Corgi Collision! What to watch for?
On yet another unseasonably warm spring day, we took the dogs for our usual walk in the park. Another dog-owner we know was there with some tennis balls. We were tossing balls for the dogs. Jack and Maddie went full-tilt towards a ball at the same time, and came in at 90 degree angles from each other. I honestly think they never saw each other.
Well, they crashed at full-speed with heads lowered to scoop the ball. Because of the angle of the dogs to each other, I did not get a real good view of the collision.
They came up in what sounded like a squabble. Jack tends to squeal when he's angry with another dog (not the submissive yip-cry, but a loud sound that is clearly angry and other dogs tend to run off on the rare occasion when he lets loose). So Jack was squeal-growling and Maddie was snarl-barking, when within a second or so it turned into Jack baying and wailing in a truly AWFUL sound that I've never heard him make. My husband, myself, and the other dog owner who was there all got the instant impression something was horribly wrong.
Jack disengaged from Maddie and ran right towards the people (his typical response to stress or worry). I noticed he was squinting severely and blinking. I think he either got caught in the eye or got such a blow to his head from her teeth that he was a bit stunned.
Anyway, he made his way from person to person and the wailing stopped but he still looked distressed, and was still squinting/blinking. And then.... he started to look for sticks to eat. Ugh, crazy dogs!
Ok, so we hung out and he seemed ok. We walked and he was happy to meet-and-greet, both other dogs and adults and little kids.
Here's what I've done:
1) Checked his eyes--- I see no visible scratches, no redness or puffiness, no excessive tearing. His pupils do not seem excessively dilated.
2) Checked his depth-perception. He can catch a treat and a ball.
3) Checked his visual tracking. He can track a treat with each eye individually (while I cover the other) and with both eyes together.
His mood seems bright enough, though he's mildly subdued. Could be the heat, though. It's around 75 and he is still in full coat and gets a little droopy in spring when the weather first heats up. He's eating and drinking just fine.
So, with the idea that he probably either got nailed in the eye or hit hard by teeth in the head (or a bit of both), anything else I should watch for? I checked the symptoms of concussion in dogs and they are similar to people which is why I checked his eye-tracking.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Personally, I'd play it safe and keep him in a calm home environment for a few days.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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They are always inside unless they are being walked. "Calm" is another matter and Jack does not like to stop, but I'll avoid any fast games. You've made a good point, though, and I won't do any off-leash woods walks or anything in case he gets disoriented and wanders off.
I wish you could ask them what happened and what hurts! I'd take him to the vet out of an abundance of caution, but he's a horrible patient (the only thing in the world he's bad about) and they would not be able to get more than a cursory glance at him; I can examine him better myself at home. First sign of a problem, though, and we'll go.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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My guess is he got a tooth to the eye. Especially since he didn't wail until after they were bickering. Keep an eye for discharge, tearing, swelling, or redness. If he has a scratch or ulcer you won't be a ble to see it without a special stain. I once threw a nylabone during a game of fetch with my old dog and one dog jumped up for it and it caught him in the eye. The wailing he made was just AWFUL. Off to the vet we went, they stained the eye, no scratch or ulcer but they did give him an ointment for a few days to prevent infection. If you continue to see any swelling or tearing he should be seen ASAP because scratches and ulcers can get bad fast. They usually get better with a few days of eye drops or eye ointment though. I wouldn't worry as much about a head injury just because he's a corgi lol. I've seen Franklin bash full speed into a metal picninc table leg, into a chain link fence, into other dogs, etc and besides a bloody tongue in one case, he never had any lasting injuries. Maybe their skulls are built tougher than other dog breeds, but if any dog was to have a concussion from bashing into things, I'd guess it would be Franklin and so far this hasn't happened.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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I work with geriatric lab mice. When they seem to have an eye problem, Veterinary Services will stain their eyes and check for corneal ulcers -- these are painful for people, so presumably are painful for mice -- then we treat with ibuprofen and antibiotic (Tobramycin) eye drops, and this seems to clear it up.
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just want to mention NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER (can't stress this enough) give ibuprofen to dogs....EVER. It WILL kill your dog.
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Melissa, this is SO important, it would be worth reposting under the heading "Ibuprofen poisonous", to make it easily searchable by anyone wondering about it. It could save a dog's life and someone a lot of grief.
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Permalink Reply by steve smith on
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I did not know that Thanks Franklin and Melissa.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I would just keep an eye on him. I hope he was just stunned a little and has no ill effects. If he gets a discharge from that eye I would take him in. I would have loved to see you covering one eye while you checked his tracking, bet he thought you were nuts!
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It was pretty funny, and yes he thought I'd lost it. I put him in a sit/stay and moved a treat across his field of vision. I had to move it waayyy to the sides because of course he was trying to follow it with his nose. Such a good boy!
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I've been checking Jack's eyes every few hours and I see no signs of trouble. I would assume if he was bothered there'd either be some redness and excess discharge, or he'd be pawing/ face-diving etc. None of that. He's bright, alert, not avoiding lights, still able to catch Cheerios. I'll keep a close eye on him for a few days. Poor guy! Such a racket. I've seen him hurt himself enough that he could not put weight on a paw and only give one little yip, so whatever happened must have hurt like the dickens. It sounded like he was quite sure he was dying.
I'm also SO relieved there were just my two dogs and one other. Yesterday at the same time there were 15 dogs. An injured dog in that situation can sometimes incite some dogs to attack. So it's a good thing it was just us. And Jack is the type of dog who runs TO people when things go bad, which is another plus.
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The collision you described can reverberate down the neck and cause pain there. That's one of the reasons I suggested a few calm days. I would not be looking for trouble, just playing it safe by allowing possibly needed time for self-healing to occur.
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Good thought, the neck adds a new element I did not think of. I am not entirely convinced it was his eye to begin with. For one thing, he was squinting equally with both eyes at the time. For another thing, neither eye was tearing or looked irritated at the time. It occurs to me that if he had head/neck pain, the light may have hurt his head and elicited the squinting.
Poor pup.
My husband checked him at lunch and he was bowing his greetings and eager to go outside; so far so good.
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