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Saint Bernards => Saint Bernard General Discussions => : Rosalba June 28, 2008, 12:59:28 PM
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agh -I'm still pretty agitated! sorry it's going to be long, but I just need to let it out and know no one will understand this better than BPOers :-[
I wanted to go get some caffeine before taking a long bike ride in the nice weather, and decided to just bring Lucca with me (Thank God, because Frida would have gone completely apesh*t!)... We got to the coffee shop and this older couple with their Golden Retriever was leaving... The dogs were greeting and then the other dog growled and immediately launched at Lucca -who is submissive and went down right away crying like I've never heard him cry before :'( :'( :'( we were separating them, but the other dog wouldn't let go of his ear!! at which point I start screaming "HIS EAR! HIS HEAR!!" because Lucca was crying and obviously in pain, and I know he's a cry baby anyways! so I kind of lost it there... the dog finally lets go, and is taken away by his dad, and the mom stayed with me checking Lucca's ear... which had several puncture wounds, the biggest one almost completely perforated his ear from inside -it didn't make it all the way through, but pretty much up to his outer (skin/fur) ear layer :'(
So there was blood, Lucca just wanted to run home, and I got blood everywhere (hands/clothes), and I know I was hurting him too, but I just had to check the wounds :( I called our vet, and THANK GOODNESS they are open today -so we (included Penny, the dog's mom) headed over there. I, of course, was more shaken than him -heart going a mile a second and trembling hands and voice... he immediately wanted to go play with another dog, as long as no one touched his ear...
Fortunately, his vet was there, and she had a good, long look at him. We all agreed that the main concern was infection -since his ears are very floppy and, well, really don't know what's in the other dog's mouth... no need for stitches, which our vet likes to avoid if possible anyways. He got some antibiotics injected in him, somewhat of a cleaning (three vet techs couldn't hold him down enough to finish it -because Lucca is now 80 lbs! and strong! :o we weighed him when we went in) and for some reason our vet was worried I wouldn't be able to clean his ear by myself -since she knows I live alone. She even mentioned that he might snap at me! I know when pups are in pain, they can act differently, but I just can't see Lucca ever trying to hurt me :-* So we went home with pain killers and vet scrub sheet thingies with stuff (I obviously didn't pay much attention to actual terms... uh, that iodine-like thingie -if I saw a bottle, I would know, I just can't recall the name now...) oh, and the dog's dad met us there and they were a really nice couple and took care of the bill. It was nice meeting them... just bad circumstances. ..
We walked home, to work off some of that adrenaline, I told myself... so Lucca and I made it home and he got a nice, big, drugged lunch ;D I waited a little and then cleaned his ear without trouble -Just sat on the floor, and of course he would come over and be a lap dog... at which point I can do anything to him ::)
agh! sorry it's SO LOOOOOONG... I was tearing up at the beginning, but feel so much better now :) and Lucca is fast asleep on his mamá's bed, with the AC on ;) I think he feels better too :-*
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Poor Lucca! I hope his ear gets better!
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Oh! Poor Stuffer Pupper! :'( :'( Poor you too! :(
I'm so glad he's OK and resting. Ouch! Gives me a chill just thinking about it. I would have been a wreck. The couple sounds really nice. Thank goodness for that. How horrible it would have been if they were - you know - nasty.
Take it easy. Hugs to you both. :-* Oh, and little Frida too. I'll bet she wonders what happened to her brother.
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Oh No. Poor Pupper. I really hate when dogs fight like that. I guess I hate when people whose dogs are more aggressive than others don't control them better too. That includes me. Grace can be a scrapper when provoked and I go out of my way to avoid people and other dogs when it seems like the situation would be better left alone. I wish other people were more sensitive to their dogs' behavior, mood or tendencies to lunge.
I hope Lucca feels better soon. But i'm glad it wasn't worse that it was.
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Oh no poor Lucca - he is so cute and cuddly - he deserves to be hugged not bitten - bad other doggie!!
Thankfully, the people were nice and supportive also. I could have been so much worse if they had just left and then you would have to hunt them down.
Well give Lucca and Frieda a hug and have a nice drink, or go shopping or whatever you like to do to relax!
Randy and Harley
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Poor baby. I know how you feel because we had a similar situation a few years ago. A dog lunged and almost cut Bear's tongue in half. :( Hang in there..with momma's love he'll be better in no time.
