OK here’s the dilemma. You have an injured dog and a much younger, fit dog. You’re not allowed to let the injured dog do any exercise or anything that may prevent his wound from healing. For the first couple of days, while the injured one is recovering from the general anaesthetic and the general soreness/pain of the operation, he’s happy to be given a tennis ball to chew while young ‘un is getting her charging around time with another tennis ball.

Then the anaesthetic starts to wear off, the antibiotics and painkillers kick in and big dog starts to want more from life than snoozing on the sofa and chewing up of tennis balls. He is constantly asking to play and she’s pinging off the walls too. What do you do? You can’t take her out for a walk without him for a whole host of reasons but he’s not supposed to be doing anything energetic. How do you keep both dogs happy and protect JD’s injury from further harm?

We have pondered this question over and over again and finally we decided that we’d take them both out for a truncated walk, without tennis balls to play with, just an amble along the path in the November sunshine. All well and good you’d think, wouldn’t you? So, we get onto the moor, unclip the leads and immediately JD starts haranguing us for failing to bring out a tennis ball. Within twenty paces he’s found a stick to present to us for throwing and general revelry. Then he’s running along, sloshing up mud in puddles all over his wound. Other dogs become narked and intimidated by the cone of shame so he gets into trouble. He starts to limp. We turn for home and have to negotiate round a big hole that we believe is a collapsed stope and the two dogs jump onto a wall and look down on us. JD has the biggest smile on his face ever. He’s really happy despite the mud and the obviously sore leg.

When we get home we wash down the wound with Hibiscrub and castigate ourselves over the decision to take him out. But he’s now lying on a dog bed, snoozing by the window and he’s really happy and content. What should we have done? Who knows. If his recovery continues without faltering we’ll think we were right but if we’ve halted his progress or caused him further harm or discomfort what then? I always thought being a grown up would make it easier to decide what’s best and what’s right but it’s no easier now.