the dog has suffered much worst damage in the past,last year he had 17 porcupine thorns in his muzzle and shoulders and still get the job done.
something similar happened to me the dog found in a tough spot to dig the quarry was hard got him self in a thight spot behind a big rock my dog took a bit of a hiding as he could fit behind the rock with him he came out after 40 mins so we entered a more experainced dog which just sounded at it until we dug down to move the rock then he got stuck in two weeks later i dug two with my dog theres a different dog for every hole he s still young and it