Post Op and pets

I am hoping to have my surgery in the next month or so.  I adopted a 55 pound dog/puppy (15 months old) (see my profile photo) who had a previous owner who took him back to the animal shelter.  I'm trying to teach him not to jump up on me (his paw**** my shoulders) or jump on me when I'm laying on the couch, but it's very slow going.

My question is this - should I kennel him for the week or two post op??  Since I've only had him since New Year's Eve, I don't want him to feel abandoned by another of his owners because he obviously won't know I'm coming back for him. 

So is this the best way to handle this or should I see how it goes and keep him with me?   I know animals are smart and can supposedly sense when you're hurting - but I don't know if he will do this. 

Would appreciate any advice on this.

Robin

 I think kenneling that sweet pooch would be way more traumatic than working with him to teach him now not to jump and continuing that after surgery. 

I honestly don't remember it being an issue with my pets. I was very cautious of things touching my belly during that tender time and sometimes kept a pillow there just in case but I can't remember any of them ever hurting me.

You are going to do great!!

That's also been my thought about kenneling.  I've never taken an animal to a kennel before but know people who think it's just fine. 

My concern is that I will be home alone - I don't have any family around and living in Wyoming, I never know what the weather is going to do so it could snow the whole month of March so leaving him outside wouldn't be an option. 

You're right though - he needs to learn not to jump on me anyway, so I need to really start with the training now so he hopefully won't jump on me after my surgery and beyond.

Thanks for your advice!!

Will you have someone with you who could possibly help?  We have 2 boston terriers so I know that's a lot different, but my husband and I had surgery the same day.  Since there was an overnight hospital stay involved, we let my parents take them.  I had planned on having them back the day I got out of the hospital, I just couldn't imagine going any longer without them.  But, even a 19 and 23lb dog was a lot to deal with at that point.  They ended up staying with my parents 6 days.  I could have dealt with them coming home a day earlier but it wouldn't work with  my parent's schedule.  

They were VERY intuitive of what was going on.  They some how knew not to jump up on either of us.  We kept them in a harness for the first few hours just in case, but they were able to sense I guess that we weren't 100% and they needed to be gentle.  I would suggest maybe getting a harness and keeping him where you or another person can easily pull him back if need be.  

I wouldn't want to kennel him either.  If that is what you have to do, I think you will only need to for a few days.  

4 weeks later they still don't jump on us like they used to.  Every now and then they get rambunctious, but if you fuss they stop.  

Good luck!

I wouldn't kennel him.  But....I may confine him to a room for awhile I'm not in if he can't mind his manners, especially if you're resting that way you don't have to sleep with 1 eye open worrying about him pouncing on you!  And I totally agree with the pillow idea.  I kept a pillow over my tummy for 2-3 days after getting home because my kids are careless!  Good luck & excellent job of thinking ahead, you'll avoid so much complication by planning for these things now!

I have a Blue Heeler who is a year old and still likes to jump, granted she's not nearly as big as your dog but I've been able to manage keeping her at bay. We crate her when we sleep or she'd jump into our bed and lick our faces (very high energy dog, and frankly she's insane lol). But the couple of times she did jump on me? It didn't hurt.

It is much easier to teach a dog to follow positive commands like "sit" and "down" than to teach them to not do something.  I would work on heavy-duty obedience training before surgery.  You may even want to enroll in obedience class.  Get your dog to the point where he can reliably sit or lay down on command, and then anticipate when he's going to be excited and give him a command before he jumps on you.

I too kept a bed pillow on my belly for several days postop when sitting in my easy chair as my cats always jump up on me, often unexpectantly. It cushioned me just fine.

Obedience training would be my first choice.  If you can't get into a class get the clicker thing they use for training.  Also a rolled up newspaper makes noise (we never used a newspaper to hit an animal but just rolled up and hit your hand with it - dogs don't like) also for your protection I would keep a pillow in your lap if - he won't be as apt to jump on you then. 

Good luck!!!

About dogs sensing when something is wrong..... I have several dogs - two of whom are jumpers. Within seconds of returning home after VSG they both knew that something was very amiss with me and settled right down. No jumping at all. The youngest of the two - a two year old female - did not leave my side for the first twelve hours I was home. When I went to bed she jumped up next to me (which she never, ever did prior) and curled up right beside me. When my partner came into the bedroom she actually grumbled at him - not a real growl, but just sort of a protective warning sound. Needless to say, my love for her grew exponentially that night! 

My advice - being a dog person - is to teach some positive behaviors like sit and stay during the next few weeks. Practice sitting when you first walk in the door. It's a great way to teach a rambunctious dog to greet you. Beats the heck out of him being wild! All my dogs know the "off" command, too.