Issues with the protective collar

Hi there, First off, you definitely need to keep the cone – or an equivalent – on until Wednesday. I really want to emphasise the "equivalent" part, though. You can now get recovery suits or bodysuits for dogs to stop them scratching at their wounds. They're much less restrictive and stressful for the animal, and you can easily find them online. A muzzle is absolutely out of the question here; it would be incredibly traumatic for your pet and wouldn't be effective at all. As for walks, you'll just need to be a little bit more patient for now. Jules

I didn't mention anything about trauma, and I don't feel personally targeted by what you’re saying, just concerned because you’re making generalisations about owners, among other things—generalisations that logically apply to everyone. You need to stop constantly twisting my words, Mel. It’s getting really tiring, honestly. If you don’t want to read it, then just keep quiet; there’s no point replying to something you haven't even bothered to read, especially when I’m making an effort to explain things to you. Last time, you were having a go at me for not explaining myself—are you ever satisfied? I didn't do it before because you judged me straight away without asking a single question. You’re obviously convinced you understand everything the first time around without ever needing to ask, and now you aren't even reading. And don't you dare lecture me on how to look after a dog or what they do or don’t get used to, when you’ve abandoned two of them while blaming the whole world instead of ever questioning yourself. I’ve had just about enough of that too. Anyway, I’ll be skipping over your pointless rambling from now on; I'm the one who’s done reading your posts. Bye.

Thanks @Jazz, I don't have much choice really, I'm just doing the best I can... I hope it won't be too much of a nightmare tonight when I put it back on her, not long to go now. Thanks anyway ;)

Oh dear! It’s a shame he doesn’t have that in stock because it was a total lifesaver for my two, even though they're completely different sizes (a Tervueren and a little Bichon). With our first dog, an Irish Setter, we didn't have any choice and that cone was a real nightmare... So, I'm not really sure what else to suggest and I'm afraid you might just have to make do with it for a few more days🤷 At night, anyway, I think you're right to put it back on, and taking it off now and then during the day seems like a good idea, as long as you're keeping a close eye on them!

No, just the cone. Seeing my puzzled look, he added that I could make him something to cover the dressing if I wanted, but I’d have to be certain he couldn’t get it off.

This puppy is a real live wire if he doesn't get enough exercise every day. As for the bodysuits and t-shirts, as I mentioned, I couldn't find any in the pet shops and I didn't look any further because I'm after something *really* fit for purpose (for a puppy who is constantly licking and trying to scratch at himself). A bit of fabric just isn't right in his case because he's always trying to fiddle with things, even through the plastic. If he wasn't doing that, I might have thought "why not a bodysuit", but in this situation, it's a definite no. The fabric bodysuits would have needed some kind of reinforcement (which, as I said, I haven't found), with an extra protective shell or something; then, yeah, maybe it would have been okay—though he probably would have just ripped the fabric and taken it off anyway. But there was nothing like that available, and I don't think I'll find anything like that in the baby or adult clothing aisles. He could easily nudge or rub it with his nose; it’s just too risky as the dressing could quickly come unstuck and the stitches could end up popping.

I didn't plan anything before the op because I’d misunderstood; I thought he’d only be wearing the cone for two days (well, three really, since he had the surgery on a Friday, so we weren't seeing the vet until the Monday). Also, I’d just gone by the few times I’d seen other dogs wearing them; they seemed alright (but I only saw them for a brief moment from a distance, without actually knowing them), so I figured he’d be fine for such a short time. But once I realised it was going to last much longer and I saw how his mood changed over the days, I don’t see the harm in trying to make things a bit easier for him—or even sorting it out completely if I can? People I’ve spoken to said their dogs got really frustrated with it. So, it’s not the case that every dog just gets used to it easily. In my opinion, when you have no choice, then yes, you just have to put up with it. But if there’s something you can do, why just think "oh well, I won't bother, it's only 12 days, he'll be fine," even when everything shows that he isn't? If you really want to make a comparison, compare him to someone who doesn't understand what's happening to them (like people with severe disabilities or Alzheimer's, for example), but not to the rest of us who can understand, assess, plan, and organise things differently to make daily life easier to handle. A dog can't do that. I don’t want to just let it go and think "time will heal all wounds, I'll just sit on my hands." If I let this slide, I might let everything slide, and then we'll end up with an unmanageable dog who gets dumped at a rescue centre. I'm just monitoring his progress and trying to understand him; what's wrong with that? I let him off this afternoon (on the long lead), but since he felt even more free than yesterday—when he still had the cone on and we were just at the sports field—and we were in a much nicer spot today, he was absolutely loving charging about everywhere. We're going to have to get back to basics with his training very quickly and be extra vigilant, because I can tell he’d easily take the chance to go off and get lost somewhere, he’s just so happy to be free and have some breathing room. What would it have been like if I'd waited another week?