Remember that broken nail from yesterday? Well, it got worse this morning when Riley jumped from one couch to another. Our house looked like a crime scene with blood everywhere. So instead of going to the vet at 1 PM for our scheduled nail trim and anal gland appointment, we had to bump up our appointment and go at 10:15 this morning. At first they thought they were going to have to cut the nail off above the break and would have to sedate her for that. Then after the vet got a good look at it, he said it could just grow out. Riley’s on antibiotics and pain pills for it. I tried to get a good picture of it, but I couldn’t… It’s her left most nail.
Well, you can’t see it very well, but it has like 3 different cracks in it going about halfway up her nail. I also learned how to express Riley’s anal glands today. The vet said that some dogs may need it done more often than others and that you can usually tell if they need to be done by feeling of the glands to see if they’re full, and if you smell a really foul odor, and if your dog is scooting their butt along the ground a lot. Some dogs may never need it done and others need it done every month or so. Riley’s weren’t very full today because about 2 months ago they were packed to the max when they expressed them.
Apparently there are two ways you can do this…externally and internally. Internally is more effective, so that’s what they showed me how to do. I had to stick my gloved finger in her butt. I wouldn’t say Riley was happy about it but she tolerated it. Anyway, it STINKS to high heaven!!
Adventures of a Cattle Dog 
ok first off sorry we had to go back and read and catch up – we havent been so far behind on blogs. OMD poor Riley and her nail – thats a scary thing when it happens cause there is so much blood. Glad she is feeling better and got some pain meds to help her out.Ahh Anal glands – both of my dogs express their glands themselves but my mom has 2 doxies that need a little assistance so myh vet showed me how to do it as well. I chose the external route and it works just fine š I also do it in the bath tub so you can wash the stink down the drain, your right it smells horrible!well we send Miss Riley the power of the paw