The Toenail Tragedy

As dog owners, we've all heard that sound that makes us jump and puts our hearts in our throats. That pain-filled yip. Upon turning the Stump Kids outside, Matt and I heard that painful yip, but neither of us knew who it was.

At first I thought it was LaMesa, who has been recovering from her sprained leg (or toe, we never were  100% sure). But then I heard from Matt, "Hey hun, can you bring an old towel?" I walked into the screened-in patio to see blood already covering the tile floor…coming from Dally's front foot.

Dally had ripped a toenail out of her front foot. It must have gotten caught in the bottom track of the sliding patio door as she and LaMesa drove through the open door. Of course I was on my way to a doctor's appointment. A quick call to our vet at Gainesway Animal Hospital gave me the idea to pack her toe with flour to help stop the blood. (Unless you have blood stop powder, which of course my company makes, but I don't have any samples with me at home….of course.) Matt set up a chair in the patio and sat down to cradle Dally and her painful foot until the blood stopped.

At least 30 minutes later, the bleeding stopped and Matt set up a crate with Dally's bed and blanket in the office and she had to wear the "Cone of Shame" to keep her from licking her toe.

I was able to clean off her foot later in the afternoon by trimming the toe hairs. She's been limping on it, so I tried to wrap it in gauze and SyrFlex (cohesive bandage made by my company, one job perk) to help cushion it so she doesn't bump the toe. However she was not a fan and spent 10 minutes flipping her stump with great agitation. So I went ahead and took it off, which made her happy. Instead she's now on a regular dose of Traumeel to help with the pain. I just hope the nerves cool off soon. Poor thing looks so miserable limping around the house, and I can't take her for a walk or to do anything else until the toe heals.

(My husband made this little collage while I was at the doctor. Note the zebra print to go with Dally's trademark.)

At least this happened early in March, instead of closer to Nationals. And hopefully she should be healed and ready to go by the Louisville Cluster in two weeks (our first agility trial since November!).

This isn't the first time Dally's ripped out a toenail--she somehow ripped out a toenail while walking in my old apartment trying to squeeze between me and the couch. That was an ugly situation, too. What is it about toes that makes them bleed so much for so long??

I told her this wouldn't happen if she'd let me Dremel her toenails shorter, but she doesn't care.

Have you ever had a dog rip out his/her toenail?

Corgi Versus the Harness, Round One

If you've been reading my posts regarding Dally's physical issues lately, you know that I'm at the point of trying anything and everything to keep her in one piece and happy.

So when the chiropractor and I were discussing how the disc would have been irritated to a point of being out of place and swollen. The only thing we could think of, besides the jumping off of the bed and couches (like we touched on earlier), was our daily walks.

Mind you, I don't jerk on my dogs. LaMesa wears a ComfortFlex Harness and has for the past two years because she would pull more ahead on our walks. Dally usually just shuffles behind us at her own pace. That isn't really a problem, except for when she suddenly stops to sniff something or go potty. If I'm not paying attention, I don't know she's stopping so I will jerk a little on her leash because of the sudden stop.

So that could be the problem.

So how do we solve that? Pay better attention to Dally when we're walking? Yes...that would help. But maybe it's time to look at her attire.

Dally asks: Does this harness make my badonk look fluffier? Be honest.

She got her very own ComfortFlex Harness, only in the color of a diva--hot pink.

Seems like an easy fix, right?

Maybe for some other dogs, but this is Dally we're talking about. The first week after getting the harness, I couldn't wait to try it on her and take her for a (short) walk. First I fit the harness to her, making sure it wasn't too tight and it didn't rub behind her "armpits." Then I let her wear it around the house for a couple of hours. The next day, I was ready to take her for a walk...

We got to the neighbor's driveway. Yep. Barely a hundredth of a mile. Walking FAIL.

I thought maybe she was still a little sore, so I let her go back to the house, took her harness off and promptly left with LaMesa--she was more than ready for a walk. The next day I tried it again. We maybe got a little further with more coaxing, but that was it.

I asked Merinda about what she thought and her response:

Merinda, the voice of reason.

OK, OK... Yes, I get it. Dally is a diva. She is a drama queen. If it's not the way she wants things, she's not happy. She's a Corgi. But this is a battle I have to win, because I can't walk her with just a collar any more if I'm afraid one pull or one accidental jerk might cause another disc problem.

So what can I do to get her comfortable with walking in the harness? She's been wearing the harness around the house, going into the backyard with it on, etc. I did finally get her to "walk" with me and LaMesa last night by basically leaving her in our dust--LaMesa and I went ahead and Dally shuffled behind us to catch up, all while dragging her leash and wearing her harness. It worked--she made it all the way to our destination on her own while wearing her harness. Then when we went back to the house, I held onto her leash and she ran alongside LaMesa. (Note: We were walking just down the sidewalk to care for Merinda's cat, there was no traffic, and I kept my eye on her that she didn't go into the street.)

But I can't always do that.

Can't we all just walk peacefully and happily, all while wearing a harness?

So, I'm reaching out: How do you teach old dogs new tricks and how can I get Dally comfortable with walking in her harness, on the leash, with me and LaMesa?

Wordless Wednesday: Dally on the Injury Reserve List

This is what Dally thinks about not being about to do agility in class:

A Little Bruised

I guess it's a good thing we're in a quiet period of a couple more weeks, as far as agility goes, because Dally's been placed on the injury reserve list.

It all started Wednesday, when I noticed a little hitch in Dally's stride mid-way through the day. We hadn't done anything crazy that morning--just our typical walk around the park for a little more than 2.5 miles, so I didn't think it could be overuse. So I gave her some Traumeel and kept an eye on her.

Thursday she was only slightly better, and after a few hours she'd be hobbling around, barely putting a toe down to try to keep weight of her right hind leg. I consulted the "Corgi Chiropractor" and decided to keep an eye on her and give her time off from any walks, agility, and jumping (yeah, like that's an easy one).

Saturday morning I took her in to see Dr. Forry. She wasn't out in her hip like I thought, but it's more like a bruise on the top of her pelvis. Of course Dr. Forry tried to look through her fur to see if she could see any bruising on her skin, but when you've got hair like Dally, you don't see her skin!

We're not sure exactly what happened, but everything presents itself like a bruise--the area around the painful spot are fine to the touch, but you hit that one point, and she jumps. She wasn't out in the hips like normal, just sensitive in that one area. After a lazer treatment, we were sent home with instructions to keep with the Traumeel every 4-6 hours, icing the area (I was icing the hip, so just need to move the ice pack a little higher), and keeping her activities limited. That'll be the hard part, as Dally has not appreciated me taking LaMesa for walks and agility class without her. And LaMesa and I have been sneaking in quick weave pole sessions in the back yard (complete with tennie) while Dally was sleeping--unfortunately LaMesa's excited barks wake her up rather quickly.

I admitted to Dr. Forry that I'm always concerned when I see some sort of pain or weakness in Dally's hind end. Call it paranoia, but I'm so afraid of degenerative myelopathy (DM) in Corgis that I fear Dally will develop it one day. I know that doesn't neccearily mean the end of life, but it'd be the end of her life as she knew it--no more agility, no more hikes on rugged terrain, no sharp turns when chasing the tennie (she'd probably have to play that by herself so LaMesa didn't push her around)...

Maybe I'm over exaggerating my reactions to things, but lately I can't help but feel the worst is about to happen at any moment (the past few weeks will do that to a person).

Do any of my fellow Corgi owners fear the same thing? Does it make you want to take a step back and be a little more careful and mindful of how your Corgi plays? Or am I just being paranoid?