7 month old Belgian Malinois with a severly broken right front leg will not rest after orthopedic surgery

Dog Question: I am caring for a 7 month old puppy (Belgian Malinois) with a severly broken right front leg. She had orthopedic surgery last week to repair the leg (2 pins, 1 screw, wire to hold her elbow together and a rod from elbow to wrist) and I have a question about her recovery. She is on sedatives, and it slows her down (somewhat) and she is not to put pressure on the leg (she has no cast on her leg post op) so I carry her outside and bought a special harness to help her do her business but now she has started laying on the leg at night. I called the vet, he said that he would like her not to lay on it, but she is a dog, he just said to try to keep her from laying on as much as possible. She is in a kennel 24 hours a day and lays on her good side for about 21 hours, but she will flip over when I am not looking or if I'm asleep, is this going to hurt her leg. She is sleeping on a 8 inch orthopedic dog bed, so it is a very soft surface and I noticed that she does not stand on the leg, she just sits up with her good leg and then lays down on her bad leg (very gingery). Will just the pressure from laying on the leg injure it again. If her elbow does not heal, she will have to have another surgery or amputate.

Hi Elizabeth M.,

Sorry to hear about your dog.  The elbow should heal okay even if your dog does lay on it BUT! it may not heal correctly which is why your vet insists on complete rest (which is impossible in dogs).

It sounds like you are doing a good job though.  It is hard to always monitor the dog, so if you mange to keep if off that leg for 21 hours that is great.

Your vet just wants to give it the best chance of healing properly.  I think you are doing a good job of that.

Complete rest in a dog is impossible because you would have to monitor them 24 hours a day.  Your doing the best you can it seems so hang in there.