The first steps to take when your dog is hurt
While nobody ever wants to see their dog get injured, it is possible that it will happen over the course of their lifetime. If something like that ever happened, the best you can hope for is that it doesn’t wind up being a permanent injury. If you want to prevent an injury like that, then the best thing you can do for your dog is to train them.
Learning simple commands such as “stay” or “stop” can help quite a bit. For example, if your dog bolts out the front door and heads into the street, a “stop” command might save them from getting hit by a car. That is not to say that training your dog will totally prevent them from ever getting hurt, but it will help. Other injuries can be from dog fights.
So what do you do if your dog does sustain an injury? The first thing you should do is take a look at your dog carefully. If they are unable to move or come to you, then the injury is likely more severe unless they are just in shock. That is why it is important to look at them carefully noting every sign of injury. Hopefully there are no broken bones or worse, a spinal injury.
The next thing you need to do is get them to a safe place. You can put something like a coat or shirt under them to drag them if you have to. Just be careful as you don’t want to harm them further. If your dog is bleeding, you can take some cloth like a piece of your shirt and wrap it around the lesion to slow down the blood loss. Or if possible, you can use their collar for the same thing. Just try to get it as tight as possible. You also want to try your best to remain calm and talk to your dog in a calm tone. Panicking will likely frighten your dog worse. This won’t help a lot, but it should help some.
The next thing you want to do is take them to the vet as soon as possible. It doesn’t matter if the injury is severe or not. You still need to take them. Sometimes the injury will be worse than you thought until they are examined thoroughly. If the injury was severe, then you will want to get them a soft bed to sleep in. There are plenty of comfortable fancy dog beds to pick from that will do the job well. Make sure that the one you pick is well padded.
Make sure to place their favorite durable dog toys by them to bring them comfort. If their collar was damaged, or was used to slow down bleeding, then they will need a new one. It is easy to find some good fancy pet collars to replace the one they had.
As you watch their recovery, make sure to get plenty of water into their system. Also encourage them to eat as much as possible. Keep in contact with the vet and get them in for some routine check ups as they progress.
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