BASIC COAT CARE FOR A NEWFOUNDLAND

Posted on August 6, 2013 by BigFootClub

(Last updated 10/27/25)

Grooming your Newfoundland serves multiple purposes.  Combing and brushing removes loose hair, and doing this frequently will prevent development of mats and keep your dog’s skin healthier.  Bathing regularly will not only make the Newf clean and huggable, it will remove dust, pollen, etc. which for some Newfs can become contact irritants.  Bathing should be followed by a thorough drying using a high-speed dog dryer.  In-between baths, blowing their coat with the dryer is a good way to get loose hair and dust out.  The dryer allows you to see their skin, and to see problems as those are developing, such as hot spots, so those can be treated sooner.

Teaching a dog to become accustomed to a high-speed dryer takes some patience and should begin while they are young, using the slower speed setting and avoiding the face.  With patience, praise and treats, this becomes something that the dog enjoys.  He may even help you direct the air flow to the “right spot”, usually under his chin.  Grooming overall can be something the Newf begins to look forward to, another good bonding opportunity.

Grooming Tools

As puppies grow, the tools needed for grooming change.  A puppy between 2 and 4 months old has an untamable fuzzy coat.  For this a carder (also called slicker) is a good grooming tool.  These are carried at most pet stores.  Later, you will need a comb.  A greyhound comb with a rounded top is a good basic grooming tool.  A comb with a rake-type handle is easier on the wrist, such as this one: http://www.gossamerdesigns.net/productpage.php?type=5

To get the loose undercoat out for an adult, you will need another comb of a different type.  There are a variety of undercoat rakes, and these help, but don’t always do a thorough job.  Some people prefer dematting combs (rakes with sharp blades), but the best tool that I’ve found for getting undercoat out is a Twinco rake.  These were shaped like a small paddle and had two V-shaped staggered rows of teeth. An alternative with a plastic handle is avaiable from North Coast Pets: Aaronco rake. A pin brush with short pins, the Christiansen T-brush, is also good for getting out loose undercoat. It is 5 in. wide with 16 mm pins. It is good for routine brushing and is ruggedly built.  When they are shedding and in areas like bellies and rear coat, I like the efficiency of the Twinco rake.  For some Newfs, during a shed, hand-stripping works best – pulling the long tufts of undercoat out by loosely pulling at the edges of the coat.  Coat types vary enough between lines that what works best for one Newf may be different than what works best for another.  When using combs, you will need to develop a feel for the depth of the teeth to avoid bruising or cutting the skin, which can lead to the development of a skin infection. Start with wider spacing of the teeth and work through the coat, then use a comb with more closely spaced teeth. When you are finished, the fine tooth comb should go fully through all of the coat. For those with a lot of undercoat, this will need to be done more frequently and spaced over different days.

Grooming tables are a Newf essential, along with a high-speed dog dryer.  A grooming table should be stable and well-built to support not only the weight of the adult Newf, but the force of the dog jumping onto the table, and the surface should provide good footing.  Ajustable height tables are not particularly useful if you can work with a table height of around 18 – 20 in.  This is low enough for most Newfs to get onto the table with ease throughout most of their adulthood, and high enough for most people to be able to groom without strain from bending down.

Bathing

I prefer to bathe from a table rather than a tub.  Grooming tables can be used as long as the metal legs are monitored for rust, or a more permanent bathing station can be constructed from wood or concrete.  There is complete ease of access to the dog from all sides of a table.  A large plastic apron and a pair of rubber boots work well enough to keep a human from being soaked, but the human will get wet.  Newfs like to share.

