Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Littlest Dog, Biggest Scare!


Daisy got herself run over by the big and crazy dogs the other day.

Daisy has been here almost a week and we have our routine down. She hangs out by her kennel while I let the other dogs out. When I am done, I take a careful look around before I move so that I don't step on her. She spends playtime is the general vicinity of my ankles. I turned around Monday, and she was lying on the ground, belly up and letting the big dogs sniff her. That was so not like her, that I just ran over and snatched her up. It was an instantaneous reaction, that something was wrong with Daisy, that dog is always in motion.

I lock myself and her in her run and immediately started calling the vet - no answer. I start to check her out, no bites, no spots that hurt her - so far so good.

(What did those big idiots do to her, step on her, kick her, bowl her over!)

I call the vet again - no answer. I try to put her down and she can't seem to walk. It is like she can't move her right side. So I am thinking that the dog had a stroke.

(Can dogs have a stroke?!!)

Still no answer at the vet, and no machine that gives out his home number. I call up to my house and have my husband come down, bring the phone book

(I must be calling the wrong number)
(Nope, I have the vet's number memorized correctly)

and please put the other dogs away. I call my friend, she has dogs and she might know the vet's home number - no answer. I call the county animal shelter and they tell me to get the number off the machine - no machine, I say. My husband says to look him up in the phone book. Good idea, there he is - only I get his machine.

My husband points out that Daisy is moving around now. I am still planning on racing her to a vet. So I put her in her bed and have my husband take her up to the house. I have to deal with feeding a couple of dogs before I dash. I try the vet's number one more time on my way back to the house and they are there. The vet's assistant is telling me that dogs can get "knocked silly". They become disoriented and can't move right. He told me if this goes away gradually and the dog should be completely normal is just a few minutes. "If the dogs acts like it never happened, then they are probably fine."

Like It Never Happened

That is what I saw when I got inside the house. Daisy was up on her hind legs jumping up and down. My husband told be that when he put her bed down she immediately made a complete patrol of the down stairs. I kept Daisy with me in the house for the next 3 hours, just to be sure.

But the vet's assistant was right, it was like it never happened. Daisy is still not afraid of the big dogs, however I can do enough worrying for the both of us. I no longer let her down on the ground in the play yard, it is my lap or her run for Daisy.

1 comment:

Z said...

My dog, Leela, is not a little as Daisy, but compare to the big bruts she's tiny. We try to frequent dog parks that have separate small dog and big dog areas. She loves playing with the big boys, but the weight difference is just to much for me to handle. Last time she was in with the big guys, she got in a group where she was significantly out matched, the other 4 were >100lbs each. She was the fastest, got the stick and led the group in a wild, frenzied, chase around the whole park. Every lap they would pick up more dogs. About the 14th pass, they were gaining on her, she missed a turn. She hit the fence, followed by about 800lbs of random dog slaming into her. She and most of the others were "knocked silly", which would be hilarious, except for me and the other owners all freaking out. (One pit-bull mix was eyes-crossed, tongue-out, the whole bit.) Everyone was Ok in a couple of minutes and even Leela wanted to get back to the play.

The biggest dog she ever played with was "Tug". Tug is a 220lb mastiff. Just enormous. His head is like a big pumpkin. I can't imagine playing tug with Tug; I don't think I'd win. I was so afraid that he would just accidentally step on Leela. She didn't have a care, although she had to climb up onto his head to do her signiture ear bite.