[PaulaEdwina]

Yoshi just picked the mother of all fights with Amrika. As before I broke them up and separated them. After a while when they got back together she tried to make up and they went at it again. This time when I broke them up she bit the crap out of my forearms. She's locked in the vestibule and I'm going to the emergency room. And when I'm back she's going somewhere else.

Paula

 

[BullieGirl]

:shock: Oh, I hope you are alright?!?!?!?!?!?! Keep us up to date please!

 

[nanniesrock]

Paula,
I hope you're alright :shock: . Doesn't sound good....I'll be waiting for an update.

 

[yungster]

I'm sorry... I understand what you're going through. I hope you're alright!

 

[Rachel Zugg]

:shock: I hope everything is alright!

 

[gazar]

Paula, I was trying to read some of your previous posts concerning Yoshi
when the computer closed out on me. I went back in but now it will not
let me into your posts as it says it is too soon (going to have to check this
out with root). At any rate, I was on the page where you were just getting
Amrika I believe. I was trying to find out if this behaviour ever happened
before Amrika got there or if it is due to Amrika being there? I am so sorry
this is happening - to have to make choices between dogs is not easy. Do
you really feel she knew it was you that she was biting or do you think she
was so involved in the fight that when she clamped down she just got you.
I know from reading other people's posts when they have got into the midst
of their dog fighting, that this is what has happened. I am hoping it was an
accident and not that she intentionally bit you. What is it about Amrika that
she does not like - if you posted this before, I am sorry, but as I said, it will
not let me back in to read your posts. I hope your arm is alright and just
want you to know that I am feeling for you having to go through this.

 

[Lisa]

Why not just crate and rotate? :-k

 

[SugarBear]

Why not just crate and rotate? :-k

I am going through the same thing with Dirk and Sugar. They were fine at first and now they are both non stop energy and Dirk is trying to show dominance and Sugar is like...Uh, little one do you know who I am? They have had several scuffles. I don't like the idea of crating one and playing with the other. I want them to get along and both be able to be out in the house.

 

[Vertes3]

Ohhh Nooo!!! I really hope that your arm is alright!!!! I'm sure it was probablly just redirection....but I can totally empathize with where you are coming from.

 

[PaulaEdwina]

I am back. Bandaged forearms and twelve sutures later - well heck two bites, 4 holes per bite, I guess that's about 1 1/2 sutures per bite.

1. Amrika did not start the fight. Yoshi did unfortunately. It's the same battle - status over me. The tiniest thing sets them off; a resource, a tight spot, etc. This time though they would not be subdued and all four dogs were getting into the mix.

2. She didn't attack me - it was completely redirected agression because I grabbed her. You ought not try to separate fighting dogs without the understanding that you might get bit. My dogs won't do it but she was completely stimulated at the time.

3. Crate and rotate. If I lived in town and wasn't away from home 10 hours a day I would consider it. However I'm not sure even in that situation that I would do it because I've had an agressive dog before (I adopted a borzoi mix from the pound at age 5yrs) and in hind sight, my entire life was consumed with worrying about triggers, and whether I could take him anywhere, and what could or would set off, etc. I had resolved with the foster that if Yoshi and Ami couldn't get along I would return her to the foster. Unfortunately under these circumstances she will not be placed in another home. Rescue cannot place dogs that have a bite history regardless of the circumstances and especially with big dogs like ridgies and bullies.

Amrika is a great dog. If she was in a household by herself none of this would have happened.

4. Yoshi's pretty well punctured but he could have got it worse. The dogs are freaked out a little and it's going to take some time for them to come down. I took Amrika to the vet to meet the foster. I told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was it was coming to this. I promised her I'd bring her ashes back home with us.

As for my experience with this breed/mix. I loved it. She was a smart, energetic, loyal, sweetie. As for being bitten; well heck you ride long enough you are going to fall off the horse at some point. This was my turn I guess. I wasn't scared as much as taken aback 'you did not just bit me!'. And I still had to save the dogs so there's blood all over the living room from me chasing them down, grabbing up Ami and letting the other dogs escape and then locking her in the vestibule.
She was really worried when I came back from the emergency room to take her away so I tried my best to make it not a big deal.

This really sucks.
Paula

 

[gazar]

I took Amrika to the vet to meet the foster. I told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was it was coming to this. I promised her I'd bring her ashes back home with us.

I am confused as to what this means. Did you have Amrika put with another foster home or did you have her put to sleep?

 

[PaulaEdwina]

I took Amrika to the vet to meet the foster. I told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was it was coming to this. I promised her I'd bring her ashes back home with us.

I am confused as to what this means. Did you have Amrika put with another foster home or did you have her put to sleep?

The foster is a vet tech at my vets. The vet has kennels. Even though I figured she would have to be euthanized I decided I wasn't in the right frame of mind to make such a decision. So I left Amrika at the vet's and the foster will decide with the vet what to do. I am pretty sure the foster is going to euthanize her. She can't be rehomed.