For those who need a more “contained” bathing option, the Booster Bath XL may fit your needs better, and most Newfs will fit in this tub.  The drain hose for these can be removed from the tub and a tall bucket placed under the drain with bathing solution and a pond pump, about 2.5 – 3 gpm, with 10′ of nylon tubing for recirculating the shampoo solution.  The pump should have a coarse guard at the intake to keep most hair out of the impeller.  This is a good way to distribute the shampoo to get to all areas of the skin well.  Their coat will hold a lot of the liquid, so water may need to be added to the bucket after bathing is started.  Be sure that the water temperature is not too warm for your dog and watch your dog for indications that he is getting too warm. After shampooing, the bucket can be pulled out between the legs along one side for a thorough rinsing.  Using the tub and bucket will require cleaning and drying afterward so no moisture is left to grow bacteria or yeast.  The foam pad in the tub can be removed and suspended to dry.  The pump and tubing are best cleaned using a dilute solution of bleach in water in the bucket.  The tubing and pump need to be suspended separately to dry, and the dryer can be used to force air through the tubing.

It is best to teach your Newf to stand on the table or in a tub without using a restraint.  A moment of distraction, as with a phone call, can lead to a fast serious accident.  As the Newfs get older, it will be harder for them to stand for the duration of a bath and drying, requiring sit breaks.  A restraint or a no-sit harness should not be used for seniors or those with compromised health.  At some point, it is better to bathe older Newfs on a solid ground-level surface and only when needed.  A blow dryer and a comb will suffice for general maintenance for most seniors, along with an occasional spot clean-up.

An easy way to bathe from a table is to wet the dog, then apply and work in diluted shampoo using a large nozzle bottle.  These bottles are available in quart size, pint size and “ketchup bottle” size.  A good shampoo and conditioner are made by Coat Handler.  The shampoo is a 15:1 concentrate.  Putting a couple of tablespoons of shampoo in a quart bottle of warm water will work for younger Newfs.  An empty 1-gallon water bottle works for adults – the nozzle bottle still makes application easier, and it can be refilled from the gallon bottle.  For most baths, I make the shampoo more dilute, less than half a cup for 3 – 3.5 quarts in a gallon bottle.  During times when biting pests are a problem, and in preparation for camping, I use a shampoo containing tea tree oil, at a similar dilution to Coat Handler.  For any product choice, keep in mind that a dog may lick, and always check an ingredient listing, especially for dogs with allergies. Always rinse well.

Following the bath, use a good conditioner to protect your investment in the bath a little longer, unless your Newf is one who likes to take mud-baths or dust-baths.  The Panagenics shampoo and conditioner products have nice results and will help with drying time.  To use the Texture coat conditioner, be sure to dilute it first and apply it with a microfiber cloth. Though it seems counter-intuitive, follow with the diluted Bathe shampoo. As with any product, wear gloves or use a pump, and rinse your dog well before drying.

A rayon chamois can be a good asset to reduce drying time also.  These are available at many stores.  After waiting in line for a bathing station at a dog show and watching someone use these on a Giant Schnauzer, I began using a chamois.  These can be used multiple times, wrung out after each use and reused, and it removes water better than a cotton towel.  Newfs love to press their face deep into a towel after a bath and get a face rub, so towels still serve a purpose.

Choosing your bath day based on weather will support the benefits.  When you have flexibility, and you live in an area with humidity or rainfall, plan by the forecast and choose a day when weather is drier.  A dry, windy day is easier for completely drying your Newf, as the dryer will consume a large amount of air, and the drier the air coming into the dryer, the easier it is to dry the Newf.

Drying

The second most important part of a bath, next to doing a thorough job with the shampoo and rinsing well, is the drying.  Leaving a dog damp, especially when the weather is humid, is asking for skin trouble.  This is why a high-speed air dryer, not heated, is so important.  A good high-speed dryer such as a Circuiteer II or K-9 III will strip the water out of a coat quickly, dramatically reducing the time that you spend drying the dog.  These will require a dedicated 20A circuit.  The adjustable speed blowers are nice too.  For a portable dryer, I like the Double K Challengair 2000.  The plastic housing does not rust when it gets a scratch, and its air speed is still very good.  A nozzle attachment that fits your either dryer, like the one shown as a “water peeler” nozzle, greatly aids in removing the water as you systematically move the nozzle close to the skin along swaths of coat.  You may want to remove the nozzle after the initial level of drying.  Comb out the coat again after drying to eliminate the mini-dreadlocks that can occur during drying, as these can hold moisture.

