Devil wire

[jeff100]

Took my dogs to Lower Crab Creek last week to camp for a couple of days and look for some quail, huns and pheasant.  After setting up camp I took both my dogs for a quick run just before sunset before putting them up for the night.  I have two brittany's, Jack is my seven year old, and Cooper is my new pup, about 7 months old now.  This was to be his first trip looking for wild birds.  Within two minutes and less than a hundred yards from camp the pup is trying like hell to keep up running with my older dog (as usual).  I catch up to them just in time to see the Jack sail over some downed barbed wire fencing, but the pup appeared to hit it as he ran over it.  The wire was down on the ground.  Within seconds, I see the pups rear leg appear to go dark, and I know there's no mud around, it's gotta be blood.  Sure enough I call him in and he's not only bleeding, but leaving puddles everywhere he steps with his left rear leg. 

The leg is absolutely soaked with blood.  I get him over to my truck where I've got a large water jug, and after trying to clear the blood by pouring water over his leg, not only is he cut, he punctured his artery.  Blood was spurting out of the leg with every pulse of the pups heart.  I'm a long way from anywhere, even if I did know where a vet was.  I frantically called a hunting buddy on the cell who was able to give me a few numbers of vets in Ellensberg. 

I wrapped the leg as best I could with vet wrap, trying to get pressure on the artery to slow the bleed.  I put both dogs in their kennel crates and hauled ass into Ellensberg.  Lucky for me local law enforcement was not watching the highway, and I was praying a deer didn't decide to commit suicide in front of my truck.  Got to the vet within about 50 minutes of the injury.  Ellensberg Animal Hospital was where I ended up, they had after hours emergency duty that night.  I thought for sure I was going to find a dead dog in the crate when I looked in, but to my profound relief, in spite of losing a LOT of blood Cooper was sleepy but alive.  I don't remember the docs name, but he did right by me and my dog.  I owe him a big debt of gratitude.  It turned out Coop had two bad lacerations, I didn't realize he had the second one because of all the blood I guess.  The vet repaired the artery, then he stitched up both lacerations with steel wire so the poky ends of the wire stitches would discourage Coop from licking the wounds, then he wrapped the entire leg and sent me on my way.  First rate work, I've got to put in a plug for Ellensberg Animal Hospital.  Good people from my limited experience.

Lessons learned.  In my travels I regularly go to remote places by myself.  I try to keep a good first aid kit for dogs and people, and I do have a fair amount of first aid supplies.  But I've got to admit I did NOT have enough materials for this severe of a bleed.  I tried EMT spray on the bleed but that was a joke.  I couldn't find my tube of EMT gel (turned out it was in my hunting vest).  I was lucky to have two rolls of vet wrap, but that was about it for useful items to get pressure on the wound to control the arterial bleeding so I could drive. 

Today I put in an order for CELOX (a new generation hemostatic agent), both small (15 gram) and large (30 gram) powder packages (small for dogs, large for humans) and a large syringe applicator filled with 6 grams of CELOX for deep puncture wounds (e.g. accidental gunshot).  They also sell CELOX in a soluable pad you stuff into a wound, the pad dissolves on contact with blood.  CELOX is shown to clot/stop arterial bleeding within a minute or less, and it doesn't produce heat as a byproduct like prior generation hemostatic agents on the market.  I now have EMT gel in the vest AND the kit.  I've dramatically increased the amount of gauze rolls, gauze pads, large trauma dressings, and tripled the number of rolls of vet wrap I'll keep in the kit. Another scenario I worry about is one of my dogs cutting open their stomach/chest on barbed wire.  From this point forward I'll have enough med supplies to treat and wrap a dogs entire torso (or a human chest/abdomen) if necessary.  This experience has taught me how quickly an injury in the field can become life threatening to dog and man....

[rasbo]

thats a sad even scary situation,turned out well thats good.

[merlo105]

As I read Im packing first-aid never can have enough. Sorry for your dog they are good looking dogs

[bowsandhose]

sorry to hear. hard way to learn a good lesson. thanks for posting

[Rainier]

Wow!!! Scary.. nice job on the quick thinking, glad to hear your dog is ok they are gorgeous dogs.  Makes me think twice about what i have and don't have with me, time to double check.     Thanks for the post.

[huntnphool]

Glad to see he made it, that is scary stuff for sure.

[jackelope]

glad to hear the dog is ok.
i have had 2 run ins with it with my dog. once no ill effects...just tumbled him and once he hit it wide open throttle and flipped him in the air and tore his shoulder open...a few staples later he was good to go.

[high country]

had a few of those myself over the years. since I married into vet medicine I pack the whole kit in my bird bag. I have a stapler in there too for just such an emergencey. if you hunt long enough your dog will get tore up or porcupined, in a fight with a coon'.........odd stuff happens out there.

[Happy Gilmore]

Glad all turned out well. The folks at Ellensburg animal hospital were alway my first choice of vets when I lived in Ellensburg. Happy

[hornhunter]

My dog ripped a ten inch gash in his chest!  It didnt bleed a ton, but man was it scary.  I went to EAH also.  They were great came in after hours and cleaned and stiched him up.  I was able to pick him up in the A.M.  This was five years ago.  I also have a first aid kit, but nothing like yours.