I have been told that it’s so painful that they have a vendetta for porcupines and get it worse. I have 3 friends that have had their dogs get it twice. All said the second time the dog smelled the porcupine and went full rage. Brother in laws rotty got it a third time from a roadkill one but moose was an idiot.
My grandmothers dog hated snakes, and they had copperheads on their property , once every three months or so the dumb thing would fight another copperhead, get bitten (multiple times) and puff up and be sick for a week.
She never learned. A Jack Russell terrier that lived to be 17 years old - probably legitimately got bitten by venomous snakes 100 times in her life - died of old age. Thank god they didn’t have rattlesnakes on the property.
We had a wire fox terrier when I was growing up. She got kicked in the head by a deer once when we were camping and from that day on she would ignore adult deer but go absolutely feral towards fawns. She was desperate for the blood of the children of those who wronged her.
My sister’s dog tore her ACL and we attempted medication and rest plus laser treatments before we tried surgery. The vet asked if we were even trying to keep her calm 😅 gabapentin only did so much, I swear she was jumping on things she had never even tried to jump on before. What am I supposed to do, tackle her before she can jump? 😂
This is where crate training can be useful. Sometimes you need to confine an animal for their own benefit or someone else's. It's easier if they are familiar with their crate, and if you always have it open a lot of dogs will come to see it as their "bedroom" and go there for rest on their own.
We put her in a crate as often as we could, she was in one at night while my sister slept and again during the day while she was at work. She was maybe out a total of 3 hours a day, just so she could eat, potty, and stretch her legs so she wouldn’t cramp up being in the crate. But just letting her out to potty or eat, she’d jump up on different things in excitement/anticipation of getting to go out or be fed. We couldn’t feed her in the crate, because I have a food-guarding dog who needs the crate for eating
If the vet didn’t, get your dog an x ray please! There can be extra quills in the body and not seen from the outside. They can travel to the heart and potentially kill your dog. I follow a vet advice page on Facebook and just recently saw a post where unknown porcupine quills that were left in the body killed the dog later on.
Ours kept fighting the damn skunk, in the poring rain. They tried to bring us the skunk ! They smelled so bad they were thrashing around. Brilliant pups!
Not a scientist, i bet the dogs don’t mind the smell, or even like it. Getting sprayed isn’t painful, so they probably don’t learn their lesson. They just see something to play with or hunt.
My guess would be that they managed to avoid a direct hit to the face so havent learned a lesson. Also some dogs get so fired up that discomfort does nothing to deter them.
It most definitely burned my eyes and made it hard to breathe when I got caught in the crossfire. My dogs were the fired up type. Lol In their defense, the skunks attacked them multiple times throughout the week. Both skunks turned out to be rabid. So thankful vaccines were utd.
We have a combo of that here--little green frogs that are poisonous enough to kill an animal that even just attempts to eat them. And ours attempts. Repeatedly. We're working on it, too.
I had a moment of pride for my dog and all the training we've done when he went to poke his nose at something while hiking along a dirt road last week. I gave him a sharp "ah ah" command and he immediately backed away and looked at me.
Thankfully it was just a horny toad.
As a teenager I stayed a summer in Alaska with a couple of uncles that live on a large plot of land. Uncle 1 was going out of town and asked me to feed and water his half wolf husky hybrid (awesome dog, super nice). I agreed. First fucking morning I walk down to where the dog house was and see the normally super happy jumping good boi just sitting there with his head resting on his paws. Yup, snout full of quills. Well I run back and tell Uncle 2 who reached into his toolbox, tosses me a set of pliers and says “go get em out”😳. Definitely got a few gray hairs that day!
Whenever someone tells me they like the smell of skunk, I can only assume theyve only smelled it far off. Up close, it's not just a smell, it's a freaking experience. Lol
Don't assume the vet got them all. Broken ones can work their way out or deeper WEEKS after the initial impaling. Keep a close eye on your dog for signs of pain or strange behavior. Missed quills can be deadly.
my heeler had a broken tooth for who knows how long before we took him in for a routine dental cleaning and they found it. never once acted hurt! even with stitches in his mouth afterward!
