What to do with a puppy that's already very energetic 1 day after being spayed?

[Cinnamon00]

My puppy Luna, was spayed Wed by the shelter before we brought her home. The thing is yesterday and today she's been very energetic trying to explore and wonder around. Now, they told us she has to be resting for 10 days so we are keeping her in her box so she can rest but I feel bad because she keeps trying to get out and explore although we don't let her. Only for a few minutes and to go to the restroom, and then we put her back. She seems to not be in pain and her wound looks fine but i'm afraid she'll hurt herself if she over exerts herself but I hate her sad little face when we keep her confined She does tend to go to sleep if we don't let her out. What should I do? do I let her explore or keep her resting?

[Toller_08]

I kept my guys on leashes attached to me when they weren't crated or just watched them in the livingroom as my guys were older when they were spayed/neutered (all over a year old) and relaxed in the house. I also gave them bones to chew and yummy Kongs to help keep them occupied. I definitely wouldn't be letting her run around playing though. It can be hard, but you don't want to risk injury. :-)

[Shai]

As long as she is not running, jumping up or down, doing stairs, or anything like that while could harm her incision she is probably okay just walking about.

If you have anything she likes to chew or stuffable kongs or any sort of puzzle toy to help her settle, that would be a good idea.

If she settles best in her crate and just sleeps, I would keep her there while she heals. It's temporary, and well worth a quick and thorough recovery.

[Cinnamon00]

Thanks , she has her toys but doesn't seem interested in them(they're squeekies) LOL, I haven't tried the Kong toys yet but I'll probably pay a visit to the store and get her one.

[milos_mommy]

Definitely calmer, shorter walks are ok, even outside if it's in a clean area and sniffing around will tire her out. Puzzle toys, kongs, bones are all an excellent way to keep her calm.

Honestly, while one day after she still needs to be kept pretty calm, 10 days in my experience is definitely a longer estimate used to cover the vet's back if something does go wrong. If she is healing normally and isn't chewing her stitches or having any problems, in 5 or 6 days or so she'll be ready to do medium-intensity things like chase a ball or play a gentle game of tug, if it's not on rough terrain and she's not roughhousing with other dogs or getting totally nuts.

You definitely need to give it a few more days, though, that's a big surgery and running around two or three days later is risky.