Help! Our dog has deep gash near shoulder

[77horses]

My dad's mini dachshund/lab, Riley, ran under our van and scraped his back on a sharp piece of metal that was sticking out; he just bought the van from someone and hadn't noticed the piece of metal sticking out on the bottom.

My dad heard him whining and went outside to see what was wrong and when he checked him over, he found a deep gash near his back.

He took him inside and washed any dirt or anything that might be in it with water and sowed it up a little, just to keep any dirt from getting into it. Riley is seems to be acting OK, but by what my dad described, it sounds pretty bad to me. He called me and I'm not there so I don't know any other details about it except the gash about the size of a marble, it was bleeding, and he sowed it up temporarily to keep anything from getting in it and getting it infected.
It's Sunday, so the the nearest vet (which is where he usually goes) is not open.


What should we do??? I'm worried that it will get infected or something. Riley is a pretty old dog; he is about 9 years old now (we got him in 2000). Oh and I almost forgot to add that my dad said the gash seems to be healing up already.

Any advice?
Thanks!

I hope Riley gets better soon and it heals up quickly. (and sorry I don't have that many details about it; if I was there I would have been able to give more info, but it's harder to explain when I'm told about it on the phone. I will call my dad back and post anything more on here that may help.

 

[PotterWatch]

As long as it is kept clean, I imagine it will heal without any problem. I would say just keep an eye on it and take him to the vet if it seems to get infected. Sounds like it's doing fine for now though!

 

[PandoraTaylor]

put neosporine on it, keep it clean and dry as much as possible and it should be fine.

in about 10 days you can try to remove the stitches on the outside.

 

[McCord6]

Clean it up, neosporin it, bandage it as best as you can. Hubby dumped HOT cooking oil on Pearl's head by accident today as well (dumping the grease from hamburgers out the kitchen window and didn't realize the dogs were right there!). Wasn't a bad burn, just washed her poor muzzle up and kept an eye on her. Shame on Daddy!

 

[Attack Chicken]

Sounds like your dad is doing all the right things

Just keep him nice a warm and keep the wound clean

 

[bheila]

Any time my animals have a cut/abscess I use water/Iodine to flush the wound. I probably wouldn't have sewed the wound but then again I don't really know how big/deep it is. Keep an eye out for any foul odor, oozing and redness.

 

[taraann81]

After years of research in hospitals they have found that the best cleansing agent for wounds is normal saline. I would suggest clipping all hair away from the wound and flushing once daily with salt water. Also ask your dad and be sure he did not stitch the wound completely shut, if it is quite deep I will need to drain, completely stitching it shut could cause a pocket of fluid to form which would inhibit healing.

Good luck.