Emergency Vet Trip for Blue!

[Southern by choice]

Eliza is in heat and in the kennel/quarantine pen. All is fine. Pete and Blue lay up against the fence but no issues. Pete doesn't try to jump over or anything.

So what happened?

Blue is humping Pete, Pete gets disgruntled but will get out from under and no issues. However Pete decided to hump Blue.

This did not go over to well. I see the two from the door start to rar rar rar at each other. I also see this could get ugly. As I am sliding my shoes on and getting ready to grab a lead YEP.

It got ugly.

Mostly a lot of noise but they were both on back legs standing tall. Neither would back down or submit to the other. I calmly got out there and GW was in the barn, she grabbed a lead as well. We positioned ourselves and calmly waited til both dogs were on all fours. I hollered and for a brief second they broke enough for GW to get a lead around Pete and I got Blue. We separated them. Clipping Pete to the fence. Unfortunately Pete got clipped right next to the Blue Gate and Chunk who was in the front field was pi$$ed that they were fighting so he sticks his head through and tries to grab Pete.

I still am holding Blue.
GW yells at Chunk, puts him up in the hallway of the barn. Proceeds to get Blue through the barn out to the front field and out. I release Pete and check him over real good.

Get to Blue and see his ear is badly ripped.
Put him in with some young bucks, the only field I had left.

Call and leave a message for the vet. Not a lot of blood but definitely needing put back together. He didn't want me touching it but I told him "mommy needs to see" and he let me but I could tell it hurt.

Not any immediate emergency but it was going to need stitched.

My vet was at a conference and didn't get my call til late. So I get a call with my vet apologizing for calling back so late. Love my vet.
I texted pics over and was on the phone at the same time. Vet said, I'll meet you there.

Must say I love my dogs! Blue has not been in the car or van since a baby. Yet we opened the door and said, "come on boy" and he hopped right in! Good dog!

He went straight into the clinic, straight back to OR.
Got a sedative but needed IV sedation as well. He was growling under sedation.
Can I say he is freaking heavy!
Took a long time to get it stitched up.

Hung out there so he could wake up good and vet had animals to tend to anyway. Got home around 11 or something like that. Had to move animals again because he was still a bit groggy and we didn't want goats messing with him.

Musical dogs.

I always feel so bad when I have to call for an emergency. My vet is wonderful to us. How do you really say thank you.


The boys were laying up against the fence next to each other this morning. I felt terrible for both of them.
Eliza is actually a spay candidate. She cycles every 3 months and for some reason her scent is extremely strong. She kinda makes every dog a little nutty.
The timing has been off so we haven't been able to do it and we really have wanted to try to hold off as long as we could. I hate to do it but it is a health issue for her and not good to keep her intact. It will be easier on the boys too.

 

[luvmypets]

I'm glad both dogs are ok! And yay for an awesome vet!

 

[Latestarter]

This is what those of the female persuasion do to many of the male persuasion... Sorry to hear Blue got the worst of it. Glad Chunk wasn't able to get hold of Pete and double the damage done. Also glad that neither you nor GW got hurt trying to break it up. Hope Eliza finishes up and the scheduling works out to get her done. Everyone needs at least one vet like yours. Hope Blue heals up OK, as I'm sure he will. Hope Pete isn't traumatized and the bro's can forgive and forget.

 

[NH homesteader]

Oh no Blue! How's he doing today?

You have a totally awesome vet. And totally awesome dogs. Glad it wasn't worse

 

[Southern by choice]

He is doing fine. The brat did jump over the isle way and all 3 boys (Blue, Chunk, Pete) were hanging out in the field together this morning.

Although I am not happy about the squabble, once again, it reminds me how incredible these dogs are. On the way to the vets we were talking about the coyotes which led to wolves and bears. The harsh reality is these dogs will put themselves on the line for their goats and there was a member here that had a pyr that was a lone dog. A pack of coyotes came in, he couldn't fight them all off and was killed. I rather have no lgd's than to underdog.

Proud of Blue for being so great on lead and traveling. I am also glad we have a big van. These boys just don't fit in a car.

Here is my baby boy's ear.

On the way to the vet's. He wanted to come up front with his "mom".

