How to make a hand splint uninteresting to a curious doodle who thinks gloves are chew toys?

[Cam & Oski]

Hey everyone! We just got back from an exciting (in a bad way) trip to San Francisco. Jason, my hubby, was opening a bottle of wine when the neck of the bottle broke off causing him to cut his right 4th finger badly--he needed emergent surgery & now has to wear a hand splint. Luckily things have gone as well as expected from that corner. The thing is Oski doesn't recognize mittens, gloves, or any hand coverings as having hands inside them. He thinks they're doggy toys. He hasn't done anything yet but we've only been back in town a day. Any recs to keep him from jumping on Jason & trying to play tug-of-war with his hand/splint?

Thanks.

Cam.

[Adina P]

I would introduce him to the splint right away and sent the boundaries that he must follow immediately. The only other thing I can think of is to spray the splint with bitter apple.

[2sforeqbpo84w]

I agree with Adina's recommendations. Cayenne is wanting to play with our gloves while we're out walking.

[Cam & Oski]

Thanks guys! So far, Oski's been extra careful & isn't even jumping on Jason when Jason does his "jump on me moves" (you just have to picture it in your head--doodley 6ft guy hopping up & down saying, "Oski, OSKI, OSKI!!!") so maybe he smells the blood (microscopic) on Jason's hand & knows he's injured? But definitely the splint intro & new rules are top priority.

FYI: Oski is one calculating doodle--when he was teething as a baby we sprayed bitter apple on everything that we wanted him to leave alone that he showed an interest in. Once his licked something with bitter apple on it he came to the conclusion that since his mouth coated with it already, he might as well chomp on whatever he wanted to since the damage was done/bitter apple taste was already in his mouth.

[Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran]

I think you'll find that Oski will be instinctively careful with your husband.

A few months ago my Dad broke his hip and needed hip replacement surgery. We were worried that when he got hom his doodle, Sherlock, would body slam into him saying HI!!! We were pleasantly surprised - Sherlock was extra gentle with Dad and wasn't as rough as he normally was.

Funny thing - my Dad told his surgeon that he couldn't wait to get home to his puppy (Sherlock was only 9 months old at the time) and that he figured the surgeon would think that was silly. Turns out the surgeon ALSO has a doodle and completely understood! They shared pics of their doods at subsequent doctor visits.

[Cam & Oski]

I'm continually amazed at how smart & intuitive these doodles are! You guys are right, I remember when my Mom came to visit (tiny 70yo little Asian woman) & whenever she was walking Oski he was really gentle with her & didn't pull at all :)