Be careful that the blower is not directed into their ears eyes or sensitive areas. Pay attention to your dog to avoid injury.

On choosing a dryer, keep in mind that dogs are sensitive to high-pitched sounds.  Smaller dryers in particular may produce a high-pitched sound that disturbs the dogs.  The dryer must have sufficient volume and speed to get through the double layer of Newf coat.  A good quality dryer is worth the investment.  Plus, a high-speed dryer can have other uses:  it can make auto carpet look new again, it can blow leaves away from a patio or sidewalk, and it can be used to blow dust or crumbs out of hard to reach places, including keyboards.

Tools for Trimming

Hair on the bottoms of their feet should be trimmed level with their pads, and the length of hair around their toes should be trimmed flush with the side of their feet.  This will allow better footing on slick floors and reduce the amount of debris that is carried inside on feet.  An inexpensive electric Wahl trimmer from your local shopping center will allow you to trim the bottoms of the pads with less risk of poking or cutting the skin or pads.  NOTE:  Trimming with scissors can be done, but there is more risk of cutting the pad or their skin.  An injury to a pad (a place of continuous impact on dirty surfaces) can take weeks and require special bandaging, and sometimes surgery, to heal.  Scissors with blunted ends (click to see example) are a better option than standard scissors, but when cutting black hair against black pads or into crevices, it is easy to cut into the skin.

Thinning shears are a good general purpose shear for maintaining the shaggy parts of a Newf.  The 44/20 Taper Fine shears are an economical thinning shear, and these are often recommended by sharpeners.  More expensive thinning shears are available, but these require training on use and usually require special sharpening skills.  The 44/20 Taper Fine shears can be sharpened by a sharpener who has a booth at a local dog show.  Thinning shears are good for trimming and thinning the hair behind their ears and trimming around the ear flap, trimming the fronts of their feet and the backs of their rear feet, removing the scruffy hair on the front of their chest and the long hair under their belly as well as any scraggly long hair that grows around their hips as they age.  (A pair of curved shears is a nice asset, especially for trimming feet, but not essential for basic maintenance.)  Good use of your thinning shears will take some practice, but for a Newf, remember:  the hair will grow back, so you can get more practice in a week or two.  If you will use your shears after blow-drying the dog, the sharpening will last longer and there will be less cumulative wear on your shears. A good place to find a qualified, accredited sharpener is at a dog show. Dog show vendors may carry some hard-to-find tools as well.

Ears

Keeping the hair trimmed around their ears and along the inside of the lower part of the ear will improve the ability of air to reach their ears and decrease the risk of ear infection.  Thinning shears are safer to use around their ears, since their head can move quickly, and thinning shears allow cuts to look more blended and natural.  There are many ear cleaning products, but most are water-based, even the “veterinary” products.  Some products increase inflammation and allow yeast and bacteria to grow.  This can reduce the slow, natural process by which ear wax flows out of the ear, which will increase the risk of an infection developing.  Treating an ear infection can turn into a long-term, challenging situation requiring multiple visits to a veterinary dermatologist, so invest diligently in keeping ears trimmed and avoid foods or other products that lead to itching and scratching.

