Out and About With The Boys

It won't come as a surprise when I tell you it is pretty hard for me to be objective about my dogs' health. Iz and I struggled for months but we still lost the race.

Harry lost his last two toenails last weekend and was in extreme pain for about three days. Also, in retrospect, it was a mistake to board him at the kennel when I went out of town on business. I should have put him with the vet along with Mimi. He could hardly walk when I picked him up that Friday night. I called the dermatologist on Monday and insisted on a follow up visit, which we scheduled for the next morning.

I examine his toes several times every day looking for...anything. Magically grown new toenails, I guess. So when he lost those last two nails, I began to feel defeated. It was an emotion that was too familiar and too scary.

To my surprise, the dermatologist was pleased that the deterioration of his nails was not progressing. In other words, it was a sort of null result. Losing his last two nails was going to happen anyway and didn't represent a worsening of his condition. The visit was on Tuesday morning, and Harry was in fine form doing all sorts of tricks for biscuits, entertaining the vet and his tech. The vet examined all of Harry's toes. It was subtle, but there might be some new nail growth on a couple of them.

The vet said Harry was to continue the cyclosporine. The only remnant of his initial intestinal distress is some nasty flatulence but I'll take stinky dog farts over dry heaves and diarrhea.

Then we got down to the big question: when can Harry start doing flyball again? Not just flyball, actually, but training and conditioning work, too. I have been reluctant to even take him for a walk since December and playing fetch has been out of the question. Harry needs a lot of work to get him back into competition form, plus he really needs to practice with his flyball team.

It has been hugely frustrating to me that I had to pull Harry from the January and February tournaments. The next one is in four weeks. That doesn't leave a lot of time to get him ready.

The vet told me to start slow, but that I should start working Harry again in all of the things he is used to doing, including flyball practice. He told me that the diseased nail remnants will split and break and may bleed and that Harry may not be as fast as he used to be, at least for a few more weeks. He also told me NOT to wrap Harry's feet during flyball. This last part amazed me. But then, I usually wrap his feet to prevent his nails from breaking...so if we are truly addressing his condition, that may no longer be needed.

Since the vet visit, Harry has become a different dog. He brings me toys constantly and I've been increasing the ferocity of our tug games, which we now play three or four times a day. I'm able to play with Harry and Cap together because they both focus on their own tug and ignore the other dog. I could do this with Harry and Iz but never with any other pairing of my terriers. It's a different thing to have a dog that isn't a terrier.

I started taking Harry for walks this week (we do just under 3 miles ), which I'll ramp up to short periods of running in a day or so. And this morning I plan to take him outside and throw the ball a few times to see what happens.

Postscript: Harry chased the tennis ball in the backyard for about 20 minutes this morning. I checked all of his toes every five throws or so, and I didn't throw the ball too far, but he was ecstatic to play one of his favorite games. And the best part? Not a single torn or bloody nail. Woohoo!

In two weeks, I'll head to Austin for flyball practice.

I can only handle three dogs at a time so if Harry always goes on a walk, that only leaves two more slots. I took Cap along this week to start teaching him leash manners and of course the joys of taking a walk with the pack. Last night, Jack got the prized third slot. It was a walk with all of the boys.

Harry, Cap, and Jack.

Cap is now 19 weeks old. He weighs 14.4 lbs (checked on the vet's scale yesterday) and is just over 13.5" at the shoulder. He has not yet lost any of his baby canines, consistent with his tender age, but his front teeth have all been replaced. You can see in the photos how long-backed he is and also how much shorter he is than Harry.


Since I find the clump of dogs that gathers on the large dog bed for a nap as cute as anything I've seen, here's another picture.

Mimi, Dyna, Cap, and Jack.