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[LuciandTim]

Luci and I were out today chasing Pheasants and I have noticed an injury. She won't even walk on her back right foot. She cut one of her toe pads. I cleaned the cut with soapy water and was going to attempt to glue the cut shut but that is not possible. The cut is more like a chunk of skin tore from her pad. Its wide enough that I can't squeeze it shut. What do I do?? Anyone with any experience with something like this?? Thank You. Tim

[natebuddy]

Tim, this really sucks. I had the same problem with my lab 2 summers ago. He tore a large chunk of his pad out while training. He cut it somewhere on the lakeshore bottem. I called my vet, he said get him in right away. There is a big issue there with infection setting in. The vet said it is pointless to try and stitch it because they will tear out. He tried the glue and I had to make the dog stay off the foot for two hours whlie it dryed. The vet doubted it would hold for long. So I had a rope tied around his foot and tied it to the vent in the top of his port-a-kennel so he couldn't stand up. Needless to say he was miserable for 2 hours. The glue worked until he walked on it for a 1/2 day. So then the vet said the only thing you can do is keep him on emoxacilin and clean the cut atleast twice a day. So training was out for 3 1/2 weeks. He had to wear a neoprene boot with gause taped to his foot the entire time. It really sucked changing that gause and cleaning that foot 3 times a day. He also didn't like having that boot on when he was just laying around. He doesn't mind it when we are hunting but when he lays around he chews on the boot to get it off so I had to duct tape over the top of the boot so he woudn't tear it off. Depending on how bad the cut is, I would say that Luci may be done for the year.

I've been there with this and it is a bad deal. I know how much she will want to hunt, but for that foot to heal. She has to take it easy now.

Keep me updated.

Nate

[ronger]

I have seen this stuff called EMT Gel on one of the hunting shows recently. It's a product that cleans and seals the wound pretty much instantly. Stops bleeding right away too. They show that for deeper wounds to apply this and let it dry then wrap the wound for further protection. I think they listed Gander as one of the shops selling it. I'm going to get a bottle to throw in my training bag. Good luck with your dog.

[LABS4ME]

Tim, Nate is right on the potential for this to be a pretty severve compounding injury. My 7 year old ex-trial dog had to retire from running trials due to an injury on his pad. Funny thing is, in the end his retirement isn't because of some residual complication to his pad, but rather a loss of hearing. The wound was deep and he too lost a chunck of his pad. It ended up getting an infection and in the process of fighting the infection he developed a high fever, he burned up his ear drums... the vets figure he lost between 40-60% of his hearing. (The only upside is I now have an excuse when he gives me a refusal to a command ) I would make sure you keep a VERY close eye on the wound and a trip to the vet to get a round of anti-biotics wouldn't be out of the question.

Good luck!

Ken

[freighttrain50]

yeah gander does have that EMT stuff. i saw it the other day while strolling around the store. i dont know if it works or not but gander does have it.

[LuciandTim]

I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to respond.

I took her to the vet and she will be okay. She has a bandage wrapped on her foot. The Doc put some ointment on the cut and wrapped it up. I must do this every two days. She is also on anti-biotics. I guess it wasn't as bad asd I thought. The Doc said no hunting this weekend but she should be ready for Marshall by the 10th.

So all is good. Thanks for the input guys! Tim

[bigdog]

I am fighting a similar deal with one of my labs. To keep him from licking and getting the bandage wet I am using a toughteck dog bottie from dogbooties.com, works pretty good.