Down and Dirty: Canine, Feline Smackdowns
When Penny was alive (with Zoe, Peanut and Tramp) she'd snore louder than a 747's engine, so I'd have to pick up all 50-plus pounds of her and carry her from the bedroom to the living room pet bed. She'd usually never wake up, either. Once, she was sleeping next to Zoe, and when I picked her up, she yelped, as she was old and arthritic, and I must have hurt her a bit. That yelp shocked Zoe awake and into protection mode, and she leaped up and bit Penny's back as I was holding her baby-style...and she wouldn't let go! So I'm holding a 50+ pound beagle, with another 40 pound dog hanging on. Penny's yelping,I'm screaming an Zoe's growling. The boss comes running, Zoe lets go, and Penny ended up with a nice slice on her back.
Zoe and Tramp had a similar incident over a chewie. That was on Thanksgiving, and I had to take Tramp in the next day for stitches. Luckily, once any two dogs had a smackdown, that was the end of future smackdowns. Tramp and Zoe had a few more close calls, but nothing serious.
Then the infamous Christmas dinner of 2004. I had three guests over, a senior couple and a single friend with her dog. That morning I had stabbed myself in the wrist trying to get the plastic wrap off of a ham. It hurt like hell, but I carried on. I normally feed the dogs twice a day, but with the festivities, I had forgotten to feed them their afternoon meal. All the five dogs were hanging out in the kitchen, Scooter and Peanut right by the island, when I dropped a piece of ham as I was cleaning up leftovers. They both went for it and then each other. Scooter latched on to Peanut's ear and they both were growling and snarling like rabid Cujos. I know the BEST thing to do to break up a dog fight is to throw water on them, which I did from a pitcher. They stopped for a second as The Boss charged in like a mad bull, but then they went at it again. Peanut was bleeding, I was screaming. I needed more water. So I grabbed the dishpan full of dirty water and tossed it. Unfortunately, most of it landed on The Boss and then the floor.
Peanut had a few holes in his ear, one clean through, but I stopped the bleeding. As the guests were leaving and I apologized for the ruckus, the neighbor husband said, "Oh, I just thought it was part of the show."
One more good one: I was on the bed, and both Zoe and Scooter jumped up for attention and for some reason, they bumped heads and got into it like mad. It lasted only a second, but guess what? Zoe had bitten through her lip and her tooth was stuck there. Can you friggin' believe it? I had to take her to the vet the next morning, and then I had to flush that nasty hole (picture above) with medicine. After the plug of gunk came out a few days later, was that a good thing? Yes, because it was healing, and no, because she got her tooth back through the hole somehow and had to go BACK to the vet. This time he put stitches in, which he couldn't do before because he said an infection could brew inside, and it had to be flushed with antibiotic ointment first.
In the picture above, Zoe and Peanut are just wrestling. Those two have never had a spat. So tell all about YOUR horror stories, and then I won't feel like the bad mother of some very bad dogs! The cats have had some hissy fits, but no injuries or expensive trips to the vet!
posted by Sandy at 3/07/2007 08:29:00 AM
Pet People
18 Comments:
Well, I hate to break it to you......but, I have no doggie horror stories. In the 13 years I've had dogs, none of them ever got into a tussle with each other. Not even a minor one. They wrestle and play snarl like in your picture of Zoe and Peanut, but nothing for real. Lucy will growl if somebody gets too close to her chewie, but has never done more than that. In fact, she usually growls if somebody comes in the room with her and her chewie. That's pretty funny, cause I'll hear her growl and I'll look up and nobody is there. Then I see one of the cats has wandered in from down the hall. Couldn't care less about her or her chewie.
The 3 cats have their hissy moments and I have been woken up in the middle of the night by those horrible cat squalling noises followed by running feet and hisses. But, they have never really gotten into it. I see the occasional scratch on somebody's nose or ear, but no blood or gore or anything that requires a trip to the vet. So, I guess I must be a good mommy.
Our Aimee, dog princess, has had a go at everyone with more than two legs here. She will "assert" her dominance very physically. I have to drag her off whomever has been singled out for discipline. Everyday when Hubby leaves for work he admonishes Aimee... "No eating people today!" People is his generic term for the other four-leggers... she has NEVER attacked a two-legger.
max has a very distinctive yelp when Aimee is punishing him... it goes "Hun-ya hun-ya hun-ya" Now say it with a hysterical tone in a high sqeaky voice. That's Max. The punishments have long hiatus', but even the cats are not immune. She has punished all of the cats and they give her wide berth now. On entering a room, they will see a dark dog in the way and will peer closely at them to see if it is Aimee, dog princess, or Max, friend to all who breathes and eater of all that doesn't. If it is Aimee, they will back off and find another place to nap.
Aimee is immediately remorseful and pathetic. She will dive under the bed and stay there until I call her out and then she will plaster me with kisses and promises to never do it again... until next time.
So far, the cats have been un-maimed except for deep pyschological scars but max has had a torn ear which bled like the legendary head wound. It's all better and apparently forgiven. Aimee and Charlie will play a little... they stand at an angle and look at each other sideways and then jump back. This causes one of them to run with the other fast behind, but in the end Charlie will dash off and Aimee will re-assume her throne.
Sometimes I feel like it's Wild Kingdom in here...
When we lived at our other house Tiger got our one nigh. A cat in the neighborhood came by and they spotted each and went into a full blown cat fight. It scared the crap out of me and of course Fly Boy was off on a mission as usual so had to take care of it my self. I screamed at them now knowing you were supposed to throw water on them. They finally broke apart. The other cat took off and Tiger came near the house. I had a towel to pick him up in but he was still so upset that he tore into me too and scratched me pretty good as I carried him abck into the house. He did not get out again!