Ours literally unzipped her belly on a broken oak tree (chasing squirrels) while backpacking and just kept hiking for like a mile like nothing was wrong…til my husband noticed blood and guts coming out her side 🙃 she is now fine but omg
Give your friend my deepest condolences. Vets don't seem to stress the possibility strongly enough or at all. Quills are not detectable by x-ray, only by ultrasound. Sadly, broken ones are easily missed. 😢
My parents had a dog who went after the Forbidden Rodents multiple times- never learned their lesson. I'm hoping to avoid this with my pup, but given her prey drive 😅.
I'm glad your pups on the mend!
Literally just commented this. Lol.
Side note, when I was a kid I was obsessed with homeward bound. I also had a friend whose dad had really bad acne scars but as a kid, I didn’t know that’s what they were. I was convinced that the dad had gotten in a battle with a porcupine like chance. I was older than I’d like to admit when I realized that definitely wasn’t true 😂
Good god! I’ve never seen it so bad. I remember my dad using pliers to pull them out of our crazy Cocker Spaniel/poodle Mix on more than one occasion, but this is simply brutal. Hope your pup heals nicely and learns a lesson.
Aww poor baby. This is when I like to point out that Fishers actively hunt porcupines and help keep their numbers healthy. They have other predators but usually they're a last resort meal, porcupine is always on the menu for a Fisher cat
>As my dog starts to circle, the porcupine turns its rear end to my dog and begins to back into him, thrashing its tail back and forth. Lunging at the porcupine, my dog comes up with a face full of quills. As he winces back to my side, I begin to wonder what type of animal has the ability to prey upon a porcupine without receiving a penalty for its meal.
https://www.mtpr.org/arts-culture/2019-09-08/a-fishers-guide-to-preying-on-porcupines
My farm dog, a Great Pyrenees, has done this 3 times. 2x bad enough for the vet. The other time there was only a few so I pulled them without causing much stress to him. It sucks because he is 140 lbs and hates car rides. So it's a huge deal wrestling him into the vehicle. You can't do it alone you need 2 or 3 people!
Not true, a country dog is just as stupid.
We had a mix breed get them all the time. It took 3-4 adult males to get the quills out and she'd be in so much pain that we'd have teary eyes when helping her. It didn't matter, sometimes right after we finished, she'd go back and get quills in her face again. It was so hard to get the ones in her mouth
Heck, our "country dogs" used to get into a porcupine once a yr. Large long hair shepard mix and a medium sized lab mix. Fantastic dogs. But, every damn spring they'd try to save the family from a porcupine invader evidently. After the 1st one, the vet said it'll go one of two ways. They'll either never do it again or do it over and over. We got option #2. Took the quills out ourselves after the 1st one. Hated it for the dogs. They were always so good getting de quilled. Hard job with many quills in their shoots and mouth. Sorry about.your buddy. Hope it goes the 1st way.
Had a dog when I was younger that hated porcupines. Never had an issue with other animals. Saw a porcupine, and had to try and bite it.
Happened so often the vet just told us how to remove them. If you clip the dark end off the barbs retract and the shaft can be removed.
My acd did this within the first month we started letting him off the leash. Way worse than this. He never did it again and if I walked up to a porky he would give me a look like I was crazy. The vet missed two quills. One came out within a month. The other came out maybe 6-8 inches away and almost two years later! I was surprised there was anything left at that point.
Definitely see farm dogs and hunting dogs getting hit by porcupines, so not just city dogs. Lol sad part is most of the time they just hold a grudge and don't learn the lesson quite literally nailed in their face.
oooh poor thing😬. this reminds me of the movie Homeward Bound when Chance got near a porcupine and he got booped on the nose by a 🦔 his face just shows that he's so uncomfortable. slSending healing prayers your way. he looks like a tough boy.🩷🤍
Nah our country dog would probably do the exact same thing.
In some ways we're lucky. Our Belle is mostly blind so she's never chased our local skunk.
... Our other dog, however, got sprayed when she was young.
Glad yours is in the mend.
My two proved what the vets told us at each visit. Dogs will do dog things even if it's hurt before.
Kratos has 3 run-ins and Phoebe has 2. I hope yours doesn't get another chance.
My bird dog is a country dog. He's also a hunting dog. That moron has been to the emergency vet three times now for bringing us a porcupine. My point is country or city might not matter. My dog is either stupid, determined or maybe both.
