how to treat a puncture?

[HugABull1]

Gage grabbed Sugar's leg (again:() this afternoon. Sugar has two punctures, one on either side of her foot. Hubby cleaned them with peroxide, and we're watching she doesn't lick it. What else can we do to prevent infection? Poor girl, he nailed her other front leg Saturday, although not as badly.

Any tips on how to make her more comfortable? They're pretty superficial, but there's bruising and they're sore.

For all you worriers, don't. After both of these incidents, we've decided that from now on Gage will be crated or seperated when anyone has bones. Poor Sugar was in her crate, having her Papa give her a bone, AFTER he'd given Gage his, and Gage dropped his bone, shoved past my hubby and tried to take Sugar's. As she was in HER crate with HER bone, she was initially defensive, which is when he grabbed her leg as hubby was splitting them up:crying.

It kinda sucks, as they were okay supervised with bones before. But Mr. "I'm in charge but insecure about my position so I have to be a tyrant" kinda ruined that:tongue. I'll be glad when he grows up some more and is more confident, and thus more laid back.

[valliesong]

when aiden and roscoe had their one and only scuffle, i treated the punctures by rinsing them with sterile water and filling the wounds with neosporin. neither got infected, and both healed very quickly.

[moto1320]

They make the liquid skin that you can paint on if she'll leave it alone. The neosporin idea sounds good, wonder if that will work for the suspiciosly canine size holes in my remote.....

[elegy]

i wouldn't use that liquid skin stuff. you want it to heal from the inside out or else you'll have a good candidate for an abscess. i'd flush it with warm saltwater or dilute chlorhexidine solution (i use nolvasan skin and wound cleaner) and the neosporin. keep an eye on it for any signs of infection, etc.

[PitBullMama]

Nice to hear our dogs are not the only ones who get weird about treats. The weird thing is, it's tiny little 40 lb Maggie that goes charging at 110 lb Bomber trying to steal the treat! She got really bitchy twice in defence of a treat, so now we watch her closely and seperate them when they get anything "special". They are usually fine with their usual biscuits.

I have found that neosporin works well for scrapes and punctures on my other dogs as well.

[sam]

Hey Chilli,
I always just soak them in salt walter, which works as a mild disinfectant (use sea salt not table salt). Use warm-hot water (as hot as you can handle keeping your hand in). Since it's on her foot you can just stick her foot in a bucket of salt water. Otherwise I use a wash-clothe and compress the wounds 3 times a day for 5-10 minutes (or as long as they can handle it).

You want to make sure that it heals from the inside out, so when you're compressing it get off any crusties, etc. that may cover the hole. Ok, and I know that this sounds gross, but press around the sight and if any guck comes out then you know that a bit of an infection has started adn you should go see the vet.

Don't use peroxcide, etc. as it dries the outside skin out and the wound will close over increasing the likelyhood for an absess. You also don't want to use too much salt (the water shouldn't be cloudy) or this will also dry the skin out.

I have too many piercings and they act alot like punctures, so this is what I do for myself too when I have a new or irritated piecring

[Mary Jo]

When my dog was attacked by a neighbor's dog and received puncture wounds, what worked best was to keep cleaning the puncture wounds with liquid dish soap. I have also used peroxide. Never cover the wounds because receiving a dog bite or dog puncture wound is like receiving an injection of bacteria so one wants the air to get to it and heal. This worked for me.

[HugABull1]

thanks for all the tips guys! Sugar's leg is doing much better, all the swelling is gone, and the deeper puncture (where the swelling was) seems okay (the shallow one's pretty much healed). There's a very minor bit of redness, but not enough to worry about (just, like, 1mm around the hole), and she's not sore anymore.

If only she didn't have such sensitive skin, seems like everyday she's got a new nick or cut that's bleeding. Like her lip last night (lips get nicked wrestling at least 3 or 4 times a week), or her belly/chest the other day (has a very small scrape/shallow puncture). Any tips on how to toughen up her skin? %99 of these "injuries" occur during regular old play, and Gage is no rougher with her than she is with him, she just has super soft skin :roll: