Went for a ride with my pointer today – only an hour and he was fine until right at the end he slowed down and was limping

He wasn’t happy letting me look at his foot but now he’s asleep he’s got a tear in the big pad- all looks clean etc but with a flappy bit of skin

Will it just skin over or does he need it covering up?

Any tips/advice please

Superglue

From previous experience, he’ll keep it clean. Just keep him off dirty surfaces and rest him.

That’s a dog owner’s perspective. A professional may have other ideas. 🙂

first off they can’t normally be stitched, they normally just pull apart again. the trick is plenty of rest & keeping it clean (salt water bathing if he’s been in the flower beds etc.), unless you are good at bandaging and have the right material I wouldn’t bother you might end up making things worse. it’ll need looking at with the first sign its getting infected. If at all concerned take him to the vet tomorrow, its much easier to fix things if they are presented before they get horribly swollen or infected!

and don’t use superglue, it works well in certain situations, this isn’t one of them

Too late…..

I’m sort of thinking it’s like a blister so as long as it’s kept clean it will skin over etc

Keep it clean and apply liberal amounts of Sudocreme. It’s waterproof and will help the healing. My Beardie tore multiple pads on the South Downs last year and it looked really bad at first but he was ok after about a week. Clean and redress twice a day if I remember.

Clean with salt water made from cooled water from the kettle.

Sudocreme is fine as above.

You can put an old sock over it and wrap some surgical tape around the neck to try and keep it on ut it probably won’t stay on. If it’s wet outside and the sock is still on then a poo bag over the sock to try and keep it dry.

tbh we never had much luck with the sock thing. Just laid her up for a day or so to allow it to harden in the air and then lead only walks for a bit. Will heal quick once it gets going. Make sure it’s cleaned regularly.

Cheers all

I’m concerned covering it up will not let it harden up as quick – he’s also really twitchy about touching his legs when there’s nothing wrong with them so it’s going to be fun!

or

When my collie cross did this, I made him a temporary bootie with some bubble wrap, gaffer tape and an old tyre 🙂

Is it a graze or does the cut under the skin flap have any depth to it?

Northwind- that gif is great!

Fudge- it’s a flap of skin like the pad has ripped no cut

Aftk is spot on.

A couple of other things.

From previous experience, he’ll keep it clean.

Dogs mouths are full of bacteria, stop him from licking it. Their tongues are also very rough and he will wear the skin away.

Generally leave it to the air, but give it a bathe in some warm water once in while.

While its healing only walk him on hard surfaces, mud, sand or grit can get into the wound, heal over and you’ll end up with a very bad infection.

For me, whenever Rickon does this (my dog, hence my name), I rest him at hone for a couple of days. He’s grumpy and sulks, but he’s better in a few days.

Keep it dry, keep it clean.

And if there’s a flap hanging off, and he’s good with you touching his feet, cut the skin off. Its dead, and it could rip more skin off if he catches it.

Vet wrap and a sock to cover when going for a walk, carrier bag from supermarket of choice to cover if it’s wet.
This being STW the bag will need to be from Booths for maximum niche points.

Consider a ‘cone of shame’ if the dog won’t leave the wound alone.