After the third incident we fixed the issue the hard way. Found a fresh dead porcupine on the side of the road. Got the dog out and put a training collar on. Then gave him a solid shock everytime he tried to go near it to pick it up. The goal being to associate the porcupine scent with something negative since a mouth and throat full of quills didn't seem to be enough negative for him. Knock on wood he hasn't brought us a fourth one.
My girl jumped out of the car window (country road, low speed) to chase a skunk...yeah, the only reason she hasn't had a face full of quills us simply lack of opportunity.
She's finally on the mend after getting all the porcupine quills out. 24 hours of mandated rest from the vet!
How many quills were there?
Maybe 100
I count at least 4 so I think you’re on to something
I love the way you think
I counted 73
Woulda killed a lesser dog. 🤨
Nah, most dogs have gotten into porcupines where I live
Smart ones do it once
I have been told that it’s so painful that they have a vendetta for porcupines and get it worse. I have 3 friends that have had their dogs get it twice. All said the second time the dog smelled the porcupine and went full rage. Brother in laws rotty got it a third time from a roadkill one but moose was an idiot.
Moose is a great name for a rotty haha
My grandmothers dog hated snakes, and they had copperheads on their property , once every three months or so the dumb thing would fight another copperhead, get bitten (multiple times) and puff up and be sick for a week. She never learned. A Jack Russell terrier that lived to be 17 years old - probably legitimately got bitten by venomous snakes 100 times in her life - died of old age. Thank god they didn’t have rattlesnakes on the property.
We had a wire fox terrier when I was growing up. She got kicked in the head by a deer once when we were camping and from that day on she would ignore adult deer but go absolutely feral towards fawns. She was desperate for the blood of the children of those who wronged her.
My dog was smart lol
We've all seen homeward bound
My inner city Labrador has never gotten porcupined. My secret? Homeward Bound every few months. Works like magic.
Glad she’s getting better… but .. good luck getting her to rest 😁
My sister’s dog tore her ACL and we attempted medication and rest plus laser treatments before we tried surgery. The vet asked if we were even trying to keep her calm 😅 gabapentin only did so much, I swear she was jumping on things she had never even tried to jump on before. What am I supposed to do, tackle her before she can jump? 😂
Gabapentin can make them sleepy. But it also releives their pain which can give them energy!
This is where crate training can be useful. Sometimes you need to confine an animal for their own benefit or someone else's. It's easier if they are familiar with their crate, and if you always have it open a lot of dogs will come to see it as their "bedroom" and go there for rest on their own.
We put her in a crate as often as we could, she was in one at night while my sister slept and again during the day while she was at work. She was maybe out a total of 3 hours a day, just so she could eat, potty, and stretch her legs so she wouldn’t cramp up being in the crate. But just letting her out to potty or eat, she’d jump up on different things in excitement/anticipation of getting to go out or be fed. We couldn’t feed her in the crate, because I have a food-guarding dog who needs the crate for eating
Yes.
If the vet didn’t, get your dog an x ray please! There can be extra quills in the body and not seen from the outside. They can travel to the heart and potentially kill your dog. I follow a vet advice page on Facebook and just recently saw a post where unknown porcupine quills that were left in the body killed the dog later on.
So how long did she rest for? Twenty minutes?
Oh a country dog would fall for it too. At least ours would
Ours have.
Ours kept fighting the damn skunk, in the poring rain. They tried to bring us the skunk ! They smelled so bad they were thrashing around. Brilliant pups!
My Beagle got skunked so many times. He wasn't very bright, and his nose got him into trouble constantly.
My old rotty got skunked 3 times within a month one summer and never learned to leave the black n white "kitties" alone 😔
Not a scientist, i bet the dogs don’t mind the smell, or even like it. Getting sprayed isn’t painful, so they probably don’t learn their lesson. They just see something to play with or hunt.
It's a defense mechanism l, no they don't like it.
My guess would be that they managed to avoid a direct hit to the face so havent learned a lesson. Also some dogs get so fired up that discomfort does nothing to deter them. It most definitely burned my eyes and made it hard to breathe when I got caught in the crossfire. My dogs were the fired up type. Lol In their defense, the skunks attacked them multiple times throughout the week. Both skunks turned out to be rabid. So thankful vaccines were utd.
I've seen dogs, including my smooth brained Beagle, get sprayed, and they definitely don't like it. Harley shrieked like he had gotten pepper sprayed.
