Monday Mischief: Quiet Mischief??

Have you ever had to keep a puppy quiet? It's not easy! Even though Rita is maturing a bit and now at the ripe old age of about 14 months, she's still very active. Yes, she's way more mellow than crazy Abby was - but she's still far from a couch potato. She wants to run and play like every other normal puppy does!

Even before we found out that she has panosteitis and that we need to keep her quiet for 2-3 weeks, we were already trying to do that since she'd been limping on and off. On the days when we were avoiding walks and vigorous play, we tried doing some training and some very gentle inside play, but it wasn't enough to tire her out. So I got the idea to order a Tug-A-Jug. I have a friend that uses one with her dog and he loves it, and I hoped Rita would too.

Basically, as you can see, it's big plastic jug that you fill with little treats or kibble and then the rope toy that's knotted down inside acts as a barrier to getting the treats out without some effort.

On Amazon, the marketing blurb calls it "the ultimate interactive toy!" and says it has "multi-sensory appeal," stimulating your dog's "sense of sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste." What other toy hits all five senses - except maybe a live gopher! (That part's not in the marketing blurb - I added that bit myself.)


The blurb also calls it "a smart dog toy." (Are they saying dumb dogs need not apply? I smell a dumb dog discrimination lawsuit waitin' to happen.) Well, I'm not sure whether Rita is smart or not after watching her play with this thing. She's either not smart, or too smart. I'm gonna go with the latter, since she's my baby and all.

"I see the treats. I smell the treats. I want the treats!"

"Hellooo, treats. I know you're in there."

"They're so close, I can taste 'em!"

I tried to show her how it works several times, dragging it around and demonstrating that if you really kinda whip it around, the treats will fall out. But she's been going for a more direct approach:

"I'll just tip it upside down and shake!"

"Or heck with that; I'll just chew the bottom off."

Unfortunately, she plays with it so wildly, and gets so frustrated with it (it's kinda like the UnbreakOBall all over again...), that I don't think this falls within what the vet had in mind when she told us to "keep her quiet."

So much for that idea. In the end, we've found the best way to keep her quiet boils down to one word: Benadryl.

That was the vet's suggestion too, of course. (I wouldn't give Benadryl to your pup without asking the vet first!) We tried to find a way around it, but we've had to resort to it. On the plus side, the anti-inflammatories the vet prescribed for her panosteitis are making her feel so much better; but on the down side, that means she wants to get back to her normal play/walk routine. We don't want her to hurt herself again. Poor kid. Hopefully this will pass quickly. In the meantime, the Tug-A-Jug is back up on the shelf until she can play rough again!