Dog fights...Part I

[Bailey Guns]

I love my dogs like I love my kids.

But having 6 Jack Russell Terriers can sometimes pose a real problem.

We have two wannabe alpha females that will occasionally tangle. Say what you will about little dogs but if you know JRTs you know they're like little yard sharks. And they don't feel pain when the fighting starts.

I came home from breakfast this morning and my wife was sitting on the floor in front of the door holding the youngest and largest female terrier, Lola. She asked me to take Lola and said she'd fallen while keeping Lola and Nadia separated after some posturing by the both of them. She'd hurt her leg and was having difficulty getting up by herself. (Just stretched some muscles/tendons that probably haven't been stretched for a while)

I took Lola, separated the two females and helped the wife up from the floor. Like a flash of white, furry lightning Nadia appeared out of nowhere and latched on to the left side of Lola's face like a sharp-toothed tick. Nadia is older and slightly smaller than Lola and usually comes up on the short end of the stick with their fights. In the brief moment before she blindsided Lola I could see a look in her eyes that said, "Time for a little payback, bitch!" Game on!

Like a dumbass, I tried separating the two of them. Big mistake but it's sometimes hard to fight instinct and these guys can cause a lot of damage to each other in a short amount of time. As a matter of fact, turns out they can cause a lot of damage to me in a short amount of time, too!

Well...I got them separated. Unfortunately, both my hands look like they've been through a Cuisinart food processor. At least four bites on my right arm from the upper wrist down to my fingers. The left hand is even worse. 5 or 6 bites on the back of my hand and wrist. Needless to say, it's somewhat painful. I know I'll need antibiotics but I guess doctors don't work on Sunday. I don't think I need to go the emergency room...no stitches, just a lot of punctures. All the fingers and such work like they're supposed to so I don't think there's any nerve or tendon damage. Wife's a nurse so we cleaned them pretty good. I'm sure I'll live til morning. Just a heads up, though...if I don't make it the wife is gonna have lots of nice guns to sell so keep your eyes on the "For Sale" forums!

The good news is, the dogs seem to be the only one's in this thing that didn't get bitten.

[Troublco]

Sounds more like a cat fight! You know, you could just stick your hands into a blender and not worry about having to clean the wounds quite so much.

We'll keep our eyes on the "For Sale" area............[ROFL1]

Hope you heal quick!

[Graves]

I hope you get rid of those bishes. No need to wait til the wife gets hurt again.

[68Charger]

we had a pair of St. Bernards that would go at it.. combined weight over 300Lbs...

what's funny is we discovered the secret to stopping them from fighting... we leave the room... they were posturing to impress the alphas (us- you should always be the alphas), so as soon as we left the room, they had no reason to fight anymore..

I'm not saying it would help in your situation, but it's probably worth a try rather than getting in the middle of it.. We've adopted several dogs with aggression problems... you've got to find the trigger, and address that- just admonishing the behavior doesn't always work..

also, if you do got the ER, they're going to want you to fill out paperwork about the dog(s) that bit you, and animal control will investigate...

[Bailey Guns]

The situation rarely escalates beyond the posturing. It never happens when I'm home. But sometimes during the excitement of me coming home, they get all freaky. That's when the problems start and even then it's pretty rare.

The bad behavior only happens when the wife is alone with them so I know what you're saying about the posturing for the pack leader.

We've got the dynamics pretty well figured out...sometimes you miss a clue, though, and can't stop the problem before it gets outta hand.

ETA: The animal control thing isn't an issue. They're all friends as are all the local deputies.

[sniper7]

you should post some pictures of your hands. hopefully you are alright and the bites got cleaned up quick and dont get infected.

[Graves]

Yeah, dog bites suck. I had to backhand the neighbors dog when he lunged at my puppy (@ the time). I hit him right in the tooth and took a real nice hole in the back of my hand, I ran in to flush it right away but I guess it wasn't enough. There were nights when I'd wake from a deep sleep to my whole arm in throbbing with pain - I have pretty high tolerence for pain and HOLLY CRAP!! I was too stubborn to get it looked at so this went on for about a week.

[Bailey Guns]

I don't usually worry about infection from minor wounds. But, I'm gonna head to the doc's tomorrow and get some antibiotics. This one will probably get infected if I don't.

I can't take a picture with my left hand (of my right arm) but here's the left hand. Best I can tell there are 5 separate bites:

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_0009.jpg

[Daniel_187]

I know all to well about having a JRT, with a Napoleon Complex. She is always looking for fights her name is Lucy be I call here Lucifer. She went ape shit on a coon once She was a mess so was the coon. Here is a pic You would think she was the Sweetist WRONG

[Irving]

You should call the cops and the news. Then when the reporters show up, pull the whole, "Well...They've never done anything like this before!" bit.

[Graves]

Get da ample amps!

[Bailey Guns]

Lucifer! That's funny!

All of ours are nothing but loving with people. They're just so damned high-strung, head-strong, stubborn, they're literally not afraid of anything and they have a tremendously strong hunting instinct. When something gets them fired up it's nearly imossible to shift their focus.

