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Mastiffs => Bullmastiff Discussions & Pictures => : mastiffmommy May 04, 2005, 02:27:41 PM
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Well, we have had a couple of real real bad days. Yesterday afternoon, my bullmastiff girl Hera and my Siberian Husky boy got into a real bad fight. They have never been "best friends" I mean they have never been into a fight or seemed to have anything against each other, just not being totally in love with oneanother. But yesterday, for what I could see, no reason at all, they got into a terrible fight. They were in the backyard with my oldest daughter, me and hubby was in front yard, all of a sudden we heard the nonmistakable sound of dogfight. Malin our daughter screamed, and I ran to the backside. We have a big gate there, so before she had opened it from inside and I got in there, they were not only fighting, they seemed determined to kill oneanother. There were legs, feet, tails and heads all over the place. they were rolling around and both of them had good grips on the other ones neck/throat. I hesitated for a sec. to get in the middle of it, because by then there were soooo mad, so I wasnt sure they would realize it was me, and not by mistake dig their teeth into me. But I could tell, that if I didnt do anything, I would have a real bad situation on my hands (as if it already wasnt...) I managed to pull Zeus off Hera by his back leg. Then I held my breath and jumped in between the dogs and hoped that would buy me time, so hubby could grab Hera while I was still holding on to Zeus. It did work, they did stop. We got them separated, blood was everywhere and I wasnt sure who or what was injured. The first thing I saw when I looked at Zeus, was that the K-9 on his left side was sticking right out to the side, so I knew that his tooth was broken, and ohhh it was bleeding. When I looked inside his mouth, his whole tooth and root was bent outwards and it was a giant gush into his jawbone. On the right side there was no K-9 at all!!!!! He was so shaky, and at that point I am not sure he felt the pain, only the aggrevation from having that tooth sticking out like that. Told Malin to sit with him and talk to him, while I ran into the phone and called the emergency vet. of course it was 15 min. after my own vet. close. I said I was coming in, didnt know yet if with one or two dogs. Grabbed both car keys (was not going to take them two in the same car) and out again to check Hera, Hubby had been with her, and not made any strange noices, he has a real weak stomach when it comes to bloody things, so I knew that either it is not bad at all, or it is REAL bad and he has actually fainted. Well Hera was fine, amazing how one dog was soooo beat up and the other didnt even have a scratch on her. Soooo off to the vet. with Zeus, naturally rush traffic, and you could tell that whatever shock he had been in, and the numbing effect the hit had given, was gone, he was in pain....... And was making a bloody mess of the car, the kids were super, I told them, we can not cry or panic, that will make Zeus nervous, and we have to calm him down and make him feel loved and cared for now, even my 4 year old Jennifer was holding her panic away and was talking to him, and petting his foot, she said she was afraid he would hurt if she petted any other part of him. Malin was crying quietly and had him in her lap (he is really her dog). Never have 15 min been soooooo long, by the time we came to the vet hospital, we all looked like we had been butchered, blood everywhere.... .. They took him in straight away, and hubby who was fixing to pass out from seing all the blood, stayed in the waiting room with Jennifer. After examining him, they could see that yes he had lost the right side K-9 and bent the left one outwards, but with the tooth and root, he had also broke the bone itself, so no salvaging that tooth either. He was rushed to surgery, the one tooth had come out with entire root, so they only had to suture that side up, but the left side was way worse. It took about 1,5 hours in surgery, loooong 1,5 hours. We got home about 8 pm, then went back about 11 pm to see him and make sure he was okay.
He is home now, swollen and with no K-9's left in upper jaw, my poor baby. He is on pain meds and antibiotics. He will have to go back friday to have a checkup, unless he comes down with fever so we have to take him in earlier. He is sleeping and we are making soup food for him, he is pretty good spirited considering what a horrible thing he has just gone through.
I still dont know why they decided to fight, I know one thing though, they will have to be separated from now on, I am not taking any chances with them. I know it is almost impossible to say why, but have any of you had a situation like this??? Where all of a sudden two dogs start to fight for no obvious reason, the strange thing is that even though Hera is un spayed because of us maybe wanting to use her in breeding. Zeus is neutered!!!! I mean I have heard of two females or two males getting into it bad, but one female and one nutered male!!!!!
Any suggestions???
Marit
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OMG!! I am so sorry to hear this. We had a border collie( when I was little) who would fight with any male who came onto our farm. It is so scary.I have never heard of a male and female fighting. They must be trying to show who is boss. Im sure someone here will give you some explanations.
