Extremely upset and annoyed with myself

[Josie]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

well I’ve just experienced a situation I never wanted to be in.

Before I share it, I’m not looking for people to judge or tell me how stupid I am as no one can be as annoyed or upset as I am with myself.

Firstly, I am trying to set myself up with dog walking alongside the website so I have so many things to learn and this has been one of those.

I was due to walk two golden retrievers from different homes. Both intact (maybe this should have been my warning) but both boys are very chilled. I also asked one of the owners if they had crossed paths before and if they were ok with each other. He said yes they just tend to ignore each other.

Anyway, I’l call them A and B. As I walked A towards B there was some slight growling so I thought that walking them together was not a good idea. I was just in the process of pulling A away when the fight broke out.

Wow. It happened so quickly, without a blink.

I couldn’t split them up and end up on the floor, glasses flying off and all pockets emptied.

Luckily a passing car stopped and helped split it up.

As I got up I realised I had been bitten quite badly on my arms. Blood was everywhere! My face, my arms, my clothes, on both dogs, my phone, my glasses etc.

Thankfully both dogs are absolutely fine and don’t have a single scratch to show from the scrap. I came off worse.

I am so upset with myself. I am so frustrated with myself. Hindsight is the worst feeling.

I don’t know how but I carried on walking dog B with Dennis (who stayed out of the whole situation bless him)

I just wanted to share this because however chilled out you think a dog is ANYTHING could happen. The speed at which it can happen is also very scary.

A massive lesson learnt from me today.

(Off to doctors shortly)

 

[JoanneF]

Oh, no that's awful. Don't beat yourself up, a fight can happen between any combinations of gender and regardless of being neutered. Hope you are ok. If you get a tetanus shot, wriggle your fingers (or toes if it is into your bottom) as that relaxes the muscles in your upper arm/leg and makes the injection less painful.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Ouch... no judgement here. I was taken by surprise when Murphy turned on a lifelong pal of his. Luckily it was all a bit handbags at dawn and no real biting but I think we all know how suddenly things can go from zero to full scale war in a nanosecond.. hope you feel better soon.

 

[Josie]

Thank you both. I think my adrenaline has just left my body!

Thank you for the tip @JoanneF

I was so shocked at how quickly it happened. Hardly any warning at all.

Poor Dennis was crying his eyes out and wouldn’t leave my side :-(

Frustratingly I have a bite puncture in the crease of my thumb!

 

[JudyN]

Oh no!!! I'm so sorry this has happened, you must be in shock.

Don't beat yourself up. You checked with the owners that the dogs were chilled and were fine with each other, and at the first growl you tried to move them apart, but dogs' reactions are far faster than humans'. Trying to break them up is an instinctive thing and there's innumerable people who would say that it's not a good idea but would absolutely do it themselves.

Go easy on yourself, give Dennis a big hug and help him to relax. Chocolate and a good film to distract you this evening could be medicinal - wine too, though I dare say whatever medication you have will rule that out.

 

[Caro Perry]

That must have been terrifying. Yes dog scraps break out incredibly fast so don't blame yourself. Are you OK though? I'm hoping you weren't badly bitten?

 

[Josie]

Oh no!!! I'm so sorry this has happened, you must be in shock.

Don't beat yourself up. You checked with the owners that the dogs were chilled and were fine with each other, and at the first growl you tried to move them apart, but dogs' reactions are far faster than humans'. Trying to break them up is an instinctive thing and there's innumerable people who would say that it's not a good idea but would absolutely do it themselves.

Go easy on yourself, give Dennis a big hug and help him to relax. Chocolate and a good film to distract you this evening could be medicinal - wine too, though I dare say whatever medication you have will rule that out.

Thankyou. I honestly couldn’t stand back and let it happen, I was so worried they would do serious damage to each other.

Oh I’ve checked and I can have a drink or two with my antibiotics!!!

 

[Josie]

That must have been terrifying. Yes dog scraps break out incredibly fast so don't blame yourself. Are you OK though? I'm hoping you weren't badly bitten?

