Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs a first aid kit for hunting dogs......

picked up a basic first aid kit at Scheels a few weeks ago, wondering if there is anything else i should pack into it..

included are:
peroxide
3 ply towels
cotton balls
cotton swabs
surgical scrub brush
saline solution
iodine
syringe(im guessing to use for irrigating with the saline or iodine)
scissors
bacitracin antibiotic cream
gauze
flexible cohesive wrap
hydrocortizone cream
iodine pads
styptic pencil
tourniquet
vinyl gloves
pill gun
and a basic first aid book for dogs

looks like i need a pair of tweezers for there.....any meds i should carry? chances are ill mostly be using this in conjunction with my first aid kit i keep in the truck to patch myself up more than the Jake but figured having stuff for him in the truck was a good idea.....

Some folks carry a vetinary staple run for closing up long gashes..

And a muzzle...He may be the nicest dog in the world now, but if he's injured and you have to treat him.....

Duct tape.....

Rattler; toss in a couple Benadryls...for bee stings. Dogs always get 'em on their muzzles/mouth and you don't want the nasal passages to swell shut... A couple pink pills won't take up much space..
And make sure there is quite a bit of peroxide, you can pour it down his throat to induce vomiting if ever need be....
Ingwe

Ingwe - how much Benadryl would you give a 45lb dog??

Check out the dosage on the bottle and extrapolate....the brand I use reccomends 2 pills for an adult person ( Which I figure is 200 lbs...) so a dog that size would get a half of a pill..
#1 Ingwedog got a bad sting one day,and quickly went from slim pointed snouted...to looking like a hippo. I was pretty concerned, so she got a whole pill ( She's #45) It worked, and boy did she sleep well when we got home!
BTW, you can get a mini-box of generic Benadryl at any $1 store...
Ingwe

I'm sure.....too funny!

I'd toss in a pair for forceps for removing thorns, briers, etc... Often times gloves don't give the dexterity needed for grabbing those small spurs... Also handy if you hunt in porcupine territory.

If you're going to include major trauma accesories, might as well include a length of tubing (pre-marked) to treat bloat on larger dogs, Goldens, Labs, etc and would probably give you time to get to an animal hospital - saving the dogs life.

rattler bring a bottle of fast cut. gel or powder form. pet stores sell it for when you cut the toenails to short helps stop the bleeding.. ive used the stuff in the field numerous times works great for gashes or cuts....

Rattler-

Randy Acker's Field Guide to Dog First Aid - look at his list of field supplies, and the MT FWP's booklet, Recreationist Guide to Releasing Traps and Snares.

In addition to what's already been mentioned, add:
Digital rectal thermometer;
Hemostats;
Vaseline;
triple antibiotic ointment;
EMT gel;
Super Glue (for ear splits/cuts/tears);
Needle nose pliers w/wire cutters;

And, no offense intended, a cool head that's read the first aid book(s) several times before heading out into the field. Plus, if you're fortunate, attendance at a canine field first aid training session hosted by your local gun dog club or some one-on-one sessions with your local vet.

Not to spoil the fun of having all that stuff, but 99% of it will be of no use at all unless you plan on being so far away from any veterinary facility that you can't get the dog there within a few hours. The one type of problem that really needs immediate control, and which might actually be effectively treated in the field, is bleeding from a cut foot or leg. A PROPERLY APPLIED bandage which puts moderate and even pressure on the wound without creating a tourniquet effect below the bandage, is the best way to control that type of bleeding. It's not easy to get a bandage on a dog's leg that doesn't slip down right away. There's a trick to it. Involves placing long strips of tape longitudinally down the leg and extending down beyond the foot. Then the wound dressing and cast padding and tape are applied around the leg and the tape "stirrups" are then folded back up over the bandage and taped down. If the tape stirrups don't stick, like if the hair is wet or bloody, the whole thing will slide right off. The padding must be even and not bunch up or you might get a tight tourniquet effect over the joints. Best bet is to get your Vet to show you how to do it right, and exactly what types of tape, cast padding, wound dressing pads, etc. to use. Also, get phone numbers of vet clinics, especially any night emergency clinics in the hunting area. Maybe call a couple and ask where to go if you need a vet on the weekend or evening. The muzzle is a smart idea. Even your old friend your dog may bite you if he hurts bad enough. Soft cotton cord makes an OK muzzle, also a long length of 3 or 4 inch wide soft gauze. Wrap around muzzle a time or two then tie behind ears. They breathe through their nose so closing the mouth won't shut off their breathing as long as their nose is clear. The idea of having a medium sized hemostat to pull a superficial thorn from a pad is an OK idea. Don't bother trying to clean the wound up very much in the field. You won't get it really clean and the vet will do a much more thorough job when you get the dog to him or her. Same with suturing or stapling closed unless there is a big flap of skin in any area that can't easily be bandaged, like on the flank or high up on the leg. Maybe then closing it enough to keep it from flapping open would be an OK idea. Lower on the legs the bandage alone will keep things together adequately. The vet will just open everything up again and do a much more thorough job cleaning the wound. The Super Glue isn't bad idea for small cuts like on pads or ears. Best to just get the dog to a clinic before too much time goes by.

thanks for the info....


as for being away from the vet.....my house is an hour away from the vets, we do hunt in places where it could be a couple hours to get him to a vet....its northeast Montana....lots of empty space between things.....mainly interested in the superficial stuff that might not require a vet visit and like i said the kit will likely be used as a reserve to ours for bandaging ppl up.....

if we get way up in the hills and the like and it happens to rain it could be 5 or 6 hours to a paved road if we can get out at all....packing extra first aid stuff is rarely a bad idea.....

I like to have a roll or two of Vet Wrap with me (flexible cohesive wrap in your kit?). Besides using it to make a compression bandage on a leg (careful to not get it too tight!!), it's handy to wrap a sprain on YOUR leg.

On super glue for skin closure, my vet advised me that it makes a mess should a cut actually require suturing or drainage. He said it with some disgust like he had to deal with it more than once. OK for nicks.

I keep a big bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a little baking soda in the truck mainly for de-skunking (not a problem so far). Also a big bottle of sterile contact lens saline for irrigating eyes and wounds.

A comb and matbreaker/rake pair well for removing burrs. The ones you can't bust up with the pliers you can get under and cut out without causing the dog a lot of discomfort. Sometimes you just can't keep the dog out of foxtails and the matbreakers work wonders in breaking them up and cutting them out. The small clinging seeds can be removed with the comb.

I've seldom had to use the EMT gel or antibotic ointments, but the burr removal tools are a must where I hunt.

http://www.vetpets.net/animaltimes/humandrugs.html
A good site for OTC med info.
And what the heck is a pill gun doing in the kit if there are no pills in it?

dont ask me, i just read off the contents....seemed like a decent basic kit on sale in a big enough bag i could add to it without any issues so i picked it up....we are often hours away from the nearest hospital and figured even if i robbed it to patch myself up more than i did Jake it wasnt going to be a waste of $$