Surgery is what she needed, and surgery is what she got. Keeping a 6 month old Border collie quiet for three weeks is another challenge. I did as ordered, keeping her under STRICT crate rest with leashed potty breaks. This went well for almost a week.

Christian developed diarrhea. I gave her the usual diarrhea stop aids with no effect at all. The poop kept coming and coming. I was having difficulty keeping up with the washing of her bedding. She couldn't hold it more than two hours, either needing to go out or nailing the crate, if I was too late!

After the diarrhea, vomiting started, though was fairly short lived. She nailed my car, but was not too hard to clean up. I gave her one dose of Pepto Bismol to help her tummy, when she went off her food. I watched the signs of the Pepto leave her body out the other end.

On dog day, I brought her with us along with her crate, so she could watch the other dogs do agility, trying to help her mind as much as possible. She had a blow out in her crate there, and I didn't know it until we were leaving. BIG YUCK!

The crate and her needed bathing before we could leave. What a stinking mess! So I had no choice but to leave her in the crate with just a towel, as the bedding was soiled.

During lunch, I discussed Chris' problem. I asked them if they had ever experienced crate stress with a dog. A few of them said that they had, especially if the dog is not used to being in the crate a lot.

They mentioned that a bland diet might help her. BINGO! Why didn't I think of that myself. One friend mentioned brown rice and chicken, and I came back with white rice and not brown.

So I settled on white rice, chicken breast without the skin, and a little chicken broth. I was apprehensive about the broth, so used just a tiny amount at first.

I asked another friend about what she did for a bland diet for her dogs, and she added that some plain pumpkin could also be added to Chris' diet.

By the next day, Chris was eating better, and that night, she finally had a normal bowel movement. YEA!

One other thing that I have done was, take her out of the crate. Now I have a "loose" puppy that has to remain quiet. I either keep her on the couch with me, or limited walk while dragging a leash, to make sure there is no jumping or running.

This "new method" of strict crate rest is really hard to maintain. I am now a constant puppy sitter, with her glued to my side. I do from time to time, put her in the crate as I have work that needs to be done, but for the most part, she is now on the couch. And so am I. STUCK!

ONE MORE WEEK! and she can start swimming and light walking.