What A Weekend...

[Guest K9Cookies]

Hey everyone. I'm sitting on the couch completely miserable. My weekend got off to a really rough start. I was cooking dinner for myself on Friday and the dogs were outside. I heard them start to get into it and ran outside. We have a full flight of stairs on the deck to get down to the backyard. I hit the first couple of steps, then fell and tumbled down the rest. All three dogs were in full fight mode, which is such a scary scene. I could see blood on Meana already. I tried to break things up and the dogs knocked me right off my feet and I fell (again ) right into the marigolds and little border fence in the garden.

 

I managed to get them apart. Meana had 2 spots on her neck that I knew needed to be stitched up. Gracey had something going on with her ear and Fixer was whimpering. I wasn't exactly sure how to handle the situation. I muzzled Gracey and Fixer and left them at home and took Meana to the emergency vet (yup, it was 6:02 on a Friday evening. ) DH had just started band camp with UVA's band, so I couldn't reach him. Our awesome friend (Sheila, retiredracers) drove more than an hour to go check on Fixer and Gracey. It ended up that I had to leave Meana at the ER vet, so I was also able to come home for awhile and check out Fixer and Gracey too.

 

Fixer has a small spot on his neck about the size of a nickel or quarter that isn't too bad. Gracey had to be taken to the ER vet later. Her eye was all red and she had a pretty good cut on her leg. We didn't want to mess around with her eye. Meana was sedated and cleaned up. I had to leave her and pick her up early Saturday morning. She has a drain in the biggest wound, but she's doing well.

 

I have a huge bruise on my butt , soreness all over and I somehow managed to rip my right big toenail half off! (I'm supposed to run a 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks.) I woke up Saturday morning with a terrible sore throat and major sinus congestion that won't go away. So, I'm in pretty bad shape too.

 

The plan once we all get better- Put fence around garden (the dogs have been eating my tomatoes, and I'm sure the fight was because of that). Keep our dog dog closed most of the time when we're home, and muzzle Gracey when she goes outside (she's the instigator). Now, almost $1,000 later and after a miserable weekend, we're going to do what we can to prevent this from happening again.

 

Sorry for the long story. Things had been going so well.

[Guest kydie]

Monday's only a day away!

[Guest 3greysinPA]

oh Kristin,

 

I am so sorry to hear about all that ... wow.. what a arough weekend you are having ... and over a tomatoe... oh boy...

i am so so sorry... but glad to hear that everything and everyone is slowly recovering from a rough and tumble episode...

and over a tomato... now i could understand if it was over one of your Banana oatmeal cookies... ... thats what happens when me and my 6year old realize there are only a few left.... lol... ( just trying to make you laugh honey) )... seriously... we love you and hope you are ok.. and heal soon..

and many many prayers for the hounds to get well, and heal, with out any complications whatsoever... and we hope you have a good day today to rest and heal and just relax.

[Guest Energy11]

Sooooo sorry to hear this, and, of course, it happened RIGHT after your vets closed on Friday! I hope YOU didn't break anything. If you aren't allergic to aspirin, why not take some Ibuprophen (with food) as it will help those aches and pains.

 

RE: the dogs. I KNOW what you mean. We have a larger turnout pen, and sometimes they get "going" out there. We both go out with them all the time. Thursday, Goldie jumped on the couch with Staggerlee. THEY got into it, but I was luck this time. Just a nick on her face, and a small tear on his shoulder, which I can treat. Yesterday afternoon, Goldie slid down the carpeted ramp that we built to the small pen (stairs too steap). Anyway, she has some gashes on her leg, too :-((

 

I tell ya, this pack behavior is SCARY! I keep a hose in my pen, so if mine go at it, I spray them. I am told, this will break them up.

 

I, too, am alone. DH took the granddaughter home to Orlando, and I am up here on this mountain. IF someone gets hurt, ... something more than I can handle, I have to have a vet come here, as I cannot leave the other.

 

Take a deep breath, Ibuprophen, if you can, maybe a donut or something sweet, and TRY to kick back! :-))

 

Hugs from here! D

[CaliforniaGreys]

Dang! Kristin, what a shame, and when you're alone it's even more difficult, and more scary.

I hope everyone is ok(including you) I'm surprised that they'll eat tomatoes, something so acidic.

[Guest K9Cookies]

Thanks, guys. Believe me, I've been popping the pills! Thank goodness it wasn't a busy weekend (at least for me, DH is a different story). I emailed our running group and told them I'd have to miss our Saturday morning run. It was a really good reason to miss running 14 miles!

