# puppy FREEZES when cone is on her. normal?



## chombiekay (Jul 15, 2014)

hi. i have a 8m old that just had her spay. when i put the cone on her, she basically just sits there and doesn't move unless she has to. is this normal? will puppies get used to it?


----------



## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

The "Cone of Shame" is probably pretty scary, and even uncomfortable, for some dogs. It can be heavy, may have sharp edges (especially the plastic kind), traps sound in a weird way that the dog won't be used to, and can also impede peripheral vision.

I wouldn't say it is normal, per se, but it's certainly not uncommon, and lots of dogs dislike being in the cone. My dog reacts exactly like yours does - when the cone goes on, he seems to loose the will to live and will sit or lay down sadly where ever he is and refuse to move except for the best of treats.

I would consider taking the cone off while you're home to supervise her (like, constant supervision, in the same room where you can easily interrupt her if she tries to lick), and if she will leave the spay site alone. If she won't leave the spay site alone though... well, I guess she'll just have to be sad in the cone for a week or two.


----------



## chombiekay (Jul 15, 2014)

Great advice thanks!


----------



## chombiekay (Jul 15, 2014)

also i didn't even consider that the cone affects how they hear things. interesting.


----------



## glm777 (Jul 25, 2011)

My Bella did the exact same thing the first time we put the cone on her for an infected paw that lasted 9 weeks!
She absolutely FROZE. Would not move, lie down - I don't even think she blinked LOL. We kept giving her tiny treats and making a big deal about how good she was and eventually after a few hours she was walking around the house with it. A word of advice - clear out clutter and make sure your pup has enough room to walk around her usual space. The cone adds some width to their body and the first day poor Bella was bumping into things and dragging them along with her, which caused her to panic a time or two. So we moved chairs, end tables, etc around so she would have ample room to move about without getting caught on anything. We found that if we took the cone off Bella for meals it was even harder for her to adjust having it back on so we lifted her food bowl onto upside down Rubbermaid containers so she could reach the food and water and left her in the cone for about 3 days without ever taking it off. Once we did that, we were able to remove it for meals and playtime and she was good about putting it back on. Your pup will adjust - Bella was in a cone for 9 weeks.


----------



## chombiekay (Jul 15, 2014)

thanks. our puppies sleep more than normal even 2 days after. this is normal right?


----------

