Owie

Dear Leo,

Yesterday afternoon, after I noticed you sniffing and licking at your back foot for the second time that day, I took a close look at it.

I don't know what you've done, but you've managed to split one entire toenail from it's tip all the way to the paw pad- in two places. I'm not even sure you did it that day, as bad as the wound smelled when I was down there up close and personal with it. My suspicion is your bad habit of racing up and down the fence line after the neighbor dog (which you are not supposed to do). You did a lot of that yesterday, Sunday and Saturday. It's possible you did it then and I even walked you on it yesterday without realizing. You did take a pretty hard landing during one bout of Frisbee on Sunday and seemed disinclined to play any more after that.

Somehow, the nail split so that one side was just toenail (or anything else had already dried up and been chewed/licked off by you), the piece in the middle still contained raw pulp, and the third piece was almost ready to come off, though not quite all the way dead at the base. Today it sure looks like you lost the whole nail, quick and all, save that one little slice in the middle.

I really wanted to just cut the two long, free pieces of nail, or bind the nail back together (particularly when your daddy suggested super glue) and wrap it, but then Daddy decided super glue might not be a good idea. He then made something that wasn't bothering you all that much (except that you'd seemed mellow all day) worse by trying to gradually clip pieces away with the nail scissors. He's not accustomed to the nail clippers and deemed them "bulky". Eventually, he lost patience with his method (the bright flashlight constantly falling over, the other dogs trying to observe the process, Airlie barking excitedly at nothing...), and your constant whining, shifting out of his grasp, etc.. and handed you over to me. I took you back out in the sunlight where I'd taken a good look before, got our trusty clippers and, though you weren't very cooperative, managed to cut half the worst piece off. I needed to get it all, though, so it wouldn't catch on anything, and the clippers weren't cutting the part of the nail and quick that was still living tissue. About the time I got a good grip on it, you flinched. That was the end of that. It's still bothering you today, and I have orders not to walk you. Your foot is a bit swollen, but here's hoping it heals and grows out from this point.