Face Jail

Recently, Riley was sentenced to face jail.  When it comes to wounds, Riley is notorious for making them worse with licking.  She can turn a small infraction of a wound into a felony in just a few minutes.  In this case, Riley sliced her webbing between two toes.

I am a big fan of keeping wound treatment as simple as possible with cold hosing and air.  Cold hosing is a gentle way to clean a wound.  It flushes it out and cools any inflammation.  I will wash with a gentle soap if necessary, but mostly I allow the cool water to flow over the wound.

Once cold hosing is completed, I dry the wound using a hair dryer on a LOW, COOL SETTING.  When dealing with an area such as between toes, it is especially important to thoroughly dry the wound and to make sure it gets plenty of air. 

If at all possible, I try not to bandage as it often delays healing.  This means you have to protect the wound from the dog in another way.  Some dogs are great and leave their wounds alone (Katie and Reagan) and others are serial lickers (Riley).  One of the many great features about racing greyhounds is that they are accustomed to wearing a basket muzzle without being offended.  So using a muzzle for a few days is a great way to protect a wound.