Horror show

[TylerS]

Went on a semi-spur-of-the-moment rooster hunt this weekend north of Dickinson, N.D. While we had an awesome time chasing birds across the badlands, we did have our fair share of bumps in the road. Case-in-point, my dog, Remy. Hopefully after this recent incident, he learned not to charge head-first and mouth open into a barbwire fence.

Enjoy the horror show!

[Todd Caswell]

ooch looks like it must have been a pucture or tear on his tongue, they bleed like crazy but heal really fast..

[TylerS]

That it was! Two punctures, actually: one on either side of his tongue. I thought he was a gonner for sure with the amount of blood gushing out of his mouth. But the breeder told me not to worry and that tongue injuries tend to look a lot worse than they actually are. I rested him for a bit, and then hunted him for a couple more hours. The blood loss was less and less and he even managed to get one more point and retrieve in before the hunt was over. I'd always heard that cuts to the tongue were nasty, but I'd never have guessed it would be THAT bad. I thought he cut it clean off by the way he looked!

[Cootz]

That is one scarey looking injury. In a way I'm glad you posted. If it happens to my dog at least I won't freak out now.

[reinhard1]

Wow, thanks Tyler for this post. glad your dog is doing good. had to be a scary moment for sure. good luck.

[pureinsanity]

That is why I like labs! They seem to avoid the fences with their faces

jk

hope your dog is ok!

[matilda]

Oh my god! really horror! i regret reading this! :|

[rundrave]

did you take him to the vet or anything? Just curious if this ever happens to me or anyone else what you should or shouldn't do with a tongue injury like this?

My dogs all got their fence injuries at a young age and know what to watch our for now. Its amazing what their saliva will fix that bandages and staples cant. I have had emergency vet visits on Sundays when they are closed and you have to pay big $$$ to have a vet come in and open up shop. Its not fun, but I am curious if this needed any vets attention or not to avoid paying any unnecessary costs.

[TylerS]

Well, to put it blunty, I just about freaked out when Remy started bleeding. But the breeder calmed me down as best he could and put it to me straight: 1) tongue injuries tend to heal really fast and look worse than they are, and 2) we were a long ways away from a vet and they likely wouldn't be able to do anything, anyways.

My one concern after the bleeding stopped was of tetanus. It still is a real possibility, but I found out that tetanus is very rare in dogs. Apparently they aren't as susceptible to it as us humans are.

I would say that, if your dog gets a tongue injury and the bleeding fails to subside with 30 minutes to an hour, take him in right away. I'm fairly certain there is an artery or at least a very large vein in the tongue, and if that were to get punctured, it could be much, much worse.

And just to prove that Remy really turned out OK, here's a picture my wife sent me yesterday (the day after the tongue injury). Even with a sore tongue, he still likes to beg for his mom's home-made treats!

[LABS4ME]

Tyler you are correct that there is a major artery under the tongue...

Had a shorthair impale his on a branch years ago... looked much lik eyour dog. Only problem was I could see the blood gushing out the hole on every heartbeat. We were a mile from my house and we high stepped it towards home... I noticed him getting wobbley with a 1/4 mile left... carryed him the rest of the way and immediatley high tailed it to my vet... 4 stitches and a plasma transfusion later we went home. He had lost a lot of blood and that tear wasn't going to seal up on it's own anytime soon....

So in the end, you will need to assess where it is on the tongue that is damaged. Had a few wreak havok in sunflower stubble... but it was on the flat of the tongue, bled a fair amount but quickly clotted and one that looked as though she bit her tounge... again bled a fair amount but quickly clotted...

Glad Remy is good to go!

Good Luck!

Ken

[TylerS]

Good point, Ken. I should have mentioned that. Remy's injury caused consistent bleeding - and a lot of it - but there was no gushing as you mentioned. If I were to have witnessed what you saw with your dog, it would have been a different story, entirely.

[reinhard1]

Awesome that Remy is doing fine. good luck.

[nofishfisherman]

Yikes.

