Meet Milo the JRT

[Digi]

Today was a good day, but with bad news.

Milo has been free all day with his muzzle on. He saw the cat and I saw him fighting with himself if he should chase her. He did chase her a little, but it wasn't kill mode. He chased her a very short distance then stopped. He also watched her from his bed several times. He did get 1 good chase up the stairs, but the second I shouted at him, he stopped his chase.

I hope this contines as it seems like progress...I hope.

So the bad.

I thought he was licking his paws because he had no booties and it's mighty cold for the area.

Turns out he has a broken nail!!!!!!
I thought the nail looked a little off to the side, but I knew that dog nails are not always straight, so I ignored it. I regret that now.

The nail is dead, and is slowly falling off the foot. It's in an upwards position. The quick is alive, but most of it is attached to the dead nail. I am now worried that once the dead nail falls off, it'll allow the quick to be banged into.

I will contact a vet after the holiday as I do not feel it is an emergency at this time.

Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice?

I don't know if I should keep his boot on or off. I will get polysporne tomorrow to help ensure no infection starts. There is no infection from what I can see, and it doesn't appear to be very painful.

He walks fine on it. 0 limping.

[Karen]

Can you trim off the dead part?

[cassiesmom]

Yay, Milo! I'm glad you had a better day! Three cheers for you and your very patient person! You stopped chasing when your person said to stop I'm sure your person will help you learn all kinds of new ways to use up your JRT energy!

I'm sorry about Milo's nail. I was thinking the same thing as Karen, would he permit you to clip it? Or, maybe the vet needs to see and carefully clip it so as not to injure the part that isn't dead.

[Digi]

carefully clip it so as not to injure the part that isn't dead.

That is what I want to do, but I need more of it to die. I'm also scared that if I do clip it, then it'll keep the tiny piece still inside the toe to become stuck & get infected. So for now I'm gently poking it, to see if its ready to fall off. When its really wiggly (which it is currently not), then I'l gently tug on it to see if it'll release.

Milo is still being naughty with the cat if we are not looking, esp if his bark collar is not on. The aggression is less, but still stressful on us. We ordered a new remote static collar that has really great ratings on its vibration correction.

[RatterpriseCommand]

Dear Milo,

I'm glad to hear you are learning to stop when told! Remind your humans that it takes lots of patience to break old habits, particularly ones that have been around a looooong time. Don't forget to give them lots of love as a reward for their patience and try not to stress them out too much over the holidays. Here's a hint: less barking and less cat chasing are good ways to do that! The cat might even want to stick around if you chase her less. I know you have LOTS of JRT energy, but try to play instead of just be crazy.

Be careful with your nail. I hope it doesn't get dirt in it and when your human puts on the polysporin, try not to lick too much off!

Keep your nose up and good luck!

[Digi]

The Health Department just left, so Milo is no longer under house arrest.

His dead nail fell off on its own yesterday. All there is left is a tiny bump of quick. I'm not sure if his nail will be able to recover. There is still no infection setting in. The area appears to be normal tissue (considering) and the toe is still not painful for him to walk/run on it and I can touch the toe.

The boo boo on his muzzle is nearly fully healed. 3/4 of the scab has fallen off, and I can see healthy furry skin!

[cassiesmom]

Yay, Milo! Digi, I'm glad the boo-boo on Milo's face is healing, and that his nail is looking good. Does "no longer under house arrest" mean he can walk around without the muzzle? Or, that you can keep using the softer one? Is he still asking for petting? Milo, I know your person will keep helping you learn all your doggie skills.