Need Help!! Golf clubs and dogs don't mix

[jreid06]

I am new to this forum and I hate for this to be my first post, but I need help. And please don't get upset with me because I am already torn up enough. I have two passions in life golf and bird hunting, the later is a newer passion as I am just begining to train my dog. Well fortunately it was nice enough in the Panhandle today that I was able to go hit a few golf balls in my backyard. I have two dogs and my parents have another and I frequently hit golf balls with them around and have never had a problem. They will usually sit behind me the entire time and just watch. Well today my younger clm started running right in front of my follow through, swinging a sand wedge so not going real fast but fast enough. Having played golf long enough I control my swing very well and was able to slow down as I saw him running in front of me right before impact. He was hit with the shaft of the club across the right side of his face. I immediately brought him inside and his eye started to swell and his right pupil was super dilated, barely could see it, and his eye started to turn red from either irritation or blood. He will shut that eye but other than that and some swelling he is acting completely normal, ate treats and such. My question is what should I expect with something like this and what are some signs I should be looking for? Thanks for any help and please understand I have learned my lesson about golf clubs and dogs now but I just need help right now

[Lady Duck Hunter]

Anytime there is an injury to the eye you should seek immediate medical advice. If it were my dog I'd get him to an immergency vet clinic as soon as you can. Might be nothing but might be a serious injury that could cost him his eyesight if you wait too long for treatment.

[Vicky Trainor]

Take your dog to the emergency vet. You could be facing a blood clot behind the eye. Nothing to fool around with, IMO.

[Paragon Retrievers]

Better to be safe then sorry get him to a vet. Shit happens, a couple of years ago my aunt/uncle were having some work done in there yard. They had a young lab out chasing a tennis ball and he ended up getting a pick axe in the head. Miraculously he was fine besides a few stitches.

Good luck
PR

[Miriam Wade]

Oh! I hope you've already taken him in to the vet. NOTHING to mess around with.

Years ago I had a Newfoundland & kept a puppy from her last litter. While nursing the litter she was diagnosed w/ advanced mammary cancer. After I shipped the pups off to new homes-my keeper pup was in the backyard and accidently struck in the head by someone practicing their swing w/ a baseball & bat. They never saw the pup and felt awful. Pup was rushed to the vet and hours later I got a call saying he thought she'd make it. Then less than an hour later another call-she was gone.

Head/eye injuries require immediate attention-concussion, swelling of the brain, detached retinas-the lst goes on & on-please don't wait & please post back that he's ok!

Good luck!

M

[jreid06]

He is doing good for now. We took him to the emergency vet last night. It was a little bit after the accident happened but they seemed to think he would be ok. They gave him a steroid shot, couple different eye drop solutions and same antibiotics to take for the next week or so. The vet didn't seem to think there would be any permanant damage but we would just have to wait until next week and see. Thanks for the suggestions. I wasn't real sure at first that I needed to take him to the vet. But once again like have seen so many times on here yall know what your talking about and offer great advice even if it is something as simple as get his butt to the vet. So thanks for everything

Josh

[jimmyp]

several years ago my fiancee whacked her dachshound in the head with a driver and once it regained conciousness it was fine other than bein a little goofy. my only concern would be with the eye being injured. if the eye doesnt clear up then I would definately take it to a vet. u may be able to see if the eye is ok by passing a flash light over it and seeing if the pupil reacts and if the eye follows the light, a busted bloodvessel in the eye even in humans is common and looks worse than it really is.
jim

[Julie R.]

jreid, glad to hear your pup is doing OK and that you did take him to an emergency vet. One of my dogs now 4, got bitten by a big snapping turtle she was harassing when she was about 4 mos. old, right on the eye. I think she shut her eye just as it struck, but the eye swelled shut and started weeping immediately. There was no blood, and she didn't seem that bothered about it, so I called my vet. He asked me to look at her pupils and if they were different sizes he said consider it an emergency and bring her in.

The pupils were, indeed, different sizes although unlike your dog the affected eye was much more constricted. We took her in and they put that neon green stuff in her eye that lets you see if there is any surface damage. There wasn't, so he gave us some drops and off we went. Initially her eye got better but after a few days it started to weep and constrict again so we took her to our ACVO eye vet. She had gotten uveitis, which is an eye disease that can result from a blow to the eye. She actually had all kinds of eye problems for about 2 mos., not sure if they were related but she had really nasty goop all the time, plus the uveitis which we had to treat for a month, and eye allergies. Everything cleared up by the time she was 6 or 7 mos. and she's never had any other trouble although her first CERF had breeder option punctate cataracts, probably from the internal bleeding from the original injury.

Eyes are nothing to mess with in dogs, horses and ourselves! But for anyone else reading if your dog has gotten an eye or head injury and its pupils are different sizes take it to a vet ASAP. The constricting pupil can indicate extreme pain among other things.

[Keith Stroyan]

I hope the eye thing works out fine.

Be careful with golf balls around large dogs. They could get it lodged in their throat or wind pipe.