Advice On How To Rehabilitate Injured Dog

[chubbly]

Hi All,

A little background; Was driving with a friend the other day, and a pickup truck infront of us ran over a puppy, so we stopped, the owner of the pickup wasn't interested, so I wrapped the pup up in a blanket and rushed him to my vet. The vet did all the usual checks, xrays etc and kept him in for 3 days. After which she released him to me. The pup has no major injuries (lucky little fella) apart from being bruised and feeling sorry for himself. I have dogs and cats so he is segregated in a separate room, with a bed and newspaper down, all the usual. He is eating and drinking well of his own volition, and taking all the medication for pain and inflamation, no probs.

The problem is the pup (we think 6-8 weeks old) is extremely timid, he hides in the corners when I go in to visit him (I try to leave him to rest and just sit with him, for 10 mins every few hours). When I get him up and moving, he puts his tail inbetween his legs and basically skulks around. Now part of me thinks this is probably shock and pain, and also that maybe he hasn't been handled by humans too much. I want him to have as much rest as he needs and to be fully fit to be rehomed, but I also don't want to make any errors at this stage that might mean I rehome a nervous or timid dog. So thats basically what I was hoping to get some advice on. What should I do, should I leave him alone for now, or spend more time with him, (meant to point out, he is in pain if handled, even stroking is slightly painful due to bruising). Any advice would be greatly received,

Thanks

[elfe]

first of all, thanks for being so kind and taking care of this pup in need!!

i suggest you continue as you do as long as the puppy is not physically healed and strong enough to come out of his room. the puppy had a big shock and pain and also is with you only for very short time. keep the times short (like 5-10 mins at a time) you stay with him but do it as frequently as you can. would be good if puppy could stay in a quiet room where you also spend some time (like bedroom or homeoffice) so he gets used to you even you don't give him much attention most of the time. just try to feed him off your hand something delicious or sit down and wait for him to come to you. this might take many days or weeks, but sometimes surprisingly only a few days! i've had many dogs/puppies in similar situations which became very affectionate only after a few days and forgot their fear quickly.

as soon as the dog gets more self esteem and is better let him out and join your pack and family.

the problem with such dogs i have experienced many times is, that they will still be very much afraid of strangers/visitors. so it would be important to carefully introduce him to other people as often as possible or take him outside for walks.

good luck with rehoming!!

[chubbly]

Thanks for the fast response Elfe,

It helps to have some reassurance that i'm doing the right thing. I will do as you suggested and try and spend lots of short periods of time with him. I sit with him whenever I feed him (no routine at the moment, just feeding little but often) and will start to hand feed as you suggested. At present he is in the bathroom directly off my office, is difficult because my cats and dogs are always with me in this room, but when I get a chance i'll open the door and let him be aware i'm in here, its a very large bathroom so he has plenty of room to move around. No problem with the rehoming, have already found someone, but if that falls through I will just add him to my pack!! Thanks for your support and assistance.

[elfe]

bathroom is always a good place for emergencies like that

happy to read that if all fails you are willing to keep him!! especially these poor kind of dogs touch our hearts, they will become especially attached and lovingly after recovery, you will see...

[Nienke]

What a great heart you have Chubbly.

I second what Elfe is saying. Though I would like to add that it is always better to let a fearful come to you. Don't go to him/her. In some severe cases, only looking at the dog is already too frightening.

If the pup is a good eater, than you have a big advantage. As you already do, sit with the pup, let it come to you and feed it out of your hand. If it's too fearful to take it out of your and, throw it near the puppy, but don't directly towards it and look at it.

When it does come to you, gently pet it first under chin and sides, then slowly go up to the back, neck and head. Pet in long strokes over the whole body, this is relaxing.

When this goes well, sometimes lift the head up a little, pet under the belly and abdomen, put some pressure upwards there, etc etc, until the pup allows you to handle it all over. Have you lift it up, pushed gently on the side etc.

Once the pup is ok with you and your family members, than you can ask friends to come over (one at the time). Ask them to ignore the pup and let it come to them. And then still ignore the puppy. Once this go well, let them throw some treats near the pup. Etc.

Wish you good luck!

[chubbly]

Hi Nienke,

Thanks for replying, I have had no choice but to pick the pup up, as I had to get him in to the car from the vet, but the first time he wet himself, hence the reason for wanting some assistance. I have followed the advice received so far from Elfe, and started to hand feed him, although he is a little reluctant, he will take small amounts of food off me, but he loses interest and seems to eat most of the food when I'm not there. At the moment I'm just glad that he's eating, as he didn't for the first couple of days at the vet. He has also started to present his belly to me to rub, so I will take your advice and use long strokes as he seems to enjoy this contact, although only for brief periods of time. I have checked his sides to ascertain how much pain/discomfort he was in, and tried to make him move, as if allowed he just remains on his side, resting. I haven't allowed anyone else to spent time with him or attempt to handle him, as he is just so timid it didn't seem a good idea to overwhelm him. Thank for all your advice, its greatly appreciated as I feel the little guy deserves some real TLC after the start hes had in life. Its great to be able to receive some reassurance about what I'm doing, so thanks again.