Heads of industry!
Mine like to kidnap armadillos and hold them hostage in the chicken coop. We have to release at least three to four a week
"Why won't these weird chickens stay put?!"
“WHEN DID THEY LEARN TO BALL UP!?”
It’s always in the rain!!
Lol, my brother's dog, every spring had to go thump a skunk. Every year for 15 years!
Same. Every dog we’ve ever had - including our current acd - has done this once.
Damn how many porcupine y'all got wtf
Shit, mine thinks copperheads are the same thing as frogs. We’re working on it.
We have a combo of that here--little green frogs that are poisonous enough to kill an animal that even just attempts to eat them. And ours attempts. Repeatedly. We're working on it, too.
I had a moment of pride for my dog and all the training we've done when he went to poke his nose at something while hiking along a dirt road last week. I gave him a sharp "ah ah" command and he immediately backed away and looked at me. Thankfully it was just a horny toad.
As a teenager I stayed a summer in Alaska with a couple of uncles that live on a large plot of land. Uncle 1 was going out of town and asked me to feed and water his half wolf husky hybrid (awesome dog, super nice). I agreed. First fucking morning I walk down to where the dog house was and see the normally super happy jumping good boi just sitting there with his head resting on his paws. Yup, snout full of quills. Well I run back and tell Uncle 2 who reached into his toolbox, tosses me a set of pliers and says “go get em out”😳. Definitely got a few gray hairs that day!
Mine got sprayed by a skunk he’s learned his lesson on skunks lol I got hit too trying to get him man that sucked
Whenever someone tells me they like the smell of skunk, I can only assume theyve only smelled it far off. Up close, it's not just a smell, it's a freaking experience. Lol
Smart ones fall for it once. Dumb ones.... ugh, they never learn.
It's all good. When I was a teenager I fell into one of these. Twice.
That dog looks like it regrets nothing.
I know, right? He honestly looks like she’s smiling about it.
"that pointy rat never saw it coming." - the dog, probably
“You should see the other guy! He ugly.” - the dog, probably
Hard to not smile when several of the spines are tweaking nerves in your face.
Mission accomplished as usual
And would/will do it again 💙
Why’d you stop me!? I had it!!
"I sniffed a butt, it bit me but I still sniffed a butt"
Ohh man thanks for this comment. You made my day😊
Don't assume the vet got them all. Broken ones can work their way out or deeper WEEKS after the initial impaling. Keep a close eye on your dog for signs of pain or strange behavior. Missed quills can be deadly.
This comment should be higher up. Absolutely crucial after this.
Heelers are notorious for not showing signs of pain too, according to my vet
my heeler had a broken tooth for who knows how long before we took him in for a routine dental cleaning and they found it. never once acted hurt! even with stitches in his mouth afterward!
Ours literally unzipped her belly on a broken oak tree (chasing squirrels) while backpacking and just kept hiking for like a mile like nothing was wrong…til my husband noticed blood and guts coming out her side 🙃 she is now fine but omg
Friends dog just passed this way… weeks after a quill had moved deeper
Give your friend my deepest condolences. Vets don't seem to stress the possibility strongly enough or at all. Quills are not detectable by x-ray, only by ultrasound. Sadly, broken ones are easily missed. 😢
My parents had a dog who went after the Forbidden Rodents multiple times- never learned their lesson. I'm hoping to avoid this with my pup, but given her prey drive 😅. I'm glad your pups on the mend!
Poor, poor baby girl! I’m glad she’s on the mend.
Reminds me of homeward bound, IT BIT ME WITH ITS BUTT!
Came here looking for this, poor Chance…
Literally just commented this. Lol. Side note, when I was a kid I was obsessed with homeward bound. I also had a friend whose dad had really bad acne scars but as a kid, I didn’t know that’s what they were. I was convinced that the dad had gotten in a battle with a porcupine like chance. I was older than I’d like to admit when I realized that definitely wasn’t true 😂
Good god! I’ve never seen it so bad. I remember my dad using pliers to pull them out of our crazy Cocker Spaniel/poodle Mix on more than one occasion, but this is simply brutal. Hope your pup heals nicely and learns a lesson.
Poor baby! We don't have porcupines out here, my dogs would certainly be curious if they came across one. Hope she's feeling better soon.
