12 replies to this topic

[Vanda]

How is your new dog doing Kay? Is it the only one you have now or do you have a couple of them?

[Kay Powell]

I have two dogs now. They are very different in temperament, although both are terriers. My older one's a real sweetie, and the other's "hard". The hard one has been shouting abuse at next door's dog. I'm working on his social skills.

[Vanda]

I'm sure you will "whip" him into shape Kay.

[Kay Powell]

My new dog (whose name is Diesel, presumably after Vin Diesel) is the type to get into scrapes. Yesterday, though, trouble came to him, and it wasn't his fault at all.

I had just exercised him on Alney Island - lots of rabbit-hunting in brambles - and was walking him on a lead along the pavement in Westend Parade just after one o'clock, when a yellow Labrador retriever came out of Pool Meadow (the mobile home site), and I have to say that it had a scowl on its face. It came across the road and attacked him. Diesel hadn't even growled at the other dog. Diesel weighs £10kg, and the other dog must have been about 35kg, so it was a very uneven fight.

The dog's owner eventually managed to drag his dog away. Diesel was left with a nasty wound at the front of his neck and a smaller wound at the back. A neighbour came out and gave me some kitchen towel to mop up the blood from the larger neck wound. I had been bitten on the leg by the other dog as well, just as it first launched its attack, but I had been protected by my trousers.

The man and his dog had gone back to the mobile home site, so I was pretty angry at the state of my dog. I got him back to my car, then drove to Bearland police station and reported the incident. By this time, the wound had just about stopped bleeding. The police took the incident seriously. They sent out a Pc to investigate. He reported back to me that he had located the owner of the dog, who had admitted that he was in the wrong. It transpired that he had been bitten quite badly on his finger while trying to extracate his dog, and had had to get the wound stapled and bandaged at the hospital that afternoon.

Diesel was abnormally quiet for over nine hours after the incident. I think that he was in shock. He would definitely have been in some pain from all the bruising as well as the visible wounds. He's a tough, stoical dog, but I don't think that he had experienced anything quite like that before. He started to wag his tail and ask for food at about 10.30pm.

The dog's owner phoned me to apologise for the bahaviour of his dog and promised to keep him on a lead or shut in a back garden all of the time. He said that the dog had been savaged last year by a pit bull terrier that belonged to another of the residents of Pool Meadow, that was kept as a guard dog and had escaped from its chain. The vet's bill had been £500, and the other resident had refused to pay it.

As Diesel is going to be okay, I accepted the apology, knowing that the police now have an official record of the attack, just in case there is ever a recurrance.

[Vanda]

Poor Diesel. It's always very upsetting when yours is attacked. Pixel was only bitten once and that was her fault as she would growl and bark at this particular dog when she was on the lead. This time they were both loose in a field and Pixel came off worse.

Hope Diesel will be ok. Seems a popular name for a dog as my son's dog is also called Diesel

[Kay Powell]

Diesel is almost back to his usual bouncy self. His nasty neck wound sealed itself up very nicely, and presumably will be healed in a few days.

[Kay Powell]

I had Diesel castrated yesterday. He's back to his usual bouncy self today, although presumably still wondering why his groin is sore, when he can't remember injuring it.

He's supposed to have only two ten-minute walks every day for ten days; that's a laugh! He had to have a half hour walk at lunchtime today, or he wouldn't have settled down.

As luck would have it, while I was exercising Diesel today, a small Jack Russell terrier bitch with a bad attitude came and attacked him, so I had to kick her. She went running back to her owner, who was out of sight in the next road, but I could hear her being called. Diesel certainly does attract trouble. It's as if his whole persona is saying "bite me!"

[doughnut]

I should certainly say, "Diesel attracts trouble", castrated and then attacked by an angry woman. He's probably lying in his basket wondering what is worse.

[Nobby]

After reading these posts, Kay, all I can say is there is obviously a difference between pouring Deisel & "Oil on Troubled Waters".

I would suggest that you rename him OIL and see if there is any difference in his attitude.

Then again, after two fights (not going his way) and losing his "Vitals" & still being here, you could also rename him "LUCKY".

Nobby

[Kay Powell]

Actually, Nobby, I already call him Greasy Diesey, because of his working terrier coat (which is no surprise to me because I've had a couple of terriers before who had coats that exuded oil).

He seems more relaxed today, and his wound isn't bothering him at all.

He's not lost his hunting instinct: both last night and the night before he had a quick chomp at different hedgehogs. He is absolutely loopy about hedgehogs and finds three or four per week in different places - Parry Field, Tredworth Cemetery and his own garden (there are at least two different-sized hedgehogs in his garden, that don't seem to be put off by being regularly caught by Diesel). When Diesel catches a hedgehog, I have to rescue it or I know that he would continue biting till his mouth was full of spines and the hedgehog was dead.

[Nobby]

continue biting till his mouth was full of spines

I would also be checking him and the house for fleas!!!

Once had a cat that loved Hedgehogs and we had to move out of the house and Flea Bomb it.

They were everywhere, Carpets, Linen Cupboard, Beds and our legs were bitten like hell.

Nobby

[Kay Powell]

He's never attached to the hedgehog for long enough for its fleas to transfer their adherence. I also use Frontline on Diesel and Toddy.

Diesel has started licking the wound, so I've had to keep a muzzle on him when I can't watch him. It would only take a second to nip through the stitching, which is very neat, by the way. He mainly licks when he is bored.

[Nobby]

Diesel has started licking the wound

Back in the 90's, we had a female Weimaraner, which was struck by a car .

She survived, with about 30 stitches .

We had to put a plastic pail over her head, to stop her licking the wounds, on her legs.

Hence my kids changed her name from "Misty" to "Buckethead" for the duration of recuperation.

Nobby