My 10 month old GSD has managed to catch himself on a barbed wire fence.  He has got a fairly nasty cut on his back above his hip which is causing him to limp a bit.  In the past when he has picked up cuts and nicks I have been happy to wash the wound with salt water and he heals up pretty quickly but on this occasion I am thinking I may need to do more.  Any advice???

Without seeing it, it's difficult to say - but if you are having doubts, then a visit to the vets is probably the best :)

Daisy

If it looks like it needs stitching it must be done as soon as possible. If you leave it more than 24 hours the edges will have started healing so will have to be cut away.

Thanks for the reply, Unfortunately the injury must have occured at tea time yesterday on our walk.  We only noticed the cut this morning as we were investigating the reasons for a slight limp.  Although I am finding the cut quiet scary to look at our dog, Enzo doesn't seem too bothered and is allowing us to handle him to clean him up, but I will contact the Vet now.  Better to be safe than sorry.  

What JG says is right Ali. Fresh wounds heal together ok as long as they are touching. If the edges are allowed heal separately then it's like holding two fingers together, however long you hold them together they will not join.

This is one of those occasions where no one can tell you what to do without seeing the wound. But as a rule of the thumb, if the edges are touching then it should be ok but if not then they need to be held together, which would usually mean stitches.

Regards, John