We flushed a dead mouse down the toilet one time. Our oldest terrier wanted that mouse so badly she stood on her hind legs with her front paws on the edge of the toilet seat for 7 hours...peering into the toilet, hoping against hope the mouse would reappear. She only got down when just physically couldn't stand like that any longer.

Summer time generally puts a stop to most of the aggession issues because all the dogs get to spend most of the day outside hunting squirrels, chipmunks, etc... They're too tired at the end of the day to mess with each other.

[Ah Pook]

A couple of my customers are roommates. Both have large (husky) dogs. Both dogs are uber dominant and have to be kept kenneled, letting one out at a time.

A couple of months ago both dogs got out at the same time. I took four big guys to part the two dogs. Two dogs went to the vet and two guys went to the hospital. All four looked like they were in a bad bar fight.

[Drilldo]

Antibiotics are a must. I know exactly how you feel. I can't watch my dogs fight, the rare times that they do, either.

I paid the price as well for breaking up a fight. Snoop got a hold of my arm when I was pulling Tyson off of him. Left 2 nice holes.
http://i40.tinypic.com/9rkunb.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/2i89op1.jpg

The other hole was on the underside of my arm about an inch long, The doc was able to put his finger into it to his first joint.

Go get yourself taken care of and get some meds. They gave me an antibiotic iv over an hour and put in a tube to drain the fluid. I turned out fine.

[COemtbuddy]

This is why we need strict JRT registration and compliance. We also need to issue JRT permits from your local police department. Because we all know that 20 million people a year die from JRT attacks and accidents.

[Bailey Guns]

OK, Drilldo...you win!

What kind of dog did that?

[Drilldo]

OK, Drilldo...you win!

What kind of dog did that?

Wasn't trying to win lol. Just making the point that we love our dogs and you should definitely get looked at. I had no idea JRT's were that tough.
A 122 lb Weimaraner did that. It was an accident. Tyson (87 lb boxer) kicked his ass for it. Poor Snoop has been apologizing for over 2 years now and occasionally bleeding when he pisses off Tyson.

http://i42.tinypic.com/sdnzox.jpg

[ronaldrwl]

Dang.
Blood and guts warning for this thread.

[sniper7]

I don't usually worry about infection from minor wounds. But, I'm gonna head to the doc's tomorrow and get some antibiotics. This one will probably get infected if I don't.

I can't take a picture with my left hand (of my right arm) but here's the left hand. Best I can tell there are 5 separate bites:

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_0009.jpg


yeah those look like they sting a bit! hope you got it taken care of!

[sniper7]

Antibiotics are a must. I know exactly how you feel. I can't watch my dogs fight, the rare times that they do, either.

I paid the price as well for breaking up a fight. Snoop got a hold of my arm when I was pulling Tyson off of him. Left 2 nice holes.

The other hole was on the underside of my arm about an inch long, The doc was able to put his finger into it to his first joint.

Go get yourself taken care of and get some meds. They gave me an antibiotic iv over an hour and put in a tube to drain the fluid. I turned out fine.

Ouch!!!! those look like they hurt a bit!

[gnihcraes]

word of warning... we had a cat that severely bit my son when he was little, took him to the Dr. for a quick look to make sure it's all ok. The Dr. had to report it to the police. So that in turn set off events of quarantine, animal control etc... not sure if this will happen in your case? anyone else have that happen?

hopefully just a family dr. won't have to report it...

[Drilldo]

word of warning... we had a cat that severely bit my son when he was little, took him to the Dr. for a quick look to make sure it's all ok. The Dr. had to report it to the police. So that in turn set off events of quarantine, animal control etc... not sure if this will happen in your case? anyone else have that happen?

hopefully just a family dr. won't have to report it...

You do not have to file a police report! Animal control called and questioned me a few days later and I had amnesia. They don't need to know anything. They said they are required to file a report about the incident, I responded "what incident?" The lady laughed and wished me a good day.

[funkfool]

Damn Drilldo-mean wound.
Bailey Guns - update... how are the hands?

[Bailey Guns]

Got the anti-biotics on board. No damage other than the bites. Doc says I'll probably make it.

Can't shoot at all, though, due to the damage on the inside of my right thumb. Sux.

After seeing Drilldo's bites...I think I'll stick to the ankle-biter sized dogs.

And there was no mention of LE reports, animal control, etc...

[gnihcraes]

And there was no mention of LE reports, animal control, etc...

cool...[Beer]

[sniper7]

Got the anti-biotics on board. No damage other than the bites. Doc says I'll probably make it.

Can't shoot at all, though, due to the damage on the inside of my right thumb. Sux.

After seeing Drilldo's bites...I think I'll stick to the ankle-biter sized dogs.

And there was no mention of LE reports, animal control, etc...


nice! glad to hear you will survive!

[Bailey Guns]

nice! glad to hear you will survive!

I was just trying to interject a little drama...the story needed some spice.

[funkfool]

Whew!
Glad you're going to pull through.
It seemed a bit touch and go there...
Hope it didn't affect you beer grip...
[Beer]
Seriously: Get healed - so you can go shooting.