trini
Forums Sage
Pixie and Watson make an adorable color coordinated pair...too cute.
Trini
Trini
Watson's Ordeal
- Thread starter Watson's Mom
- Start date
Toffee's Mom
Forums Sage
How sorry to read this story about Watson being attacked, I am so glad he is on the mend.
I think you're doing all the right things by the sounds of it, I would recommend proper socialization with dogs you know and trust only, I would not go to dog parks.
I, myself did not heed that advice and used to not like that people recommended against dog park, since I loved that local dog park and I had little opportunity at the time to let young Toffee run around offleash anywhere else as I didn't have a car.
Toffee got more and more dog reactive going to the park, I wasn't a very positive trainer in the very beginning, so I made it worse by correcting when Toffee was giving warning signals
I learned a LOTTTT later about what I did wrong I realize now I was listening to all the wrong people... one of the reasons I am now such a advocate for positive and humane training, knowing it works best and how I was able to turn Toffee around... so IF anything stays residual with Watson's ordeal, I know you could turn it around too, should you need to work with it! However, if you don't correct him for giving warning signals and if he gets to play with dogs you trust, I doubt he will become dog reactive, especially if he wasn't previous.
Anyhow Toffee DID eventually get attacked by a mastiff/pit bull mix at that park
and as you describe it wasn't just a snap and bite and the mostly verbal BS male dogs do that sounds much worse than it is... no it also was a full blown maul attempt with that dog not letting go, but thankfully her owner and I had her air choked off almost immediately so she couldn't readjust her grip even deeper. I also had to haul off some the other dogs who were joining in on the foray... whose owners did NOT come to help! Toffee was screaming and definitely not fighting back... He was trying SO hard to get away, I still have nightmares about that screaming he did.
Anyhow, I was able to get the mastiff off, by continuing the choke hold, and hollering at the owner to lift her dog by the hindlegs and swing her away, I had a continued hold on the collar as well as to ensure nobody gets bit so the dog couldn't turn around to redirect the bite to me or her owner.
Toffee didn't seem to bleed, I got her owner and I and our dogs to sit down in the grass, told her to block her dogs prey stare she was still fixing on Toffee and rewarding. Sure as hell wish I had taken her number because after a couple of days there WAS a puncture sound that had got infected and there was a Vet bill...
OF course nothing what you and Watson are going through, I am so sorry, it really is all of Sheltie Nation's nightmare you endured!
I think you're doing all the right things by the sounds of it, I would recommend proper socialization with dogs you know and trust only, I would not go to dog parks.
I, myself did not heed that advice and used to not like that people recommended against dog park, since I loved that local dog park and I had little opportunity at the time to let young Toffee run around offleash anywhere else as I didn't have a car.
Toffee got more and more dog reactive going to the park, I wasn't a very positive trainer in the very beginning, so I made it worse by correcting when Toffee was giving warning signals
I learned a LOTTTT later about what I did wrong I realize now I was listening to all the wrong people... one of the reasons I am now such a advocate for positive and humane training, knowing it works best and how I was able to turn Toffee around... so IF anything stays residual with Watson's ordeal, I know you could turn it around too, should you need to work with it! However, if you don't correct him for giving warning signals and if he gets to play with dogs you trust, I doubt he will become dog reactive, especially if he wasn't previous. Anyhow Toffee DID eventually get attacked by a mastiff/pit bull mix at that park
and as you describe it wasn't just a snap and bite and the mostly verbal BS male dogs do that sounds much worse than it is... no it also was a full blown maul attempt with that dog not letting go, but thankfully her owner and I had her air choked off almost immediately so she couldn't readjust her grip even deeper. I also had to haul off some the other dogs who were joining in on the foray... whose owners did NOT come to help! Toffee was screaming and definitely not fighting back... He was trying SO hard to get away, I still have nightmares about that screaming he did. Anyhow, I was able to get the mastiff off, by continuing the choke hold, and hollering at the owner to lift her dog by the hindlegs and swing her away, I had a continued hold on the collar as well as to ensure nobody gets bit so the dog couldn't turn around to redirect the bite to me or her owner.
Toffee didn't seem to bleed, I got her owner and I and our dogs to sit down in the grass, told her to block her dogs prey stare she was still fixing on Toffee and rewarding. Sure as hell wish I had taken her number because after a couple of days there WAS a puncture sound that had got infected and there was a Vet bill...
OF course nothing what you and Watson are going through, I am so sorry, it really is all of Sheltie Nation's nightmare you endured!
Watson's Mom
Forums Enthusiast
Toffee's Mom- the screaming was and continues to be the worst of it for me... I can still hear it.