[elfe]

what a cutie, he will be a very handsome dog

just take it slow, see how much he can take not getting scared and then stop and try again later. he will soon lose his fear and understand from you only nice things are coming. if he has still pain from his accident, the vet checked with ultrasound that no organs are damaged? this unfortunately can happen and the dog will only show severe symptoms after some time... don't want to scare you but just a note.

[patklang]

6-8 weeks old,he must be missing his mummy and mothers milk too.He will become stronger and then let you know what a kind guy you are.

[chubbly]

Erm not sure about the ultrasound, will check with the vet, they said they carried out a number of tests and to be fair to them they are usually pretty thorough. Will enquire with them about the ultrasound when I take him back for his first check (in a couple of days). The vet said he has no blood in stool or urine, and that their initial concern was that he had some swelling in his eye, and the surrounding area, which they treated, but were initially concerned that it might have been a brain injury, but he showed no corresponding signs after treatment (i'll keep an eye on that anyway). Are there any obvious signs I should look out for regarding any internal problems? Would it have shown up on his blood work? Would he have a large stomach? I think he was pretty malnourished when I took him to the vet.

[elfe]

am not a vet and also did fortunately never have a dog who got these problems. but i heard/read quite a few times that the dog after accident first seemed to be ok (even after being treated and checked at the vet) and then suddenly after a few weeks... so maybe it is better to have checked with ultrasound if possible.

[bina]

there could always be what is called a slow leak as mentioned above.... symptoms are things like anemia (u would notice his gums being light pink /white, or if pressed in a bit with a finger, the colour doesnt come back quickly); possible abdominal pain which would present as not wanting to move, possibly crying when lifted in certain areas, and instead of improvement, a slow decrease in thriving (sorry, cant remember how to say it in english... but instead of a steady improvement, there would be a subtle decrease in activity, eating, peeing, more sleeping, possible vomiting) ultra sound can sometimes see this but not always either.

dont forget that physical muscle pain , any pain, causes depression in animals, meaning their behavior after an accident/attack is not always their 'real' personality. it takes a few weeks at least for most dogs to 'spring' back to their 'personality'.

since he is so young, u might want to put a small stuffed toy in with him ( a dog chewing proof toy) to cuddle up with, many pups like that. a small 'den' (box carton, crate, hideycorner) might make him feel better also; even a small basket that he can get in and out of will give him some more security even if he is in a small room. injured animals really like small enclosed areas for feeling safe.

bina

israel

[chubbly]

Thanks Bina,

I bought him a little dog bed, as I'd noticed he seemed to like to curl up in corners. I also gave him a small cuddly toy yesterday and he loves it, he sleeps with it, chews it and even allows me to play with him with it. I will check his gums today, as he doesn't seem quite so interested in food, although is still happy to take his medication and is drinking, he also doesn't display any signs of pain, i.e. crying when handled, more just fear of me I think. His stools are quite loose, but I've had a good look at them and there is no blood in them. I have handled him more today, as he was full of fleas and ticks so I very gently gave him a bath, and towel dried him after, he was good as gold and didn't seem in any discomfort from being handled. Am following advice from other posters and have been gentle stroking and handling more, trying to spend small amounts of time with him, without bothering him too much. He definitely prefers to be in a corner curled up, although have spent sometime putting him in to my office and allowing him to wander around, with me just being in the room, although he seems to prefer to just sleep.

Thanks for all the advice and I will keep updating and probably asking more questions. I really do appreciate everyone's responses, I really want to do what is best for this little guy, and don't want my ignorance to cause him any problems

Thanks again

[bina]

u might not see blood in the stool. stools with blood will be dark, but not neccessarily with red or blood and mucus as u would expect. if he is peeing and pooing that is a good sign anyway, as his digestive system is functioning. as with food, u might want to put him on some schedule of timed feedings, 4-6 times a day with a calculated amount of whatever u are feeding him. that way, u have an real idea of exactly how much food he really is eating. also, u can weigh him today and a week from today. puppies gain weight fast. the vet should be able to tell u how much the pup should be getting per day and u divide it up per meal. give him to eat, then take the food bowl away. dont leave the food too long, as u wont know how much he really is eating. part of the meal can be the hand fed part also.

unfortunaely internal injuries are hard to see, and ive had experience with several. most worked out. but your pup seems to be acting normal. they do need to sleep a lot. u can only do as much as u can do, either way. but it sounds like so far u are doing good stuff.

bina

israel

[Cuban]

Sorry I'm late with this thought - just catching up. Is being isolated in a room alone stressful in itself?

Can the little one sit with you and experiance some activity and noise - so that not every time you appear he is the center of attention. Just a thought.

[chubbly]

Wanted to thank everyone for all their helpful advice. Unfortunately the little guy had to be returned to the vet when he suddenly stopped eating, a blood test reveiled he had parvo, and although the vet treated him for 5 days, he unfortunately died! It was a pretty miserable little life. I tried to do all I could for him, and take some comfort in the fact that he had a short time with care, attention and some play.

[Patsycat]

Oh, dear.

Poor wee thing, but you did do all you could for him and I am sure he loved that and you for it.