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We hope he heals quickly i am sure his mom will take VIP care of you! Marina
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I, too, am most impressed by the incredible sensitivity and responsibility of the Golden's owners. Mega-kudos to them. Sometimes, no matter how well-behaved our dogs usually are, they can be unpredictable. I guess that's part of being a dog. I'm sure the Golden's parents will be more sensitive to her growls now and try to correct that.
I'd be just as freaked out as you. I'm sending good vibes that Lucca will hear quickly.
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Poor Lucca & poor you! I would have been so upset, too. I think that it's wonderful though that both you and the Golden's people all held it together so well and you got Lucca the care that he needed so cooperatively. Honestly, I think that it's a credit to both of you. Good job for handling it so well. Please give Lucca a gentle little "get well soon" hug from me. :-*
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thank you everyone for the good healing wishes. We've definitely calmed down now :) I went to petsmart and got all sorts of goodies for Frida and Lucca, but mostly Lucca :P
Yeah, I was really glad the golden's owners took responsibility too -I would have chased them and gotten sooo mad if they hadn't... Apparently this sort of thing had never happened with them either.. They did say that when their dog was younger, he was attacked by a big dog that looked a bit like Lucca... I don't know about that, but I do think it's safe to say that my little fluffer pupper has entered his annoying/crazy puppy stage (he's also just started to try to jump and pull and test his limits with me), and I knew that at some point, some dog wasn't going to put up with it -NOT that it's Lucca's fault, since he doesn't have one aggressive bone in his body... he just kind of goes up to other dog's faces and licks them.... intensely. I always try to get him to calm down before I let him say hi, but I'm not sure what happened this time... it was just kind of fast...
ugh, I think I may have to start asking people to please not make eye contact with or acknowledge Lucca until he calms down before a greeting...
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Poor Lucca :-\ Thank god he wasn't hurt worse, and it is lucky you were able to go right to the vet! Hopefully he has a speedy recovery.
I agree with everyone that it's good that the couple took responsibility and did the right thing, because as sad as it is I don't think a lot of people would have
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Oh Lucca! Little fluffy ear?!?! :( Glad to hear he's doing better, and it seems that-considering all the elements- the situation was handled and turned out well...Someone could've gotten seriously hurt, I'm so happy Lucca and Mom are feeling better though.
Best wishes, take care!
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I wonder if you should get Lucca back out for a walk today, just to have him meet some nice pups, so that he doesn't get scared in the future. Sometimes incidents like this can prompt a little leash aggression. I'm sure Lucca wouldn't be like that, but it's worth a try to make sure he doesn't.
Yes. That was one of the first of the dozens of thoughts that ran through my head when everything happened... you know, is he traumatized now? is he going to become dog-aggressive?? but literally within minutes of the incident, when we started walking towards the vet, there was another dog around, and Lucca wagged his tail and got that sparkle in the eye "Oh boy! a friend! let's go say hi and play, mom!!"
So we're going to cheesman park today in the late afternoon... I'll have to relax before that tho... so I can be calmed :-X maybe I won't bring Frida today either? make it be a just Lucca day at the park :P and bring, like, a water sprayer, just to feel more confident in case something does begin to happen? ugh, but then I feel like I'm sabotaging us!! :-\ but I'm just going to be boy scout Rosalba, right? nothing wrong with that...
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Once a dog attacks another dog like that you can never trust them again in public without some kind of muzzle. It is good the owners paid your bill, but if the incident happens again and they have taken no action with their dog to physically stop it repeating that behaviour, then someone will probably be able to sue them quite successfully given the animal's history. It may be a kid next time.
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Once a dog attacks another dog like that you can never trust them again in public without some kind of muzzle. It is good the owners paid your bill, but if the incident happens again and they have taken no action with their dog to physically stop it repeating that behaviour, then someone will probably be able to sue them quite successfully given the animal's history. It may be a kid next time.
I work for a lawyer, and when I first told them what happened (later that day) he went full on into possible lawsuit mode! "when did this happen? where? were there any witnesses" and stuff... but of course I explained the owners took responsibility ... and the fact that I really don't believe the other dog was completely unprovoked, definitely very very harsh and quick to be so, but I get that Lucca can be annoying -he didn't get to lick this dog, but I'm assuming he could feel that Lucca was still very excited, that and Lucca outweighed him by about 30 lbs... I'm guessing all that made him very nervous... still, definitely not an excusable behavior, but I can kind of see where this came from.