swollen legs

BPRINGLE · Post by **BPRINGLE** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:34 am

I started taking my coondog bear hunting. I had him out on Wednesday and he went threw some berry patches. He was rubbed raw on his front legs and under his belly a little. Both of his fron feet had some cuts between the pads. I called the vet and the said, put some peroxide and neosporin on him. I had him out on Saturday. He still has some cuts between his pads. The upper part of his legs are pink and rubbed raw, but the lower part of his legs are swollen and he is not moving around very much. What should I use to reduse the swelling or should I take him over o the vet. (starting to realize what bear dogs are made of. Coonhunters just can't imagine. At least i could not. Tough SOB) - thanks for the help

Melanie Hampton · Post by **Melanie Hampton** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:19 am

I have a hound who after a hard race his legs will swell. I have found the best thing to use is a horse linament for sore muscles and tendons.. It cuts my dogs recovery time in half. He doesn't like it so much and I don't blame him, I can feel it tingleing my hands for quite a while after I put it on him...

My dog has a littermate who's legs swell. The owner takes her in for a cortizone shot every time.. She doesn't recover any faster then mine with the linament.. So I don't do the shots..

Once my dog gets into better shape his legs stop swelling..

Good luck...

BPRINGLE · Post by **BPRINGLE** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:26 am

Thank you ladycat hunter. I will try it

dog chaser · Post by **dog chaser** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:52 pm

My strike dog is a converted coon dog. I put him on his first bear at 8 years old. His legs and feet swell after every long run so i try to limit his chases. I think the muscles and tendons are conditioned to the hard running when a dog is run on bears from the get go. Litter mates to my dog never had the same problems but they were hunted on bear from the beginning.

as for remedies i dont know. I just let mine rest for a few days and he is ready to go, but he is 11 so he really needs the rest anyway.

I have also seen certain dogs swell up from nettles especially if they are wet when they go through them. might explain the redness.

BPRINGLE · Post by **BPRINGLE** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:14 pm

thanks dog chaser.

Sure hate to hear that. I don't have any other hounds right now. I though he was in pretty good shape. I guess the short coon chases over and over can't compare. Im going to pick up some horse linement and give it a try. I hope it helps. I had him on a couple long chases on Wednesday and never got treed. I took him again on Saturday, should have waited a little longer maybe.

calblu · Post by **calblu** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:15 pm

We have trouble with Rebel's "ankles" swelling after a hard coonhunt. Since he's getting old and has fallen out of so many trees over the years, we had his legs and hips xrayed about a year ago. Basically the diagnosis was that he has a little arthritis in the carpus/metacarpus area.
Our vet suggested giving him aspirin before and after a hunt, and doing alternating hot and cold packs when he's swollen after hunting.
Melanie, I read your post about this on the old shadetree board but didn't comment then since there was never any mention of tendonitis in Rebel's case. Got to thinking though that maybe the supplement we've been giving him might also work for other dogs with swollen legs after hunting. We've been using a product called Joint Strong for about the last 5 months, and it has helped a lot. I don't know what effect it would have on tendonitis since I haven't done any research into that, but it contains glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, cetyl myristoleate, hyaluronic acid, and an anti-inflammatory. You can read about it here http://www.k9power.com/joint_strong.php ... YAodH32h4A

Melanie Hampton · Post by **Melanie Hampton** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:59 pm

Thanks Chawn I will try that.... I am not sure if it is Tendonitis.. The vet has no clue he just prefers to pump them with cortizone, his answer for everything.. A guy who was into bird dogs thought that might be it since he has that problem with his springers...... The liniment is the best thing I have found and once he is in shape we are good to go... But I will try that for sure.. Since they have been taking it easy this summer I know once cat season hits he is going to be a sore boy for a while.

Ankle Express · Post by **Ankle Express** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:19 pm

You shouldn't have to skip more than a day or two. Try to push them thru it and they'll toughen up. See this alot when we take our dogs to Maine. Doesn't matter what we do for them here can't prepare them for the underbrush and years of logging remains matted to the ground. Even my shins get sore and scarred! Some dogs handle it better than others because of different things.

treeing walkers · Post by **treeing walkers** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:11 am

at the end of the a hard long last season, i had all my dogs legs swell, and they all could barely run on 'em they were so swollen. I took 'em up to the vet and they gave me an antinflammatory and in a week they were back good as new.