Sporting dog
It is worth knowing what to do if your dog is bitten by an adder, but David Tomlinson suggests keeping the dangers posed by this reclusive animal in perspective
MANY years ago I was walking in the New Forest when I met a fellow dog walker with a fine pair of English springers. We chatted for a while and he told me how adder bites were a major hazard in the summer when walking his dogs. One of his spaniels had been bitten on several occasions but survived. So can a dog gain immunity from snake bite? I gathered that the local veterinary practices were well used to seeing dogs suffering from snake bites, and that these were rarely fatal.
Adders are shy animals and do their best to avoid confrontation with anything bigger than themselves. They only ever bite dogs (or humans, for that matter) in defence, not out of aggression. Unfortunately, dogs, and especially spaniels, have a happy knack of thrusting their noses into just the sort of cover where adders like to bask, so the occasional bite is inevitable. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that more dogs aren’t bitten, as adders can be found in suitable habitat the length and breadth of Britain.
I’ve had a spaniel bitten by an adder. I was abroad at the time and the dog was being looked after by Peter, a shooting friend. Though an experienced spaniel owner (he had five springers at the time), none of his dogs had ever been bitten. Suze the spaniel was bitten on his home ground. He had lived there for 20 years yet had never seen an adder. Fortunately, he suspected a snake bite, as Suze looked shocked and was suffering from a swollen face. A close inspection revealed two puncture marks where the snake had struck. She was taken to the vet.
She made a full recovery, although the fang marks were still visible when I came back from my holiday. A year later to the day, Peter found a basking adder in his wood in exactly the same spot where Suze had been bitten. Adders are both highly sedentary and long lived, so this snake was almost certainly the one that had bitten her. That was 20 years ago and no dogs have been bitten there since, nor have any snakes been seen, but they are probably still present.
If your dog does suffer a snake bite, then it’s essential to get it to a vet as soon as possible. It’s best if the dog isn’t moved to avoid the venom being spread around the body, so carry it to your car if you can, or bring your car to the dog. It’s also a wise precaution to call your vet to warn them that you are bringing in a bitten dog. Most fit and healthy dogs survive, but the quicker the treatment the better. Antihistamines are normally used to reduce swelling and prevent further symptoms developing, and fluid drips are often employed to keep the internal organs functioning. Only in the most severe cases is anti-venom used.
As always, prevention is better than cure, so it makes sense to avoid exercising dogs in areas where they are most likely to encounter adders. These reptiles occur in a wide variety of habitats but are most frequently found on heaths and moorland, in hedgerows and open woods. Coastal paths and dunes are favoured, too. The adder season starts on sunny days in March, when they emerge from hibernation. These early-season snakes are often sluggish and slow to move so can be particularly dangerous, but adders remain a risk throughout the summer. Adders are remarkably adept at avoiding both dogs and people, which explains why we see them so rarely.
Snakes are not the only wild animals in the British countryside to pose a threat to dogs. I walk my dogs daily on a Breckland heath, where, incidentally, I’ve never seen an adder. However, a few years ago a labrador was killed here after a fatal encounter with a muntjac buck. The dog had chased the deer and eventually cornered it. The deer then attacked the dog with its tusks, inflicting a fatal injury. Muntjac bucks are well equipped to defend themselves, but they do not attack unless at risk themselves. My dogs are so familiar with muntjac, encountering them on an almost daily basis, that they ignore them.
I’ve no doubt that our other species of deer are would be dangerous, too, if cornered, but, as a rule, dogs are more of a threat to deer than deer are to dogs. The only other native mammal I can think of that could possibly be a danger to a fit and healthy gundog is a badger. Once, while walking at dusk in the Brendon Hills in west Somerset, one of my spaniels went into a hedge to investigate some rustling. She surprised a badger, which slashed her flank with its teeth. The wound was quite bloody but not deep, so didn’t require stitches. A swim in the sea the next day hastened the healing process.
The biggest semi-natural threat to well-trained dogs in the countryside comes from livestock, but as most dogs can run faster than cattle the danger is usually greater to the human handler than the dog, though it’s important to let go of the lead. However, by far the greatest canine killer doesn’t have teeth, fangs, tusks or hooves, but four wheels. My advice is to avoid vehicles, but not worry too much about snakes.
By far the biggest canine killer doesn’t have teeth, fangs, tusks or hooves