My Shetland sheepdog has a wound on her left shoulder blade. At first I thought it was a dog wound because when I had quickly pulled her away from fighting with another one of my female dog. (Domination, I know gets bad when one of the females is coming in heat, but, that's not the subject.) When I had checked each dog that had fought for wounds, I had found one on the skin of her left shoulder blade. The wound was bleeding so I had quickly washed way the blood that was forming around the fur. I couldn't see much at the time before I washed it due to the amount of fur and blood built up, but when I cleared the blood away, I did find a scab that was already healing over from a previous wound. (I found out I was the one to open the wound back up from pulling her away from the other dog. I feel terrible about it now because I feel I will have to spend hundreds at the vet just because of a accident. The female dogs usually never fight, but for some reason when another female is coming in heat it is instant war with my them.) So, I did what my mother told me to do, I put Neosporin on the wound because that's what mother told me to do. When I had first looked at the wound it was about the size of a canine tooth bite from another dog. I wanted to cut/shave the fur around the would and put a bandage wrap around it so it would close up nicely and heal without a problem. But, my mother didn't want me to do that, so we just let it sit and run it's course. The next day, I had looked at the wound and the fur was greasy from the Neosporin. I had once again cleaned around the wound because the blood from the other day had dried around the wound, but the wound was again still open and had a bit of brownish white pus inside the wound. I had instantly known it was beginning to get infected. My mother just told me to keep putting Neosporin on it and give her some antibacterial tablets twice a day. I really wanted to put a bandage over the wound to close it up but I did as my mother had said and followed her directions letting her take care of the wound. I haven't looked at it until recently and it has been about 5 days since I had first seen it, and it looks nothing like when I had first seen it. The wound now smells and is very dirty due to pus build up up around the wound. The hole is still not closed and it looks bigger and deeper. I am afraid that she might have some tissue damage now. White puss inside the wound. It is badly infected and not healing at all, (apparently these antibacterial pills aren't working). What should I do? Also, how can I prevent this from happening again? Should I have shaven and cut the hair around the wound and bandaged it close when I had first seen the wound?

- Laura (19)

Is there a lump around the wound? It could have become ulcerated and may need draining.

The same thing happened to one of my mothers dogs, she was bitten by another dog right above her tail. The wound was cleaned and antiseptic applied but it still became infected. You mother is right it's best not to keep the wound under bandage if it can be avoided, by bandaging it you are encouraging moisture to remain at the site which can make matters worse.
In the end my mothers dog needed the wound sliced open and all the pus purged and cleaned before being allowed to reclose.

Your girl needs antibiotics from the sound of it which you can get from your vet. What tablets have you been giving her? Specific name would be good if you know and the dosage.

Oh, sorry I had forgotten to include the name of the medicine. "Fish Flex, Cephalexin, 100 Capsules, For Control of Common Bacterial Infections in Fish" There is no lump. Originally the wound was as round as a number two pencil maybe smaller, about the size of a Shetland sheepdog canine tooth, and probably less than 1/4 cm deep. My mother had cleaned it this morning and the wound is almost 3 times as big and there is another small hole beside it, almost as if the two holes belong to one wound but is only separated by a little thin piece of skin in between. The wound is almost 1/2 cm to 1 cm deep. I think that we might night to take her to the vet and let the doctor clean it out and maybe cut some of the dead tissue away. But my mother says that it might not come to that and they will probably just prescribe more antibacterial medication or maybe give her some stitches her. I just hope it is the latter of the three, because this is my fault for opening the wound by accident in the first place. I feel so terrible, she must be in pain with that open wound like that.

You are working on the right thing to do, but Mom is not helping. Does she not like the dog? Any puncture, especially a tooth wound, will inject mouth and skin bacteria under the skin, where it is nice and moist, warm, and dark. It is an abscess waiting to develop. Closing the hole is the LAST thing you want to do. Cephalexin would be a good antibiotic but I'm not too impressed with fish grade medicines.

What you are looking at is a subcutaneous abscess. It is draining through the puncture wound, but active throughout the space under the skin. It is damaging the skin from the inside out... expect the hair above to fall out, then the skin to begin to slough off, leaving a nice large area of exposed muscle that will very slowly granulate in, in about 3 months, with proper treatment (for home care). Proper treatment is with veterinary care probably involving surgical closure of the skin defect, after it has been cleaned of residual necrotic tissue and bacteria. Then more antibiotics (animal grade)

Don't take any blame for opening the wound. It needed to be done since it wasn't healing to begin with. As for the pain, most of the nerves in the skin have long since been killed off by the pus. Let's hope the infection hasn't begin to work it's way deeper, between the muscles of the shoulder. Your mother is undoubtedly a fine woman and mom, but she is a lousy nurse and vet. Take the dog to the vet and expect to have to leave her for a few days.

Yes, you should have cut the hair away from the wound. Makes it easier to keep clean, and treat. Putting medication ON a penetrating wound does little to no good since none of it ever reaches the problem area beneath the skin. What to do about the dogs?. separate the warriors before the next fight season comes along.

The best thing I have found for open wounds on dogs is Humane Healing wound ointment. It works miracles, and actually works at a cellular level to increase the wound recovery rate. It is the only product on the market that I have seen such incredible results from, and best of all it's only a once a day application.

Just a hint, because ALL of us do it occasionally. This post is several months old, so check all the "new" posts. Some aren't.