So, as you may know, Onyx is pretty sensitive about his paws. He used to run away if you even thought about touching his paws. I've been working with him for a few months, and he's now okay with me touching his front paws for brief periods of time, and lets me hover my hand over his back paws.
Tonight, just as I was cutting into a nice filet mignon, Sister yells "Help! Onyx's paw is bleeding!" so I drop everything run into the kitchen, where Onyx is leaving very bloody footprints behind him. I got him to lay down and had my mom hold his collar and pet his head while I looked at his paw - his outside claw had gotten torn off or chipped or something. It was barely there. Anyways, it was bleeding badly, so I went and got the stypic powder that came with the nail clippers (so glad I made sure to get a pack that included that!) and Onyx let me hold his paw for about three minutes straight...he didn't even try to pull it away, except when I first put the stypic powder on! (Three minutes because I tried putting the powder on once, but his pawfur got in the way at first, so I had to do it again, and then we put all the stuff on it.)
After the bleeding slowed down/stopped, we put some sterile stuff around it then put a sock over it and taped it in place, so neither he nor the other dogs would mess with it.
I'm still a little shaky, but I'm faring better than my sister. She nearly threw up twice, haha. I'm now eating my steak because Onyx is laying down, looking pitiful in his pink sock. <3 But I doubt he would have let me hold his foot that long before. Dunno how this will help going forward, but he was very patient and didn't snarl once, which he used to do. laskdjlfkjasdklfj just very stressful, haha.
GIGANTIC payoff for Onyx's training!
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
GIGANTIC payoff for Onyx's training!
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Re: GIGANTIC payoff for Onyx's training!
Good work, Erica, and Onyx, and Sister too (knowing when to yelp for help). Gianormous payoff indeed.
Re: GIGANTIC payoff for Onyx's training!
Don't you just love those moments when all the work, time and effort pays off?
Kudo's to you for getting your dog to this point! I hope Onyx heals soon.
Kudo's to you for getting your dog to this point! I hope Onyx heals soon.
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11