Reply #10: A couple of thoughts.... [View All]

[Neecy]

First, if you don't want surgery, I'd put the dog immediately on a fairly heavy dose of glucosamine twice daily. If the hip problem has weakened his hind legs this should make him more comfortable, although it takes several weeks for it to kick in. You can get it for dogs almost anywhere, and I'd recommend Hartz Joint Therapy - it's not only less expensive than most but it has all kinds of other good stuff in it for joint care. It's lamb flavored and my dogs eat it like a snack so it's easy to administer. A lot of grocery/drug stores carry it so it's easy to find.

As far as the dog staying in the crate - well, it's a new place and it'll probably take him a few days before he's ready to explore. And some dogs can be extremely mood-sensitve, meaning that if you're really angry - and it's justified, given what you've written about this breeder - and you're venting this anger (even if not directly against the dog, which I'm sure you aren't) you might frankly be scaring it. At this stage, all you can do is roll with the punches and move forward and love the little guy.