How to Survive Crate Rest
Every pet owner cringes when her veterinarian says, “You’ll need to rest your dog in a crate.” Your shoulders drop to your knees and you ask, “For how long?” Hopefully, it’ll just be a couple of days, but even that can feel like a lifetime for young and active dogs. Whether you have to crate rest your dog for a few days or couple of weeks, check out these crate rest tips that are sure to keep your dog mentally happy during recovery while maintaining your sanity.
Choose Comfortable Bedding
Make sure your dog has plenty of comfortable bedding. It’s quite uncomfortable lying on hard surfaces for an extended period of time. Comforters and blankets are OK, but it’s best to add a memory foam type of bedding in your dog’s crate first, then layer with sheets, comforters and blankets. If your dog gets hot easily, like our Rottweiler, look for a memory foam bed with a gel topper. This will keep your dog comfortable and cool.
To keep your dog’s bedding clean longer, toss an old towel on top of your dog’s bedding before serving him meals and food stuffed toys. Once your dog is finished eating, remove the towel and wash off any crumbs or debris.
Place the Dog Crate in a Corner
Location, location, location is so important. Even during crate rest, your dog wants to hang out with his people, so place his crate in the corner of your TV room. If you have small children, I recommend placing a portable fence around your dog’s crate to keep little fingers from poking at and disturbing your dog. I also highly recommend purchasing a second dog crate to keep in your bedroom at night. This way, your dog can sleep with you too while resting.
Keep Your Dog Mentally Stimulated
Since your dog is unable to move, he’s probably bored lying around all day. Remember, dogs don’t have TV or video games to keep their minds busy while their body recovers, so it’s our job to create mental games for them.
Crate Rest Activities
Divide your dog’s daily meal into four portions. Stuff each portion inside four different interactive toys. My favorite interactive toy is the Kong. All you need to do is sprinkle a few bits of kibble at the bottom of the Kong, then layer with a tiny bit of canned food. Continue layering the kibble and canned food like a cake until ¼ of your dog’s daily ratio of food is inside. Then, fill the other three toys the same way. Freeze all four toys overnight and keep in the freezer for best results.
Every six hours, give your dog a frozen food stuffed toy inside his crate, so he can lick away. It usually takes dogs anywhere between 20-45 minutes to empty a frozen Kong toy, which is equivalent to playing video games or solving a puzzle for the same amount of time.
In between frozen Kong-licking sessions, play a few games of “touch” or “find the treat” in your hand. To play “find the treat,” hold a treat in one hand and then hold both hands in front of your dog’s nose. Give him the treat when he sniffs the hand holding the treat. Check out “Crate Rest Games for Dogs” for more crate rest activities.
Take Your Dog Out to Potty on Leash
Always take your dog out to potty on leash. I recommend using a short leash that’s about six feet long. A short leash prevents your dog from running around or experiencing short bursts of zoomies because your dog is excited to be outdoors.
For potty breaks, put on your dog’s collar and attach your dog’s leash while he’s in his crate. I don’t recommend keeping a collar on your dog while he’s crated. I’ve had a dog get part of his collar stuck on his crate and he freaked out. I had to cut the collar off through the crate, as it was strangling him. Thank goodness I was home; I shudder to think about what could’ve happened if I were away.
Once your dog is leashed, walk your dog through the house and take him to his potty spot. When your dog’s pottied, bring him back indoors on leash and toss a treat in his crate. After he follows the treat, unleash him and close the crate door. Walking your dog through your home prevents slips and falls and keeps your dog from running around.
Stick to It, Don’t Fall for Those Sad Eyes
This is a big one! Every time you reward your dog’s sad eyes or whines by opening your dog’s crate and allowing him free time, you’re rewarding the wrong behavior. If your dog learns he only comes out of his crate when quiet, he will learn to remain quiet.
It’s not fair to your dog to allow him free access under strict crate rest; it’s just not worth the risk. While we hope nothing bad happens, in most cases (80% of the time) your dog will jump up, slip, fall or further injure himself. This statistic comes from Sobek’s orthopedic surgeon, which I found to be quite alarming.
Be strong. Keeping your dog quiet is the best thing for your dog. Just don’t forget to keep his mind active.
