I went to the pound to adopt a dog and fell in love with a lab chow mix, ( so they say but I don't see either breeds), she is 4 months old, and before I could take her home they had to spay her. I finally got to pick her up today, as her surgery was last night, and she is acting funny.

Dragging and won't walk outside so she is popping and peeing in the house. I don't know if it's the surgery or she is always going to act like this. I want to go on walks with her but not drag her because it looks painful. Please help I can't keep cleaning her poop from my living room floor :/

The vet didn't give you after care instructions, or what to expect?

The short answer is "no, you will not have to worry about picking up after her forever".

My suggestion is since she just had major surgery performed less than 24 hours ago, that you make her comfy in a room that you can limit her movement, putting paper down for eliminating. A bunch of pillows, water dish, etc. Offer her food and see if she is interested.

For the first day or so, you can expect your dog to experience grogginess, sleepiness, nausea, extra urination due to IV fluids, elimination mistakes, vomiting, panting, loss of balance, etc. So, what you are experiencing is totally normal.

Just limit her access to your living room, and give her TLC. Tomorrow you should see improvement, she should start getting more lively. The thing you need to manage is her healing process. Make sure to keep her Elizabethan Collar on at all times, monitor the incision site for redness, swelling or any discharge. If you weren't told to apply Betadine liberally to the area a few times a day with gauze, I would ask the vet if appropriate.

It takes about two weeks for the incisions and underlying musculature to heal. Unfortunately, the process for fixing female dogs is more invasive and requires a little more TLC than male dogs.

Depending on her behavior tomorrow, you can start taking her on very short walks. She will let you know how she feels. If she doesn't want to go out, bring her back to her "safe place" you created for her. She will come around.

Thank you so much! It's hard when your first get a dog because there is tons of information on the web but some contradicts each other . I turned my guest room into her room and put all of my bedding on the floor because I have tiles and bought her an extra large doggy bed! I will watch out feor the incision site. One more question.. So I should under no circumstance pull her to go for walks?

As a life long dog owner, not a Vet, I would not force her.

Leading your dog by being her "pack leader" is the rule for the rest of her life, right now she is healing from major surgery. She gets to tell you what to do (to an extent).

That's my opinion, other's may have a different one.

You will know when she feels better to put on your "pack leader" hat. She will start getting happy and exhibiting normal behavior, and then you will be training her to do as you teach her to do.

P.S. You are going to be a great Mom! The two of you need each other and she will be a great companion to you! Good luck and give her a pat on the head for me.

Thanks cliff that makes slot of sense! The guy at the clinic I picked her up was pulling her full force and she was being dragged... I asked him if I should pick her up because she looked like she was in pain and he said NO pull and she will follow... I cheated and picked her up because it felt cruel to pull her neck. You have been so helpful :)))))))) thanks again

My pleasure, Mkayat, your question and obvious love of your animal has brought a smile to my face. And, what the tech said is true, in my opinion, AFTER she heals for crying out loud. I do not think of my pets as humans, but a little empathy is required in this situation.

And, if you are training correctly, you should never have to "drag" a dog anyway. I would never drag under any circumstance.

Again, thank YOU for a great question.

I really don't have anything to add to Cliffs' post, except to thank and commend you for adopting a shelter pup.
Too many times these guys are overlooked when people are looking for a pet.
It sounds as if you have the heart that it takes to raise a loved and well cared for friend.
And when you have questions this site has some good folks standing by to help.
Enjoy your new buddy.

I also do not have much to add other than to share a few personal stories.

Desexing can be traumatic for them, but it really is the safest option when owning a pet. My mother is a breeder which of course, means keeping entire dogs and b*tches on her property.
Many years ago she had a Great Dane b*tch come in season, she wasn't ready to breed her, it was her first season and she had not had any health tests done as of yet.
She was confined to the spare bedroom at the front of the house, while the males were kept at the back of the house.

One day they were sitting in the living room and heard an almighty crash. Libby had jumped through the glass window to get to the males in the backyard.

Thankfully, she did not do any damage to herself and they had to keep her confined to a crate for the next week.

It just goes to show the extremes some dogs will go to when they are in heat and want to find a mate.

Another personal story is with my own dog Brody. He is a male poodle that I had desexed around 2 years ago now.
Males usually take to desexing much easier than females and bounce back within a day or two.
Well... not Brody, he refused to walk. What little movement I could get him to do resulted in him taking 3-4 steps then planting him bum so hard on the ground it made a thud.

Everything was normal, he was just a big softie.

With your girl just keep an eye on the spay site. It will most likely weep a clear or pink fluid for a day or two. That is normal. Just blot the area with a clean dry cloth to remove the moisture.
Moisture is your enemy at the moment so you need to keep the area very dry and make sure she does not try to clean it herself. If the skin stays too moist it can cause it to weaken and in turn, cause the stitches to pull through the skin.
There are several solution to stop her licking the area, one is a cone, or elizabethan collar, the other is bitter sprays applied to her legs (not directly on the wound).

Another thing to be watchful of is redness or discoloration. The site will appear slightly pink, but it should not be too bright a red and it should not feel hot to the touch.
If you notice any drastic changes consult your vet.

Thank you for choosing to adopt, you have done a fantastic thing in giving this pup a second chance at life.

Walking stretches the abdominal muscles a bit, and this may be, if not painful, at least feeling 'strange' to her. Also, walking on a lead is completely foreign to0 most pups this age, and is often resisted until they become more familiar with the procedure. A little tug to get them moving is not at all uncommon, when done at the right time, under the right conditions of training. Just after surgery, in my opinion, would be neither.

Expect her to be up and around, acting normally in, at most, a couple days post op. Most practices ask owners to curtail their pet's activities for a week because most pets are raring to go, and completely oblivious to having just had surgery.

Thanks lady Sam :) your too kind!!
Strange stories and thanks for the advice shazamataz :)
Paleophiatus thanks:)
Cliff thanks again
This forum is handy and thankfully there are so many nice and
Thoughtful people on here :)))))