Trimming Nails

Nail trimming can make a human nervous, since it can be hard to learn to recognize the quick and hard to stop the bleeding.  However, your worrying can cause a puppy to be worried, and the puppy needs to learn to be relaxed about this process.  Most importantly, only the tips need to be removed to prevent the misshaping of the toe or toenail.  Until you are comfortable with how much to trim, you can slice thin layers off until you see the first faint appearace of the quick.  With practice, this will get much easier.  One way to avoid “quicking” when trimming toenails is to use a Dremel and to stop grinding as soon as you see the white layer between nail and skin.  These can be purchased from a local shopping center or home improvement store.  To keep the long hair around their feet from getting caught in the Dremel, you can wrap the leg or pull a sock with the toe removed over the leg.  If you prefer clippers, only a pair of large heavy duty nail clippers will get through an adult Newf’s toenails.  [NOTE:  the guillotine-type nail clippers are often too light for clipping even puppy toenails on a Newf.  The blade may separate from the cutter area as you clip, sliding into the area between the quick and the nail.  A mishap like this with trimming a puppy’s nails can cause this task to be very difficult for the rest of its life.]

  • To see a Youtube video with good details on using a nail grinder (subject is an Irish Setter), click here.
  • To see a video with good details on clipping nails, click here.  *Even if you prefer the Dremel, there is good information on toenails in this video.
  • For a chart showing the amount of quick in a dog’s nail as it is trimmed:  click here

Whether you are grooming for everyday purposes or for showing, a clean, trimmed Newf is a joy and is easier to share living space with.  Think of it like this:  if you wore sweats all week without a bath and didn’t shave, you may be a little less huggable too.

For some inspiration on grooming, watch the Youtube video showing a Newfoundland being groomed by Penny Schubert, a well-known professional Newfoundland groomer:

Penny Schubert Grooming Video

[There is also a six-part series of videos addressing specific areas in good detail.]

For an overview with good detail on grooming, a UK Newfoundland Club offers this page:
https://northernnewfoundlandclub.org.uk/docs/GroomingANewfoundland.pdf

Keep in mind that the outcome is its own reward, for your and for your Newf:

THE OLD MAN IN THE TREE
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IS IT FALL YET?

Posted on July 31, 2013 by BigFootClub

For the last day of July, it seems fitting to wonder where we are in the seasonal calendar.  Should we believe the map (calendar) or the terrain (weather)?  For the past week or more, it sometimes feels like fall, and sometimes it feels like Florida weather, sometimes with sun shining through the rain.

On the night of the 28th, we had another flash flood, the second this year, and that one was preceded by an EF1 tornado.  During this night, the severe weather alert notification sounded on my cell phone.  The cows and calves were in the bottomland, scattered around the island and in all nooks and crannies along the east stretch of that pasture.  The gate was open to the spring pasture, so we decided to wait until morning, not expecting the degree of rain that came afterward.

The cattle were in the spring pasture the next morning, so we went to work.  The rain continued.  By noon, the rain gauge at the house showed 5.5″.  The problem for us is often the degree of rain that accumulates upstream, and the burgeoning of the river as it collects all of the runoff.  At about 11 a.m., Greg came home, moved the cows into the arena and did a head count.  There were several missing, and the river was well past its banks, nearly reaching the main spring pool in the creek, about 70 ft. from where the creek turns to flow into the river.  One of the missing was an old-timer, a permanent farm resident:  “19”.  She arrived as a young cow, fearless, full of attitude and vigor, and with her own version of humor.  She was a roughneck with other cows, she enjoyed wrestling down the challengers to establish her leadership role, and sometimes she simply seemed to enjoy the wrestling.  She has always loved her cookies (range cubes) and she enjoys the special treatment that comes with her unique charms, and now with her role as den mother.  When she was younger and you wanted to move the herd, it was simple:  call for 19, then she would turn her head and call the group, and all would come.  Now in her teens, with a degree of arthritis, she still has good vigor, but a little less attitude or herd authority.

I checked the cows in the arena to see who was missing while Greg continued searching.  He found a few cows east of the creek.  He searched the peripheral boundaries that could be seen from the road and the tracks, and he spotted 19 near the far east fence line.

The river had crested, but was receding slowly.  We talked about whether to try to move her or wait.  Being a very smart cow, if she could have swum, she probably would have already done that.  She led the group a few years ago when there was another unanticipated flash flood.  We talked with a neighbor who has lived in this area all of his life, who also owns land along the river, about the chances that the river would rise again from runoff further east, then decided to wait as long as we could.