When we baby sit Callie and Gracie for my daughter we have to keep them seperated from our girls because they don't get along. It is a real pain in the a-- because I have let them take turns staying outside of a bedroom. One of the first times we kept them after we had Brittany was not a fun experience at all. Brittany kept going to the door of Callie's and Gracie's room and sniffing. They were sniffing from the other side. I don't remember why the door was open but it was open just enough for Gracie to slip out. When she did, she and Brittany saw each other and man oh man, the fur hit the fan! They grabbed hold of each other and started rolling down the stairs in such a tight ball you couldn't tell which one was which and the fur was flying! When they got to the bottom of the steps they let go, Brittany ran through the house and Gracie ran back up to her room. I guess they scared the daylights out of each other. But since then we have been extra careful to keep them all apart.
My girls get into little tiffs sometimes but not real fights so far. A few times one has come away with a little scratch on the nose but nothing bad. They do growl, hiss and bat a paw at each other a llittle at times I hope they never hurt each other. They won't when I'm home so hope they stay friends while we're away.
Dog fights, Umm.... Well we've had a few, but nothing too bad where they had to go to the vet. It's usually over a chewy or the treat ball, or when Mattie would be in heat. Just a few snaps and that's it. It's more noise than anything.
My worst vet trip was with my moms dog Missy when I was 16. She jumped the fence and caught her leg in the top. It tore the inside of her thigh open where the skin is soft, all the way down to the muscle. Of course it happened when my mom wasn't home and at 5 pm. I called the vet and begged them to stay open until I got there. They did and Missy got 6 or 7 staples. She was my moms ER baby. She was always getting hurt. One time she ran under a barbed wire fence and cut her back from her shoulders to her tail and the top of her head. When it healed she had a permanent stripe down her back. She looked just like Peanut. My mom had to put her down right before Thanksgiving. She had a tumor in her heart that mom didn't know about until it was too late.
Alice, Aimee sounds like my Mattie; always in charge. Is she a small dog? Mattie is a Shih Tzu. I think she has a Napoleon complex. We know we are on the low end of the totem pole in our house. Mattie is defiantly on top followed closely by Jazzy cat. We are just there to be their servants.
Aimee is a medium dog, about 22 lbs. My hubby insists she is part cairn terrier but she looks more like a Spitz or Samoyed but smaller. Max is a medium size chunky 20 lbs Llasa Poo mix and Charlie is a medium size also about 20 lbs Maltese Bichon mix... as least they are according to looks. Who knows? Aimee is taller that the other two who have shorter legs and currently look like sheep. LOL
Sandy, Bad Mother. Bad Mother. Bad Mother.
Zoe has to fight because she's so darn ugly. The other dogs laugh at her.
My dogs are well behaved, I have raised them the right way, to respect each other. Must be bad parenting on your part.
Of course I must be a bad cat mommy because my 3 cats totally HATE and despise each other. Some people tell me it's because they are female. Sandy's 2 cats are males and they LOVE each other, you've seen the pictures of them cuddling. I never knew males could be so affectionate. Perhaps dragon could take a lesson or two from them for future jacuzzi usage.
Oh, Daisylouu, I can put your mind at rest there. Dragon doesn't need any lessons on cuddling or affection. He is very snuggly. Just ask Mr Donkey. Dragon will make a very good hot tub companion. But, you might want to watch his hands.....
Well I knew I probably shuld ahve kept my mouth shut and not say my girls don't fight. Just this morning Brittany and Penelope got into a pissing contest and were both pretty mad! Penelope came running through the room with Brittany high on her tail and they were getting a bit rough. I screamed at them as usual and picked Penelope up to hold her. They have been fine with each other since. I sure hope they aren't starting something for me to worry about. We have to go away for the night again tomorror so will worry about them.
Brittany has the Hyperethesia and it makes her do the wierd things so it effects her personality sometimes. Does anyone else have a cat with this or are you familliar with it? I wasn't untill I realized Brittany has it the I researched it.
Daisylouu I have a underwater electric zapper you may borrow in case you ever need it for roaming hands,ha.
Oh, pam, nothing would give me more pleasure and satisfaction that an electric device to keep a man in line. Water + electricity + the male species = a shockingly good time!!
Oh my god, a woman after my on heart. Daisylouu I am eagerly anticipating an under water event with you and an electric zapper. It will take the hot tub experience to a new level. Pam where can I get an underwater electric zapper thing? Guinevere needs such a device. Dose it plug in, or run on batteries? How long will it last?
Daisylouu, Dragon,Unfortunatly,this is still on the drawing board as well as some of our other ideas for Dragon Interprises. I'm sorry if I got you excited too soon but we can make so much happen! Let's get back to our plans for our business together! We can make it real!
One thing to add, of course it is battery powered. I mean electic that plugs in? Uh that would cause instant death to whoever, duh! We do eant it to be a marketable thing, not something to take us to court and put us behind bars!
Dragon enterprises--I love that name!
Thanks Sandy, I take credit for that name. And if you remember it flows well with King Kitty Kastles. Ok who was it that first suggested Kastles? Take credit here.
Dragon Interprises presents King Kitty Kastles plus all the many other proucts so many of us all came up with. Dragon will need to get to work on the prototypes for manufacturing!Then we can all happily await our checks. Once we get started with just a few products it will take off like wildfire! I'm not kidding, this really could work. I mean you've all seen what all is out there on the market for pets and sell like crazy.
The Kastles with a K was mine, I do believe.
It was a great idea Stacey!
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