Poor Maddie got in a fight, seems ok, what to watch for?
Poor Maddie. We had the Corgis at the park, running around with a bunch of dogs they see regularly. Honestly we were not watching really closely since we've never had a problem. Not sure what happened, but the next thing I know Maddie is flipped on the ground with a lab-mix biting her.
Maple (the other dog) never showed any signs of dog aggression before. She is dog-submissive and gets a little frustrated that whenever anyone throws a ball, someone else gets it. My guess is she was just frustrated and cranky and Maddie was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got nailed. Maddie can be a little obnoxious at times with other dogs, so maybe she did something to set it off or maybe she just got too close while Maple was feeling cranky.
Anyway, Maple's owner hauled her off and Maddie toddled away. I had to wave a treat around to catch her because she was avoiding me too (I hollered to try to get the dogs' attention off each other. Maddie is very submissive and I think she thought I was mad at her). When I got her, her shoulder and side of her neck was all slobbered on and the fur mussed. I saw no blood, but she carries a ton of coat and honestly I can't even get down to the skin in spots.
I felt all over carefully and she did not yelp or pull away. She is, however, a very soft dog as I mentioned and she would not necessarily protest if something hurt.
She seems a little sore all over right now (doesn't want to jump on the couch, walking a little short in front) but she is not favoring a particular body part. She is interacting with Jack as normal and ate just fine. She is acting the way she does when she over-exerts herself, so I'm thinking she's sore from being slammed by a 60-pound dog.
I know to watch for limping, heat, swelling, or signs of infection (fever, lethargy) from an unseen puncture. Anything else I should keep an eye on? And my thought is that she does not need to see the vet, and I'm fine just keeping an eye on her for a few days. Anyone think differently?
I feel bad for poor Maple's very nice owner, who kept apologizing like crazy. I told her these things happen but she seemed mortified, and it was Maple's birthday today too. :-( We walked them next to each other after and at first Maddie didn't want to go near her, but after a few minutes Maddie was running around after tennis balls again.
Any advice much appreciated. Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer evans on
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she might be sore tomorrow but just look for things out of the ordinary. This has happened to both my dogs but they walk it off.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Thanks. If Maple was trying to hurt Maddie, she would have as she's much bigger. Most of the slobber was around Maddie's shoulders, not her neck or belly, so I think it was just mostly noise and bluster. Still, it's a bit scary to see your 28-pound dog pinned by someone twice her size!
Jack's been charged a couple times but he usually runs. I have read that this is a bad idea, as it can cause the other dog to chase, but he's quick and has always gotten away (and he runs towards me so that helps). Both of them got charged outside the house once by a huge dog that knocked it's owner down and got loose, but I heard the commotion (my husband was the ones out with the dogs) and ran at the other dog twice and it backed off. And Jack got bitten on the backside once by a standard poodle in agility class, but she just came up with a mouthful of his pants. This is the first time one of mine actually got hit hard.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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Like you said, just watch for heat and swelling. Since you don't see any obvious puncture wounds or blood, not much the vet would do but maybe give some pain relievers. Keep a really close eye on the areas that were slobbery for swelling which would possibly mean an abscess. It might not be a bad idea to take her temp in 3 or so days to make sure there isn't an infection since you have a hard time felling through her thick coat.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hey Beth, the only thing that I would add is inspect her eyes and mouth, sometimes an impact / scratch can cause redness, watery eyes, pawing, face diving the area to get relieve. Check her gums and lips, looks for blood / wound.
You are right, it was a little disagreement, a real dog fight would have been full on latch and yank.
Feel better soon Maddie!
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Permalink Reply by Natalie, Lance &Tucker on
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I don't have any advice to add to what is already here, but do hope Maddie feels better soon!!
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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She will probably just be a little bruised but will get over it sooner than you will. Poor Maddie! Maple obviously felt she needed a little lesson since she did not really hurt her badly. I am glad they were able to walk together OK after.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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Oh how scary! Glad all is probably ok and hopefully Maddie won't be too sore. You are right that if this dog wanted to hurt her she could have. Good luck to you all!
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How is Maddie doing?
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She's fine, thanks! She was a little sore that evening but by the next day she was back to her old self. No sign of any change in behavior around other dogs, either. I still check her shoulders every day where the hair is dense, in case I missed a small puncture, but all seems well.
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Permalink Reply by Joelle Soupe on
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My baby corgi got bit at the dog park; he went up to a pit bull/boxer (I can't really tell them apart) to say "hi" while the pit bull was doing his business (doo doo). The dog got angry and grabbed Charlie, threw him to the floor, bit him, and Charlie went running as soon as I was able to pull the big dog off of him (heavy!!!). Charlie was yelping like crazy; and a fellow dog owner had to pick him up for me.
I looked him all over at the park, but it wasn't until I got home that I saw that the pit bull had bitten him on his left leg.
My advice to you is to keep looking all over him; if there's a certain area where he doesn't let you touch (that is normally ok for you to touch), I would investigate further in that area.
Finally, take your corgi to the Vet ASAP; dog's mouths are very dirty and just in case Maple doesn't have a rabies shot, you never know what kind of infection might happen. The simplest thing they will do is check for bites, see how they're healing, and prescribe you an antibiotic. Worst case if Maple doesn't have a rabies shot, is that they'll have to do bloodwork to make sure your dog doesn't have rabies.
Either way, take your dog to the vet. Better safe than sorry.
On a side note, our dog trainer ALWAYS reminds us that dogs have bad days too, and they all have things that tick them off. Even our own dogs may have a bad day and exert atypical behavior where we're like "is that MY dog???" I've now learned that when Charlie plays with other dogs, I HAVE to hover around. It's a bit helicopter-parent-ish, but he knows he can come between my legs if dogs are mean (which they often are since Charlie is, like your dog, more submissive generally) and if anything goes wrong again, I can spring into action and maybe pull a dog off him quicker than I was able to before.
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Permalink Reply by Leisa Boysen on
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Hope Maddie is OK.
On a bit of a side note-i am a "pit bull" advocate and lover. I disagree with any bully lover who takes their dog to a dog park. Pit bulls love humans but are dog aggresive and even the most well mannered pit bull may have one of those bad days you were talking about and no matter what the cause a pit bull is ALWAYS going to get the blame.
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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on
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You would hate our dog parks then Leisa. Full of pitbulls who NEVER are aggressive. Calling pitbulls dog aggressive is a pretty generalized blanket statement which I do not agree with because it is false to begin with. ANY dog is welcome by me, as long as they are respectful.
Beth, hope Maddie recovered fine. They are pretty resilient little creatures! Ours have been tossed around and also done the tossing before and it is usually all noise. At first I would go into full panic mode but I am much calmer now because well, it is easier to get them apart being calm and so far its been all vocal fighting (which looks fairly violent when watching). Hope they made up and can be tennis partners again soon :)
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