Good luck with Zuse. Hope there are no complications.
Karen
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Thank you, yes I have heard of females who hate all females and the same with the boys, after plenty of years with dogs, you can not avoid hearing all the horrible stories. But like you say, I dont think I have ever heard of a nutered male and a female getting into it that bad.
I hope he will be fine, he is a trooper, but right now he is only going potty and snuggling a short while then he wants to be alone on the bed, who can blame him, I know how I feel after a simple trip to the dentist, I swore yesterday to never again complain over those dentist visits.
He will look funny without any fangs in upper, but I am just soooo happy, it didnt end worse, you have no idea what was going through my mind on the way to the vet.
Marit
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You are one brave woman!!!! I'm so glad everyone is doing okay. Sounds very scary. We have a neutered female and neutered male. He has always had neutered females as roommates but has always let them be alpha dog. I think females really are the tougher of the two sexes! Maybe they will get along better since she has "won" the fight. Hope so!
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OMG...I am so sorry to hear about Zeus! I have to admit...I've never heard of anything quite like that. Usually dog fights are resigned to dominance issues and resource availability.. .so, possibly one of those things? Maybe Zeus got into something Hera considered hers? Regardless, I'm glad to hear that Zeus is recovering okay. Please give him a hug and kiss from me and Ranger. :)
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Yes I hope, but you know, the way I think now is, we separated them, so do they really see it as she won???? Who knows what is going on in their head after something like this. And the way I feel now, I am prepared to separate them for the rest of their lives, I am scared to death to have this situation again. God only knows how it would end a next time. And belive me, I didnt feel very brave when I stepped in between them, I hope I dont have to do that trick again.
Marit
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So sorry to hear about Zeus, I hope he has a speedy recovery. I have a neutered male and a spayed female and they have gotten into a couple of squabbles but nothing serious, it was over a stick, he had it and she wanted it. I guess it is hard to say why they got into a fight if nobody was watching them, I would have to say that they didn't get into a fight over"nothing" it had to be something but probably not obvious to you to know exactly what it may have been. I am sure they could be out together again but it would have to be under supervision so you could intervene before anything happens, very good way to learn dog language. Of course it would be differrent if they never got along and always fought. Good luck!!!!!
You did the right thing by grabbing the back legs to seperate them, never ever should you get in the middle of a dog fight, even though it is very hard, it also good if you have a water hose nearby to spray them.
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Yeah, I know that there must have been a reason, Malin my daughter was in with them, she didnt see any reason, that said, she is 13 and, even though having grown up around dogs, I dont think she could read a suddle dog language. And yes the hose is supposedly a good way, to get them of off each other, but you know, by the time that would have been out, I was afraid they would have killed oneanother. And you know sometimes something may be going on and we dont see it if we dont look for it, and I guess since they have seemed fine I have not been very observant, I mean if anything bigger was going on, I am sure I would have noticed it, but if there have been just a little something growing for awhile I may not have noticed it.
Zeus says hugs and thanks to you all, he is feeling a bit better i think, well he is probably having a top on his pain meds now too, so its hard to say.
Marit
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Very sorry to hear your story. I have a 10 year old gsd who honestly would not hurt a fly (well maybe a bird or squrrel) Anyway both of my Shilohs "respect" her. If she is chewing a bone, they do not even think about going near her. If she is laying down & blocking there path, they will NOT pass over or thru her. They would rather sit there & cry till I "help" them get by, yet if Chazzy wants to play they'll play with her. Apache chews her like she's a squeaky toy, thats why I "had to" get another pup, to give the old girl a break. Hopefully this will work itself out for you & you wont have to keep them separated.
Carolyn
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Nobody canine, I mean nobody messes with my 9 yo dobie bitch. Even tho my dane easily is twice as big as her and my 5 month old pup equal in size for now, one look, growl or (oh no) flash of teeth, they are in another room. oth of the other dogs are male, one nuetered and one (the pup)is not. She has tangled with both of them at one point or another, although rarely drawn blood and never to the extent of your two. Some females just consider themselves the alpha in the pack, and will tolerate no interference. I don't keep them separate deliberately, but they seem to know when she is irratible, and leave her alone. I'm sorry that your male had such a horrible experience, and hope that yu can get them to work it out when your male is feeling better. In the meantime, keep a large glass of cold water handy. It works as well as the hose and is quicker to get to.
