What if Houdini had to wear a cone?
May 21, 2018 5:34 PM Subscribe
My dog is determined to never let his injured foot heal. How do people keep their crafty dogs from messing with their hurt feet when they can contort around or escape from every cone?
My dog has cracked open one of his toenails. We've been to the vet, and it's fine - he just has to wait for it to grow back in, but he keeps licking it until it opens up and bleeds. Obviously he needs to be in a cone or otherwise not have access to his foot. Only problem, he's been wearing a great-dane-sized cone this whole time (he's a 65lb shepherd mix).
The broken nail is in the worst possible spot - one of his back paws, which he can stretch into his mouth even wearing the largest cone our vet's office has. He's also figured out how to take off the giant cone, so we've had to binder clip it to a smaller cone he can't escape from (but that only prolongs his time in the giant cone, he always gets out eventually and can reach his foot easily in the smaller cone).
When he's had previous foot injuries, socks, bandages, and baggies were all removed the moment we left him alone. The giant cone mostly worked for those. I think this one must be itchier or more uncomfortable because he will not leave it alone. I'm really tired of mopping up dog blood and I'm afraid he's going to get it infected since he keeps opening it up.
We've also tried bitter apple to no avail.
So, please tell me what's worked for you to keep your dogs from messing with their feet when they've had injuries!
Dog tax of the offender in his dual cone outfit.
My dog has cracked open one of his toenails. We've been to the vet, and it's fine - he just has to wait for it to grow back in, but he keeps licking it until it opens up and bleeds. Obviously he needs to be in a cone or otherwise not have access to his foot. Only problem, he's been wearing a great-dane-sized cone this whole time (he's a 65lb shepherd mix).
The broken nail is in the worst possible spot - one of his back paws, which he can stretch into his mouth even wearing the largest cone our vet's office has. He's also figured out how to take off the giant cone, so we've had to binder clip it to a smaller cone he can't escape from (but that only prolongs his time in the giant cone, he always gets out eventually and can reach his foot easily in the smaller cone).
When he's had previous foot injuries, socks, bandages, and baggies were all removed the moment we left him alone. The giant cone mostly worked for those. I think this one must be itchier or more uncomfortable because he will not leave it alone. I'm really tired of mopping up dog blood and I'm afraid he's going to get it infected since he keeps opening it up.
We've also tried bitter apple to no avail.
So, please tell me what's worked for you to keep your dogs from messing with their feet when they've had injuries!
Dog tax of the offender in his dual cone outfit.
Best answer: Years ago we had a similar problem with our 55lb dog. After several failed cones our vet suggested a BiteNotCollar. He was quickly defeated by the BiteNot, and his hot spots healed. Bonus: he could still get into his food and through the dog door, and hated the thing enough that just putting it out in the open sometimes deterred him.
posted by token-ring at 5:55 PM on May 21, 2018
posted by token-ring at 5:55 PM on May 21, 2018
Is there some sort of a doggie boot that could protect his foot and stop the licking? That seems easier to dog-proof than something that has to fit around the neck. Or maybe they can just eat the boots right off . . . I've obviously never had a dog.
posted by defreckled at 6:59 PM on May 21, 2018
posted by defreckled at 6:59 PM on May 21, 2018
Used a bitenot with DingDog when she had knee surgery. It worked. Also endless bagging on her about how did you get stuck in a pipe.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:09 PM on May 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:09 PM on May 21, 2018 [4 favorites]
Rusty, The Wonder Dog, she was perhaps even more stubborn than I am. She defeated cones no problem. But as she is relentless, so am I. I put a choke chain on her, cut the top and bottom off of a one gallon plastic milk bottle, put holes in the milk bottle, and *wired* it to the choke chain. And then, I put the collar onto the other end of the milk jug. The whole rig was maybe 20 inches or two foot maybe, it gave her not even a chance. She was a very proud animal -- and had reason to be, she was spectacular -- so she was proud and putting this thing on her was a real wound to her pride. Quite frankly -- tough shit. I want you to heal, and you are relentless, and now you are screwed. She'd had a fatty tumor removed, the stitched it up, she tore out the stitches in no time at all, my vet put in metal stitches, which Rusty had undone in about fourteen minutes. How she even got her mouth within six inches of the cut, it led me to believe that perhaps in a past life she'd been a contortionist; she damn sure was a contortionist in her present life. The other time was on her foot -- she got a nasty cut between two of the pads, got some stitches, and yet again she had to wear The Cone Of Shame. Oh, and also -- put wire in the socks/padding/whatever else you put on their foot to keep them away from it. And I'm talking real wire, bound relatively tight. They still work at it but wire is for real...
