Close encounters of the K9 kind

[Andy]

Hey, just last nite i was looking after a friend of my mothers house for the nite as a favor, now i was'nt perticuarly looking after the house but the dogs that she has. I will list them in size order from smallest to largest;

1, Pringle = Jack Russel
2, Jasmine = Allsation/Germna Shepard
3, Teddy = Allsation/ German Shepard
4, Jerry = Bullmastiff
5, Amber = Bullmastiff
6, Bailey = Another bullmastiff
And as if that wasn't enough we have...
7, Scooby = A Great Dane.

Yea i know abit much for 1 family in a small house but they are all lovely dogs. Anyway to get to the point of the story, Teddy and Scooby absolutely hate each other which is why teddy and jasmine are kept outside in a dog pen. So as i am sat down watching TV with a couple of Friends (all 3 of them girls that are quite panicky) you can imagine my surprise to see Teddy come bounding into the living room, Oops, as soon as Scooby and Teddy saw each other the red mist came down and that was it they where at each others throats, and i was stupid/crazy enough to jump in between them and try to separate them so abit 5 mins laters when i eventually managed to shut scooby in the kitchen i notice that i have blood all down my arm, around my hand and my white shirt was absolutely covered. I had 3 large puncture marks to my wrist 2 at the bottom and 1 at the top and most of the skin around my third finger (the one next to me pinky) was hanging off. Anyways i was just wondering if anybody else had any good stories involving sharp teeth and blood?

 

[Evo]

You're really lucky that you weren't injured more severely.

When I was 14, I was riding my bike and 2 huge dogs came bounding out of a yard and I figured they would just chase me and if I kept going they would give up. Which is what always happened.

Not this time though. One of the dogs came straight at me and knocked me off my bike. The 2 dogs then proceeded to start biting my legs, ripping through my pant legs. If it hadn't been for a car that drove by just at that moment and stopped the dogs, I don't know what I would have done.

 

[Moonbear]

Yikes! Evo is right, it could have been much worse! Never, never get between fighting dogs.

I had a similar experience of having to dog-sit for two dogs who hated each other. They were hunting dogs, not family pets, two males and a female. One of the males was the "puppy" of the female, so they were kept together in one pen and the other male separately. Well, the owner told me they had been getting into fights (one was on antibiotics for a bite wound), but they seemed to have worked it out, so they could be let out in the yard to exercise together while I cleaned their pens.

Um...apparently he was wrong, they hadn't resolved their differences yet. I opened the pen for the one, and then opened the next pen and in came the first one, snapping and growling. It would have been better if they were in the open yard, but since they got at each other in the confines of the pen, and there was one of those igloo shaped dog houses in the pen, the "intruder" managed to corner the resident INSIDE the igloo. I was sure I'd be removing a dead dog because there was NO way to separate them at all. Well, resorted to standing on the far side of the igloo and just trying to lift it and tip out the dogs...that didn't really work because the combined weight of the igloo plus too dogs was more than I could lift, but I think the effect of the ground moving a bit at least helped slow them down long enough for them to come back out, at which time I could get a broom handle between them and get one outside the pen and the other inside and close the door. Thankfully, the vet knew the dogs well enough that when I called and explained the situation, he was willing to just prescribe the antibiotics for the second dog and leave me to take care of cleaning the wounds myself since none needed stitches and I didn't have to find a way to get the dogs to the vet for him to check them out in person. Surprisingly, there was only one bite wound to clean. Must have been a lot more barking and growling in that igloo than actual biting.

PS- Don't let Imparcticle see this thread! :surprise:

 

[Andy]

Yea it was pretty stupid to get in between them but it was just my first reaction to try and separate them and once i had started to try i wasnt going to give up (stupid male pride), they didnt intentionally bite me (thank god) but the few times the did get me they got me good. I am getting some movement back in my wrist now though, finger is still as soar as a very soar thing mind you.

Just got to find a way of having a wash without getting either of my hands wet now though.

 

[Tsu]

Um, Andy? Have you seen a Dr.? Dog bites are nothing to mess with. Antibiotics are often an automatic treatment to prevent infection. One of those dogs could have been licking his butt right before he bit you. Get my drift? I repeat... dog bites are nothing to mess with. Please see a Dr. and keep the wounds very clean until you do. OK?

