What to do if your dog is bitten by another dog

If your dog bleeds a lot, you must go to the hospital. Profuse bleeding from a wound is a sign of damage to an artery or large vein, which requires a doctor to ligate the blood vessel.

1. Use sterile gauze to press the wound

First aid pretreatment: Use sterile gauze to press the wound on the way to the hospital to prevent the dog from losing too much blood. If you can't find sterile gauze, you can use cotton T-shirt or other cloth instead, and press the wound for 5 minutes; if bleeding still occurs after 5 minutes, continue to press until the hospital. Use cotton cloth to press, never fiber, wool, cardigan and other fabrics. The fibers from these fabrics can get into the wound.

2. Shortness of breath

Check whether the dog is breathing rapidly. This is a possible sign that the dog is in shock, or the chest wall is bitten through and air enters the chest cavity. These situations can be life-threatening at any time, and you should rush to the hospital as soon as possible. If you find a deep wound on your dog's chest, apply pressure with gauze or a bandage to slow down the air entering the chest cavity, causing the lungs to collapse.

3. Weakness, pale gums, and loss of consciousness

If your dog looks weak, has pale gums, and loses consciousness, take him to the hospital immediately. These conditions may be signs of shock or internal bleeding. Apply pressure to the bleeding area with sterile gauze or a bandage, cover the dog with a coat or blanket to maintain body temperature, and then go to the veterinary clinic.

4. Large wounds or skin damage

Check whether there are any large wounds or skin damage on the dog. If your dog has been bitten, there may be tears and wounds under the skin. Need to rush to the hospital for treatment.

Clean the wound as much as possible. Clean the wound as much as possible before going to the hospital.
Rinse the wound with normal saline to reduce the chance of wound infection; then moisten sterile gauze, cover the wound, and secure it. If sterile saline is not available, homemade saline can be used instead.

2. Situations that can be treated at home

The wound is not bleeding
If the dog is still alert and alert, and the wound is not bleeding, you can clean the wound at home .

Trim the hair around the wound
In order to see the entire wound clearly, use scissors to trim away the hair around the wound.
◈ Start trimming from the edge of the wound until the entire wound is exposed. Any wounds should be treated in this way.
◈ When using scissors to trim, be careful not to cause secondary damage.

Rinse the wound with saline solution
Saline solution is the best optionchoice because it is friendliest to the exposed tissue and also keeps the wound moist.

Find someone to help you when cleaning
The dog may be nervous or irritable while you clean it, so you need to find someone to help you hold it. it. If you really can't find anyone to help, you can tie your dog's mouth with a tie or a soft rope to prevent it from biting you when it gets angry.

If your dog has a puncture wound, be sure to go to the hospital
Puncture wounds are usually round and small in diameter and are caused by the teeth of other dogs. of. Not all require stitches and sometimes heal on their own. But it’s best to get it looked at by a doctor, as a hernia can easily develop in this case. The skin separates from the subcutaneous tissue, forming a cavity that may be filled with serum or pus, which will hinder wound healing. In this case, surgery is required to allow the wound to heal.
Want to read more: How to treat wounds when a dog is injured, Dog Trauma Bandaging Care Manual