The Dog Part 24

Aqua font. One ounce.

Ess. limon A sufficiency.

To be applied frequently.

LOTION TO BE USED WHEN SWELLING IS PRESENT.

Tinct. aconit. Half-a-scruple.

Aqua font. One ounce.

Ess. anis. A sufficiency.

LOTION TO BE APPLIED AFTER THE SWELLING HAS SUBSIDED.

Zinchi chlor. One grain.

Aqua font. One ounce.

Ess. anis. A sufficiency.

The other measures are dictated entirely by circ.u.mstances.

OPERATIONS.

There are very few of such offices to be performed on the dog. Among those, however, which do occur, is the removal of the toe. When a claw has grown completely round, and by being pressed into the flesh appears, in the judgment of the pract.i.tioner, to have provoked such injury as decidedly and imperatively requires the removal of the part affected, then the amputation of one toe may be undertaken. When the dog, to allay the itching of the extremities, gnaws or eats his own flesh from the toes, leaving black and ragged bones protruding, amputation is necessary. The member must in each case be amputated higher up than the injury. There is no absolute necessity to muzzle the dog, provided the master is present, and will undertake the charge of the head. When such has been the case, and the master has engaged to keep the attention of the dog fixed upon himself, I have removed a joint or two from the leg without the animal uttering a single cry; although the master, unused to such sights, has been seized with sickness so as to require spirits for his restoration.

The master being at the head, or an a.s.sistant on whom you can depend being at that post; another placed to keep down the body; and a third to lay hold of and extend the limb to be operated upon, which must be uppermost; the animal should be thrown on one side. There it must be allowed to remain until sufficient time has elapsed to calm its natural fears.

The operator then takes one of Liston's sharp-pointed knives, and thrusts it quite through the flesh, a short distance above the injury; he then with a sawing motion cuts downward and outward till the knife is released.

He next impales the member on the other side, keeping the back of the knife, as on the former occasion, as close to the bone as possible, and draws it forth in the same manner. He thus will have two flaps divided by a small notch, which coincides with the breadth of the bone. Through this notch, on the uppermost side, he must pa.s.s his knife, cutting upwards and inwards; thus upon both sides, till the lines made by the knife meet in a point. He will then, supposing the business to have been properly performed, see a bright pink living piece of bone in the centre; and to cut off so much, or even a little more than is visible, becomes his next object. For this purpose a saw, however fine, is tedious; because the bone to be cut through is not of sufficient body to allow the operator to put forth his strength, and on that account also does not leave behind it a smooth surface. The bone-nippers answer better. Without loss of time, therefore, the veterinary surgeon seizes a pair suited to the object in view, and with these he gently pushes back the flesh on all sides; he then, suddenly closing the handles, cuts short the protruding bone. The flaps that have been made are then brought together, when, if there is any bleeding, the raw surfaces are again exposed, and a few puffs with a pair of bellows, first having sprinkled the part with cold water, usually stop it. If that should not succeed, a small quant.i.ty of the tincture of ergot of rye suffices for the purpose; and all bleeding having ceased, the flaps are finally placed together, bound up in soft lint, and a leather or gutta percha boot placed over all, no dressing being applied or the boot removed for three days. When the wound is inspected, if, as frequently happens, the movements of the dog have disturbed the flaps, provided they are not drawn too uneven, the pract.i.tioner had better not touch them. The rectifying powers of nature in such cases are wonderful; and in those he had better trust rather than interfere with the process of healing, which he may remain certain has already commenced. In this fashion I have excised a dog's claw; and three months after the operation a spectator would have to compare one foot with another to discover that either was deficient in the proper number of appendages.

CAPPED HOCK AND ELBOW.--The first of these is more rare than the last; but as, on the point of the bone in each joint, is situated a bursa or small sac, containing an unctuous fluid intended to facilitate the movement of the bone under the skin, they both are subject to injury; when they swell to an enormous size, and const.i.tute a very unsightly deformity. If seen early, so soon as the tenderness has subsided, an ounce of lard may be mixed with a drachm of the iodide of lead, and the part well and frequently rubbed with the ointment. If in spite of the use of this ointment, which more often fails than succeeds, the tumor grows larger and larger, recourse must be had to an operation; else the disfigurement may ultimately become sufficiently great and hard to seriously impede the animal's movements.

An operation being determined on, the animal is best left standing; though, should it prove unruly, a.s.sistance sufficient to lift it on to a table, and thereon to lay it on its side, must be at hand. Everything being ready, and the dog in this case properly muzzled, the operator, with such a knife as he can work quickest with, makes an incision the entire length of the swelling, and even rather longer than shorter: he next reflects back both portions of skin, that is, the skin on either side of the swelling; and lastly, separates the enlargement from its base.

This removal will leave a huge, ugly, gaping wound, with a seeming superabundance of skin hanging from its side. Let him on no account remove a particle of that skin, however much more than is necessary properly to cover the wound there may immediately after the operation seem to be.

Inflammation will, with the beginning of the healing process, set in, and the action of this inflammation contracts the hanging skin; so that if a portion be removed, there will remain an open wound to that extent; and as skin is slowly reproduced, the cure may be r.e.t.a.r.ded for months.

The first part of the business being well concluded, the dog must remain muzzled, and be returned to its proprietor with a bottle of healing fluid, the sore which has been made being left uncovered. The healing fluid is to be used frequently; and if the case be a good one, the orifice quickly becomes small, and heals. In some animals, however, there is a disposition to gnaw or lick the part; thus undoing everything the veterinary surgeon has been accomplishing. To check this habit, a cradle round the neck; wide collars which prevent the head from being turned round; and various splints which, by keeping the limb extended, thereby hinder the animal from touching the wound, are employed. Any or all of these, in untoward cases, may be necessary; and in very high-bred animals the healing powers of nature are frequently slow, consequently in such the after-consequences of an operation are likely to prove very annoying.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

DOG BREAKING:

THE MOST

EXPEDITIOUS, EASY, AND CERTAIN

METHOD,

WHETHER GREAT EXCELLENCE OR ONLY MEDIOCRITY BE REQUIRED.

BY

COL. W.N. HUTCHINSON,

GRENADIER GUARDS.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.--463.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. QUALIFICATIONS, IN BREAKER--IN DOG.

1. Dog-Breaking an Art easily acquired.

2. Most expeditious mode of imparting every Degree of Education. Time bestowed determines Grade of Education. In note, Col. Hawker's opinion.

3. Sportsmen recommended to break in their own Dogs.

4. Men of property too easily satisfied with badly-broken Dogs. Keepers have no excuse for Dogs being badly broken.

5. Great Experience in Dog-breaking, or Excellence in Shooting, not necessary. Dispositions of Dogs vary.

6. What is required in an instructor.

7. Early in a Season, any Dog will answer, a good one necessary afterwards. Hallooing, rating Dogs, and loud whistling spoils Sport.

8. What a well-broken Dog ought to do.

9. Severity reprobated.

10. Astley's Method of teaching his Horses.

11. _Initiatory_ Lessons recommended--to be given when alone with Dog--given fasting.

12. Success promised if rules be followed. Advantages of an expeditious Education. Autumn shooting not sacrificed.

CHAPTER II.--470.

INITIATORY LESSONS WITHIN DOORS. SHOOTING PONIES.