Stella
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I want to commend you for offering a responsible solution to this problem by saying you will have to keep them separated. Working with our local rescue organization, too many times I see people encounter incidents like this and their first - and only - thought is, "Well, we'll have to get rid of one of them." and they take a perfectly healthy, formerly loved, often pure bred dog to the high kill animal shelter where, most likely, it will be euthanized in 24 hours to 5 days. Just recently, we received a call from someone who adopted an airdale from another rescuer that can't keep him anymore because he growled at them while they were cleaning out the fridge. People who don't understand that a dog will do things characteristic of dogs shouldn't own dogs!
Anyway, kudos to you for trying to understand your dogs and amend your situation to keep them happy in return for all the love they have given to you.
Jeanne
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I could probably tell you EXACTLY what started it...........J ealousy for your daughters attention! These creatures covet what they cherish and you say that Zues is really your daughters dog, and she was with them both when this happened. I bet my bottom dollar that in someway her attention was the source of a jealous rage. Watch very closely their reactions when your dogs intereact with daughter. Like if your daughter is petting one I bet the other is watching every little move and sound. Also not to be gross or anything but your daughter is at the age of becoming a woman, dogs will really pick up on that and will react as intensly as they did. I am so sorry that your family has gone through this. You all must be quite shaken. When a simaliar thing happened in our family it was jealousy over my attention, so I made both dogs get down real real low lay down, nose to nose and I sat in between them (of couse I had a handle on choker in case) and very slowly pet them both in the exact same way at the exact same time while repeating over and over very slowlyand calm the word "nice". Eventully I felt them both give out out a breathy sigh and they relaxed, I kept this up until they were almost asleep still nose to nose. I did this this every day for a week, sometimes several times a day (any sign of jealousy) By the time I was done with them they were in love, sleeping together, grooming eachother, playing like little puppies TOGETHER!! They want to please your daughter so much, if they know she wants them to play "NICE" they will. Now if I see any sign of anything I don't like all I say in a firm voice is "NICE, NICE". Some might say I am crazy but I was determined to teach them how to get along, I wasn't willing to give one up or keep them apart for the rest of their lives either or chance that they broke free from the seperation and went right back at each others thoats with my 2 year old daughter in the middle! I am not a prof. trainer or anything just a very determined Mommy to have peace in my home without losing any memembers of my family! I wish you and your family the best during this difficult time, I hope my experience will help you all. I t won't be solved in a day but I believe it can be solved! GOOD LUCK!
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Thank you all, Zeus is I guess feeling so so, he is awfully swollen around his mouth, and every chech I need to do, to make sure it still looks okay is hurting him, and me for having to do it. He is running a sight fever, but nothing to be concerned about at this point the vet says, only to be expected after a surgery like that. He is eating mushed up food in soup form, I guess the fact that he is eating is a good sign. He will go for checkup tomorrow, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be fine, or at least as fine as can be expected.
Yes, I am sure you are right, that it was a jealousy issue, I just have such a hard time getting that I have seen no signs at all, since I have had three or four dogs at the same time, for the past 25 or so years, this is always something you have in the back of your head. That it can happen, and you tend to look at their interactions pretty closely. Since I have almost always had more than one female at a time, I do not give them bones when they are together, us females have a tendency to get a little bitchy lol..... And to avoid fights I have just always been with them when they eat and when they get bones, they are in separate rooms. To have four dogs all with bones, all in one room is to ask for problems I think. So anyway I am sure it was a jealousy thing, and lol....... my daughter bacame a "woman" about a year ago, she would absolutely kill me if she saw this, noooo thats not true she would first torture me for days ;D (sad how they get all grown up that early now isnt it) But I asked on the way to the vet. if it was that time of the month, because that was something that stuck me that, that may be the case. But nope, is not (have to ask her, I cant even keep my days in my head lol.....) Okay now we are grossing out some I am sure.
