Here is a very good article on how to freeze brand by plottguy.

http://www.coondawgs.com/freezebrand.html

I know theres an article on this in the forum, but theres a few questions i had that the article doesnt answer.


1. the article mentions that you need 99% isopropal, but will 91% isopropal work, or is there still to much water content?

2. After you brand, does the brand out line only stay visible for so long or if you did it right should the brand be visible till it turns white? and how long till the hide turns white?

3. If your doing this on the dogs ribbs, how short should you buzz the hair...?

thanks for any help.

Mike.

Never tried 91% so I can't help you there.Where you branded will welt up and turn red for a few hours but will disappear after that until the hair begins to grow back white.Your brand will turn out better if you shave all of the hair.Use a brand made out of 3/8 material. 1/4 does not hold the cold good enough for branding the body.Make sure you clean the shaved part with the 99% alcohol right before you apply your brand.Put some alcohol in a mist bottle and lightly spray the shaved area before you apply the brand.

Trueblue,

Well after i branded it left a plastic impression on the dogs ribbs for not too long but disappeared, today its just a lil swollen and red...so well see what happens when the hair grows back.

The branding iron i bought was a freeze branding iron made of bronze from a site that PlottGuy had in the article.

Do you want the area to be totally shaven, for Example resembling a fade cut or military cut on the sides which would be a number 1 cut.

thanks,
mike.

If Mike reccomended the brand company then it should be fine.I use electric clippers first and then finish it up with a diposable BIC razor.Shave it right down to the skin.You don't have to shave it so close on the ears but if you are going to brand anywhere on the body it is a good idea.If you do brand an ear,make sure to let the ear warm up a bit before you let the dog up.I have not seen it happen but I was told by a brand maker that he has seen dogs shake thier heads right after being branded and break an ear off or seriously damage it.

Trueblue,

thanks for the help, i should of asked for more information before actually trying to do it.

After branding is it a good idea to wait a few days before you hunt the dog, to ensure they dont catch an infection?

thanks,
mike.

I wouldn't worry about infection too much.It should start to scab up in a couple of days in the shape of your brand and that will protect it.If it doesn't scab up,it probably wasn't cold enough.

Ok so it should scab...huh. Well i dont think my brand was cold enough then. But that helps out alot.

i really appreciate your help.

thanks,
mike.

How long ago did you brand? It took about two weeks for some of the dogs to scab up... I am still not sure if we applied enough pressure to all spots of our brand.. We may have a few we have to redo.. I do know that last sunday was the 3rd weekend that we had branded, and they are still scabbed up.. Good luck..

I did mine last sunday as well but i only did two dogs because i thought i wasnt doing it correctly. But im gonna wait a few weeks to see if anything changes before giving it another go around.

91% works fine. Its all I could buy here. The brand won't grow back white for quite a while. The hair will fall out and when it EVENTUALLY grows back it will be white. I used clippers then a disposable razor to do the ribs. I did my new female on easter sunday and its still a scab.

where do you get your branding iron from? do you have them custom made?

go to the main page and theres a section that says freeze branding, and in theres a company you can contact to order them from.

has anyone used acetone, instead of isopropyl?....if so how did it work?

where did that post go on freeze branding I cant find the link to go check out the brass branding iorns