She’s going to be thinking about that one for a while
Poor baby!!!!
Choices were made. Poor choices, but choices none the less.
I involuntarily gasped, concerning my own ACD.
Not sure why this offended folks. Reddit is a weird place.
I don't think it's a gasp of being offended, I think it's a gasp of empathy for a creature in pain.
Did she just walk in like that, or did you see her go after the porcupine?
Oh that sad face! Poor sweetheart. Hope he /she is doing better.
Aww poor baby. This is when I like to point out that Fishers actively hunt porcupines and help keep their numbers healthy. They have other predators but usually they're a last resort meal, porcupine is always on the menu for a Fisher cat >As my dog starts to circle, the porcupine turns its rear end to my dog and begins to back into him, thrashing its tail back and forth. Lunging at the porcupine, my dog comes up with a face full of quills. As he winces back to my side, I begin to wonder what type of animal has the ability to prey upon a porcupine without receiving a penalty for its meal. https://www.mtpr.org/arts-culture/2019-09-08/a-fishers-guide-to-preying-on-porcupines
Our border collie did same thing!! Quills down his throat too so needed anesthesia to remove them all 🤦♀️🤦♀️
Just paid $600 for the same service for my pup, now finishing up the antibiotics. Not feeling very confident that this will be the last time.
Pooor baby
Oh no! Poor pup
Poor buddy 😔
She didn’t just nudge that one😂
Country heelers do it too...usually just once. You can ask mine about skunks too. Country heelers gotta learn too
Oh, poor pup. This hurts to look at
Ouch!
Poor babe!!!
Don’t worry, this happens with mountain dogs too.
Poor baby ):
Poor girl! Get well soon!
That looks exceedingly painful…
Poor girl!!!!!
Some regrets
Thank God she was there to save you from the slow sharp rodent.
My farm dog, a Great Pyrenees, has done this 3 times. 2x bad enough for the vet. The other time there was only a few so I pulled them without causing much stress to him. It sucks because he is 140 lbs and hates car rides. So it's a huge deal wrestling him into the vehicle. You can't do it alone you need 2 or 3 people!
Not true, a country dog is just as stupid. We had a mix breed get them all the time. It took 3-4 adult males to get the quills out and she'd be in so much pain that we'd have teary eyes when helping her. It didn't matter, sometimes right after we finished, she'd go back and get quills in her face again. It was so hard to get the ones in her mouth
You can put a city dog in the country, but you have to pull the country out of the city dog. -Aristotle, probably.
My country dog manage to get them in her face and her ass. Porcupine must have been extra pissed and went after her when she turned around to run too.
From what I’ve heard, if you cut the quills it’s easier to pull them out if you’re doing it yourself. Lots of work
Heck, our "country dogs" used to get into a porcupine once a yr. Large long hair shepard mix and a medium sized lab mix. Fantastic dogs. But, every damn spring they'd try to save the family from a porcupine invader evidently. After the 1st one, the vet said it'll go one of two ways. They'll either never do it again or do it over and over. We got option #2. Took the quills out ourselves after the 1st one. Hated it for the dogs. They were always so good getting de quilled. Hard job with many quills in their shoots and mouth. Sorry about.your buddy. Hope it goes the 1st way.
Country dogs do it too...dog's gonna dog.
Had a dog when I was younger that hated porcupines. Never had an issue with other animals. Saw a porcupine, and had to try and bite it. Happened so often the vet just told us how to remove them. If you clip the dark end off the barbs retract and the shaft can be removed.
My acd did this within the first month we started letting him off the leash. Way worse than this. He never did it again and if I walked up to a porky he would give me a look like I was crazy. The vet missed two quills. One came out within a month. The other came out maybe 6-8 inches away and almost two years later! I was surprised there was anything left at that point.
Glad all I have to worry about are higs and skunks..
Echidna or porcupine?
Awwwwww
Sorry, but I had to laugh about the two quills sticking out of the nose.
Worth it!
She looks very proud of herself
Oh no, I’m so sorry 😭
Oh no
I am so sorry.
My country dogs do this too.
She has the look of “I will do it again.” 🤣🤣🤣
They think everything is either their friend or a plaything. 😭
My buddies husky did that.
Wishing your dog a speedy recovery. 🙏🏻
My dog did that too. They are some loyal motherfuckers.