Greg brought the cows that were east of the creek into the east pasture, and I called them into the barnyard and put them in the pen north of the arena.  There were still two missing, a young cow and a calf.  I had heard a cow calling from the area of the bog pasture or the east hay field, and hoped we would find them there after we got 19 out of the flooded bottomland.

At about 6:30, 19 was still near the east fence line.  This is  the highest area in the bottomland for when they don’t dare to swim across under the trestle.  She had been standing in water for almost 12 hours, and being arthritic, we were concerned about what would happen if she couldn’t swim and panicked.  But, if we waited any longer, it could be too dark to attempt getting her out.

The current was strong where the creeks and channels converged.  Greg decided to take a lariat and try to reach her.  I asked him what he would do with the rope if she didn’t want to swim across.  Neither of us had an answer.  He would need to swim across a couple of flooded channels, avoiding the current, then wade the rest of the way to reach her.

I waited at the spring pasture on the 4-wheeler, listening for sounds of water movement.  My view of the entrance to the bottomland pasture is in the image below; the creek is on the other side of the gate.

Flash Flood, Gate to Creek 7/30/13

Flash Flood, Gate to Creek 7/30/13

I heard splashing a couple of times and thought that 19 was being wily, not wanting to come under the trestle.  A large doe ran across the railroad tracks west of me and came to a stop behind me with her ears and head in full alert.  She no doubt was startled by a human wearing a bright orange Ron-Jon Surf Shop tee shirt sitting on a 4-wheeler in her path.  She snorted, then continued running east, followed by a young deer with one remaining spot on its belly.  She charged through the creek to the east.  Some other deer came crashing through the brush along the railroad tracks, then ran through the creek, and I realized that the splashing that I heard earlier was probably from the deer.

Greg emerged west of the trestle on the tracks and waved.  He had moved 19, but she refused to swim under the trestle.  Instead, she walked further west through the soybean field and across the tracks into the hay fields.  By the time I reached the west pasture gate, she was standing there, waiting impatiently for me to open the gate and let her in.  She was happy to be back!  And we were thankful for her safe return.

Today, the young cow and calf are still missing.  We have notified the neighbors and will continue searching for them later today.

We’ve been talking about home-building, and design ideas to better accomodate living with Newfs along with changes to make the home more life-friendly, environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient.  Sometimes I think we should build a Flintstone house, out of an engineered material that has good insulation value.  Living in an older rock house, we have learned the energy deficit that comes with too little insulation combined with the heat mass/heat sink effectiveness of stone.  I wonder whether a sealed, incombustible, engineered material could serve another purpose in dealing with the exaggerating weather extremes:  if you turned it upside down, could it serve as an ark?Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2013

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THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO MARKET . . .

Posted on July 23, 2013 by BigFootClub

Saturday, July 20, 2013:

Today was Parker’s second favorite day of the week, Saturday.  It is only his second favorite because the preceding day has so much anticipation attached that it becomes his favorite day of the week:  Friday!

Today was also a day for water training, for Jade.  One of Parker’s elbows still needs to heal a lot before he can get into the water.  The open area is about 2″ in diameter, but it is beginning to fill in.  Getting the skin to regrow over that much area will take some time.  So, as much as I would like for him to be able to swim, he must settle for being a “coach” from a crate away from the beach.  (And he is a very vocal coach.  <g>)  Still, with the enthusiasm that he has for swimming, this seems to be a good thing for him.

