Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss I HATE COPPERHEADS!

I was out running my dog this morning and she being the typical nosy lab constantly has her nose to the ground sniffing. Which I guess is a good thing since she is a hunting dog. Anyways, she started acting birdy, which is normal since we have a few wild quail in the area. Anyways, she kind of jumped back at first. Then went back to the area she jumped back from. The next thing I know, she yelps real loud and takes off like a rocket. She runs straight for the house and doesn't look back.

I run over to where she was a see a fat copperhead snaked scooting through the grass. The one time I don't have a gun on me! I was looking for a stick and by the time I found one large enough to do some damage, the snake had disappeared.

Well, by the time I got her to the vet her leg had a lump the size of a grapefruit on it! The vet sedated her and shaved her leg and sure enough, there were two fang marks. In the couple hours from the bite til the vet shaved the leg, an area the size of a quarter had already started to slough off and be bloody with an area 4"-5" around turning a bloody blackish-blue color. The vet said he would treat her with an IV, antihistimines, antibiotics and pain medication. Only time will tell if there is permanent injury. It depends on the amount of venom that was injected and if it went into a major vessel or not...

The war is officially on with snakes now... I have always left them alone, but it's war!

Anyone else experience a snake bite from a copperhead on them or their dogs? If so, could you share what you went through?

Thanks!

Good luck CJ. I hope your pup pulls through OK.

Was this in VA or PA?

Hope your pup pulls through with no damage to its leg.
I'll send my wife down to deal with the snakes, when we lived in VA. she found a big black snake by the basement door, when I got home I had to clean up about 8 pieces of snake.

It was in VA, right next to our house. I was like, I sort of expect this in the mountains of PA, but not right next to my house. I was lucky though, the vet is 10 minutes away. In PA, who knows where the closest vet is...

How big was the CH? We have them around here. Most times a dog is bitten it swells up and some local tissue damage but not to bad. I suspect however if bitten in a big blood vessel it could be a lot worse.

CJ, a number of years ago when we lived in Houston, our little Dachshund was bitten by a copperhead snake.
She was bitten on her nose and was swollen so bad she had trouble breathing by the time we got her to the vet.

I don’t recall the treatment but she recovered within a couple of days.

There was a wooded area behind our house and copperheads were common – that little dog turned into a vicious snake killer and afterwards, the only good snake was a dead snake.

She would grab a snake and toss in the air until the snake was dead.

Hope your dog recovers quickly – she may also be a snake killer.

CJ,

If she was bitten on the leg (especially lower leg), she'll probably be fine in a few days. The real concern with a copperhead bite is if the bite is near the neck (swelling can close the trachea) or heart (if venom gets in bloodsream).

One of our labs was bitten on the nose by a cottonmouth. His whole head was swollen for a few days, but he was fine after a trip to the vet.

Of course, it all depends upon how much venom was injected. If I recall correctly, copperhead venom is slightly less toxic than cottonmouth venom all other things being equal. Labs are resilient critters. Keep us posted on how she does.

Thanks guys, the snake looked a hair over 2 feet but darn fat, the typical copperhead look...

I'll keep you all updated, I really appreciate the concern. I am hoping with the bite being on her back leg, things will be OK for her and she won't have any long term debilitation.

Is she at the vet or with you?

They're keeping her over night just as a precaution. You don't realize how attached you are to a dog until she's gone a night! My fiancee was about in tears when she went to bed a few minutes ago...

When I was a kid, our white shepherd mix got tagged on the neck by a copperhead. It made an ugly sore, but no permanent damage. Bites to the limbs aren't as life threatening, but there is always the possibility of a permanent limp if the bite was real close to a joint.

My Uncle got tagged on the ankle, and it was stiff and sore the rest of his life.

Good luck to your dog CJ.

Thanks, that is what has me concerned, the bite is right on her hock which at the major back leg joint. I just hope there is not permanent damage. I will love her with a limp or without, but I want her to be able to enjoy many years of hunting with me and her hunting career is just beginning!

CJ:

I hope the dog pulls thru without any lasting complications. Are there any Quail Unlimited or Pheasants Forever chapters near you? If so, give them a call and see if they know of anyone putting on a snake breaking course. The QU in So. Cal would put on one or two a year, and I think it cost (back then) $35 to put your dog thru it. It was a good thing to do out there, quail hunting usually meant desert quail, and where the quail were, there were rattlers as well. Usually, when a dog went thru the course, they remembered for a year the first time, and in my experience, after the 2nd time, they were set for life. Even so, $35/year is cheap compared to a vet bill, or worse...

Travis, I hope there are no long term effects!

Thanks esshup, a couple guys on a hunting forum I post on mentioned the same thing. Unfortunately, snake bites on dogs around here are so rare I can't find any classes. I am just praying this is a fluke...

The vet estimates the final bill will be between $600 and $1200 depending on what treatments need to be done... OUCH!

Again, I appreciate all of you who have posted! Thanks so much...

I'll bet all 3 of you could book a round trip flight to L.A. and back for the price of the vet bill.

When I lived in Oceanside I went here for the classes:
snake breaking

Great point, esshup. Two of our labs went to a snake class, and it works well.

Any AM update, CJ?

CJ, I've had several dogs that were bit by copperheads as well as rattle snakes, they all came through just fine. I had a border collie that was bit apprx 5-7 times, my dad was to poor at the time to go to a vet(I was a kid)he would melt 2 sticks of butter and the dog would drink it, within 24 hours he was at it again. Good luck, Cody

Sorry to hear about this CJ. Hopefully the dog will have learned not to go near snakes again.

CJ, Hope pup is okay. I hates them copperheads.

Just got her back from the vet. Her back leg is still rather swollen and red but she is able to put a fair amount of weight on it which according to the vet is a very good sign that there will be no lasting issues with the use of the leg. She is on an antibiotic and pain medication with a antibiotic cream to apply to the bite area. The vet said the biggest hurdle with be when the skin begins to slough off and how much of it sloughing off will really depend on just how venom was injected. That process usually starts about 4-5 days after the bite. So we will see... She is tired but still has enough energy to be the goofy Lab she is. It's good to have her home... Not good that I now have to leave for work!

Thanks again for all your thoughts and words of encouragement....

Good news I suppose. Keep us posted.

Thanks for the update, CJ. I'm guessing she'll be back to normal within a week.

Good news and glad to here it.

Glad to hear your dog is O.K. C.J. You sound like you get as attached to them as I do.

I do wish I had more garter snakes here which are pretty harmless of course. The hope is they would go down the holes of the star faced moles that are doing so much damage around my ponds.