I had gotten a cone from the store to put on my pup's head, since she's had a lump ( it's been checked out at the vet, begins with an h, can't remember the rest. ) that's benign, and had appeared one day ( the day I took her to the vet about her shoulder, but completely forgot about it then. ) about the size of a small pea, then grew to about a quarter sized bump over the course of a month. She just recently started licking at it, then I think she got to biting at it, and I decided enough was enough. Called the vet about it, they said they can remove it, which I was trying to avoid for now, since it was supposed to go away after a few months.

But I may have to resort to that.

But back to my main point.

I put the cone on my pup, and she completely shut down. Head down, stiff, wouldn't move for ANYTHING. Not even a few inches for some cheese I was holding out for her. Normally, she'd be coming up to people, or trying to get someone to pet and love on her, but she just stood in the middle of the living room. Nothing.

I took it off, and she was a little mopey afterwards.

I ended up wrapping her around her waist area with an ace bandage, to keep her from getting the lump.

But.. why such a big reaction, or lack of, to the cone? I've never seen her shut down like that, ever. And even refusing to move for food?

How should I have handled this?

It's a very common reaction. A big ol' cone suddenly appears around their head and they don't know what to do, they bump into things, and they don't want to move. Usually most dogs will "grin and bear it" after the shock has worn off but there are some dogs who don't act themselves until the cone is gone.

I don't know how you could have handled it better other than acting reassuring and matter-of-fact about it. Plenty of dogs have no choice in the matter and have to wear it for a certain amount of time and they get through it, maybe not happily, but they do it.

If you're sure she'll leave the bandage alone you could probably leave the cone off. Depending where this lump is, a T-shirt may be as effective and less interesting to her than a bandage.

I'd get one of the soft ones.... MUCH less traumatic.

I hesitate to post this again because of all the hilarity last time (and re-reading it, I saw that it really did sound very funny), but I had a small dog who freaked out over the hard cone-head collar, and she would sometimes get briefly suctioned onto a wall from panting in the corner. I got her a soft one, and I've never used the rigid ones again.

http://www.bonafido.com/page6.html

It isn't as if it's a one-shot cost, because I've used it two or three times since, and expect that I will use it again.

We dealt with this same issue. My female was pretty mopey the first few days, but got over it. My male, well it just never existed to him at all. The most annoying thing for them both (and me) was them running into stuff; couches, wall corners, crate doors, me... They figured it all out in the end.

Good luck and don't worry too much, she'll bounce back soon enough!

Thanks, Connie. You just had to go and get me started again

Bite-Not collars are another option (if that's not what Connie is talking about). The go around the neck like a neck brace and most dogs tolerate them pretty well.

http://www.bitenot.com/index.html

I saw some of the softer ones at the pet store. I may look into that next.

The T-shirt isn't really an option, since it's in front of her right hind leg, right along the edge of skin that hangs between her leg, and her belly.

I haven't tried putting it back on her, and she does take off the ACE bandage if you turn your back on her. But even just lifting up the cone from say the couch, makes her get her sad eyes going and her mopey look on her maw.

And I'd never heard of a dog getting suctioned to a wall with a cone..! It sounds pretty funny, but it sounds like it could've scary at the time. x:

I'm gonna watch her over the week and see how she does.. and if she just won't leave it alone, I may have to have it removed. But then she'd be wearing something to keep her from getting at the site anyways..

Eh.

Thanks for the input, though!

 Quote: Amanda Stone

And I'd never heard of a dog getting suctioned to a wall with a cone..! It sounds pretty funny, but it sounds like it could've scary at the time. x:

It was brief each time (yes, more than once), but it did show me how anxious the cone-head was making her, to be panting like that.

 Quote: Sarah Morris

Bite-Not collars are another option (if that's not what Connie is talking about). The go around the neck like a neck brace and most dogs tolerate them pretty well.

http://www.bitenot.com/index.html

Oh, I had not seen those before. Can the dog still eat, or do you take it off for meals?

The dog can still eat with it on and the strap that wraps around under the chest can be removed.

Wow, I wish I knew about the soft ones. Roscoe's been destroying our house for 3 weeks now with the hard one. All that brand new trim I just put up now looks 5 years old. The bruises are also in different stages of healing from the "Drive By's". Will get a soft one ASAP, thanks!

Howard