Dog vs porcupine

Guitar · #1 11-02-2009, 07:59 PM

Piper got into a porcupine this past weekend. My fault. She was sniffing at a bush and I sent her in, thinking it was a bird. She wasn't hit that bad but I took her to the vet anyway. Here's the vet's advice, which I'm passing along:

If the quills get into the chest, they can migrate to the lungs if not pulled out right away, which can be very serious. (Piper got nailed in the muzzle, shoulder and right paw. The shoulder quill was very deep and caused her front leg to go limp.) If you are in the field and need to do surgery, take your Leatherman or a needle nose pliers, grab the quill as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out. Make sure the black tip of the quill comes out. If the tip is left in it can fester and get infected, although it will likely work its way out, like a sliver. If the quills are in the mouth and if there are a lot of quills in the muzzle, it's best to have a vet put your dog under and remove them.

hunter10 · #2 11-02-2009, 08:08 PM

That sucks but good thing is that you got them out quick and she didn't get too many

S.A.S · #3 11-02-2009, 08:10 PM

Ouch, Poor doggy. Back in the day My dads buddy had a pitbull who got whapped by a porcupine and all he did was rip them all out and the dog walked away waging his tail. Mind you if my Pitbull today got whacked by a 'pine I'd be pretty quick to take him in. What was the vet bill to get them removed?

thebuckshow · #4 11-02-2009, 08:11 PM

Brutal man! I hate porcies. My step dad's old wirehair got into it with one once. Kicked the **** out of him, but he killed it, just wouldn't leave it alone. Had so many quills in his mouth and face, we had him held down in the field and were pulling them out with our teeth. Only one broke off, swelled up and we popped it like a pimple the very next day. Come right out quill and all. Tough dog though, he will be alright.

surface2feather · #5 11-02-2009, 08:12 PM

I remember about 15 years ago my dads bird dog was away on a fetch and came back with a chin full.they went throuh the bottom of his mouth into his tongue and some throuh the top of his mouth. The tough old pooch let dad yard them all out in the field without even a wimper

#6 11-02-2009, 08:22 PM

seen that a couple of times its a tuff one for sure

209x50 · #7 11-02-2009, 08:33 PM

Poor bugger! Count your blessings though I had a beagle that got into it a couple times with porkies and he looked like a corn broom there were so many in his face. He let me pull them each time and was none the worse for wear.

live2bout · #8 11-02-2009, 09:06 PM

My Wirehaired Pointing Griffon had the same thing happen about 10 days ago at Blackfoot. He seemed to be acting birdy and I had whoa-ed him and then sent him into some thick stuff. I could only see his back end at first and knew he wasn't on birds as he seemed to be trying to get at something under a deadfall. When his face came up it was white and I new right away. I callled him off and he came out to me- the right side of his face was hit pretty good as well as his right front leg. He didn't seem to be in pain but wanted to wipe the quills off his face. I laid him down on the trail and pulled all the quills I could(about 60 in his face but all large(I could get a good grip) and not in to deep, the ones in his leg (maybe 70) where in much deeper and required a very solid pull to get out-I couldn't pull about 30 of the smallest ones because couldn't get a solid grip and they were anchored very solid(bone). These had to wait for the pliers which of course were in the vehicle the one time I needed them.
Jigsaw felt it when I let him up and by this time couldn't put weight on that leg so he three-legged it back to the vehicle and a couple of minutes with the pliers finished things. Jigsaw was all recovered except for a limp which didn't stop him from frolicking with another guys young lab as we visited while I was waiting for my buddy (who i didn't meet down the trail were I was supposed to because of the mishap).
The next day he was back to normal. I am lucky:
-he didn't get his eye(6 quills within an inch)
-he didn't catch any in the body
-he came off it when called
-he didn't catch it in the open(he likely would have tried to take on the run and gotten a mouthful).

Here's hoping that both me and Jigsaw won't repeat our mistakes. I should have called him back as soon as I saw him acting strange going in - when I send him in on a bird he flies and this time he was going in slower nose to the ground.

kinwahkly · #9 11-02-2009, 10:22 PM

I always use a slight shock collar on my pups when thier young, give them a mild dose on thier first porky and they wont get as close in the future.

Guitar · #10 11-02-2009, 10:23 PM

The vet bill was $230, but it was a Sunday emerg call plus some pain killers and antibiotics. Candy @ Bow Valley vet in Brooks did the job. Highly recommended.