Paula

 

[attitude]

just one thing paula, stitching dog bite punctures makes me nervous, infection is such a worry with a bite wound. personally , no matter how bad the bite i prefer to leave it open so it can be flushed and heal from the inside out. please be careful and make sure they heal up ok .
as for the dog issues, when you have a "pack" you will always have fights/scuffles/ problems. if they can't work it out then , unfortunately, somebody has to go. i'm sorry they couldn't work it out

 

[PaulaEdwina]

just one thing paula, stitching dog bite punctures makes me nervous, infection is such a worry with a bite wound. personally , no matter how bad the bite i prefer to leave it open so it can be flushed and heal from the inside out. please be careful and make sure they heal up ok .
as for the dog issues, when you have a "pack" you will always have fights/scuffles/ problems. if they can't work it out then , unfortunately, somebody has to go. i'm sorry they couldn't work it out

Thanks Attitude. The doctor at the ER had the same concerns, but she said I'd have a better cosmetic outcome if they were closed just a little bit. So she only put a couple of stitches in each - not as many as she would have for another kind of wound. I'm also on augmentin - a horse sized super pill. I have to keep an eye out for infection too.

You're right about the pack. Having had a pack for a while I am used to the occaisional scuffle and always weigh the degree of injury to the fight. This time was pretty bad. I think if I didn't get Ami off Yoshi someone was going to get REALLY hurt. And when she bit my arms I had the feeling if I hadn't let go she would have chewed straight up to my shoulder (so I let go and then grabbed her again).

It's been a heck of a day. Everybody is feeling very shaky now. And poor Ami... I'm also very sorry it didn't work out. Other than this issue she was a heck of a dog.

Paula

 

[SugarBear]

just one thing paula, stitching dog bite punctures makes me nervous, infection is such a worry with a bite wound. personally , no matter how bad the bite i prefer to leave it open so it can be flushed and heal from the inside out. please be careful and make sure they heal up ok .
as for the dog issues, when you have a "pack" you will always have fights/scuffles/ problems. if they can't work it out then , unfortunately, somebody has to go. i'm sorry they couldn't work it out

So with Dirk ( Male GSD 5 months) and Sugar (Female AB 3 years) what do you think I should do? Let them figure out pecking order themselves or keep them seperated. I think that it is a bigger problem because Sugar was actually here first. Then she leaves for 6 months and comes back to a pup in the house. Any suggestions?

 

[PaulaEdwina]

just one thing paula, stitching dog bite punctures makes me nervous, infection is such a worry with a bite wound. personally , no matter how bad the bite i prefer to leave it open so it can be flushed and heal from the inside out. please be careful and make sure they heal up ok .
as for the dog issues, when you have a "pack" you will always have fights/scuffles/ problems. if they can't work it out then , unfortunately, somebody has to go. i'm sorry they couldn't work it out

So with Dirk ( Male GSD 5 months) and Sugar (Female AB 3 years) what do you think I should do? Let them figure out pecking order themselves or keep them seperated. I think that it is a bigger problem because Sugar was actually here first. Then she leaves for 6 months and comes back to a pup in the house. Any suggestions?

I can only tell you what I think the problem was with Amrika and Yoshi. Yoshi has always been my VP and the other dogs were quite willing to go with that since they were both submissive in nature. And as far as I was concerned, Yoshi being Vice President was fine because he completely respected my leadership. Unfortunately Amrika was also VP (and maybe presidential) material and she wouldn't back down. If she'd been a different personality things would have been diffrent. In your case, I would say it depends on your dogs' temperaments. Will one of them back down?

Paula

 

[OrsonDogge]

Now, i have heard to let them figure out for themselves the pecking order...and you have to respect that.
So the highest ranking dog, you have to treat like he is head dog...always greet him first, always give him food first, etc.
If you start treating the lowest dog like lead dog...it throws their whole
system haywire and you will get more fights from the confusion.
Makes sense?

 

[Lizzie]

Wow...sorry Paula...that sucks.

 

[SugarBear]

Well, Sugar is the big dog! I show her the most attention and feed her first ect..ect... The thing is that Dirk is still a pup and he is high energy and she feeds into that and they are bouncing off the walls. Then when Sugar is ready to relax Dirk still wants to play. She gets irritated by him and that is when things get ugly. Also when it is time for chews. Dirk always wants to take Sugars even when he has his own and then they are at it again. Sometimes Sugar just tries to intimidate him for the fun of it. Once Dirk was laying on the bed in the kids room and sleeping and Sugar went in the room tail up and juked at him until he ran off in the crate. I am worried that they aren't going to be able to co-habitate. My mom will take Dirk if need be but I really want this to work out BAD

 

[slid3r]

I was looking at a picture of them from the photos section, is Amrika the big one? If so, she is huge compared to the white dog.