Sunday, July 21, 2013:

His foot has fully recovered – well, actually more than once.  I had begun walking him in the yard on the soft grass in June before it was fully healed, then I began walking him about a tenth of a mile on the road, leaving the bandage on after it healed so he had some protection for the new layer of tissue.  About two weeks ago, I took the bandage off for the first time. Within the first couple of days,  during a time when I was in the house with him and he wasn’t wearing the Party Hat, he licked the newly healed area.  Argghhh!  The little pinkish area was now abraded by his tongue.  I put a bandage one for a couple of days, then tried it again.  One of the times that I took him on a walk down the road without the bandage, the newly healed area became abraded again.  It was on the surface only, so I skipped walking him for a day or two.  On Monday, we went for a half mile walk.  The strength in his rear is improving slowly.  We will keep walking and will hope to build up his rear enough that he can enjoy swimming again in the near future, if his elbows will cooperate and he will leave them alone.  One elbow was nearly healed, but during the walk on Monday, we had a meet & greet with some other dogs belonging to neighbors, and I think someone had fleas.  I felt a bite on my leg, and Parker began scratching the back of his elbows again.  I did a whole house floor cleaning with bleach and sprayed the dogs with a flea repellent.

This morning (Tues.), the itching seems to have passed, but not without some setback on both elbows.  This may be the more trying part of this ordeal (which began with his foot on 2/28) – contending with the setbacks.  I feel somewhat like the kid in the back seat asking, “Are we there yet?”

The healing of his foot is encouraging; it gives promise that the elbows will be healed soon too.  I love seeing those big black toe pads:  This little piggy went to market, this little piggy stayed home, this little piggy had roast beef and this little piggy had none.  And this little piggy cried “wee- wee-wee” all the way home!  They’re all there and all black again, except with a minor trace of pink on the outside of his foot – count them for yourself (well, you can’t see the dew claw in this photo):

IMAG0597_brightened

Parker asleep in the back seat of the truck

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Help! I Can’t Hold my Licker!

Posted on June 19, 2013 by BigFootClub

It’s barely a month since the last National, and I’m already thinking about the next one:  will Parker still be wearing duct tape on his foot?  There are many other things to think about, of course, but at 4 months and counting, this seems to be taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  And while his foot is healing, his muscle mass is decreasing, probably from lack of exercise since he is required to keep from putting weight on his foot, and he has now begun holes in the backs of his elbows – yes, BOTH elbows.  There are two holes in one elbow, and one in the other, and one in each elbow is all the way through the skin.  For one thing, old skin can’t endure the impact that younger skin could.  At 11.5 years, I’m only beginning to get used to the idea that he is becoming geriatric.  Those years just fly past!  Plus, like his dad, and his g,g,great Aunt Holly, he just doesn’t seem like the kind of dog who can get old.  He has fun and spark in his personality – youthful vigor in so many ways but impaired mainly by his own undoing.  If I could only protect him from himself!

Parker is a very intelligent fellow, particularly good-natured and fun-loving, a bright problem-solver as most Newfs are.  There have been times when I have been less confident about that, given some of his choices that I’ve witnessed.  He can create his own problems, but he also arrives at solutions by himself pretty well, like dismounting the bed:  he did this by sliding down waterfall-style, reducing impact on his elbows.  (I also keep a resilient pad under a rug at the side and foot of our bed for their beds.)  He has recently discovered that hopping up with both front feet at the same time is better than walking up steps or into the van – less weight burden on the recovering foot.  One of the issues for bright-minded Newfs is that when they can’t burn their energy on physical activity, they have to do something.  Things that may escape their attention when they are otherwise busy can become focal points when they are under restriction.