 

Meana has really perked up since coming home from the ER vet yesterday morning. I've been applying Arnica gel to the bruised areas and Calendula gel on the cuts. Hopefully that helps her heal up quickly.

[Guest Energy11]

Thanks, guys. Believe me, I've been popping the pills! Thank goodness it wasn't a busy weekend (at least for me, DH is a different story). I emailed our running group and told them I'd have to miss our Saturday morning run. It was a really good reason to miss running 14 miles!

 

Meana has really perked up since coming home from the ER vet yesterday morning. I've been applying Arnica gel to the bruised areas and Calendula gel on the cuts. Hopefully that helps her heal up quickly.

Yeah... I THINK you can be "excused," from running one mile, let alone 14 after your ordeal! Wow... 14 miles ... THAT is impressive! :-))

[Guest greytful4]

Oh dear! When it rains it pours doesn't it! Hope everybody is on the way to recovery now!

[Guest PhillyPups]

It can be so dang scarey to see our mellow couch potatos turn snarky over tomatos!!

 

Good to hear everyone is on the mend. I know when they go for the throat they are serious. Greyhound fights are scarey to liesten to and worse to hear - especially from our gentle hounds.

 

One suggestion, if you muzzle one, muzzle all or you leave one defenseless. She may still try to instigate even muzzled and then would be unable to defend herself.

 

to you. I know it takes a bit after an incident for the emotions of the pups to get back to normal.

 

Hm do I see italian tomato cookies in the making??

[Tallgreydogmom]

For now I would Muzzle everyone when they go outside. This will give you some peace of mind when they are out, also give you bruises time to heal.

[Guest kydie]

A hose I'll have to remember that, Energy11, havn't had any issues here SO FAR!

[Guest greyhound1]

How scary! Hope all of you feel better soon!

[Guest K9Cookies]

It can be so dang scarey to see our mellow couch potatos turn snarky over tomatos!!

 

Good to hear everyone is on the mend. I know when they go for the throat they are serious. Greyhound fights are scarey to liesten to and worse to hear - especially from our gentle hounds.

 

One suggestion, if you muzzle one, muzzle all or you leave one defenseless. She may still try to instigate even muzzled and then would be unable to defend herself.

 

to you. I know it takes a bit after an incident for the emotions of the pups to get back to normal.

 

Hm do I see italian tomato cookies in the making??

 

Thanks for that muzzle suggestion, Pat. I hadn't thought about that. They usually aren't outside a real long time, and we don't have a huge yard. But, that doesn't matter. It happens in a split second, and can happen anywhere, anytime. We've learned that.

 

We also need to address Gracey's aggressiveness with our vet. I sent her an email just now. Gracey has been on DES, for spay incontinence, which we recently heard can make an aggressive hound even more so. We're going to wean her off that. She only got a pill every 7-10 days, but maybe it was enough. I don't want this to happen again, and I don't want something terrible to happen to Gracey because of this behavior.

 

And, Italian tomato cookies...maybe you've got something there, Pat! I've got too many tomatos!

[Guest PhillyPups]

Italian food is easy, lots of tomatos, oregano and garlic

[Guest 3greysinPA]

Italian Tomato cookies... Pat and Kristin... you guys are on to something there...

 

 

sounds good... i love anything italian... guess thats the 50% Italian coming out in me....

 

spice it up Garlic , oregano... and ur good to go...

 

 

[Guest Energy11]

A hose I'll have to remember that, Energy11, havn't had any issues here SO FAR!

 

I learned the "hose thing" when I worked at my vets in Florida. When I was Kennel Manager there, three dogs from the same family (*we NEVER let all the dogs out together/only if they were same-family dogs). Anyway, these three same-family dogs started going at it in the big turnout pen. I have NO idea what started it! We had a hose out there for cleaning the runs, and I turned the hose on them! Boy, THAT broke them up FAST!! They had a few nicks and cuts, but, thank GOD, nothing serious, ... it was on a Sunday, too. Yes, a hose will break up a dog fight :-)

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

I don't think you understand just how scary a dog fight can be until you see your wonderful, gentle babies ready to rip each other's throats out. I've only seen it once, at a playgroup, but jeez, it was super scary.

 

Definitely muzzle everyone, especially while things are tense.

 

Hope everyone feels better soon!!!!

[Guest PhillyPups]

Italian Tomato cookies... Pat and Kristin... you guys are on to something there...

 

 

sounds good... i love anything italian... guess thats the 50% Italian coming out in me....

 

spice it up Garlic , oregano... and ur good to go...

