot of exercise. He is energetic, yes, but only because he is a puppy. Because he can't do much, make his mind work.. And if you can find a doggie pool, even better!

Good Luck!