Until recently, I’ve considered myself a resourceful person, and like a Newf, good at problem-solving, but my resourcefulness has been taxed in the past few months.  Parker has been faster at creating problems than I have been at deterring the consequences.  The latest, the holes in the elbow skin, have been difficult.  Devices, such as boots or denim shirts, helped until the damage was too bad.  Wearing boots 24/7 would help his elbows, but this leads to decreased toughness in his rear pads and infection between his pads.  I trimmed the vinyl pad off the boot, since traction wasn’t the need, to help with air flow.  Still, the boots annoy him if used too much, so his licker comes out, and a lick granuloma will be started at the top of the boot.  In the past I’ve been able to use heavy denim shirts to deter damage to his elbows from his toenails, and I discovered a way to cut out the seat of an old pair of jeans to make front leg covers.  However, there is no give in the jeans, which irritates his spondylosis, so I had some “britches” made with 3 inch wide elastic at the top.  Heavy denim shirts work pretty well too but are hard to find these days.  There are medium weight denim shirts at some farm supply stores, so I got one of those.  However (and I use the word “however” a lot when using appliances, as these all seem to have another consequence), he was still able to do damage through the denim, and the plasma kept the shirt wet and held the bacterial media next to his wounds.  Infection began quickly on one side.  As I mentioned, old skin can’t endure the stress of scratching as well, plus I suspect that his “off switch”, which has never been that sensitive, is even less sensitive now.  He may also have developed a habit of scratching harder because of the denim layer.

There aren’t many commercially available solutions for these issues, and following the National, I began to run out of novel ideas.  I made a plea to other Newf owners for ideas, and there were three that have been helpful:

1)  Use a Comfy Cone instead of the plastic e-collar:  The XXL Comfy Cone is almost 2 inches longer, and this prevented him from being able to reach his foot toe and work the bandage loose enough that it slipped up, exposing the wound, or pull it off the end of the toe.  (I only wrap it to two Velcro strips, leaving an extra section; it is tight if fully wrapped.)  He has to wear this so often that I got three Comfy Cones, one that could be in use while others were cleaned and thoroughly dried.  In addition, his vet switched us to the adhesive backed tan-colored fabric bandaging in the 4 inch width (Elastikon).  That works very well, and when his hat is off, it is difficult to remove.

2)  Bandage, layer with a sock and bandage some more:  I had been adding duct tape, mainly around the bottom of his foot to protect the bandage from dirt and moisture, and to leave the top of the bandage open to keep moisture from building up under the bandage.  I began adding more layers of duct tape.  If in a few minutes of distraction he could pull off some duct tape, but he must be busy for quite a while, ripping a small strip off then another and buying me a little more time.  One of his vets switched to an adhesive-backed fabric bandaging, as mentioned in 1).  This has been a marvelous improvement.  Before this, he had been able to get the bandaging off in a matter of a few seconds.  Now it takes several minutes.  Using the adhesive-backed tape also keeps the sterile pad from slipping out of place, where the VetWrap would slip, irritating the wound.  The adhesive tape, along with the duct tape, also slows down his removal process.  The hair is thin over his foot now, but thin hair is a minor inconvenience.

3)  Use long-sleeved T-shirts:  I only need to do this for the front legs, and the purpose is to keep the bandages in place on his elbows.  I tried bandaging his elbow using VetWrap above and below the joint once, but this led to pressure when he was down and swelling in his front leg.  The vets had both said that you can’t bandage an elbow, but I thought I had found a way to do that without creating a restriction in circulation.  Now, I use the 4 inch wide adhesive tape with a pad like a giant Bandaid, and it doesn’t go all the way around his arm. (see change below dated 8/8)  I apply the ointments and Accelerator to the sterile pad and press that into the wound, wrapping the bandage around the sides of his arm.  The only reason this stays in place is the adhesive on the tape.  One scratch and it would easily be wiped off, so I went T-shirt shopping, to have a cover for the bandage.  Long-sleeved tees aren’t available locally at this time of the year, but baseball shirts are, and those sleeves are long enough to cover the bandaged area.  [Now he’s either a Mets or Marlins fan – he wouldn’t care as long as a ball was involved.  ; )]  I may stitch some elastic into the part of the shirt that goes under his belly to keep his back foot from getting into the shirt.  He is doing some “substitute licking” on the top of his arm, and that skin is a little irritated now.  I’m hoping this is a minor consequence that will resolve when the elbows begin to heal.

