When Your Puppy Is Bitten
You can find few issues far more terrifying to a puppy owner than when their puppy gets into a fight with a different dog. Your greatest fear, obviously, is that your puppy is going to be injured in a no-holds-barred face-off of claws and teeth. It’s a fear which is properly founded. Ten to fifteen percent of all visits to the veterinarian for traumatic injuries are the result of bite wounds.
The extremely greatest strategy to stay away from having your puppy turn into portion of that statistic would be to stay away from situations that can result in fights within the initial place. Do not let your puppy wander freely around the neighborhood (which is excellent guidance for all sorts of reasons, including the reality that it truly is illegal in several parts of the country). When you are out on the street together with your puppy or at a park or other place he may nicely encounter other pets, keep him on a leash. And bear in mind that a well-trained dog is much less likely to get into fights at all. If your puppy gets into a great deal of hostile confrontations, you have to accept that it may be his fault and thus ultimately your fault for not putting an end to that behavior.
But your quite ideal efforts will sometimes not be enough. You are able to be doing everything right as you take your leashed puppy outdoors, when a wandering dog without an owner as conscientious as you are crosses paths with your pet along with a fight breaks out. Then too, overly aggressive play between your puppy and an additional dog could result in an unintentional injury.
Whatever the reason, if your puppy is bitten you completely need to take him to the veterinarian. Don’t assume your puppy is okay due to the fact the bite doesn’t look “serious.” There may be damage to the tissue beneath the skin’s surface that you can’t see that may be life threatening. Then, too, all bites carry germs and also the risk of bacterial infections. Fortunately, it is not difficult to tell if your puppy has been bitten – even if you didn’t see the fight, bites leave a distinctive pattern. Other signs to watch for are bleeding, swelling, limping, weakness, and even collapse.
The vet will almost certainly give your puppy a pain killer. The wound will probably be cleaned and disinfected and if required sutured closed. Your puppy will also be given antibiotics. The superior news is that wounds have a good chance of healing if they’re treated within 12 hours of the injury. The even far better news is which you now know what to do if your puppy is bitten, and to do it as promptly as achievable.
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