Yesterday, I was walking my sweet little man in the neighborhood. I had big plans of going to a movie with a friend and I felt bad about leaving him alone for a few hours. Walks usually get him pretty tired so I hoped he would nap most of the time I was gone. We set out on a random route through the neighborhood as per usual. Throughout the neighborhood, the sidewalks are up against the fences of each house. Well, maybe with like 6 inches of grass in between. Gus loves other dogs and people and is always so curious to meet anyone new. He always goes up to the fences where other dogs are to do his usual sniffing. Even if the other dog is barking, he'll go up just to say hi. He truly never barks, postures, or shows any signs of aggressions. If he did, I wouldn't let him get that close! Anyway, we were on the final stretch of our walk when he goes up to this one wrought iron fence with 3 dogs behind it. I think they were all pretty small, I honestly didn't get a good enough look. The next thing I know, one of them has it's head through the fence and has bitten and grabbed onto Gus's mouth. Gus was pulling back trying to get free while the other dog was pulling the opposite direction so I'm looking down at his lip being stretched out in this other dog's mouth. The other two were going crazy and barking while all of this is happening. I reach my hand down to try to get him off but it doesn't work. I finally put my foot through the fence to push the dog off. Gus is freed, he falls back onto the sidewalk. I kneel down at his side and see his lip cut up and that he is bleeding. I burst into tears and try to pick him up. He weighs more than 40 pounds so that was difficult! Plus, he was so worked up that he didn't want to be held. I immediately call Johnny at work who says he'll meet us at the vet. I was still about half a mile away from my car so we had to walk back. I felt so helpless! I called the vet on the way and since they only had one vet in the office at the time who was treating another emergency, they gave me the name of a vet close by I would call. After what felt like forever, I made it to the car and bolted for the vet's office. I called my friend and said I couldn't make it to the movie. Which was a total bummer because I was really looking forward to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo!
On the way to the vet, I tried to get pics but he would not cooperate! The pink on his fur is blood and you can see some of the scratch marks. However, the part I was most worried about was a split at the base of the lip. The skin was kind of hanging off (it was gross, I know.) Please excuse my face in the bottom right corner, I was trying to get a pic!
When we got to the vet, they saw us immediately. The doggie nurse said he would probably need sedation and stitches but that the vet would have to check him out first. When I was telling her what happened, I started sobbing again. She was so sweet and understanding. I was definitely more upset than Gus was. This was a pic from the vet's office. You can see the scratches better and where the split is closer to the center of his mouth. I was also worried about disease but they said the only disease we needed to worry about after a dog bite was rabies and since he was vaccinated, we were fine.
Just as the doggie nurses suspected, he did need stitches. Since he's a dog and stuff, he would have to be sedated. He didn't even need an IV, just a shot. They watched him for a few hours after the sedation to make sure he tolerated it. We picked up a very sleepy little boy 2 hours later. You can see how tired and swollen he is! They said he did very well during the procedure and cooperated nicely. Good boy! He slept from 6PM last night to 5AM this morning. I took him out and he went right back to sleep.
This morning, he woke up with a vengeance! I guess he had to make up for being so tired yesterday. I took this picture today while we were playing outside. It kind of looks like ground meat. He would never sit still enough for me to get a good shot of the stitches and I did not want to push it. Now, he has 2 weeks of antibiotics and they want to see him back in 10 days.
I felt so terrible all day yesterday. I felt like I should have protected him from the other dog. I also felt bad because I am sure he was so scared while it was happening. I haven't decided how I'm going to tell those other owners. Obviously, I am not blaming their dog, he was in his yard and being protective of his property. However, the fence they have is not adequate if their dog can put his head through it. So, we'll see how it goes.