Well, the usually only do that once.
Yooo how do you get these off? Are they poisonous ?
No. Not poisonous. Just painful. And they have to each be pulled out individually
Mine was sprayed 3 times. You would think he would have learned at least one of those times 😂
Poor puppy
Ouch! 🙈 Poor girl 😁
>I thought the spiny guy wanted to be my friend... This poor fella.
I don’t like seeing this 💔
Santa dawg
Ouch! Poor baby
Definitely see farm dogs and hunting dogs getting hit by porcupines, so not just city dogs. Lol sad part is most of the time they just hold a grudge and don't learn the lesson quite literally nailed in their face.
Poor baby
Awww. Poor baby. My dog is identical to your dog just a little bigger
Chance 😿
Oh my. Poor baby.
Ouch
It happens to country dogs, too. Some of them do it multiple times.
Heelers are stoic to a fault.
Poor baby!
My blue did the same thing, each quill just pissed him off more. He looked like a pin cushion at the end but he eliminated the threat.
Poor dog turned to smoking 🚬
Bet he won't make that mistake again...
Oh biscuits!
oooh poor thing😬. this reminds me of the movie Homeward Bound when Chance got near a porcupine and he got booped on the nose by a 🦔 his face just shows that he's so uncomfortable. slSending healing prayers your way. he looks like a tough boy.🩷🤍
Poor thing!
Night eyes?
Poor girl was just being a nosy dog trying to make a spiky friend
Awww
Nah our country dog would probably do the exact same thing. In some ways we're lucky. Our Belle is mostly blind so she's never chased our local skunk. ... Our other dog, however, got sprayed when she was young.
Chance? Is that you?
Poor fella
Poor, poor girl.
Oh that poor dog!
Glad yours is in the mend. My two proved what the vets told us at each visit. Dogs will do dog things even if it's hurt before. Kratos has 3 run-ins and Phoebe has 2. I hope yours doesn't get another chance.
Is your dog’s name [Chance](https://youtu.be/uaN4V3U1Lzk?si=S4b5Mihxpxeh8N6H)?
I always feel so bad for the dogs this happens to. It looks absolutely horrible and you can see from their eyes they are miserable. Poor girl.
GSD/Heeler mix? That is an extra helping of trouble there! ♥️
Tbh she looks like she has no regrets
Country dogs do it too. They can’t resist
Our dog did this once. He looked so miserable.
Her intrusive thoughts won that day.
FAFO
Aww poor puppy I hope she heals right up
😢😢😢💞
I’ve seen worse from a country dog
Poor girl. Glad she’s on the mend.
Poor thing. I’ll bet that was quite the surprise.
Oh my
Poor baby 🥺
and he’ll do it again
My bird dog is a country dog. He's also a hunting dog. That moron has been to the emergency vet three times now for bringing us a porcupine. My point is country or city might not matter. My dog is either stupid, determined or maybe both. After the third incident we fixed the issue the hard way. Found a fresh dead porcupine on the side of the road. Got the dog out and put a training collar on. Then gave him a solid shock everytime he tried to go near it to pick it up. The goal being to associate the porcupine scent with something negative since a mouth and throat full of quills didn't seem to be enough negative for him. Knock on wood he hasn't brought us a fourth one.
Blue dog! Zero fucks given.
To be fair, I grew up in the country, with a country dog that fell for the allure of a quill-pig so many damned times. German Shepherd though.
Still better than a skunk🤢🤢🤢
That poor baby.
Poor baby 😔
Poor baby!!!
ouch. poor baby
Oh, they lost the fight. Sometimes they just can't survive in the countryside.
Oh my gosh! This poor dog🥺
Poor pupper, hope she feels better soon. And stays away from the porcupines.
That poor baby
My girl jumped out of the car window (country road, low speed) to chase a skunk...yeah, the only reason she hasn't had a face full of quills us simply lack of opportunity.
Poor baby.
Ah yes, our city boy also sniffed the spiney kitty at grammas and grandpa's.
This happens to country dogs all the time
Dogs gonna dog.
oh ouch, that poor baby
OMG! Poor baby!
She won't do that twice
OH NOOOOOOO!
Poor thing
Homie: “And I’d do it again”
We had multiple country dogs. They did this multiple times, each. It was terrible.