 

[Andy]

I haven't seen a doctor yet but i have an appointement to see some kinda specialist on tuesday morning, it is very soar at the moment but that's probably just the stitches, the nurses did give it a very good clean and i have been putting clean dressings on.

Thank you for caring, i will keep you posted as to what the doctor reckons.

 

[Tsu]

If you didn't see a Dr., who stitched you up? Do nurses do that in England? I'm very glad you sought immediate medical attention, tho. Too many people think that they can treat dog bites themselves, only to end up in the ER several days later with a blazing abscess that needs to be sliced open and drained. NASTY stuff...
Keep an eye on that sore part. If it gets real red, hot and swollen, it means that it's becoming infected. If that happens tonight, get to an emergency room, OK? The sooner you're started on antibiotics, the better. (Unless you're already on them, then waiting until your appt. tomorrow would probably be OK.)

Good luck, Andy. Thanks for keeping us posted.

 

[Njorl]

I see two options:

1. Train the mastiffs to break up the fights,
2. Beat them with "Pringle" until they come to their senses.

Hey, I just said I see two options. I didn't say they were good[i/] options.

Njorl

 

[Andy]

Pringle was shut in her cage, but she's more vicious than the lot of them when she gets going so she would have probably sorted them both out!

Yea the Nurses can do that in the UK, it only tends to get soar in the evenings so i think its just the days activities getting to it that make it soar. I started on the antibiotics on saturday morning and i went to the A+E about an hour after it happened so i should be fine, but i will have to see the consultant about it tommorow, i think he/she was going to be checking for infection and then looking to see if I needed more stitches or not. Dont want anymore stitches though, abit too painful for my liking.

 

[Moonbear]

The few times I've needed stitches, I thought their tugging and pulling was worse than the wound itself. Glad you got medical treatment right away and are on your antibiotics...did you get a tetanus booster as well? That's the other danger with deep puncture wounds.

Of course the dogs didn't mean it, but just like two kids duking it out on the playground, they aren't paying any attention to who gets in the way if they are dumb enough to try to get in the way.

If you ever have to separate two dogs, pull away the more submissive of the two and punish that one. It sounds unfair and mean, but that's how the dog world works, the submissive one is supposed to know his place and not mess with the dominant one.

 

[Imparcticle]

Well, I know this is a bad thread for me to read since I'm still trying to get over my fear of dogs (and I'm making progress thanks to you guys)...but I can't help it.

Once, my sisters and I were going for a walk by a lake. We were just about to start heading home when suddenly, we saw a black, curly-haired, dog visciously barking at a petrified squirrel in a tree. Once I saw that poodle, it somehow sensed that someone to its far right was watching it (me) and immediately started running towards me. And just for a split second, I was taken back to humanity's evolutionary past where we would have been prey...so I instinctively ran as fast as I could for some shelter which was no where in sight. This all was happening on an elevated area, so thinking the dog would be too scared to go running down rather steep elevation (which led to a parking lot, which made it even more dangerous), I ran down. I then stumbled over a medium sized rock and went sliding down on my stomach. By the time the little adventure was finished, I had cuts all over my stomach, and quite a scare. The dog's owners gave it a scolding.

 

[Evo]

Imparticle, you just have not had good luck with dogs! No wonder you are scared! My best friend was bitten by the dog of one of his friend's when he was younger and has been afraid of dogs ever since. When he comes to visit (he lives in Italy), I have to board my dogs in a kennel while he's here.

Listen to chroot's advice though. Maybe start by getting to know a little firendly dog and work your way up. My older daughter has a Sable Japanese Chin that is staying with me currently. It is the sweetest little thing and too small to cause any harm. The poor little thing, even my cats beat him up.

 

[Andy]

Well the consultant seemed to think everything was healing very well, for some reason i didnt trust her though think it was that dodgy look that she had in her eyes. But she thoguht that everything was going well. Gotta have the stitches out on monday and my Family doctor is going to be taking them out for me. the bruising around the bite is quite cool though, never seen so many shades of yellow, lol.