Do you all know how to safely get two dogs apart?
This is pretty important. I can't remember if I have shared that or not.

Thanks @Latestarter we always keep safe. The key is keeping calm and waiting for an appropriate moment. Also a STIFF lead. Never use a flimsy lead or you can't get it safely around them.
You must weather the leads.

 

[NH homesteader]

Aw good boy. He's so handsome. There was an incident at a dog park up here this summer... Very very bad outcome... I wish the person involved knew how to break up dogs.

Our Alano breeder's wife explained to me how to break up dogs... She was about 110 lbs but their dogs max out at about 95. Little different than your giant dogs!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Those boys! Glad it wasn't any worse!

 

[samssimonsays]

I am glad he is ok and on his way to healing up! It is never an easy situation to plan for or to even imagine.

The worst, and only technical fight, break up I had to do was our collie and our mini dachshund... That little brat was psycho and still is. Decided to attack the collie (80# collie who was extremely protective, fine around our dogs but not so much others) for walking in the room where she had hidden a dog treat. Little dog had collies nose, Collie had little dogs throat. She wasn't trying to kill the little dog but wouldn't let go until the little one did and she was NOT giving up. I grabbed the then puppy who tried to get into the mix to see what was happening and locked him away before coming to help my mom (who was panicked) I held collies collar and slapped both noses at the same time with one loud "ACK" and they let go like nothing had happened. Collies nose was badly bit up and weener dog had 4 very mild, almost non existent punctures in her neck. Neither needed any sort of stitching but the vet cleaned them out and put on antibiotics to be safe.

I feel like no matter how good or well trained the dog is, it is in their nature and the right circumstance can always arise to cause a scuffle of any magnitude. No ones at fault, we just strive to eliminate that circumstance for future reference in our house.

 

[Devonviolet]

I'm so sorry to hear about Blue's injuries! Glad you have such a great Vet!

We still haven't found a Vet's office we are crazy about. The one we are currently using won't write scripts for meds they sell in their office (with a nice mark up). That pi**** me off. If I can get a med, for less online, I should be able to do that. It feels like they are holding the med/dog hostage. Apparently finding another Vet locally isn't an option, because they all seem to do it. THAT'S JUST WRONG!!!

Our Violet & Deo have been "play fighting" since they were puppies. It used to really worry me. But, then one day I realized there was a lot of snarling & growling, but they never touched the other with their teeth.

Up until recently, it was Deo on his back & Violet on top. Recently, out of the blue they did the standing on hind legs, standing full height. I watched for a while, because this was new. But, again, there was no contact with the teeth. So, I let them go at it. As usual, it only lasted about a minute or so, and all was back to their normal friendly selves.

Back when Violet & Deo were puppies, I watched a video, about separating fighting LGDs. They used 2 adults. Each took a good hold on one of the dog's tails & pulled them apart. I've never had to do that. So, not sure if it could damage their tails.

I do like Southern's way of looping a leash over their heads & hooking the clasp to a fence, to keep the dogs separate. We actually do something similar to catch an errant goat. The goats will never turn down an offer of alfalfa pellets in a bowl. So I take a leash, making a loop with the handle end. I slip the loop over my hand & take the treat bowl in my hand. Once the goat starts eating the treats, I slip the loop over their head and we are headed back to the pen. No muss, no fuss.

 

[Southern by choice]

The tail thing is an option sometimes but not always. One, you better know your dog real well and two, sometimes if it is real bad you can get bit.
The leads are not always looped around the head, more often than not it is around their waist because if in a real bad fight you cannot get close to their head. Sometimes it will be a back leg that you snare. Sometimes it will be the leg on one and the head on another.

Sometimes there aren't two people so knowing how to deal with it alone is also important. No one ever wants to have to deal with this but knowing is better than not.

A person must always remember to not be in a physical position to get themselves backed up against something or in a corner. Stay to the open outside at all times. Dogs move fast and minimizing damage means keeping yourself safe first, moving calmly and waiting for that right moment. 30 seconds, 60 seconds, etc feels like FOREVER but you must remember wait and be safe.

Our boys love each other, but hormones can be a &**(^*&^&* sometime.

Blue is never the aggressor, but he won't back down either.