Our 2 year old English Cocker girl, Sophie, has been diagnosed with patellar luxation--basically, her knee goes out of joint and she is lame until it gets back in. It is happening frequently, although we can get it back in by manipulating the joint, it seems to be hurting her, so we are planning on surgery. The orthopedic surgeon who is reccomended in this area has told me to plan on 6 weeks of rest for recovery.

I am concerned about how to keep her happy for these 6 weeks. She is a very active, lively dog, not hyper, but very playful and loving, and pretty needy/attached to me. I am worried that 6 weeks of enforced (ie, drugged) rest will adversely affect her personality. She is very sensitive, shy with new people or new dogs, etc. She seems much more sensitive than Jake (our Golden), who pretty much rolls with the punches...

Any ideas?

Jake's mom