Hornets and Hot Weather! Help!!
Hornets! Caden was bitten on the face two nights ago. What do you do to keep them out of your yard? I would love some advice. They seem to be everywhere this fall because it is dry and hot. He looked like a Manatee, the poor guy. The sketch above is from Florida Technology Institute's website. Here is a real Florida Manatee. Yup, that's kinda what poor Caden looked like with swollen eyes and muzzle. 
I gave him Benadryl that night and the next morning. I left him inside as he was pretty drowsy anyway, and checked on him at noon. Thankfully I live close to work! He was getting much better. Last night, I went out tracking and played ball with him and gave everyone a good run in the field.
After going to bed, I heard him gagging and jumped up to see him doing that scary inverse sneezing thing, but in a very serious way and he looked so scared! I think he had a scary reaction to his hornet stings and I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the couch watching weird late night shows, and it did happen a few more times and he was nauseated too, which I read is common when being stung or bitten by one of these horrible things. Every time I depressed his tongue, he was fine and would wag his tail and run for a cookie. So he was OK/Not OK.
By the morning he seemed fine but I couldn't bear leaving him to go to work, so took him to the emergency vet first thing to be safe. He checks out fine but she said he probably had some swelling causing the epiglottis to be trapped on his tongue, so when I pushed the tongue it went back the right way. She thinks that one day and one more Benadryl will take care of it.
What a surprise, when I pulled up to the vet’s and my training guru Dan was there (he owns a construction company and was working on a job). Caden took it in stride - he just thinks that everywhere we go, Dan is there, LOL. Small world! Sort of nice serendipity for me to be able to babble to someone who understands how important the dogs are to me!
We had record breaking heat today – over 90 degrees. The picture above is a screen shot from the CTV Calgary website showing CURRENT conditions for 7:30 PM. This is crazy hot! So the dogs were all in with me - it was literally too hot to be outside. Caden was fine all day but drowsy again from more Benadryl. I will give him one more Benadryl tonight just to be safe. I got compliments from the vet for how well-behaved he was!! Such a good boy and so friendly. 
I suppose curtailing the dogs from "hunting" for hornets would probably be a good start.
I gave him Benadryl that night and the next morning. I left him inside as he was pretty drowsy anyway, and checked on him at noon. Thankfully I live close to work! He was getting much better. Last night, I went out tracking and played ball with him and gave everyone a good run in the field.After going to bed, I heard him gagging and jumped up to see him doing that scary inverse sneezing thing, but in a very serious way and he looked so scared! I think he had a scary reaction to his hornet stings and I spent the next couple of hours sitting on the couch watching weird late night shows, and it did happen a few more times and he was nauseated too, which I read is common when being stung or bitten by one of these horrible things. Every time I depressed his tongue, he was fine and would wag his tail and run for a cookie. So he was OK/Not OK.
By the morning he seemed fine but I couldn't bear leaving him to go to work, so took him to the emergency vet first thing to be safe. He checks out fine but she said he probably had some swelling causing the epiglottis to be trapped on his tongue, so when I pushed the tongue it went back the right way. She thinks that one day and one more Benadryl will take care of it.What a surprise, when I pulled up to the vet’s and my training guru Dan was there (he owns a construction company and was working on a job). Caden took it in stride - he just thinks that everywhere we go, Dan is there, LOL. Small world! Sort of nice serendipity for me to be able to babble to someone who understands how important the dogs are to me!
We had record breaking heat today – over 90 degrees. The picture above is a screen shot from the CTV Calgary website showing CURRENT conditions for 7:30 PM. This is crazy hot! So the dogs were all in with me - it was literally too hot to be outside. Caden was fine all day but drowsy again from more Benadryl. I will give him one more Benadryl tonight just to be safe. I got compliments from the vet for how well-behaved he was!! Such a good boy and so friendly. I Googled Hornets and found this story from the Edmonton Journal on July 31 2009... The story is about chemical - free pest control: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/oped/Edmonton+business+latest+buzz+pest+control/1847589/story.html
By late summer there are about 20 queens in a nest and the wasps will be very protective and aggressive, going out of their way to bite you, Dalman said. He would know. Last year, he and his colleagues removed 327 nests from city-owned property. So far, this year has been quiet wasp-wise, but that could change, Dalman said. "Considering the amount of queens out last year, it could be bad if we have a lot of hot weather."
So, it is hot, and it is late summer, and the hornets are AGGRESSIVE. I can't even drink a cup of coffee on my back deck without them showing up. Help!
So, it is hot, and it is late summer, and the hornets are AGGRESSIVE. I can't even drink a cup of coffee on my back deck without them showing up. Help!
Well, that is my little story for the day. If you have any tips on keeping hornets away, let me know!
I suppose curtailing the dogs from "hunting" for hornets would probably be a good start. Category Article Caden, Commentary
