[jp]

Today has not been a good day for Penny and my morning run. I upgraded our morning walk before I go to work to a morning jog last month so she would be extra tired during the day since we have a newborn in the house. First, I was extra sleepy this morning (did I mention the newborn?) so I forgot to put her harness on and just used her normal collar, which we never do for walks. At the end of our block is a forest preserve with a paved bike path and hiking trails that we normally take. But before we could enter we ran by a duck. So she hit the brakes to say hi to the duck while I kept going. This caused her head to slip out of her collar. Then it is off after the duck (which she almost caught!) and any other bird flying by, back and forth across the road with cars driving by, dashing through people's lawns at 50 mph and wearing no collar or tags. Good thing I had running shoes on and could keep her usually in sight. Finally got her in someone's back yard doing her business. Thank goodness.

Then a few hours later my wife noticed Penny licking her feet. We thought she had been doing some overall more licking than normal recently, but upon inspection she had blisters on three of her paws! She’s off to see a vet this afternoon. But I’m sure the running is reason. I try to take the dirt paths as much as possible, but the most of our possible routes include sidewalks and the paved path. And offleash parks are just not an option right now.

I was trying to be a good owner, but now feel like a horrible one.

 

[sarahaf]

Poor jp and penny! No worries, you are not a bad owner, chalk it up to post-partum (yes, even dads get it). If we forget Rosie's harness it's bad news. Blaze, did you have a recommendation on a paw pad product?

P.S. I think it was Kian, not blaze, who had the rec on products...

 

[gunnr]

JP.

Sometimes it happens. They can just get away sooo fast it's mind boggling.
Don't get down on yourself. it won't do either of you any good in the future. Analyze the situation, break it down into small blocks of time, and determine what went wrong and how to address it in the future. it's all you can do as a responsible owner.

I chased one of my V's for almost 2 hours once while he was running a deer. You're not alone.

 

[Crazy Kian]

Don't beat yourself up over this. It happens.
Kian's prong collar snapped this morning and it came right off.... then he took off.
Thank goodness he did not get taken out by the bus that was zooming by him.

As for the blisters, if they are as a result of running, then perhaps it's time for some all terrain doggie booties. I hear those help quite a bit.

Keep us posted about her blisters, hopefully it's nothing too serious.

 

[Mercutio]

And I thought I was the only one whose "velcro" took off on them...

I chased after Merc one morning and caught up to him in the middle of the road chewing on some road kill with a big car with a boat and trailer on the back stopped metres from him. I was so thankful it was a straight stretch of road and they had time to stop.

You got her back safely and the blisters will heal.

 

[bounce]

Bounce got out on me yesterday too... She was behaving all morning, then a flip switched. I think she sensed we were about to go to work, and she took of like a shot towards work through people's backyards and a field with me in chase trying to get her to wait up and not ravage any flowerbeds. Fortunately, she stayed out of the street, but she has now been relegated to wearing the long lead when she is out in the yard so I have a prayer of catching her.

As for the feet, does anyone use Tuf-Foot (http://www.tuffoot.com/)?

 

[jp]

Unfortunately I had some experience chasing her loose through the neighborhood. Last year we ended up having to put an invisible fence in our backyard along with our chain link fence because she learned how to climb it and escape. Based on that experience I know I was lucky yesterday, probably because her feet were hurting.

The vet treated the blisters and she's on medication because one might be getting infected. Thinks 2 weeks recovery time. The poor girl is now limping, wearing baby socks to go outside, and even got cone'd so she can't lick the blisters.

I'm definitely interested if people have had luck with doggie shoes, although I can't imagine Penny going for something like that. She still fights wearing a coat during the winter.