Bobik does not know when he is beaten. From when they were little puppies Volk has always been top dog and Bobik has always resented it. When they were little it was good fun for them to be always wrestling and fighting because that is what puppies do. Then they got older and it got serious. Bloody serious.
Most of the time when they got into a death struggle, I have been there to sort them out and put them in isolation until the mad wore off. This fall not so much. Sometimes when I don't take them for a walk, I just let them run. One day they didn't come home as they usually do and finally Bobik limped home with one front leg badly chewed up. Taking out a front leg to cripple is a good fighting trick that dogs use but Volk had never before done that. At any rate Volk finally came home also looking the worse for wear but certainly not too badly chewed up. And in a week, Bobik was good as new.
We went for a couple walks and then one day, I let them run again, thinking Bobik had been beaten badly enough maybe he learned. Nope. He came home several hours later with the other front leg chewed to ribbons. I couldn't find that it had been broken, so left him to heal himself (I should have called him Physician). For two weeks it was pretty swollen and it dangled from the first joint like it was broken. I figured I would have to put him down.
Like that was going to happen. Tanya and the boys would have put me down first, I think. But at least I stirred things enough that we took him to the vet tonight after 6:00 so if we needed an X-Ray we could get one at the ER as the vet clinic doesn't have a machine. Reminded me of Baxter Black starting out as a vet. He said a steam roller ran over this lady's dog so he put it in a suitcase and ran it through the airport luggage scanner. But I digress.
In the mean time, the two mutts got at it again in the yard, Bobik with a bad leg and all. Too dumb to quit.
So Andrei the veterinarian examined his leg thoroughly and said no it wasn't broken but the tendons were badly damaged in that knuckle joint and it was hot. Antibiotic injections three times three days apart. antihistamines daily for five days and a compress on the joint daily for 30 minutes for five days. Bobik is now living in the passage way to the out building and I will be taking him outside for bathroom duty fairly regularly as he has no clue about house training.
Sad to watch him try to lift one hind leg to pee when he only has one front leg.
I'm sorry to hear of your continuing problem. Bonnie Blue could have killed Baxter Black in a few seconds, and, since she never much cared for him, it must have been tempting to do so, yet she never drew blood in all their years together. I even had Bonnie run down a pet rabbit once, which she penned to the ground with one paw and held in place until I could come get it. If she knew what I wanted done, she would do it for me, little things, you know, like not murdering Baxter. Now, she old, blind, going deaf, and sleeps all day. How sad it is.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Bobik is okay. Poor little buddy.
ReplyDeleteYou can probably train them to not fight. You really need the Dog Whisperer to intervene. Too bad he doesn't travel that far.
ReplyDeletePoor Bobick!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're going to have to let them out one at a time for a while.
Baxter Black. Wow! Haven't heard from him for a long time. Maybe you need to invite him over to give a few talks, and check on your dogs in the process. (Would he be as much fun in translation as he is in English?)
Snowbrush, our neighbours' old dog is semi-deaf and almost blind and slow. they have a pup now about the size of a small foal and the two dogs get on fine. It is teh too close of an age and temperament, I think.
ReplyDeleteGirls, Bobik actually used his leg a bit tonight when I was walking him.
Rob, humour is very often cultural and along with word plays which don't translate, it is hard to imagine BB being any kind of a hit here