Pumpkin is almost 9 mo old now, and she has just return from being spayed today. She is currently resting peacefully, and was so happy to see us at the vet. Here is my question. The vet says she should be kept quiet and inactive for TWO WEEKS!?! On a normal day (most every day). She gets 3-4 walks (one long 30-45 mins and the others are what we call 10 min "walk abouts"). She also goes to the off leash dog park every day and runs herself silly. She ALSO plays a rousing game of "catch me if you can" every evening in our yard with our son. All this and she is still looking for action all the time. How in the world am I supposed to keep this girl "quiet and inactive" without sedating her? She will most likely destroy the house without her daily exercise. Any suggestions, and advice is appreciated.

Her dog park buddy, an eight month old GS. Look at those smiles!

Well, that was a bust, turns out the course wasn't fully enclosed alone, too many other dogs to even pay attention. She did have a blast with all the other happy dogs! So it was still a fun outing!

Hi guys,

We are taking Pumpkin to an enclosed agility course tomorrow for fun and exercise. Any tips or suggestions to encourage interest? We have a great (enclosed) dog park right in our neighborhood that she has been ruling, but it has nothing but space to run (it doesn't even have a bench for my butt). There is a great one just one town over with many enclosures for different fun. All advice is welcome!

Thanks as usual! You all have been a blessing for me!

Hi guys! We have had Pumpkin 3 weeks now (she is knocking on 8 months old now) and the other day when we came back from errands (she was crated), and we let her out, she greeted each one of us, individually with a hearty BAROOOOO and we notice the base of her tail was wiggling for each of us. We had fostered a non-puppy male some years ago and NEVER saw his tail move in the three years we had him. We are curious what your B does. It is hard for me to tell if she is happy, so this helps a lot. Also, what does your B do to tell you he/she is happy? Thanks for all your help!

Sounds like a children's book, but its for real. We have tons of wild bunnies here, and while I believe she has scared them all to pack suitcases and find other suitable residences, they have left behind sizeable amounts of bunny poop in our mulch (coincidentally the same color as the poop). We cannot keep her from eating the poop. My son will play with her with outside, but Pumpkin is easily distracted and back in the mulch, having a little "snack" and not interested in playing with him. Since she has already been playing, when we try and redirect, she thinks it is a game, and plays "catch me if you can". By the time I catch, she has no idea what I'm so agitated about, and I just end up putting her on her lead to have outside time. She is not getting ill by this, and other than me being grossed out, I'm wondering if I just need to get over it, she is just doing what any dog would do, and eventually the earth will take care of this problem.

Thanks guys! I'm learning a lot, with such good feedback from you all!

I would prefer her not sleep in the bed. Our previous B slept in his bed (not crated) near us, under a blanket, but we got him around being 4 y.o. . I don't trust her right now with our human pillows, to sleep out of her crate or in our bed since we've only had her a week, and she likes to mouth anything soft. She is still a pup at 7 1/2 months, so I am hoping some close eye watching will curb this. Once she settles down, she doesn't seem to chew at anything, it is the settling in once crated that is rough for her. Thanks again.

Everyone has been so helpful and friendly here. Grazie Mille!