A great day and then.....

phird05

phird05

New member
We took a break to water the dogs.

Myself and a friend took a couple of local teens out for a day at the club I belong to, mainly to get the kids out hunting, and work my boy "Cutter". He has been doing very well this season, methodically working the field, locking up on several birds, and the birds were holding tight as well. After seven birds in the jackets, we decided to water the dogs and get a snack for the kids. My friend brought along his friends Chocolate lab, which is one of the largest I have ever seen. Well, not thinking, my friend put down a bowl of water for the dogs and grabbed snack. The bowl belonged to my Vizsla, but the Lab thought it belong to him. After approximately 5 seconds of gnashing teeth the argument was settled, and my dog gained rightful posession of his bowl. Noticing a very small bit of blood on his neck, I checked it out and a three inch full thickness laceration revealed itself, shocking the kids when they took a look. :eek: I immediately told the others to keep hunting and I would deal with "Cutter". I grabbed my first aid kit, and retrieved the betadine, guaze, sterile water and surgical stapler. I cleaned it as best I could and began to try and staple the laceration together. My stapler was malfunctioning so I threw him in the truck and made the drive back to the club. They fortunately had a stapler and I was able to get the laceration tightened up with a few staples leaving it open to allow it to drain if needed. (Much easier than suturing.)

Long story short, he barely winced as I stapled the laceration shut and he is doing fine tonight. I just wanted to pass this along so if anyone out there was wondering about sutures vs. staples, IMHO staples are the way to go. They are fast, and will close a laceration as well as sutures. They are also more quickly put in and less stressfull on the dog.

More importantly, my message is make sure you are prepared for any type of injury while you're out there. After all, these dogs are our friends, willing to do anything for us. We should at the very least, all be prepared to take care of them the best way we can!

Thanks for listening to my long winded story.

Good hunting,

Paul
 
WOW! Nice job Paul! Sounds like you had a great time. Glad to hear you were getting the kids involved. Aint nothin better than taking youngun's along and giving them the chance to get addicted! Those are the ones that will be taking us old timers out! lol Glad to hear the pup is doing well. Hope it continues. Where did you get the stapler? Good luck this season, and hope all goes well!

Rod:cheers:​
 
I, like rwigg, would like to know the source for staplers. I asked my vet, but didn't get an answer.
 
M. R. Byrd said:
I, like rwigg, would like to know the source for staplers. I asked my vet, but didn't get an answer.
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You can get the stapler and refills for it @ www.outdoorsafety.net. Go to the refills page and scroll down until you see it. The brand is Surgi-Close REP.

It's definately worth having, as I mentioned already.

Good Hunting.

Paul
 
Thanks Phil for the website. Reviewed and ordered. I have 5 RN's in the family and was able to get some stuff, but not to this extent! Better to be safe than sorry! Thanks again.

Rod​
 
I would suggest, as hunters we should water our dogs away from each other and each dog have its' own equipment. It sure stops trouble such as this......Bob
 
bobeyerite said:
I would suggest, as hunters we should water our dogs away from each other and each dog have its' own equipment. It sure stops trouble such as this......Bob
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Thanks Bob,

That was one of the key points I was going to put in my first post. I knew I was forgetting something. It's amazing how well they got along in the field while chasing birds, but when the threat of another dog taking it's food or water comes into play it's a different ball game. Must be that survival instinct kicking in. Kind of like when one of my siblings was going for that last piece of pizza when I was growing up! :D

Good Hunting!

Paul
 
rwigg said:
Thanks Phil for the website. Reviewed and ordered. I have 5 RN's in the family and was able to get some stuff, but not to this extent! Better to be safe than sorry! Thanks again.

Rod​
Click to expand...

One other thing I should have mentioned. You should also know how to remove the staples if you don't take your dog to the vet for follow up. They also sell a staple remover if you didn't see that. You can save the money and carry a small pair of wire cutters. The staple remover is simple and obvious to use. When using the wire cutters just cut in the middle of the visible part of the staple and back out the two halves. Simple.
 
Another day

Well, I am heading over to the club tomorrow bright & early with another friend and his twin sons ( 14 years old). I am looking forward to getting my dog back out there after his mishap last week. The two teens we are taking are already fairly seasoned hunters, so it should be a great day. They both went elk and deer hunting this fall. One got a great Buck, the other got a cow elk. They are very anxious to get out and chase some birds. We will only have my dog tomorrow, so we shouldn't see a repeat of last week.:cheers:

Good Hunting,

Paul
 
Good to hear your dog is ok... I also carry EMT gel in my first aid kit. It is great on cuts it also helps reduce bleeding while keeping the tissue moist. I have used it alone on cuts/ pads and also with my staples to put a pup back together after a run in with a fence. You can get both the staples and the EMT gel at cabelas. Keep passing it on to the kids!

TAKE A KID HUNTING INSTEAD OF HUNTING YOUR KID!
 
Skilled Dog Owner

I admire your skill in stapling the laceration yourself.
 
phird05 said:
You can get the stapler and refills for it @ www.outdoorsafety.net. Go to the refills page and scroll down until you see it. The brand is Surgi-Close REP.

It's definately worth having, as I mentioned already.

Good Hunting.

Paul
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Thanks for the tip Paul. I'll have to add one of those staplers to my first aid kit. Btw, corn stalks can be rough on dogs and EMT gel works great for patching up your dog's nose when those stalks cut into it.
 
Yeah, I have the EMT gel too, but all of the areas I have used it are where he can get at it. I apply it only to have him lick it off completely in a matter of minutes. What do you guys do to curb your dogs from licking all of the gel off?

Paul
 
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