Some of you may have heard that Cassie was bit by a snake Friday. I thought I would fill the others in and encourage snake avoidance training and vaccinations.

Late Friday, I was introducing a puppy to the water. Cassie was along to help. Everything went great until we left. I was heading back to the truck carrying the puppy, and Cassie was behind me carrying a dokken when she was hit. We were walking through shallow water new from the recent rains. I did not see a snake but Cassie was in severe pain, would not walk on her left leg. I also noticed a small amount of blood.

Fifteen minutes later after I cleaned the wound, I noticed it turning black and immediately rushed her to my vet in Lewisville. We got her some pain meds but they had no anti venom. Fortunately, they knew where to send me. I then moved Cassie down the road to DFW North Emergency Clinic in Flower Mound. This is a very well equipped clinic, that has anti venom and lots of snake bite experience. Within 1.5 hours of the bite, we had her on anti venom.

Though I did not see the snake, the vet saw the severity of the necrosis and said water moccasin. This is a very dangerous snake. It is capable of killing its victims, including humans.

What is necrosis? It is the death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply. Cassie was losing flesh from this bite and it was ugly.

Due to lots of prayer and the staff at DFW North, Cassie was stable and her blood test results good 20 hours later. She is now at home recovering and I am managing the wound. Her leg is still very swollen but not getting worse. She is probably putting about 80% on the foot right now, so we have a way to go.

Though Cassie stepped on this snake, possibly aggravated by me passing it first, I still plan on snake avoidance training if possible this summer. I had already planned on the vaccine prior to this incident but was thinking July/August before the dove opener.

None of you want to have your dog go through what Cassie went through this weekend. It is also very expensive. Talk to your vet about the vaccine, know who has anti-venom in case of a bite, do the snake avoidance training, and be careful out there.

Glad the dog is recovering well.

Would snake avoidance have helped in this situation? Doesn't sound like the dog noticed it. Also, is there vaccine for water moccasin? Never heard of one.

Not sure if snake avoidance would have helped in this situation. I will never know. However, I think avoidance training will help in most encounters. The vaccine is more for protection from the western diamondback and the copper head. You are correct about it not offering protection from the water moccasin. The team at the emergency clinic said it may have bought me a bit more time but that is it.

Hope she recovers quickly.

Glad she's on the mend. Sounds like the vets brought their A game.

I hate water moccasins with a purple passion.

Dangit. I hate that for you and Cassie. Looks like she will be good as new soon.

They sure did. Cassie was the only dog in the hospital overnight so she got big time attention.

Ouch! Hope she continues to recover and recover fully!

This.

Hope the pup continues to improve. You just never know when something like that can happen.

Good job noticing Cassie's wound and getting it under control so fast. Thanks for sharing. I hope her recovery goes well and fast.

I think if one hunts with dogs for a number of years it is only a matter of when, not if one of your dog's gets bit. I have had two dogs bitten. One by moccasin, one by timber rattler. Both recovered fine, one only treated for pain and was hunting a day later after the swelling went down. The other benadryl,steroid,antibiotics. The only long term after effect was a minor limp in the bitten leg after long hunts. Both of those dogs I had to wrap my jacket around their heads while carrying them back to keep them from biting me due to the pain.

The avoidance training definitely helps. When my Dash first went through it, Wayne followed up with a moccasin exposure after done with the rattlesnake. Now even if Dash only smells where a moccasin has been or sees a bent stick floating in the water he stops and backs away to take another route. Before as a pup, he would try to jump out of the boat to attack any snake he saw.

I do think Cassie got a bit of avoidance training with the situation that happened. That bite was much worse than a strong e-collar setting.

Man that's some scary stuff. Glad she is recovering. Mine has a 9 am appointment in the morning for vaccine. I won't be late.

Glad she is getting better. On the bright side Cassie was the one probably most able to with stand the snake bite rather than you or the pup.

I am really glad to hear her blood work is a go. Unfortunately this is the toughest of all bite situations to avoid/detect. A snake in the water, carrying a bumper, you being there and yall working. All of these things stand against the dogs chances of even detecting the snake much more avoid it fast enough. This is the situation where she would most probably only get to smell the snake. Even then she would have to revert back to the training and relieve herself of happy times she was in at the moment, all in the matter of a split second.

I agree, seems like this situation (while I wasn't there) would've happened regardless. I've always heard a water moccasin won't kill a dog (assuming the airway doesn't swell) that you just benedryl them up and give them rest.

That's scary...sorry you had to deal with it Jay. She's a beautiful dog.

Wow...scary stuff there. I'm glad Cassie is on the road to recovery.

Poor pup, I feel for you bro........

So glad things appear to be improving. Have lots of rattlers at my place and it is a constant concern of mine for my Spinone

If you are concerned about rattlers, do look into the vaccine. It is very inexpensive and offers solid protection against rattlers.

How's Cassie doing? She at home and acting normal or still recovering a bit?

I have a new dog, a 4mo old black lab. Sounds like I need to talk to my vet about vaccine. Glad Cassie is doing well.

The vaccine is a good idea. I plan to do the same before dove season. I hunt mostly in central Texas. It is important to note that the vaccine gives you good protection against rattlers and the copper head. However, it does not help much, if any against a cotton mouth/water moccasin.

Yeah, that's what I was reading. Most likely will do the snake avoidance training also.

Thanks

Jerry

Judd,

We are two weeks today and she is doing great. I see no long term adverse problems with her left leg and paw. Right now, I am just managing the wounds from the two bites. There was one on the front and one on the back/bottom. Once these scabs drop offI can get her back in the water again and resume training.

Here is a video of her running around the yard yesterday. She just decided to go Forrest Gump on me. It was time to run.