Sunday, March 8, 2015

The Cone of Shame: Her cone, my shame

It seemed like a great start to the weekend.
We went to Doctors Dog Park in Apopka. The dogs had a great time running around and making friends.

We came home, I fed them, I made myself some pizza. I had the pizza in my hand. Lulu was lurking in the kitchen doorway. I called to bring her in the living room. That's when Jasmine lunged at Lulu. The two fought. 

I separated Jasmine from Lulu and put her in the crate. I thought Lulu went into the bedroom. Turns out she was in the kitchen. There was blood in one of her ears. I soon realized both ears were bleeding. Later I discovered the blood on the kitchen floor.

I should have been getting ready to go to work. Instead I was looking for an emergency vet to take Lulu in. I could find the wound on the one ear -- it appeared to be superficial enough. I put Vetericyn on it.  I couldn't find the wound in the first ear though, and the bleeding was worse.

  

 The vet found the wound, deep in the ear. Probably too deep for a bite mark, but that wasn't the point. They cleaned the ears, gave me drugs, and put on the cone.

Her cone, my shame.

I had planned to wrap up Global Pet Expo. I had a couple of other posts to share too. But I wanted to tell this story.

Sometimes I get so frustrated with Jasmine. Her fear that she won't get something or will miss out on something. It's the only thing I can think. She's resource guarding, even though she's never had to fight for a resource as long as she's lived with me or with my parents.
She seems to recognize that Lulu was hurt and that she should be careful with Lulu, not that it has stopped her from wanting to play. She barked initially, but she seems to have figured it out. I skipped Jasmine's training class Sunday because I feared she might do the same thing to another dog. My trainer and I will have to look at this seriously. I just don't know what else to do. Other than never have food in front of Jasmine ever again.

And Lulu will survive. And she's getting lots of treats and sliced turkey with her meds.

12 comments :

  1. Poor Lulu, I hope she is feeling better quickly. It's scary when that happens. Delilah has snapped at Sampson before (over food) and I work hard to make sure she knows that when one gets something the other gets something as well. Do you have a place command? You can use a towel or dog bed whatever you have, but we make our dogs lay in there place while we eat dinner. When we are gathering our food together, we tell them place and they go there to wait. Then we give them each a special treat and they lie peacefully (well Sampson does, Delilah tries to inch her way closer) while we eat dinner. I'm pretty sure it's been a saving grace for us. :-)

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    1. No but a place command might be something to learn.

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  2. Oh and please, don't beat yourself up. You couldn't have known that would happen.

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  3. poor Lulu! Dakota lunges at Cody when he hears sounds that have NOTHING to do with Cody. I always worry that something bad will happen. It is NOT your fault xoxo

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    1. Ugh. Jasmine and Galadriel have fought before. The cat always winds.

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  4. I know the guilt and fear that comes after a dog fight. My two shepherds have had a couple of very scary fights, where it was very difficult for two of us to separate them. Mia had puncture wounds after the first one.

    In each case, the spark seemed to be a prize (piece of hamburger, a live rabbit) that Mia wanted that Leo wouldn't give up. Normally, we feed them in separate rooms. When we give them treats or when Rob feeds them his food (sigh), we're very careful that they don't fight over any morsels.

    From a management standpoint, I think they will be okay as long as you're careful not to let any resources come between them. It's been almost two years since Mia and Leo's last fight, and they're closer than ever.

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  5. Glad she's ok. Must have been quite a scare.

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  6. So sorry that happened. It's so stressful when dogs get into a serious fight. I'm glad Lulu is okay and hopefully some more training for Jasmine will help with her guarding issues. Hang in there :)

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  7. Oh poor Lulu. I'm glad she is OK. Kilo often resource guards and will bite people and dogs if he loses control. It is unbelievably stressful for both of us. I get so sad for him. Hopefully more training and avoiding triggers will help. Sending hugs Susie

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