Dog bite - What counts as broken skin?

[OutlandishBird]

Sorry, not an AIBU, just posting here for traffic.

As per my title, what counts as "broken skin" when it comes to dog bites?
I got bitten earlier today. In the first few minutes there were tooth indentations and scraped skin but no blood. Now it just looks like grazes with bruising and swelling.

Just want to make sure it's not something that requires antibiotics or a tetanus shot (I think it's fine, my DP thinks I should get it looked at).

Thanks in advance.

Hard to tell, but if you’re on the fence about getting checked out or not, I’d rather err on the side of caution. Nasty bite! What happened???

Get it checked and documented. And please report it.

I would get it checked just in case

in terms of reporting - depending on circumstances it might actually show decent bite inhibition bu the dog - or it moo but be concerning behaviour

Should be OK with that, can't see any puncture wounds? Looks more like grazing

It wasn't 100% the dogs fault.
His owner keeps him in one of the dog pushchairs which tipped over with the weight of her shopping and the dog moving around. The fall/being tipped out of the pushchair scared him and he bit me when I tried to help her pick the pushchair up.
Obviously him biting isn't great and if he was mine he'd be muzzled, but scared dogs do sometimes react badly, especially rescue dogs.
I strongly advised her to muzzle him from now on for both his safety and other people's.
Different circumstances and I'd definitely be reporting it.

Yes I personally think it's grazing and should be fine.
I'm actually at the vets for my own dog tomorrow so I may just ask their opinion to be safe.

Totally not the dogs fault, sounds terrifying for him 😔 I would say the graze counts as broken skin though.

Sounds like he was trying to protect his owner and he didn’t break skin so did have bite inhibition

distressing for you nevertheless

It sounds like a nasty situation all around. It wasn't the dog's fault. Poor thing might have injured in the fall too. It probably was just the fright, and possibly pain. He'd have still been scared and probably didn't realize that you were only trying to help. It could quite well be the first time he has done something like that.

Of course, unpleasant for you too would speak to the GP about maybe getting a tetanus shot because the skin has broken. My dog has given me a few marks like that when she was younger. If you put some antiseptic cream on them, they are unlikely to get infected but just keep an eye out for it turning red or getting more sore.

My dog bit me in similar circumstances - his leg was caught in something and he was very distressed. I tried to free his leg and he bit me. I went to the out of hours doctor and they gave me a tetanus shot and antibiotics. I don’t think mine was anywhere near as bad as yours looks.

No, as I say, not the dogs fault in these circumstances.
Meant to say in my last post however that the owner implied it's not the first time he's bitten ("he's going to end up being put to sleep if he carries on like this"), didn't mean to drip feed! But that's why I suggested keeping him muzzled if anyone wonders why I'd suggest it for a completely reasonable bite!

I probably wouldn't with that but it's one of those situations where you will get differing opinions.

The only thing I would say is I had a very nasty dog bite last year where I had my index fingertip bitten clean through even the bone 😖. I had to have replantation surgery and antibiotics for three days (through iv) and I got a tetanus. The ward I was on was full of people with dog bites but most were serious but the nurses did tell me that dog's mouths are full of bacteria and they don't mess about when it comes to bites.

So if you did decide to go and get some meds, I don't think anyone would think you were overreacting . If that makes sense.

NHS advice on bites:

www.nhs.uk/conditions/animal-and-human-bites/

I don't think they'll do anything you can't do yourself at home OP so personally I would just follow this linked advice

Yeah I'd just clean that and keep an eye on it.

For hospital/medical treatment by a professional, I wouldn't go for less than heavy bruising, or puncture wounds that bleed, but that is my personal choice of course.

Frightened, trapped dogs will often bite and can bite really badly, even if normally they're a happy, friendly dog. If you know the owner though and they're saying the dog reacts fearfully a lot, I would recommend they a/avoid putting the dog in situations where the dog feels trapped and scared and b/muzzle conditioning the dog so they can comfortably and happily wear a muzzle.

That made me feel a bit sick 😅So sorry to hear you had such a nasty injury. Mine is nothing in comparison! Thanks for the helpful post, hope you healed ok.

I would count broken skin as the FULL thickness of skin being penetrated. It looks like only partial thickness which means your much less likely to have contacted any disease of infection. However I would 100% be going to Urgent Care/ minor injuries to be checked over. Better safe than sorry and it looks like it hurt!

Thank you. I read that earlier and had decided to just treat at home.
It was only my DP suggesting getting it looked at that made me think maybe I should seek a second opinion.

Thanks for all the comments guys.
I think I'll just keep an eye on it for tonight and as I'm at the vets with my pup tomorrow, I'll ask my vet what they recommend. If anyone is likely to know the dog bite treatment threshold, I'm guessing a vet will lol.