What bit my dog?

goldenboy

goldenboy

Well-known member


Okay here is a picture of my golden after a bout with a wild critter in the woods at my house. Seems that my wife went for a walk on our property and took the dogs. They love to run and it is always good exercise. Well all of the sudden my wife hears one of the dogs screaming and comes running out of the woods with something attached to her side. We think it was a woodchuck. It took a nasty bite out of her side and after showing a picture to the vet decided to take her in the next day for stitches. The vet told me the bite was so deep that he stick his entire finger down the hole and not reach the bottom. Seems like it was more than just ripped flesh, but actually a bite of flesh taken out. As long as we were there I had him remove a small mass on her side as well so she looks and feels pretty rough today!

Anybody else have this kind of experience with woodchucks or other critters that would latch onto the side of a dog? By the way the plastic stuff sticking out her side and the top of her back is a drain port the vet put in to drain fluid and reduce the chance of infection. She was up to date on rabies shots but we gave her a booster because she was due this fall just to be safe.
 
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I would think a coon, they are notorious for getting on the back of a dog when battling, I have even had it happen to one of mine, thankfully, none the less for wear, but it wasn't a very big coon.
 
Did Dr. Joel have any idea/opinion?

I had an Elk Hound as a kid that was a wood chuck hunting machine, most of his injuries were to the lip and nose region.
 
Sorry to see and hear of this!!! I'm also believing it was a coon, or possibly a badger. There are few critters in the woods capable of and will to stand up to a full sized dog. Coons and badgers are on the short list.

What I've seen echoes the other comment about woodchucks usually biting the nose of a dog, and a woodchuck has a very small bite line, again making me think it was something else.

I hope your pup heals up quickly. :thumbsup:
 
Groundhog- really? My dogs have always killed them no problems. What a beaver? any of those around? seen some dogs attacked by beavers that were really badly bit
 
Rodent teeth are sharp and can make some nasty wounds. I bet you're right.

My dogs both rolled with a raccoon last year and got no injuries, but a dang squirrel had us going to the emergency vet for a patch job on my Brit. Junie grabbed the squirrel by the body, and it swung around and spit the bridge of her nose open so fast it was unbelievable. Deep punctures that bled like crazy...

Your dog's reaction to the next woodchuck will be very telling. Good luck.
 
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