Injured stoppers

[Paul in North Lincs 15]

this morning while out for a walk my young bitch......she lifed a rabbit and was full pelt after it when it dived under a fence..................the pup pulled up hard and the ground was hard and sandy.....she took 2 goods chunks out of both stoppers on the front legs, which beld like hell.............

 

Panicking..... I quickly carried her home bathed the wounds in warm salty water and wiped with a meddy wipe and gave her quarter of a paracetamol and they just look very badly grazed on the underside......

 

she was limping but seems ok now......although she is feeling sorry for herself

 

I' ve Never come across this injury before with a lurcher, although Im led to believ its quite common................what would recommend to be a good rest period .....2 weeks perhaps???

 

is there anything else I need to be doing with type of injury, other than resting the dog and keeping the wound clean???

 

Finally....................is it likely to cause me any problems in the future???

 

 

thanks

[skycat 6,173]

Running on hard ground is always likely to damage stoppers, but a lot does depend on the dog's running style and also how far it's stoppers stick out! Some dogs have smallish well 'bedded in' stoppers, others seem to have stoppers like a game cock's spurs (well, not quite!)

 

It also depends on how tough the stoppers are: my dogs run a lot on bad ground and seldom (I'm not going to say 'never' as that is tempting providence!) damage their stoppers. If your dog seems likely to damage her stoppers due to their size, her action etc, then you can tape them up with elastoplast fabric strip, or buy stopper protectors: don't know where you can get them since the Greyhound Shop close: they do look a bit cumbersome for lurchers though and I've always used elastoplast with a bit of foam inside for padding when I've been working dogs with damaged stoppers or sticking out ones on bad ground.

 

Edited to add: just rinse them with salty water once a day and keep her on the lead until they've healed: dabbing them with surgical spirit ONCE THEY HAVE COMPLETELY HEALED helps toughen the skin too.

Edited September 12, 2007 by skycat

[mole catcher 1]

torn stoppers are something all running dog owners experiance at some time. given rest and mild care regarding keeping clean the wounds heal very quickly and cleanly posing no future problem from that wound, untill the next time it happens.

How long to heal? well that depends on the dog and you, take the dog out whilst the new skin is still thin and soft and your back to where you started., doesnt take long to heal, even a pad that has been cut right off soon heals.

 

micro pore tape from boots is very good as is taping them up, like skycat said. my dog still has its dew claws and its part of my reutine to tape these up before an outing on the lamp.

[Guest SJM]

You must be very lucky then if youve never had a stopper injury, they are very common especially when the ground is hard. I dont mollycoddle them, I just spray with purple spray and then give them a few days or a week or so to heal depending how bad/deep the injury is. You can tape them up to run the dog but this just prolongs the healing process and can set it back if the dog reinjures the stopper running with it taped up JMHO

[Paul in North Lincs 15]

thanks for the advice gents..................

 

I am alot happier now!

[Guest joe ox]

Skinned stopers is part and parcel of running dogs. I have not owned a lurcher that has not done it at some point in its career. Everything you need to know is in the above posts. But its definetly nothing to worry about.

[jumby 11]

my dog cut his 5 weeks ago on his third run and had to have it stiched they came out so they stapled it

[Irish Lurcher 1,013]

Hi Paul

 

Some months ago a friend of mines bitch split her stopper where its meet the leg, poured like f**k, plenty of rest and now he makes sure to take it up when she is out running.

 

Have you looked into the stopper protectors? They are supposed to be good.

 

John

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

``

Edited August 31, 2008 by cúagusgiorraí

[Paul in North Lincs 15]

Hi Paul

 

Some months ago a friend of mines bitch split her stopper where its meet the leg, poured like f**k, plenty of rest and now he makes sure to take it up when she is out running.

 

Have you looked into the stopper protectors? They are supposed to be good.

 

John

 

Stopper protectors..................I think I'll have to look into that....not sure where to source them though, but I can imagine this problem re-occuring as they are very pronounced and fine on this bitch.

 

TEEJAY.....................that looks very serious..................how is the dog now????

 

cheers

[maty j 6]

my bitch has just done hers in too.. im bathing in salt water and hibiscrub and going to get some of that blue spray onto them to keep out any infection.

have a look here for some protectors. jans gifts. half way down, called wrist supports but would imagine they would be ok?? i remember a link on here a while ago for some but cant remember who its was. try pm'ing shaun V think it may of been him??..

[deerhound working 3]

this morning while out for a walk my young bitch......she lifed a rabbit and was full pelt after it when it dived under a fence..................the pup pulled up hard and the ground was hard and sandy.....she took 2 goods chunks out of both stoppers on the front legs, which beld like hell.............

 

Panicking..... I quickly carried her home bathed the wounds in warm salty water and wiped with a meddy wipe and gave her quarter of a paracetamol and they just look very badly grazed on the underside......

 

she was limping but seems ok now......although she is feeling sorry for herself

 

I' ve Never come across this injury before with a lurcher, although Im led to believ its quite common................what would recommend to be a good rest period .....2 weeks perhaps???

 

is there anything else I need to be doing with type of injury, other than resting the dog and keeping the wound clean???

 

Finally....................is it likely to cause me any problems in the future???

my dog has done this as well cut and heal dab on mets are salt and water they will take a couple of weeks to heal no runnning for at least 4 weeks

 

thanks

[skycat 6,173]

Don't keep using the hibiscrub as it does inhibit healing, like any strong antiseptic. Best off continuing with salt water once the initial cleaning has been done.

[maty j 6]

Don't keep using the hibiscrub as it does inhibit healing, like any strong antiseptic. Best off continuing with salt water once the initial cleaning has been done.

cheers skycat ill miss it out tomorrow. i got some propollis, not cheap is it. allmost used it all allready supose it doesnt help if you forget to put the top on properly and spill most on the floor

cheers,

[Paul in North Lincs 15]

..................the wounds seem to have dried and are healing nicley..

 

haven't let the pup off the lead...only took her for a couple of short walks................she is still favouing on leg and pulling it up abit...

 

I just hope she hasnt done anything more sinicister..... :no:

 

I'm guessing that its still sore...........well ......Im praying thats all it is :no: