Dogs and snakebite

duman444 said:
The one Lab that out there had to be shocked 3 times before he associated pain with snake smell. The last time they turned the shock collar setting up a bit and literally had him bounce 4" in the air. He finally got it after that.
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Some dogs never learn. My daughters Weimaraner for some reason likes to eat bee's of every type. She goes thru a lot of Benadryl.
 
duman444 said:
The one Lab that out there had to be shocked 3 times before he associated pain with snake smell. The last time they turned the shock collar setting up a bit and literally had him bounce 4" in the air. He finally got it after that.
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That sounds about right :rolleyes: My first lab Bubba was hard headed and we could not keep him from going after nutria until the day he caught one :D

Brought him home with a nice ear piercing-he avoided them like the plague after that.
 
When I lived on the farm, my herd dog, a Collie, was bitten on the nose by a cottonmouth. His face was horribly swollen, his breathing was labored and he experienced muscle twitching. I rushed him to the vet where he received three injections. It took a couple of days for the swelling to subside but after that he was back to normal.
 
Before and during my return to college, I was elected chairman of the San Gabriel Valley Chapter of Quail Unlimited (Los Angeles, CA). We had several members dogs bitten by So. Pacific rattlers, a sub-species of the western rattlesnake (NOT western diamondbacks!). All survived but a couple had crippling aftereffects. One or two went to the vet for antivenin. In general, dogs are fairly tolerant to snakebite. If the dog is still alive after 24 hours, it's not likely a coral snake and a 1/2 inch between punctures seems a little big for a coral snake based on the couple have handled. Too small for a big diamondback and I doubt if the dog would have lived more than a few minutes if a Mojave. A baby rattler would have injected a relatively full dose of venom.

Overall, I tend to agree that it was most likely a copperhead, which has the "weakest" venom of North American pit vipers.

While with QU, we held a "snake avoidance" clinic to train dogs. Had to expand it to two, then three classes a year and all were sold out. We did "The Taco Bell Chihuahua" and Wendy Malick's Labradors (one about broke my finger!). Both of my dogs went through it and it saved my first GSP from being bit!

Just a few thoughts from a biologist has been an amateur herpetologist for 50 years, a professional one for two years, and published an article on snake avoidance training.
 
Sometimes We get a rattler around where I walk My dog. She gets a rattle snake shot at the vet every year. Don't ask Me what it is as I have no idea. You Guys might check with Your Vets.
 
Here in Arizona, our dogs often run into poisonous creatures. This is an early picture of our Joe (the superdog) when he was young and had just had a less-than-desirable encounter. We're not sure what it was, but we suspected a scorpion. We've had rattlesnakes, scorpions and black widows more often than we would like. Whatever this was, we were pretty sure Joe would never mess with one again!

John

 
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I swear Iggy just looks for chances to post that picture. I dunno how many times I have seen it, but for my money he needs a good wallop with the Ban Hammer.
 
I've always liked snakes, but here I can honestly say I've never come across a poisonous one. (Another reason to live in PA!) I've grown up in Beaver Co., our camp, about 1/3 of my growing up was in Crawford Co., and now I live in Pittsburgh County. I have never, ever come across a poisonous snake...but they are here. I've just been lucky. Once every couple years a farmer or landscaper gets hit. I'll stay up here & let you warm people fight with every deadly poisonous creature in North America!
One time, Daisy, the Weim, came face to face with a garter snake. They get aggressive when cornered or pikked off. It was only about a two-footer. It lunged and she was like a cat and jumped out of its way! Didn't think she could do it, but young dogs are quicker than you think when they have a split second to see their attacker.
Those Coral snakes. Isn't there another snake with the same coloring only in different order of color? I want to say King, but that doesn't sound right.
 
jeffrefrig said:
I've always liked snakes, but here I can honestly say I've never come across a poisonous one. (Another reason to live in PA!) I've grown up in Beaver Co., our camp, about 1/3 of my growing up was in Crawford Co., and now I live in Pittsburgh County. I have never, ever come across a poisonous snake...but they are here. I've just been lucky. Once every couple years a farmer or landscaper gets hit. I'll stay up here & let you warm people fight with every deadly poisonous creature in North America!
One time, Daisy, the Weim, came face to face with a garter snake. They get aggressive when cornered or pikked off. It was only about a two-footer. It lunged and she was like a cat and jumped out of its way! Didn't think she could do it, but young dogs are quicker than you think when they have a split second to see their attacker.
Those Coral snakes. Isn't there another snake with the same coloring only in different order of color? I want to say King, but that doesn't sound right.
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Yes, King and Milk snakes.

And two genera of Corals. They remind me of Asiatic Kraits.

Tropical America has additional Corals.
 
My Doc buddy who shares my love of Brittanys had one of his dogs get bit when he moved to his new house "on the hill". Sent me a picture. Looked like a plastic surgeon had practiced a breast implant on the side of the dogs's head.
He took the dog to the vet and they administered antibiotics to avert any infection activity.
Once they got the rattle snake vaccine effective enough for my vet to approve it, my dogs all got the vaccine and an annual booster. The vaccine buys you a day or two extra to get your pooch to the vet and treated.
I would not dither a minute getting my dog to a vet if it were bit by a rattler.
 
When I was about twelve years old I had a Pit Bull that followed me where ever I went. We lived on about 200 acres in "the country" and one day I was taking a walk through a grown over field with my Pit Bull following behind me. All of a sudden he jumped forward and pushed me aside. When I looked at him he had a copperhead hanging on his jaw. The snake had been striking at me and the dog pushed me out of the way and took the strike. He shook the snake off of his jaw and then killed it. I took him the half mile to our house. His head swelled up and he got lethargic. The next day he was fine. I loved that dog. He died of natural causes about six years later. Dogs are tough.
 
I had a lab that was bitten by an unknown viper of some sort. The bite was on her back about 5" away from the tail root.

She lived for about another year, but the vet suspected that the bite triggered a form of cancer and resulting kidney failure.

I'd get the dog to the vet as soon as is practical.
 
The dog got to the vet and got antihistamines and antibiotics. Vet said it'll probably survive.

And the bill was much less than expected, as both the doc and the owner are Texas Aggies...
 
Doug M. said:
I swear Iggy just looks for chances to post that picture. I dunno how many times I have seen it, but for my money he needs a good wallop with the Ban Hammer.
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Sorry for the offense. It's gone.:)
 
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