Porcupines...

[Miltonchix]

My dog (German Shepherd) hasn't tangled with porcupines but with CACTUS which is ALMOST as bad. The south edge of my property is infested with prickly pear cactus. It only took once for her to get them in her paws. Now she won't even chase cats or rabbits in that area. The cactus is almost better than a fence.

 

[Mycookoonest]

I just might try that... thanks for the help!

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
Well, maybe this porcupine problem will help you to see the necessity of a real fence.

One big problem with invisible fences is that they don't keep anything OUT of your yard. That includes porcupines. It also includes neighborhood kids, roaming dogs, or Bad Guys who might want to steal dogs to do bad things to them. IOW, invisible fences do nothing to protect the dog.

 

[LynneP]

Keep a medical syringe loaded with vinegar. If your dog will permit it and if you feel confident, cut the quill across the barb to relieve some internal pressure, and put a drop or two of vinegar on the skin by the barb. The quills will fall out shortly if you're lucky, otherwise you may need needle-nose pliers.. This works because the liquid at the hooked base of the quill is alkaline and the acidic vinegar neutralizes it and partly dissolves the barb. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant too. Of course if you have hundreds of quills, it might be worth the money at the vet's and I wouldn't recommend if the quills are in an animals mouth!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2132114_remove-porcupine-quills-dog.html

 

[CoyoteMagic]

I used to work up in the mountains of western Pa in a wilderness cap. The 2 camp dogs tangled with a porc. Dunno what it was but they would not stay away from those things. Old timers up there said that once a dog had taste of one they would keep going back. We finally had to keep the dogs locked up or on leash

 

[Mycookoonest]

Well i think it was an off chance that Pine was around our area... I asked the vet when I brought her in why it would be out during the day (I thought they were nocturnal). She said it was probably a mother who was out and about getting food during the day. What's sad is we normally don't leave them out if we aren't home. The babysitter was home with the boys when this happened and she was oblivious... (that's another story)... she's slowly becoming an indoor dog with outside time being when we are out with them... I did give her a little pep talk and told her to stay away from the stinky and prickly butts!

Because she's still a pup I don't think I would DARE take them out of her myself LOL! I'd end up with most of them in me!

So until I get my Husband to agree to spending a fortune on another fence, she'll have to adjust to being inside!

We thought about trying to catch the pine ourselves with a have a heart but we'd end up getting all the neighbors 15 cats! Then there's the whole thing of getting rid of it in the trap....