Last week, Greg and I took a short trip to San Francisco while a niece and nephew did the farm-sitting and took care of the Newfs.  The one person I would trust to do this was finally old enough to make the drive by herself.  This is the first time in more than a decade that Greg and I have taken a trip together, without the Newfs.  The weekend before we left, Parker’s foot was looking very bad.  There was proliferation of tissue under the skin and it was pushing back the dermal layer.  Greg’s dad, a retired veterinarian, and his wife, a veterans hospital nurse, stayed with us one night that weekend.  They had seen this kind of situation before, and had some suggestions for dealing with it.  One of the treatments I was using was a botanical salve, used by one of the vet clinics.  It had remarkable success in the beginning, so I applied only the salve that night.  It was much worse the next day.  I quit using the salve, and the proliferation of the underlying tissue stopped, and the weeping of plasma receded.  Whether he was reacting to something in the salve or whether it was having too much effect on stimulating cell growth, I don’t know.  Within the next couple of days, it looked better, but I had to leave with some uncertainty about progress.  I showed Julia how to change the bandage, and it still looked better.  I trained her on supervision with Parker, and to be sure that he had the Hat (Comfy Cone) on when she couldn’t see him, then left the kids with a chore list and some fun things to do.  The next day, she called and said with some conservative optimism that she and Jacob were surprised at how much better it looked.  This continued, and now the foot looks promising. However (yet again), during the last night that Julia was here and the following night under my surveillance, I learned that he was able to reach the back of his elbow with his tongue!  Had he not been able to get the bandage off his foot at the National and lick the wound, he could have probably been swimming by now.  When I look at the pre-National photos, I almost feel silly about how worried I was then.  It was only the size of a nickel at that point!  His foot may be ready in a few more weeks.  Now, if his elbows will only comply!  Rather, his back feet, and his LICKER!  When my sense of humor returns, I may get him one of those bibs!

6/26 UPDATE:  His foot has been healing nicely, so I’ve been able to start light walking in the yard on the carpet of grass.  The bandage also forms a pad to reduce impact.  Progress is good!

8/8 UPDATE:  His foot has been healed for a while, but the elbows have been a challenge.  I’ve uploaded a file showing how his elbows have been bandaged.  Both veterinarians were cautious and said that elbows couldn’t be bandaged very well, but given the degree of damage that he did, I had to find a way.  The problem is in creating a restrictive situation around the joint, decreasing blood flow.  One of the elbows is almost healed, but the other has been reinjured several times from bruising where he scratched the back of the bandage or from direct damage when he scratched the bandage far enough down to reach the top of the wound.  (He doesn’t scratch much any longer, but when he does, he does it with a vengeance.  Once the wound healed on the other elbow, he hasn’t bothered it much, so I’m hoping this resolves once the wound heals.)  The images show how the bandage is applied.  Eventually, there was too little hair, which led to irritation of his skin.  I had to quit using the adhesive tape as the first layer, switching to applying a layer of adhesive tape to the outside of the sock.  The adhesive tape is applied without stretching the fabric so there is no pressure.  This still keeps the inner pad with antibiotic in place.  Progress has been very slow, but it looks much better now.

Update 1/19/14:

His elbows healed, one then the other, although something would cause an itch and we had to repeat the process, alternately with one elbow, then the other.  During August, I found that swimming helped his elbows to heal, as well as strengthening his muscles and his heart.  Once he started swimming again, his general health improved significantly.  His foot was nearly healed when I let him start swimming, and it healed completely in a short time.  However, for his foot and his elbows, the tissues were not as strong after healing.  During the winter, the weakened area in his foot became abraded and opened from walking.  One of the elbows that had been looking very good for a long time became the subject of an itch attack and was badly damaged.  This time, to shorten the stress from healing, I opted for having that tissue removed surgically while some bumps were removed for biopsy.  His muscle tone, although not his overall energy, as decreased again also.  As soon as the water is a little warmer, we will take him out for short swims, to rebuild his condition for hopefully a good spring, summer and fall.Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2013-2014

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