 

Add in some meat and cheese, you have a PhillyCheesesteak cookie

 

(Not making light of a really scarey serious situation, just trying to relieve your tension here)

[KF_in_Georgia]

Kristin,

 

Sorry you've all been through the mill.

 

A suggestion: Even if you successfully address Gracey's aggression, you might do well to muzzle everyone for their outside trips--always. Even a playful nip can draw blood. And muzzles will make it harder for the dogs to eat something nasty they might find on the ground (mushrooms, squirrel poop, other "goodies"). If they get into something when you're not out there, you wouldn't know about it until someone started getting sick, so muzzles-forever might save you a lot of grief. (Muzzles won't save your tomatoes, though. The dogs would probably batter the tomatoes, trying to get them through the holes in the muzzles.)

 

And if someone comes in the house dinged and bleeding, you at least can be pretty sure it was self-inflicted, and not a bite. (Unless it's an ear. My Jacey managed to stick her ear in an Alpha dog's muzzle--but the ear was the only damage.)

 

Finally, if there's a squirrel or other critter in the yard, muzzles might save your dogs from squirrel-inflicted bites, which can be nasty. If the dogs can't grab the squirrel, the squirrel won't need to bite to get away. Yeah, the dogs would kill the squirrel, but the squirrel could do some serious damage first.

[Guest Energy11]

Kristin,

 

Sorry you've all been through the mill.

 

A suggestion: Even if you successfully address Gracey's aggression, you might do well to muzzle everyone for their outside trips--always. Even a playful nip can draw blood. And muzzles will make it harder for the dogs to eat something nasty they might find on the ground (mushrooms, squirrel poop, other "goodies"). If they get into something when you're not out there, you wouldn't know about it until someone started getting sick, so muzzles-forever might save you a lot of grief. (Muzzles won't save your tomatoes, though. The dogs would probably batter the tomatoes, trying to get them through the holes in the muzzles.)

 

And if someone comes in the house dinged and bleeding, you at least can be pretty sure it was self-inflicted, and not a bite. (Unless it's an ear. My Jacey managed to stick her ear in an Alpha dog's muzzle--but the ear was the only damage.)

 

Finally, if there's a squirrel or other critter in the yard, muzzles might save your dogs from squirrel-inflicted bites, which can be nasty. If the dogs can't grab the squirrel, the squirrel won't need to bite to get away. Yeah, the dogs would kill the squirrel, but the squirrel could do some serious damage first.

 

 

Muzzles are wonderful! When we used to have to leave the dogs 4-5 hours when we both worked (they had a doggie door in Florida), we'd muzzle, too. EVERYONE was muzzled. Thank GOD, I never had any incidents, and at that time, I had seven.

[Guest jettcricket]

Geez...Kristin. Sorry to hear about what happened...painful and scary at the same time. Sending good thoughts that everything will be ok.

[Batmom]

Oh my. Hope everybody (including you!) heals quickly and well! Wish I were close enough to come lend a hand.

[racindog]

I have seen other people routinely turn out their greys and never use a muzzle. I marvel at it! I can hardly believe that they don't fight and have lots of vet visits! For me, I learned the hard way the only way that I can keep them from poking holes into each other is to muzzle them at all times when they are out as a pack. Therefore all 4 of mine are always muzzled when outside. They honestly would hurt each other too much if they wern't. They are sweet houndies but you have that pack mentality, not to mention their competiveness. An extra added bonus is that I don't have to worry about them eating any bad or poisonous stuff. So sorry for such a hectic weekend you've had. Hope all the houndies and you make a super swift recovery. I run half marathons too and you'll make it. It might not be your best time but you'll finish well-no question about it!

[Guest lynne893]

YIKES! What an ordeal! It sounds like you took quite a beating yourself. I'm glad, though, that when you fell into the marigolds, the dogs weren't in such a frenzy that they accidentally bit you.

 

You obviously have a good sense of humor and you're taking it like a champ! I thought it was kind of cute to picture your greys getting territorial over garden tomatoes.

 

Good luck in the 1/2 marathon!

[Guest K9Cookies]

Thanks for the jokes to ease things. It has helped. I've got to bake a batch of treats today, so that will keep my mind off of things too.

 

The hose is a good idea, but I don't think it would work for us. It would have to be on all of the time. The 30 seconds or so it would have taken me to run and turn the hose on would have been disastrous. They had their tag collars on, not martingales, but I'm glad I had those to grab on to. I would not have been able to separate them if I wasn't able to grab anything.

 

Out vet has already written me back, so we'll get appointments for Meana, and possibly Gracey. I'll let you guys know how things go. Thanks for all of the well wishes.