When I got outside, the dog had already let go and gotten a new tighter grip. My boyfriend was on the ground trying to keep Watson from being shaken. He had tried prying the dog's jaws apart and gotten bitten several times in the process. It was not wearing a collar. I tried reaching to get the dog's jaws apart and got bit by Watson in the process. The dog's owner was no where to be found. I had a jar in my hand and thought perhaps if rapping a shark on the snout could stop an attack, maybe it would work on a pit bull and if it did and lunged, it would bite the jar instead of my hand... no such luck. Someone who later turned out to be the owner showed up and grabbed it's back leg and started pulling it... while attached to Watson.. I'm sure that helped make those back wounds as bad as they were. Next I tried hitting it's jaw muscle looking for a pressure point. Something made it release and when it relatched all it got was hair... when she kept pulling it by the leg, it ripped the hair out and freed him.
I don't know what we could or should have done. No use dwelling now- our wounds are all healing... except mine, I have nerve damage and he barely even broke the skin. I do know that if it were to happen again, I'll kill it.
When I got outside, the dog had already let go and gotten a new tighter grip. My boyfriend was on the ground trying to keep Watson from being shaken. He had tried prying the dog's jaws apart and gotten bitten several times in the process. It was not wearing a collar. I tried reaching to get the dog's jaws apart and got bit by Watson in the process. The dog's owner was no where to be found. I had a jar in my hand and thought perhaps if rapping a shark on the snout could stop an attack, maybe it would work on a pit bull and if it did and lunged, it would bite the jar instead of my hand... no such luck. Someone who later turned out to be the owner showed up and grabbed it's back leg and started pulling it... while attached to Watson.. I'm sure that helped make those back wounds as bad as they were. Next I tried hitting it's jaw muscle looking for a pressure point. Something made it release and when it relatched all it got was hair... when she kept pulling it by the leg, it ripped the hair out and freed him.
I don't know what we could or should have done. No use dwelling now- our wounds are all healing... except mine, I have nerve damage and he barely even broke the skin. I do know that if it were to happen again, I'll kill it.
Toffee's Mom
Forums Sage
Toffee's Mom- the screaming was and continues to be the worst of it for me... I can still hear it.
When I got outside, the dog had already let go and gotten a new tighter grip. My boyfriend was on the ground trying to keep Watson from being shaken. He had tried prying the dog's jaws apart and gotten bitten several times in the process. It was not wearing a collar. I tried reaching to get the dog's jaws apart and got bit by Watson in the process. The dog's owner was no where to be found. I had a jar in my hand and thought perhaps if rapping a shark on the snout could stop an attack, maybe it would work on a pit bull and if it did and lunged, it would bite the jar instead of my hand... no such luck. Someone who later turned out to be the owner showed up and grabbed it's back leg and started pulling it... while attached to Watson.. I'm sure that helped make those back wounds as bad as they were. Next I tried hitting it's jaw muscle looking for a pressure point. Something made it release and when it relatched all it got was hair... when she kept pulling it by the leg, it ripped the hair out and freed him.
I don't know what we could or should have done. No use dwelling now- our wounds are all healing... except mine, I have nerve damage and he barely even broke the skin. I do know that if it were to happen again, I'll kill it.
man oh man soo much worse, I am SO SORRY you had to go through this
amazing you had your mind together during the whole thing like that!!!
Yes, that dog should be humanely euthanized, NO question imo! It's when they don't let go like that and are all out to kill... that is NOT normal.
Anybody reading this, what I mean to break up a fight where you HAVE to get involved, not just a scrap, but a real attack, where the dog on the bottom submits but the dog on top does NOT let go and is trying to shake and grip deeper... lifting backlegs straight up, do NOT pull on one... as Watson's mom describes makes it even worse. Dog almost always lets go if you pull UP on both legs at the same time, as it thinking something is coming from behind, swing dog around and away, should give the dog underneath a minute to get away.
O am not advocating it, but I know most of us would want to jump in, just lik watson's mom did, regardless of our own danger
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Watson's Mom
Forums Enthusiast
I had my head together during it, but as soon as Watson got freed, it was like tunnel vision-- I didn't see what happened to the other dog, I didn't see what happened to my boyfriend, I didn't see anyone else.
Even after all of it, I do feel horrible for hitting it on the snout and jaw muscles so hard, but at the end of the day- it was trying to kill my dog, and that just wasn't going to happen as long as we were there to do something about it.
I just wish the owner would take some responsibility for her dogs. She obviously is unable or unwilling to control them since this isn't the first incident. The judge told her she might want to either consider not being a dog owner, particularly of this breed, or take out a special insurance policy. Then not 3 hours later, she is already violating the control and confinement stipulations and the DCO gives her a warning.
I took some nice glossy 8x10s to court for the judge (some of you may have seen them), she wouldn't even look at them. I wish he had forced her to. And know I'll never seen a dime towards his vet bills, but what would have made that pill easier to swallow would have been a simple "I'm sorry."
