My husband took Mauser to the vet on Friday because he wasn't feeling well. Mauser has some inflamed disks in his back. Our vet gave him two shots and then we give him 1/2 of a perscription pill each day. He's not allowed to play any ball or jump up for two weeks.

Do you feel that dogs understand that their owners aren't punishing them, when this happens?

We pet Mauser alot and let him know that we love him but he lives to play ball.

Any suggestions?

Hmm .. a lot of patience is required in this. I'm sure he knows you mean no harm. Dogs are VERY smart. We had something similar with juni. He was feeling sick and then we had to take him to the vet. He made him some "infiltrations" .. 6 painful injections in the spine. We didn't sleep at all that night and tried to comfort him as much as we could. We got better, so the pain was worth it.

Just keep on petting him and talking to him. He'll be fine and he knows you love him