I’m ok thank you. Just very shaken. I have a few puncture wounds on my hands and arms. One is quite deep and won’t stop bleeding. On antibiotics now for 5 days :-(

 

[Mayblossom]

Oh bless you Josie, a horrible thing to happen to you but don’t blame yourself at all! I had the same happen with two of my dogs that had been together for years! I ended up in hospital,as I had to intervene and was badly bitten on the hand, ended up having to have a general anaesthetic to have the wound opened up and cleaned out as it had turned septic, my hand was like a balloon...keep your eye on your punctures

 

[Sezzy]

Oh Josie that must have been very frightening. So glad all parties are ok. Don’t let it put you off your dog walking plans, no one is blaming you. Chill out with Dennis tonight and hopefully you’ll feel better soon

 

[Josie]

Oh Josie that must have been very frightening. So glad all parties are ok. Don’t let it put you off your dog walking plans, no one is blaming you. Chill out with Dennis tonight and hopefully you’ll feel better soon

Thankyou! X

 

[Josie]

Oh bless you Josie, a horrible thing to happen to you but don’t blame yourself at all! I had the same happen with two of my dogs that had been together for years! I ended up in hospital,as I had to intervene and was badly bitten on the hand, ended up having to have a general anaesthetic to have the wound opened up and cleaned out as it had turned septic, my hand was like a balloon...keep your eye on your punctures

Thankyou. Oh wow. That’s not good at all. You just automatically intervene don’t you! I’m going to keep a close eye on it. Luckily my mums a district nurse!

 

[Mayblossom]

Now that is handy ! She’ll be able to spot anything not quite right . I hate dogs fighting , and we always seem to come off worse than they do! All part and parcel of having doggies ....supposed to be enjoyable

 

[Flobo]

Bathe your wounds in lavender oil and boiled(not boiling!)water, helps stop bleeding and is antiseptic..
Dog fights happen to us all, when I worked at the kennels the owner had an English Mastiff and an Anatolian Karabash, both spayed bitches, I heard them kick off one day and some how vaulted a 6ft fence, without a thought, to separate them, thankfully no harm to any of us! ( still not sure how I got over the fence though!)
Hope the experience doesn't put you off

 

[poptart]

Yikes, Josie, that sounds horrendous. And so brave of you to wade in like that.

I've never experienced a dog fight first hand, but I've seen the results of them on The Dog Rescuers. It's easy to forget how much damage a dog can do. Do take care of your wounds as others have said.

 

[leashedForLife]

.

the *good* thing is the most [as in over 90%] of M:M fights between intact dogs cause minor or no injuries, beyond bruises from gripping with teeth, & emotional fallout - either of the dogs / any of the dogs caught up in the wrangle, may be nervous around other dogs for a few weeks, thereafter.
The bad thing, of course, is that these unexpected, unplanned events CAN cause injuries, to the dogs, to passersby, to the handlers or owners.

I hope U heal quickly, with no infection or loss of function - bites to the hand are the worst, with so many joints, nerves, tendons, ligaments, & ANY of them, once damaged, can affect function.

fights can occur like lightning from a blue sky, but luckily that's not the most common - usually there are some signals that all isn't well. I'm so sorry U got caught in one of the rare ones.


For anyone who wants to stack the odds in their favor, when approaching another dog with a dog on YOUR leash, don't do the human standard approach: head-on, straight in.
Do the polite-dog approach: lots of side-on displays from a distance, slow down as U get closer, zig-zag the approach, & last, pause at 15 to 20-ft & encourage the dog U are handling to sniff while standing side-on to the other dog. // Sniffing is a non-threat signal, plus it's self-calming & gives both dogs time to look one another over, exchange eye glances, etc, & get over the initial arousal. This works for all ages, any gender [intact or desexed], & both sexes, or even hermaphrodites.

get better soon, @Josie
- terry

.

 

[Mayblossom]

Hope you’re feeling better today Josie and your wounds are healing

 

[Josie]

Hope you’re feeling better today Josie and your wounds are healing

Much better today Thankyou, although I can’t use my thumb. I will never take my thumbs for granted again!

 

[merlina]

Glad you're feeling better! I absolutely identify with how you feel because, like you, I've been bitten breaking up fights (twice badly and a couple of flesh wounds!) and it's shocking how quickly it happens and how much damage the critters can do to human tissue in a nanosecond. I thought after all my rescue work I was the biz handling dogs- then we got the corgi-cross and I found I wasn't. Don't let it discourage you. You should see my vet friend's scars! I have to say though it knocked my confidence a bit for a while. But you'll be fine.

 

[JudyN]

I had a scary dream about being cornered by a lion last night - Josie, I think you may have snuck into my dreams!

I'm glad you're feeling better today