Good luck!
posted by dancestoblue at 4:28 AM on May 22, 2018
Good luck!
posted by dancestoblue at 4:28 AM on May 22, 2018
Best answer: I have a soft cone I got at petsmart. It has elastic loops so you can attach it to the dog's collar. It has Velcro so you can adjust the cone smaller. I got the biggest one so it was long enough and was able to adjust the neck hole small enough for my flexible , long legged , too smart for his own good, border collie- greyhound mix.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 5:01 AM on May 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 5:01 AM on May 22, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I feel your pain. My Great Dane had an anal gland infection, and he must be the most limber giant dog ever, because he could find a way to lick his butt even with a giant cone or the Bite Not collar. I've used the comfy cones, and I'm pretty sure he would have gotten around that, too.
The back foot is hard, because he can stick it all the way up in front of his face, so he doesn't even need to really bend his neck.
Was the foot bandaged when he came home? I don't know what kind of training vet techs go through, but in my experience they can bandage things in ways that the dog can never get off. So you could try calling your vet and see if they're willing to bandage it.
If that doesn't work, as a last resort you could consider a kennel muzzle with a stool guard. You want a plastic basket muzzle so he can breathe and drink, NOT a nylon muzzle that holds his mouth shut. I think of this because I have greyhounds, who always come with their own kennel muzzles, and they recommend them for situations like this because it can be hard to keep a cone on a dog with such a tiny head. He can probably lick the foot through a standard basket muzzle, but for the greyhound muzzles they make stool guards (to keep them from eating poop) or you could fashion some sort of duct tape situation where he would stick his tongue out.
posted by thejanna at 6:06 AM on May 22, 2018
The back foot is hard, because he can stick it all the way up in front of his face, so he doesn't even need to really bend his neck.
Was the foot bandaged when he came home? I don't know what kind of training vet techs go through, but in my experience they can bandage things in ways that the dog can never get off. So you could try calling your vet and see if they're willing to bandage it.
If that doesn't work, as a last resort you could consider a kennel muzzle with a stool guard. You want a plastic basket muzzle so he can breathe and drink, NOT a nylon muzzle that holds his mouth shut. I think of this because I have greyhounds, who always come with their own kennel muzzles, and they recommend them for situations like this because it can be hard to keep a cone on a dog with such a tiny head. He can probably lick the foot through a standard basket muzzle, but for the greyhound muzzles they make stool guards (to keep them from eating poop) or you could fashion some sort of duct tape situation where he would stick his tongue out.
posted by thejanna at 6:06 AM on May 22, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks all! I see dogs have made a lot of us resort to crazy contraptions to keep them from hurting themselves.
Best answers for things I hadn't heard of before. Just ordered a new giant cone with collar loops last night, and have high hopes for that one since it's cinch-able at the bottom, which is where his current giant cone fails. If that fails, we'll be on to trying the bitenot and his muzzle (which had occurred to me) with a stool guard (which is a totally new concept).
posted by snaw at 7:13 AM on May 22, 2018
Best answers for things I hadn't heard of before. Just ordered a new giant cone with collar loops last night, and have high hopes for that one since it's cinch-able at the bottom, which is where his current giant cone fails. If that fails, we'll be on to trying the bitenot and his muzzle (which had occurred to me) with a stool guard (which is a totally new concept).
posted by snaw at 7:13 AM on May 22, 2018
I have a dog who would stay in a soft cone (attached to her collar) for as much as hours at a time. Especially with benadryl.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 7:57 AM on May 23, 2018
posted by Lesser Shrew at 7:57 AM on May 23, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
Can you take him into a pet store and do an actual e collar try on? They have lots of different types now, including ones that inflate to bulk out the sides, and you may find one that works better for his particular brand of tricks.
posted by phunniemee at 5:49 PM on May 21, 2018