Help getting cone on dogs head?

jumpingjasper

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Hi, have been viewing this forum for a long time but this is my first thread so here goes...

Our puppy (springer spaniel) has been nuetered today. All went well with op and he has recovered well so far. Vet had said that he didn't need cone while he was there so they didn't put it on. To be honest we didnt think it would be an issue. But it is.... he is completely freaked out by it and we have tried everything. But he will just back/wriggle away despite our best efforts to hold him still. Normally i would be of the mentality to not take any messing and so far he has been really easy to train and is a well behaved dog (well he is a springer so he has his moments!) but we are obviously concernerd about his stiches. Vet said to keep him calm and quite for a few days with no jumping about ect. But they way he is throwing his legs around and wriggling about we are worried.

So at the moment me and mum are staying up and keeping an eye on him. But tomorow is a new day and i really want to go about it in the best way so any tips? or experince would be greatly apprieciated. Sorry its late! thankyou in advance.
 
wrap him in a towel same you would a cat won't hurt him but will mean you can hold him whilst your mum pops it on. Personally I loath those things and prefer to use a childs babygrow slightly manipulated for the tail etc or a pair of shorts and t-shirt depending on where the scar is. Good luck they recover soon. Are you crating by any chance??
 
Thank you for replying... do u mean wrap round all of him? or his head? or something else. Not crating... he did start in a crate overnight (hes our first puppy so we tried to do everything as u should) but never needed to be shut in it as he just sleeps if we not there, never chews anything ect and didnt have a problem sleeping after the first 2 nights. But he loved his crate and would take himself of to bed at night... then he got a water infection a few months ago and never wanted to go back in it? was strange but becasue he didnt need to be shut in and he was getting bigger any way we got him a normal bed and he has been fine. anyway going off topic sorry... he is currently sound a sleep by the way!
 
If he isnt likely to lick the site then I wouldnt bother with a cone, didnt need it on my Dobe, the important thing is to keep him from jumping about so putting him back in his crate would be a good idea. If you do think he is likely to lick then a small Tshirt or something similar would be good.
 
Thankyou... he wasnt jumping about at all before we introduced cone. amazingly (for a springer) he just sleeps when he is at home really but goes crazy on walks which i guess is the best way round! i dont like the idea of the cone either and after seeing him get so upset about it we are thinking of alternatives but he has already been trying to get at wound. He has always kept himself clean shall we say so the likelyhood that he will leave it alone is not much unfortunatly.... i am worried if its going to be an issue giving up on it when we have tried for hours today? As i said he has been so good to train ect but he had got to the rebelious stage (hence him having it done in the 1st place as we would not have if it wasnt needed)
 
The jumping about and throwing legs about was only when we were trying to put cone on... sorry i should have emphasised that. He has been calm and quite apart from that.
 
You can buy Comfy collars and Buster collars from Amazon( just google) you might be able to get one by Thursday. They are far less stressful for dogs than the Elizabeth collars the vets supply.

As I said you need to keep him as quiet as possible and not jumping on furniture or upstairs, put him on a lead if he needs to go in the garden for a wee. Keeping him on a lead for a fortnight was the hardest for me with a big dog and when they are full of boundless energy it is very hard.
 
Yep i think an alternative is the only option to be honest as much as i dont like to admit defeat! The thing is getting it on his head is one thing but then i wonder what he will be like with it on... so think dad will be going to pet shop tomorow.
He hasnt gone past the stones outside the back door yet! and hes not aloud to jump on funrniture anyway. We have been privilaged to have such a calm trainable puppy i guess until a month ago when his near perfect recall vanished overnight, his obedience dropped and he started to take too much of an interest in the cat ect. He is also a year old today... good job he doesnt understand that or the trip to the vets would not have been a good present!
 
Giving out collars is no longer routine for spays and neuters.

If he is not bothereing the wound he won't need a collar. Or put a pair of pants on him so he can't lick it (yes, really!). Our bitch was spayed and didn't bother the wound at all so never needed any restraint.

If he DOES need a collar there are plenty of newer styles avaliable. A human neck brace would do the trick too!
 
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