Dog's face swelling

Took the pup out for the first time this past weekend. We were hunting some rice fields. When we would drop multiple birds she would clean up the first few no problem but on the last one or two I would send her and on the line and being young we are still working on her memory so she didn't remember exactly where the bird was so I would let her hunt em up a little. I think she must have gone over some ant piles while she was sniffing these birds and I guess she sniffed some up in her nose because when we got back her face was twice the normal size and she could barely open her eyes. Gave her some benedryl and she was fine that night but it kinda scared me. You guys ever had that happen? Any other ideas besides ants?

Any shots given recently? Change in diet? Those are the most common villians, but it could also be environmental - either from the hunt or something else you encountered enroute, including something in your vehicle, depending on the circumstances.

BTW, benedryl was a good call, as you know. The swelling may come back, so don't be surprised if you need to use it again over the next few days.

any chance a snake popped her? puncture marks are hard to see sometimes on a black head. look hard and if you find anything suspect, get her into the vet for some antibiotics. might have been a dry bite or not much venom, but she's at a big risk for infection from the bite itself.

Same thing happened to my Brittany. I dont know what caused it. I think he got stung by a yellow jacket or wasp...

After about an 1hour the swelling went down. He never seemed to be in discomfort.

If it happened pretty fast I would suspect a bite or sting. I had a pup get stung by a bee, the eyelid and surrounding area was the size of a golf ball. Then the side of his mouth started to swell. It freaked my husband out and it was $300 at the emergence vet. Now we keep benadryl when were off hunting. Its a good idea to have it on hand in case you stung in the field. Eye wash comes in handy too.

Glad to hear she is ok. I have a lab/weim and the first time i took her to the ranch a bee got her right under her nose. She was sitting on the couch and got sick. I thought she ate something and while I was cleaning it up I looked over at her and her face was like four times the size. Her jowls were parallel to the ground. Luckily I looked were she was sitting and saw the dead bee. I called the vet and he told me to give her the benadryl. Within a few hours she was ok. Still gets the heart racing though when something happens to your hunting partner.

Had it happen to our boxer one night. We assume it was a wasp/bee sting.

Fire ants nearly killed my wifes....my wifes... Maltese. Same thing, $300 emergency vet bill, benydryl.

Anyone running a field dog is going to have these types of emergencies, as listed above. Guy I ran hunt tests with almost lost his lab at a humid May hunt test due to heat. We always had a washtub full of cool water and we always carried several bottles of rubbing alchohol in our training kits to rub on pups belly if they showed signs of heat stress.

Thanks for the input, I don't think it was a snake or a bee because it was her whole face evenly there were no dominant areas of swelling. The first guy I talked to told me it has happened to his dog before while hunting rice too. He said ants, that's why I made that assumption.

The wasp/bee swelling on the boxer was her whole head.

Allergic reaction is allergic reaction. Every dog can/will react differently, if at all.

Benadryl, rubbing alcohol, and Immodium are all cheap and necessary items for your dog kit, for the obvious reasons.