A friend of ours is spending the week playing nurse to her nine year old Border Collie after she had a very large lump removed from her belly. This energetic gal acts like a dog a third of her age and doesn’t want to let a stomach full of staples slow her down one bit. So, it’s up to our friend, the human one, to keep her dog resting, even when her dog is wanting to run, run, and run some more.

It got us thinking about ways to keep our dogs safe and sane when they need to stay still or take it easy. Here are a few tips we came up with:

1. Don’t feed meals out of a dog bowl. Use dog puzzles instead. Since dogs in recovery can’t burn off their energy running and jumping, use meal time as a way to keep them occupied and working for as long as possible. Skip feeding out of bowls (how long does it take your dog to wolf down his meal that way…two minutes?) and stuff a Kong with their meal instead, then freeze it. If you have a large dog, fill up 2 or 3 Kongs per meal. In addition to Kongs, there are a ton of dog puzzles on the market. You have your pick of a variety of levels of difficulty, from simple dispensers to complicated wooden games. Whatever you choose, it’ll take more time and energy (mental and physical) for your dog to eat that way.

2. Avoid other dogs on your walks, unless they can respect your dog’s boundaries. Our friend’s dog would love to play with every dog she meets on her walk, but while her stomach is healing, it’s a no-no for her to wrestle and jump. Well meaning dog owners often approach other people walking dogs, in the hopes that their dogs will meet and play, but it’s always a good idea to ask permission first. Since we all forget to do that sometimes, as a precaution our pal is crossing the street and avoiding dog-dog interaction for a bit. If you see them hiding from you, it’s nothing personal, they just can’t play with you right now!

3. Bust out the crate. Maybe you haven’t used a crate in years, since your dog is housetrained and doesn’t tear up your shoes while you’re at work, but now might be the right time to dust it off. Whether you’re busy cooking dinner or away at the office, dog’s that need to stay still will be better off with some clear boundaries.

4. Teach them a new trick. They may not be allowed to catch a Frisbee, but they can learn how to take a bow! It takes metal energy for a dog to learn a new trick (it takes some thinking on our part too), so spending a few minutes in the morning and again in the evening working on new tricks is a great way to keep them busy and working, without moving around too much.

Our friend only has a few more days of keeping her dog still, but they’ll be long ones. If only dogs understood why we need them to rest! Have any tricks of your own? Let us know on Facebook!