What If A Snake Bites My Dog?

I have been receiving more questions about snake bites now that the weather is getting warmer.  I thought you might be interested in learning more about your dog and snake bites.

We may live in a much more urban world than we once did but there are still plenty of snakes around. In fact, Alaska and Hawaii are the only states that can claim they don’t have native venomous snakes. According to one estimate, some 15,000 dogs are bitten by poisonous snakes per year. Most of those bites — 70-80 percent — occur around a dog’s face and head. That suggests that the dog may have been bothering the snake.

There are at least nineteen kinds of poisonous snakes in the U.S.: fifteen rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, and two kinds of coral snakes. Most of these snakes are found from Florida northward, and to points west.

If your dog is bitten by a snake, even a poisonous snake, chances are that he will recover. Even with bites from Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes and coral snakes it’s estimated that dogs recover about 80 percent of the time. However, recovery depends upon a lot of variables:

Where your dog is bitten

The kind of the snake

The size of the dog

How many bites there are

The age of the snake

How bad the bite is

How much venom was injected

A Chihuahua and a St. Bernard will have very different reactions to a bite from a rattlesnake. Likewise, if a snake strikes 3-4 times it can be much worse than one bite. A glancing bite may not inflict much venom. A snake that bites at a Chow Chow may get a mouth full of hair. Not all snake bites are the same.

Your own quick actions can also do much to save your dog’s life. If your dog is bitten by a snake you should do the following:

1. Try to identify the snake. Look at its size, color and patterns. Is there a rattle? (But, whatever you do, don’t get too close to the already angry snake.) It will help your vet to know what kind of snake bit your dog.

2. Check your dog for the bite marks. The snake may have bitten him more than once.

3. If your dog was bitten on the leg you should make a quick tourniquet on the leg above the bite. Make it snug but not too tight. You want to slow the spread of the venom toward your dog’s heart. Keep it localized. Once it reaches the heart it will be pumped all over the body. You can use part of your shirt or any other piece of fabric to make the tourniquet.

4. Head to the vet or animal hospital. Go quickly but try to keep your dog calm.

You can try to prevent snake bites by keeping your dog leashed when you’re walking, hiking or running in unfamiliar areas, especially in wooded areas. Many snake bites occur when dogs are “just visiting” places they’re not familiar with.

Try to keep your dog from doing too much exploring of holes in the ground, woodpiles and other places where snakes may have made a place to hide.

Pathways are usually safer than wandering through the woods. Snakes are more visible on pathways.

Nighttime walks can be problematic. Rattlesnakes can come out at night.

If you hear a rattle, be alert. Locate the snake with your eyes. Keep your dog at your side and move away slowly.

If your dog seems too curious about something in a hole call him back and make him leave it alone. They say that curiosity killed the cat but the truth is that dogs can get in a lot of trouble because of their own curiosity.

Dog owners can have their dogs “snake-proofed.” This is a training program where dogs are taught to have an aversion to snakes. It can be a little extreme but dogs that have this training generally don’t go near snakes again. It involves exposing dogs to snakes (often harmless snakes are used in training) and using an e-collar. When the dog goes near the snake he is given a buzz from the collar. Other trainers use Diamondback Rattlesnakes to train dogs to have an aversion to rattlesnakes in particular. Rattlesnakes account for most of the snake bites to dogs in the U.S.

Do you have a dog bite story? Let us hear about it in the comments box below.

Until next time……….