Week 9

This week, I practiced bandaging real dogs. I practiced the head bandage in particular. I realised that this was a lot harder than I thought it would be. The 2 dogs we had were both young and it was difficult when they were trying to play with each other and were moving around a lot.

The dog above was called Rupert and his brother was called Spencer.

I carried out a head bandage. This is used to cover cuts on the ears as well as the head. For an ear bandage, you need to put a sterile dressing on the cut and on top of the head. Fold the ear back on top of the head against the dressing. Put extra cotton wool on top for a more comfortable feeling for the dog. Use a layer of Softban and wrap it around the head and under the chin in a figure of eight, making sure to leave the other ear out. It is important that you don’t wrap it too tightly as this can cause difficulty when eating and breathing. You should be able to get 2 fingers underneath the bandage. Write on the bandage where the ear is underneath so you don’t cut it when it comes to taking the bandage off.