# Plucking Porcupine Quills



## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Our dogs tangled with a porcupine, again, only this time my husband isn't here to help me pluck the quills our of their mouths. They don't have many, but the dogs are large and I can't hold them and pluck at the same time. Any suggestions? A friend once told us he gives his dog a shot of Nyquil, and that puts the dog to sleep so he can pluck. I tried that, even a double dose, but it didn't phase them at all. 

We live in the bush, so I can't just run to a store to buy other stuff. Any ideas on how to get the quills out, short of shooting the dogs for being so stupid for the third time (and they're only 8 months old)? I was able to get some out of one dog, but the other is too rough and has about 5 or 6 in the roof of his mouth.

Thanks,

Jenny


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## JasoninMN (Feb 24, 2006)

Awe pincushion rats. You got to love them. Maybe tie the dog to something on a real short leash so it can not move away? Luckily mine will sit still while I pull them out. It seems like each time a dog gets quilled their hatred for porcupines gets worse and they try even harder to get revenge next time. Good luck.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

Thanks. I did chain them up close, but they're quick with their heads. Some folks who own a nearby lodge came by. They're watching neighbor's dog. All three got together on this porcupine. The other dog got it worse, and bit the fellow pretty good (or bad) on the hand when he tried to just get some from the outside of her face. I gave them my Nyquil to try with her. The woman and I tried holding the dogs while the man plucked. At least my dogs don't try to bite when you stick your hand in their mouth. He got a few more out of one dog, but the other really clinched his teeth, so we didn't get any out. 

He told me of something his father uses with his dogs. He got it online from a vet supply place, but he didn't know where, or what it was called. He said it really knocks the dogs out so you can pluck the quills better. Wish I had some. 

You're right about some dogs just hating the porcupines more each time. My husband had a dog like that. Once she just kept attacking that thing and ended up with hundreds of quills all in her mouth and lots of them in both her eyes. He had to put her down from that one. Living in the bush and no way to get her to town, but it probably wouldn't have done any good anyway. We had another dog that only did that once. He was a retriever, and brought home a porcupine by the tail. When he dropped it in front of us and realized those things weren't letting go, he just rolled over and opened his mouth. He was so easy. There must have been nearly a hundred in his mouth and chest, but he just laid there while we worked on him. He learned his lesson well and never did that again. 

Thanks again,

Jenny


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## michael h (Sep 28, 2007)

Give them a Benadryl antihistamine it causes drowsiness or if you have a ativan or xanax


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## RACCOON (Dec 13, 2005)

What I do is cut a stick about the thickness of a broom stick maybe a little bigger and about a foot long.
Open dogs mouth,put stick across tongue as far back as you can, so you have two ends sticking out.
Now take a piece of rope and tie it to one end of the stick,wrap rope behind head of dog and onto other end of stick.
Now if stick is big enough and if you got it far enough in mouth .Dog cant bite you
or close his mouth,now you can remove quills with a needle nose pliers
Be careful to remove all the quills.
I use this way to remove quills on my Rottweilers and Pit bulls


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## GoatNamedDunn (Jun 20, 2008)

I don't know how you went about it, but for future references cut the tips of the quils OFF with sissors or wire cutters. The quil in the flesh creates a vaccum and sucks them deep into the flesh but when you clip them it is TONS easier to pull them out.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Yes, I was just going to recommend cutting the quills. This was taught to us by a forest ranger. The quill collapses somewhat, making it easier to pull out.


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## akhomesteader (Jan 5, 2006)

We did the thing with the stick. That worked well for one of the dogs, till the stick slipped from all his thrashing around. When we tried to put the stick back in, he kept clinching his teeth. The other dogs wouldn't let us get a stick in their mouths. When I looked, one dog only had one left near the front of the roof of his mouth. The other dog had a few, but then this evening when I looked, they were gone - probably broken.

If I could have cut them with scissors, I'd have been able to pluck them just fine. The dogs were just fighting having anything near their mouths. But once we got the stick in one of them, the quills came out pretty easy. I don't have any benadryl, or the other stuff. I'll get some benadryl to keep on hand, and find out what our friend's dad uses. 

I hope the ones left in them don't work their way in and do damage, or worse. A friend's dog got one that worked it's way in and punctured a lung. The dog died. 

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll keep them in mind for next time --- how I wish there wouldn't be a next time, but with these dogs, I'm sure there will.

Jenny


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