Laurie's Blogs.

 

11
Jan 2025

Mental Stimulation During Recovery and Rehab

Laurie Edge-Hughes, BScPT, MAnimSt, CAFCI, CCRT, Cert. Sm. Anim. Acup / Dry Needling

This week I received an email question that, after answering, I thought, “This would actually make a fantastic blog!”  

 

The question, in a nutshell, was “What would you suggest to help a young active dog recovering from elbow arthroscopy who is lacking in mental stimulation at this stage of her rehab (and going a bit loopy as a result)?”   This is a big paraphrasing of the longer original question… but essentially the dog has some basic obedience training and Rally-obedience knowledge, which will come in handy to help mitigate this situation.

 

The Response:

 

So with these dogs, I tend to ask lots of questions of the owner about what parts of the dog’s training they might be able to do.  As such, instead of just walks, can the owner engage in some forms of training that they already know.  

 

This should be relatively easy with obedience. The owner can practice heeling, and sit stays.  Clearly no retrieves until later.  It depends on the skill of the dog / where she’s at in knowing obedience (and to be clear, I am thinking of competitive obedience as I answer this question)

 

The same would apply to Rally-O.  What does the dog know and what can they practice?  I ask “HOW” the dog approaches the various tasks.  (i.e. some dogs are very slow and methodical in the weave poles where as others are lunatics!)  If the owner thinks that something might be okay, I get them to demonstrate it for me and I then decide based on how the dog performs the task.  Maybe they can jump onto the platform and work on a ‘stay’, and then step down onto objects (making a stair case) to get off.

 

With a dog that is very intelligent and active, it is sometimes good to suggest that they learn something new - very good for ’tiring the brain’.  In this case, I would ask the owner if she has ever looked into a ‘Trick Title’ for their dog.  They can then train various ’tricks’.  (My favourite is the ‘fake sneeze’ and the dog retrieves a Kleenex.)  

 

Another idea would be to create a treasure hunt in the house.  I did this last year when it was terribly cold for weeks on end, and my dogs couldn’t handle being outside for more than a potty break.  Without the dog watching, hide small pieces of kibble around the house.  Then bring the dog in, walk with them as they find some pieces… then let them go on a ’treasure hunt’ for the rest.  

 

Lastly, some people have found that going on leash walks in ’new’ areas is a good way to use the brain and the sniffer - thus making a regular old walk a more mentally stimulating event.

 

The Take Away

 

Hopefully this is helpful to others reading this response as well.

 

Until Next Time,

Cheers!

Laurie

 



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