A helper showed up today

I was out at my land changing the oil in the water truck and had a visitor show up. He was a little timid at first but soon became very friendly. His name was Chewy and he was a very nice dog. Thankfully he had a collar with his name and a phone number. I left a message and an elderly couple came about an hour later to pick him up. They were looking after their daughters acreage. He had a bit of a problem so I gave him a couple bites of my sandwich which he enjoyed. I felt sorry for him since he had a run in with a porcupine. Maybe that's why he came to visit? It wasn't really bad and he didn't seem to be in any pain. He had 4 quills in his lower lip and about a dozen in the side of his paw. I know you can't just pull them out so I suggested they call a vet to ask. They thought about calling a vet out to do it. I'm sure glad my message got through and someone came to get him. Apparently he just showed up at the daughters place so she adopted him. He's about 2 years old and very well trained and friendly once he got to know me. Don't know why anyone wouldn't keep such a beautiful dog. He was white in colour and I think some kind retriever. Glad he's got someone that will look after him. Dave

One of my pet peeves is folks who are either too cheap or stupid to not have a name tag on their pets. A collar with an engraved tag is less than $10.00 and microchips not a lot more. All four of my dogs have microchips and tagged collars.

Glad this dog had a happy ending. My English setter tangled with a porky and the vet quit counting quills at 500. It happened in September and in February we'd still find an occasional quill working it's way out.

Larry in Michigan

How are quills removed if not just pulled out?

The Dog has to be anesthetized, and the quills pulled while he is knocked out, otherwise it is animal cruelty, not to mention you can get badly bitten.

That little bit of PC taken care of, there are as many folk remedies as there are for skunk sprayings. Most of them involve some method of softening the quills or collapsing them so that they pull more easily.

I remember going to the neighbor's barn with my Dad and watching them wrestle with a bull that had nosed a porcupine. They had him in a stanchion, with a halter roped up to an overhead beam, and a nose lead in him as well. The whole stable was shaking, and I thought he was going to pull the whole bank of stanchions right out of the floor.

On the other hand I had a dog show up at my place with a couple hundred quills in his nose. I caught him easily, and got the owner's info from his tag. Then I decided to see if I could pull any quills. I came out of the house clicking the pliers together, and the dog sat down and stuck his nose in the air, and wagged his tail. I guess he had been through that movie before.

(quoted from post at 01:21:41 04/21/10) One of my pet peeves is folks who are either too cheap or stupid to not have a name tag on their pets.

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Had a new neighbor move in and our cat got in the moving van and went to sleep. Got a call from 500 miles away to come get the cat. Wasn't too keen on nametags then :roll:

It all worked out and they kept him a few months until they had another load in our area. Liked him so well they bought 2 kittens from us when they dropped him off.

Dave

Dave
Be glad you had a contact #. Around here the dogs show up with no collar or tag. just another one someone dumped off along the road

Those quills have a little "barb" on them like a fishook. If you rotate the quill about 160 degrees, that winds the barb up around the quill, and then pull, it will come out much easier. Learned this from the 1956 Boy Scout manusl.
Root cansls aren't fun but they aren't animal cruelty.

Gordo

I've heard that they're hollow and you have to cut them up off before pulling the other part out. Dave

clip 1/4 to half inch off end of quill then pull (hurts little less

I've been a coon hunter for 50 years and a set of needle nosed pliers are always in my pack. The quicker you get them out. the easier it is. As the animals body fluids wet the quill. rigid tiny barblike hairs come out similar to water raising the grain on bare wood. There is no "vacuum" in a quill-they are full of air and float when put in water, so snipping the end off serves no purpose- get 'em out ASAP!

Dog showed up at our house many years ago- very friendly, son was petting it. It had a collar, so asked son, "Does it have a name on the tag?" Son replied, "I guess his name is Rabies".