Barb Wire

[raymondk]

I just got back from the vet my dog tore his front leg open on some barbwire . good news he will be ready to go next weekend . Bad news it costed me over $200 to get him patched up .

[BLACKJACK]

Had the same thing happen to me out in SoDak last year, my female tore open about a 3 inch cut, $228 later he had her sewed up. Bad part was she was done for the rest of the trip...

That reminds me, need to go find a management with a barb wire fence and give the doggies some practice on crossing. Of course, when they're hot on a pheasant, all bets are off...

[311Hemi]

Any ideas on the best ways to train the dog on crossing a fence?

Would you guys had stapled the cuts closed yourself if you had a stapler or would have brought them in either way?

[rundrave]

im still puzzled as to how get my dog aware of fences.

I got tired of vet bills and bought one of those kits that have everything you need, stapler etc. and if it not to bad I do it myself. That EMT gel stuff works well too on cuts and gashes.

[311Hemi]

Do you use the EMT jel along with a stapler, or instead? Or staple first and then put the jel over the top.

I would assume it's not a bonding agent to hold a cut togeather? I have some but have not had to use it yet. Will be good to know on my dogs first hunt on ND in two weeks.

[stretch]

i was in the same problem but it was on a sunday and my yellow lab tore her stomach wide open. and about 6 hours later and about $600 dollars later she was better. i had to bring her to the E.R. vet. not good. as for training them for a barb wire fence you just have to keep a close tab on them and give them a hollar when they get close to a fence. thats if you know theirs one their.

[BLACKJACK]

My idea is to just keep crossing the fence or walk along the fence so they cross it multiple times, and get the idea that it hurts if they do it wrong, before the excitment of chasing a pheasant thru the fence comes along.

[Matt Breuer]

My shorthair is notorious for finding barbed wire. Everytime he does, it's $150-$250 for me, and no more hunting for the weekend for him. He got a pretty good gash this past weekend, but it was short, and I decided not to bring him in, I'm letting it heal by itself, with his saliva's help of course...

He gets excited, and runs through it, my female shorthair jumps it every time. I think he likes our vet...

Does the stapling method really work well?

[Springerguy1]

Our new springer has been bouncing off the barbed wire, can't seem to get the dog to slow down. So far the safety vest has kept her from having any serious injury. We're hoping she'll figure it out but it's always a gamble with the dogs.

[charliepete2]

If you have a hard nosed dog it's not too bad to stitch them up yourself. My Uncle is a podiatrist and he gave me lessons on Christmas. It's saved me a ton of cash. A skin stapler is also a nice investment.

[LABS4ME]

I've always taught the command 'EASY...' to slow a dog up and get them prepared for a fence. I teach them the command in the off season. We use it to go under a fence or through it while I step on the lowest strand. They begin to understand that the command means a fence is in the works and slow down looking for it.

I also taught my two old dogs the command 'over' to jump a fence. It really worked well for handling them on cripples that sailed onto neighboring properties. I taught them both using pig fence. I'd tap on the top of it and command over... by 1st throwing a bumper over it and then sending them. It took a couple weeks, but they eventually were able to clear the fence. On really tall fences my oldest dog timed her jump to push off the highest strand with her paws to clear it. It saved me in a pheasant competition we were in once. My buddy crippled off a bird. the least amount of shells you used the better, so he did not fire off another round. The dog sailed out of bounds and only a dog can go out of bounds, the hunter had to stay within the confines of the field. I gave the dog an over command, she used the top strand to clear the fence, sat her on the other side, a couple of casts later she was on the trail of the cripple... ran it down 100 yards further and brought it back! It saved us second place! But we used it often when out west hunting and a saved us a bird that other wise may not have been retrieved.

Even with all that training, you are bound to have a run-in here and there with a fence... I have only had one bad experience and a couple other very minor ones.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Matt Breuer]

Well, being that my dog won't learn, where can I find a skin stapler?? I have EMT gel, and a nice dog emergency kit, but no stapler. I think I will try this out next time.

By the way, letting the small gape heal itself worked out, saved us cash, just kept him out of the woods longer than if we had it stiched up.

[rundrave]

my stapler came in a little kit I got. Ive seen the same kit at most outdoor stores, cabellas, sportsmans warehouse, scheels etc. If I remember it was about $60 and has everything you could imagine.