Our life update! Remember how 36 dog hairs came out of my finger last month? 57 MORE CAME OUT LAST NIGHT.💀👹 I think after I bumped my finger on that dogs tooth and it got infected (even w/no broken skin), the bacteria ate a hole in my thumb and now it has healed WITH A LITTLE CHANGE PURSE FOR LOOSE DOG HAIRS. I will be calling the hand specialist that helped fix my other hand from doing Kernel’s massages. I made a visual for all u curious minds on the last slide.😝 As for Kernie, he is finally off the steroid! I felt like I tapered him off too soon since his leg is still bad, so I started to taper back up. The side effects quickly drove me back to the brink of insanity though and I had to just call it. They didn’t heal as much as I hoped, but they helped enough to where I’d rather deal w/the leg saga. One struggle was that they made him feel erratic and impulsive these last few months, so we did a really helpful training refresher this wknd across 7mi of on-leash walking. This work will help him feel and act his best on or off-leash! I felt so proud seeing the silly smile come across his face as things started to make sense again. Here’s what made these trainings most efficient: using a clicker to mark all the correct moments (he can hear this!), vibrating an e-collar at the few most challenging moments to refocus him (remember, his ears were removed and he’s somehow not deaf, but I can’t rely on him to hear me unless I yell), and using a few small treats to reward the hardest moments.🦴 Lastly, remember I told you how much I love gel nail caps for dogs? Well, K’s back pinky nail continues to be a tiny draining nub, so the nail cap can actually make the infection worse as it gets glued in place onto the nail! We had the same issue with liquid bandage. Our last (pain in the butt) option has finally gotten him 1-2 days of dryness!!! It is gauze wrap and pawz disposable booties (I cut off the top so they will fit him). I also put styptic gel on the nail daily. I remember seeing a young dane on here pass from a nail infection that got complicated, so it’s just another minor but important issue to control asap! Love, Alyssa ❤️ #greatdane #dogs #australianshepherd #dogtraining