Thanks for posting. Its always tough to know at what point you need to bring the dog to the vet, even more so what you see that much blood. If this happens to my dog I'll have a better sense of what needs immediate attention and what can heal on its own.

I've taken some classes offered by local trainers on some basic dog first aid so I know some of what I can handle on my own but we didn't cover this.

[rundrave]

Thanks for posting. Its always tough to know at what point you need to bring the dog to the vet, even more so what you see that much blood. If this happens to my dog I'll have a better sense of what needs immediate attention and what can heal on its own.

agreed! yes thanks for sharing this, I definitely learned some things.

Glad to hear he is doing well, and here's to a mouthful of feathers and no more barbwire!

[311Hemi]

This is also a good reason to have locations/numbers of the closest vets to the area you are hunting. I never thought I would use them, but a few years ago when we were hunting near New England, ND one of the GSP's in the group put a 2" cut all the way through his ear that we could pull open and look through (lots of blood). I had a few vet numbers with and a map of their locations (in case of emergency) and one of them was open and the owner was able to take the dog in to get fixed up. We put some gauze and duct tape around the ear....always good to have a medical kit with but at the time I did not have a stapler. I do now.

[reddog]

A few years ago, I let my black lab Buddy out along the side of the road. Being a 2 year old intact male lab, he was "excited" to say the least. He took a shot at a new fence and hooked the top side of his "member" (which was out of the sheath) at the time, and ripped a 1 inch long v shaped rip.

Talk about bleeding.... I was only two miles from the local vet and rushed him in. The vet took a look, sprayed it with something to slow the bleeding, and said it will be OK. These types of injuries actually heal faster than a mouth injury.

I think I took a few looks at it over the next week, and the vet was right. It was amazing.

Glad to hear Remy is alright.... My new GSP has tried to tear down every fence in South Dakota this year, but she is now alot more cautious.

There is a learning curve regarding fences!

[TylerS]

Just an update: Remy is still doing fine, but BOY is his breath foul. It smells like death, in every sense of the word. I think we figured out why: whereas I originally thought he only had two punctures from the front of his tongue, he also apparently has an inch-long gash on the underside of his tongue, complete with a flapping piece of rotting flesh of equal proportion. (Best I can surmise is he caught it on a barb when he jerked his head away from the wire). I'm hoping the dang flap falls off soon, otherwise I may have to start washing his mouth out with Scope. Teeth brushing just isn't cutting it any more.

[mojoputter]

Now thats a good one, making homemade treats for the dog. I'm wishing my wife would just cook something edible, and now I'm seeing pictures of somebodies wife baking treats for there dog. Where did I go wrong..?

Glad to hear the dogs OK, those are some scarey pictures.

[LABS4ME]

HA!

Careful what you say or "YOU" may be the recipient of said doggie treats! One step at a time young lad! Get her to make something simple and praise her so she wants to try something a little more complex... (you could always turn her mistakes into doggie treats, but be forewarned, that remains on the QT!)

Look at the task the same as training your pooch!

Good Luck!

Ken

[Todd Caswell]

HA!

Careful what you say or "YOU" may be the recipient of said doggie treats! One step at a time young lad! Get her to make something simple and praise her so she wants to try something a little more complex... (you could always turn her mistakes into doggie treats, but be forewarned, that remains on the QT!)

Look at the task the same as training your pooch!

Good Luck!

Thats good stuf and really good advise

Ken

[mojoputter]

HA!

Careful what you say or "YOU" may be the recipient of said doggie treats! One step at a time young lad! Get her to make something simple and praise her so she wants to try something a little more complex... (you could always turn her mistakes into doggie treats, but be forewarned, that remains on the QT!)

Look at the task the same as training your pooch!

Good Luck!

Ken

Ok, I think I got it, more praise and I'll have her roll on her back and scratch her belly longer..!

[klecker]

Don’t want to show too much praise as they will become spoiled and not preform as needed. A staunch pad on the behind should be adequate.

[Harmonica Bear]

+1