Guitar · #11 11-02-2009, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by live2bout

My Wirehaired Pointing Griffon had the same thing happen about 10 days ago at Blackfoot. He seemed to be acting birdy and I had whoa-ed him and then sent him into some thick stuff. I could only see his back end at first and knew he wasn't on birds as he seemed to be trying to get at something under a deadfall. When his face came up it was white and I new right away. I callled him off and he came out to me- the right side of his face was hit pretty good as well as his right front leg. He didn't seem to be in pain but wanted to wipe the quills off his face. I laid him down on the trail and pulled all the quills I could(about 60 in his face but all large(I could get a good grip) and not in to deep, the ones in his leg (maybe 70) where in much deeper and required a very solid pull to get out-I couldn't pull about 30 of the smallest ones because couldn't get a solid grip and they were anchored very solid(bone). These had to wait for the pliers which of course were in the vehicle the one time I needed them.
Jigsaw felt it when I let him up and by this time couldn't put weight on that leg so he three-legged it back to the vehicle and a couple of minutes with the pliers finished things. Jigsaw was all recovered except for a limp which didn't stop him from frolicking with another guys young lab as we visited while I was waiting for my buddy (who i didn't meet down the trail were I was supposed to because of the mishap).
The next day he was back to normal. I am lucky:
-he didn't get his eye(6 quills within an inch)
-he didn't catch any in the body
-he came off it when called
-he didn't catch it in the open(he likely would have tried to take on the run and gotten a mouthful).

Here's hoping that both me and Jigsaw won't repeat our mistakes. I should have called him back as soon as I saw him acting strange going in - when I send him in on a bird he flies and this time he was going in slower nose to the ground.

My dog went into some deadfall as well. Seems to be where the porkies like to hide. All gnarly thick stuff -- Piper stuck her snout right in. When nothing flushed I figured it might have been a wounded bird. She pulled her face out of the thicket and was fine, so I walked away, gave her call and out she came behind me, face of of quills on both sides.

Vindalbakken · #12 11-02-2009, 10:36 PM

I always carry my Leatherman/Gerber for just this purpose. Haven't had a dog quilled in a few years, but once this year I forgot my pliers and was worried all day. Just take the dog by the collar and get ahold and start pulling. Have pulled quills that numbered in the hundreds from some dogs. That took a couple of sessions. Have even held their mouth open in the field to pull them from the tongue. The longer they are left in the greater the chance they will break off or get buried and then the only option is to cross your fingers and wait. One time 3 dogs got in a tussle with a porky. Having only two hands to grab collars with one dog got it pretty bad. That dog went to the vet. She wouldn't use her left front leg (didn't stop her from passing her Hunt Tests) for 6 months. 9 quills worked their way through and when I pulled the last one she started putting the leg down and using it again. 6 months of daily feeling for the sharp pointed ends to show up somehwere and then pull them out.

One of the best uses of the e-collar is to porky proof a dog as kinwashkly has indicated.

Fishhunter · #13 11-03-2009, 08:28 AM

My dog got 5 or 6 in the nose once.He let me pull'em with no problem. Also a couple years back my curious horse decided to sniff one

and i ended up pulling 22 out of her muzzle. Thought it would be a rodeo but she just stood there and let me yank away. Only minor head tosses and hardly had to hold the lead rope. Lucky she was such a good ole girl.

Cowtown guy · #14 11-03-2009, 09:07 AM

I pulled 65 from my lab last year. She was in a patch of tumbleweeds looking for pheasants. She jumped in the air real weird and turned around quickly. I seen she put her face down to the ground then pulled it up quickly with quills in her face. It ended up being 55 in her front legs and 10 under her chin. I am assuming that she ran into it first and turned to see what it was.
It looked like she was going in again but she limped over right away when I called her off of it.
Pulled them all while she layed there and applied antiseptic wipes then went back to hunting after a little revenge on the porky.

FishBrain · #15 11-03-2009, 09:08 AM

We were up north at the farm when Donkey(yes the dogs name) found his first porcupine. We woke up the next morning to the attacked picture. we pulled 85 out of him. What a sorry site he was, Mike(land owner) grabbed him by the collar, sat on him and told me to start pulling. once we got the ones out of his nose and face, Mike pushed a broom handle through his mouth and pulled back so Donkeys mouth was forced open and I could get the ones on the roof of the mouth, the tongue, and under his tongue, and gums. he was not impressed to say the least. lol. but I dont think he will do that again. he saw it again the next night but didnt touch it. he learned a tough lesson.
One of the other dogs had a total of 6 in his nose.
The date on the picture is his 8 month birthday to the day. horrible present for him. also if you look at one in his nose you will see it comes up through the nose and into the top part of his nose on the inside. Each one that we pulled out had a bubble of blood form after. My first experience with a dog VS porcupine.
We still call him Donkeypine once in a while and if you show him the bag of quills, he drops to the ground and shimmies away

greylynx · #16 11-03-2009, 09:39 AM

Do you think the dog has learned a lesson? Some don't.

searay · #17 11-03-2009, 02:06 PM

My trusty ole black lab got into it with a few porcupines.. By the 3rd time he learned his lesson and then the 4th time one was in the yard he only got about 6 quils in the nose. All but the first time I was able to pull them out.

Not sure how my young GSP would handle an encounter, he's not as agressive as the ole lab was with other animals.

Whiskey Wish · #18 11-03-2009, 03:44 PM

I've had smart dogs learn from 3 or 4 light quills in the nose and I've had a couple that never learned a darn thing after four or five trips to the vet. Any dog that doesn't learn after twice around this spread doesn't have much of a future with us.
Spent a lifetime one day pulling quills out of a dozen or more head of cattle. That was an experience my wife and I won't soon forget. No vet, couldn't even begin to imagine what THAT bill would have looked like....

Keep Your Powder Dry,
Dave.