I am glad to know about the leg lift and swing though, in hindsight, there were enough of us to have done that.
Even after all of it, I do feel horrible for hitting it on the snout and jaw muscles so hard, but at the end of the day- it was trying to kill my dog, and that just wasn't going to happen as long as we were there to do something about it.
I just wish the owner would take some responsibility for her dogs. She obviously is unable or unwilling to control them since this isn't the first incident. The judge told her she might want to either consider not being a dog owner, particularly of this breed, or take out a special insurance policy. Then not 3 hours later, she is already violating the control and confinement stipulations and the DCO gives her a warning.
I took some nice glossy 8x10s to court for the judge (some of you may have seen them), she wouldn't even look at them. I wish he had forced her to. And know I'll never seen a dime towards his vet bills, but what would have made that pill easier to swallow would have been a simple "I'm sorry."
I am glad to know about the leg lift and swing though, in hindsight, there were enough of us to have done that.
Watson's Mom
Forums Enthusiast
Thanks!! Pixie doesn't really like anyone else in the house except for Watson... she has her own sad story of abandonment and who knows what else, so I letter her get away with it.
Watson's Mom
Forums Enthusiast
We had another great vet appointment yesterday! The pockets formed around the wounds have completely disappeared. Now that the internal part had healed, we can expect to see the holes start to shrink each week.
we have completely eliminated the tramadol and he is down to once a day on the rimadyl for the next 5 days then we will be done with that. The clindomyacin for only 5 more days to finish off the original course and a refill on the baytril. So, in less that a week we will be down to only the one tablet of baytril a day and he will stay on that until the draining stops and the wounds start scabbing.
It looks like he is draining MUCH less now and he's trying to get after the wounds so I think they are starting to itch which I think is a good sign!
I do need to scrub him some because there still is a bit of draining but I'm so relieved at how well he's doing! There were still people at the vet's office who hadn't seen him yet and were appalled but the vet reassured them that he actually looks fantastic. So between that and the fact that his mama somehow tipped the crate over in the car on the way home he got a fun new cat toy... that one of the cats promptly stole.
we have completely eliminated the tramadol and he is down to once a day on the rimadyl for the next 5 days then we will be done with that. The clindomyacin for only 5 more days to finish off the original course and a refill on the baytril. So, in less that a week we will be down to only the one tablet of baytril a day and he will stay on that until the draining stops and the wounds start scabbing.
It looks like he is draining MUCH less now and he's trying to get after the wounds so I think they are starting to itch which I think is a good sign!
I do need to scrub him some because there still is a bit of draining but I'm so relieved at how well he's doing! There were still people at the vet's office who hadn't seen him yet and were appalled but the vet reassured them that he actually looks fantastic. So between that and the fact that his mama somehow tipped the crate over in the car on the way home he got a fun new cat toy... that one of the cats promptly stole.
trini
Forums Sage
Darci, that is a really good update on Watson! I know he still has a long ways to go for total healing, but everything sounds upbeat on the physical injuries.
Trini
Trini
Watson's Mom
Forums Enthusiast
Thanks Trini- we have a week to week and a half before the vet thinks we can start visiting the obedience classes so our trainer can help us see how much help he's going to need with the psychological healing. She's optimistic that it happened so fast and by such surprise that he might not really have any issues. He doesn't act jumpy or anxious at home about anything- quite normal and sassy really. So, we'll see.
BarbV
Forums Celebrity
Darci,
First of all, I'm so happy that Warson continues to heal well, though I have no doubt their will be psych scars for him to deal with going forward, on top of his physical wounds, but seems to me you can deal with it. You and Watson are strong.
Second, I just want to commend you for going after the real culprit. The dog owner, not the dog. Although there is sometimes no choice but to put the biter down, too often, the owner gets off.
Some of the best dogs I've ever met were bully dogs. And the worst....Yorkies, daschunds and cockers. All to say you can't necessarily judge by breed, but you can sure judge by owner.
No matter the breed. Even my own dog, Indy, I rarely bring to my store because he can get aggressive with other dogs. Though I made a decision this week to start bringing him again, but controlling him, in the hope I can resocilaize him.
First of all, I'm so happy that Warson continues to heal well, though I have no doubt their will be psych scars for him to deal with going forward, on top of his physical wounds, but seems to me you can deal with it. You and Watson are strong.
Second, I just want to commend you for going after the real culprit. The dog owner, not the dog. Although there is sometimes no choice but to put the biter down, too often, the owner gets off.
Some of the best dogs I've ever met were bully dogs. And the worst....Yorkies, daschunds and cockers. All to say you can't necessarily judge by breed, but you can sure judge by owner.
No matter the breed. Even my own dog, Indy, I rarely bring to my store because he can get aggressive with other dogs. Though I made a decision this week to start bringing him again, but controlling him, in the hope I can resocilaize him.