How to Treat a Dog Bite

You’d think the 100-lb doberman would be the one doling out the bites, but unfortunately, Kane’s been bitten thrice now. The third time happened tonight, and I was amazed how quickly I knew What To Do and When To Do It. That’s key when you have a puncture wound (a dog bite is a puncture wound, if you’re slow up the uptake) made by a slobbery, bacteria-infested dog tooth. Puncture wounds, especially dog bites, are very dangerous because the likelihood of a nasty infection is very high. But with close monitoring and some common sense, you can avoid stitches and the emergency vet by following some basic principles of first aid and hygiene. The who’s at fault and who started it and who’s a better dog owner can wait. Take care of your dog first. (These instructions are meant for dogs, but will work with other mammals too.)

Step 1. Examine the wound. If you catch it right after the scuffle, your dog’s pain receptors probably haven’t kicked in yet. Take this time to lay him/her down, get a flashlight, and do some looking around. Notice the shape of the wound, its apparent depth, any smells (very bad sign–take his ass to the vet pronto), amount of blood (there shouldn’t be very much blood, surprisingly), etc. Spend a few minutes looking at it. Have sanitized tweezers handy and remove any debris in the wound. It’s best to do this on a wipe-clean surface, as you can roll into the next few steps with ease.

Step 2. Remove any healing obstacles. Most of the time this means fur, but it could mean whiskers, eyelashes, a collar, harness, etc. Nothing should be able to get into the wound on its own. Trim hair back from the edges of the wound as much as you can. The last thing in the world that you want is for dog hair to creep into a puncture wound. That’s the road to Infection City.

Step 3. Anyone with kids or pets should have betadine and an eye dropper or other medicine squirter apparatus in their medicine cabinet (both found at the pharmacy or drug store). If you do not, you really should stop reading immediately and get these two things. You’d be amazed how how often you need them, and when you do, you need them NOW. So, while your dog is still relatively comfortable, pack that eye dropper or squirter full of betadine. The more the merrier. Take note of how much you have; you’re about to find out how deep the hole is. Put the end of the squirter in the hole, and squirt with medium pressure. Stop when betadine starts to come back out of the hole. Look at the squirter. How much did it take to flush the wound? You’ll need to know this in the next few days: the hole should slowly get smaller as it heals. Flush the wound in this manner 4 or 5 times. Bacteria LOVES warm, moist, dark places like a puncture wound. Flush that bad boy out until no bacteria could possibly remain in any crevice. You’ll probably get some betadine on the floor and your clothes during this process. Wipe it up and keep going.

Step 4. This step is a bit controversial. My dear friend Danielle, who is a brilliant vet tech, suggests leaving the wound open and clean. I agree with this, but only after 24 hours. For the first 24 hours, I like to keep the hole/wound pumped full of pain-relieving Neosporin. After 24 – 48 hours, depending on how it looks, you can start to let the wound heal. Puncture wounds are dangerous because it’s so easy to let bacteria get trapped in a pocket and healed over. Plan on keeping the wound open and scab free (this may mean you have to pick the scab off) for at least 3 days. It needs to heal from the inside out, not vice versa. If your dog has long hair, be VERY CAREFUL not to let ANY hair get into the wound. You risk not only infection, but the hair could get scabbed over. Gross.

Step 5. Continue to flush and make sure the wound is open every few hours until it begins to heal. HEALING SHOULD HAPPEN FROM THE INSIDE OUT. Do not let the wound scab before the inside heals. This is where your knowledge of the size of the wound is crucial. It should slowly get smaller. A sudden sharp decrease in hole size may mean a pocket has healed over. This is bad. Go to the vet if this happens.

Step 6. Make an executive decision for when you’re not home. For example, the wound I just dressed is on Kane’s shoulder, and he is tempted to lick it constantly. Tomorrow I’ll look at the wound before I leave. If it’s soggy and red, I’ll wrap a layer of breathable gauze around it to keep him out. In this case it would be better to keep him from licking it than to keep it exposed to air. Your goal is to always keep the wound CLEAN and OPEN.

Puncture wounds and dog bites heal slowly, but they will heal eventually. Keep it clean, keep it open for as long as you can, and monitor the smell. Try to avoid any wrestling, the beach, dog parks, etc., or anywhere where debris can get into the wound. Smell it every morning and night. The wound should have no smell at all (other than your dog’s smell). Go to the vet if you see any puss or smell something foul. The wound shouldn’t get swollen or overly red. Go to the vet if this happens. By keeping the wound flushed with betadine, your pup should have a nice scar to be proud of in a week or so.

Now, on a related note, I was on a third date tonight. Dinner was delicious, we were having a great time drinking wine and lounging around his house, and then his punk ass dog bit mine! This was immediately proceeded by posturing and ear twitching and his assurances that “they’re just playing.” Um, I’m the dog trainer asshole. I’ll tell you when they’re playing, and that is not playing. I noticed the wound on Kane a few minutes after the scuffle, and upon realizing he didn’t have betadine or a squirter (WTF?), I came home to doctor my dog. Great guy, not so great dog. Thoughts?