Meet Milo the JRT

[Asiel]

So sad to know what kind of life Milo has had until now. People really stump me at times. Such a cutie, I'll pray he might be so sweet that he's found his home--sounds like he's already accepting the new rules.

[cassiesmom]

Just checking in for an update. Fingers and paws crossed that things will go well! I hope the Benadryl helps! Milo, your person is going to have you wear boots to protect your feeties for now.

[Digi]

He had a really good day today!

He is perfectly fine with me putting on the booties now. He doesn't even try to fight me at all. He does get too crazy/hyper/snarly with stuffies that squeak, so he is banned from those for now (I don't want to promote any growling as I'm working so hard on squashing his negative attitude). He enjoys the big rope, and the squeaky ball. I want to get him a beef bone from my Halal butcher, I think he'll love to chew on it during the day while I am at work.

He was muzzle free today, but tied. He had 0 issues through the day and was very well behaved.

He learned a valuable lesson outside. I tried to stop him from using his face as a snow plow, as the top layer is ice (freezing rain). He kept doing it until it cut his little nose His nose is fine. It wasn't very deep so the bleeding stopped quickly. This was the biggest reason I had him muzzle free today.

I set up the XL kennel in the basement (my pc is down there & so are all my critters). He loves to sleep in it. I have him tied to the base of the door, so he can come out & sleep on the big dog bed beside my PC. He has a water bowl & toys down here.

I find he is most relaxed down here, as the furnace fan is always on & makes noise that drowns out everything else. I also like it. So I had him sleep in the kennel down here last night. He didn't make a peep all night & was a happy little bugger this am when I got up.

He is currently passed out in his kennel with booties on his front paws

Last night we also had a HUGE break through with him. We don't think he hates the cat, nor wants to hurt her. We think he is just TOO interested in sniffing her, which she doesn't approve of yet. Last night we allowed him to run free on the main level of the house with his muzzle on. Cam came down the stairs to slink into the kitchen. Milo stood up & I told him to lay down and be quiet. He obeyed & stared at Cam. She came into the same room to get a drink of water. She has been slinking from room to room to look at him all day.

Happy day

[Karen]

Oh, wow! Progress on all fronts! I used to laugh when our dogs would do that "snow plow" maneuver, but it was the Saint Bernards who loved doing that the most, and they were furry enough to never get damaged by any ice!

The funniest ever was a dog that I took care of often, who belong to my bosses. Tyler was a sheltie, and on walks would look for any big enough patch of unsullied snow, leap into it and flop down on his back in wriggle! I called it his "doggie snow angel" move, and it made me laugh every time!

[RatterpriseCommand]

Oh dear, oh dear!

Such poor ownership! Why are people allowed to do such cruel things to defenseless animals?

Glad that Milo is in a much better situation and so glad to hear that he is doing so well! Bravisimo to all! I look forward to hearing more success.

[Digi]

Last night was really bad.

Milo hates the cat & wants to kill her. He was loose with his muzzle when Cam walked into the living room. Milo charged and started attacking her. She screamed and fought only to get away from him (he pinned her to the wall). When I got him off of her, he had her fur in his mouth.

We tried putting her in her crate for him to see her safely, so we could make him sit and settle down. No amount of trying to get him to sit, food, toys, shouting, clapping our hands, snapping the leash worked. He was totally deaf to the world.

After that, he wouldn't stop barking and was totally out of control. I put his bark collar on for the first time since he was at my place as we still rent & I don't want Digi & Charlie kicked out because of him.

It zapped him & that stopped him in his tracks. No more out of control deaf dog.

We are going to try with Cam in a crate again to see if we can get him to settle down. The bark collar will be on him & we are hoping it'll help us try to get control over the situation, as he listens so darn well to it. If the bark collar isn't enough, we'll try the remote control collar (it also has a remote beep). Our goal is to break his death concentration so we can TRY to get him to sit and do other commands around the cat.

Any other suggestions PLEASE share. I have worked with aggressive dogs before (why its going so well), but they were not totally deaf to the world like this.

Please note, that Cam is not your typical cat. She was content in the crate with Milo on the other side of it. When we let her out, she was purring at my feet & remained in the living room with Milo, but out of reach.

[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.

[Digi]

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.

I meant he is legally allowed off my property now. The government put him under quarantine at my house, and he was only allowed outside in the yard to potty.

Milo loves being petted now. He comes up to us all the time wanting a good long scratch all over. He no longer growls at us or the other dogs either. He is learning that his personal space BS is limited and doesn't fly in our house. He is allowed to growl if another dog jumps on him, but its not ok to growl if another dog sniffs or walks past him.

He has taken a fancy to Charlie. Digi has little interest in playing with other dogs, and she has already told him not to touch her. He respects her, which is how we want things in the house to function.

Milo chases & follows Charlie when he is off his leash in the house. Charlie does protest, but still wants to play. Milo only tries to do 1 thing to poor Charlie. We don't scold him for tormenting the hell out of Charlie that way, as we know after he is fixed, it'll turn into play. We don't want to ruin the friendship, as Charlie doesn't hate what Milo does, as Charlie likes to butt bump him to get the chase going. Its the jumping on & grabbing that Charlie doesn't fancy lol

[lizbud]

I meant he is legally allowed off my property now. The government put him under quarantine at my house, and he was only allowed outside in the yard to potty.

Milo loves being petted now. He comes up to us all the time wanting a good long scratch all over. He no longer growls at us or the other dogs either. He is learning that his personal space BS is limited and doesn't fly in our house. He is allowed to growl if another dog jumps on him, but its not ok to growl if another dog sniffs or walks past him.

He has taken a fancy to Charlie. Digi has little interest in playing with other dogs, and she has already told him not to touch her. He respects her, which is how we want things in the house to function.

Milo chases & follows Charlie when he is off his leash in the house. Charlie does protest, but still wants to play. Milo only tries to do 1 thing to poor Charlie. We don't scold him for tormenting the hell out of Charlie that way, as we know after he is fixed, it'll turn into play. We don't want to ruin the friendship, as Charlie doesn't hate what Milo does, as Charlie likes to butt bump him to get the chase going. Its the jumping on & grabbing that Charlie doesn't fancy lol

Forgive me if you've already covered this, but why are you waiting to have Milo neutered? Seems like that would be a big help in changing his behavior.