I actually called, a couple of people I trained for in Sweden, back when I was competing obedience with my German Shepherd, these two were the best trainers I ever have had, so I called them, to see what they thought about the situation. Both said that, since Zeus is a rescue dog and we didnt get him until he was about 2 years old, we really dont know what he has been having to deal with before, things can just lay there for years they said and one day, it just snapps, if the experience was bad enough, especially at a young enough age. They said that it had been an easier situation, if we had separated them, and both were sort of fine and we could try to work on getting things back to "normal" straight away. Now when Zeus is not well, and it will be at least 2 more weeks before he is ready to spend time with any of the other dogs, the vet said, he need a lot of alone time, to recover without any stress. So being that long before we can start any kind of "let's be nice to each other" routines, it makes it so much harder. It is like having been in a car crash and not being able to get back into the car fairly soon after, you build up a fear, in this case more of a "dont like you feeling". They said to very very slowly take them both for walks, on leashes, not getting to be too close, see how that goes, and if it looks and feels okay, take babysteps towards them being together again. But they also said, they have heard way too many cases like this and only gave it about 50% chance to work. They are both breeders, and with several dogs, they are both having to separate some that just dont get along even if they are great with others (just like kids)
I have done a lot of thinking, about how to make this work, if we actually end up in a situation where we need to keep them apart. They both go well with the other three, so it is basically a take turns situation. Half the time Hera will spend time with the others, and half the time Zeus will. And we let them out through the back door, into the backyard, so when they go in our out, I will simply just have to make sure both of them are not there at the same time. The back yard is about an acre, so we have also played with the idea to put up fence to make a smaller yard in one end, so both can be outside at the same time, when it is nice weather. The house, well its two story, daughter sleeps upstairs with Zeus, and Hera is sleeping in my bedroom, and even if we dont want to make them stay in only one room during day, one of them can be upstairs and one downstairs, thats usually how it is anyway, I mean that the dogs are spread out around the house, it is a rather large house about 3500 sq ft. so they dont have to feel like they are having too little room even if this is what we will have to do. :o Okay...... now I am just blabbering away... Guess you can tell I am still rather confused over the whole thing. I really really hope it will work out to have them together again, but like you said, the chance that they will break loose again, and with my 4 year old inbetween, noooo...... I dont even want to think about it. So the way that seems to be the biggest chance for them to live happily in the same house. That's how it will have to be. But we are still a couple of weeks away from getting Zeus up and around, so maybe by then things have cooled off and it will work, with a lot of work from our part and a little coop. frome theirs.
Now it is time for my poor toothless baby, to get his pain meds, so Ill be getting off here, and hope to get on a bit later on, I miss talking to you all.
Marit
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I wish you the best of luck.
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Hi there..
I'm an experienced Bullmastiff owner and in fact at one point had two intact males living happily together (honest.. no squabbles) and I honestly didn't read EVERYTHING that was posted on this topic.
That being said:
I'm not sure how old your fur-kids are but have you considered having a thyroid panel pulled? I do agree that jealousy over a childs attention is very likely the cause of this issue, but at the same time, a thyroid issue can cause a critter to "suddenly lose it".
This will sometimes occur around 2-3 years of age. Check your dogs tails for dryness or sore spots about a hands length from the base of the tail down. Sometimes a thyoid issue will show up in a cyst, or sore dry skin in that spot.
Good Luck
Jennifer
www.energypaws .com
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I hope that everything is going better in the house and that Zeus if doing ok now.
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Haven't heard anything lately I hope everything is OK. I've been thinking of you and little Zues :-*
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:o gosh I am so sorry, it is such a long time since I even checked this topic, I have almost forgetten that bad day, well no not true. But thanks you all, Zeus is feeling totally okay again, I dont even think he realizes he doesnt have any K-9's in upper jaw. I was actually thinking of taking a pic of the teeth with roots and all, they are sooooo big. Jennifer - yes it was someting I thought of after a few days when I had done a ton of thinking, Hera is only 16 months though, about 15 when it happened, so still a little young for that to show up, and nope absolutely no dryness at all. Mind you, she should have had her panel drawn already, but I thought I was going to wait until we have a visit anyway, which we will at the end of the month or so. Quite a few of her close relatives have had the thyroid tests done, and everything is okay, that of course is no guarantee that she is too, but hopefully there will be no problem. I am not really concerned about Hera though, but Zeus is a little changed in his disposition, after the fact, I can say well it is probably because of what happened, but after having studied him very very closely with the other dogs and even dogs at the park, I can tell that he is changed, his whole body language is different, not a lot, but enough to be noticed if you look for it. I am pretty sure he was the one starting the fight, he has been "picking" with Buffy too after that. But it never went to a fight, she is our Alpha girl here and she made sure he didnt forget that, and he backed down straight away. But something is up with our little Zeus, I had the vet check him over real carefully when we went in for the teeth checkup but he can not find any reason to why he should be different, at least not without running the whole nine yards with tests and all. I will let it rest for awhile and see how he is doing, and if he still seems different I will have to look into what in the world it can be.
I will keep you all updated
Marit
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Thank You for the update. Glad to hear they are ok. Have you had to seperate them? I didn't realize Zues had started it for some reason I thought it was hera because she came out with out injury.
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Yes I know, at first I wasn't sure who had started the whole thing, but now when I look at Zeus and can see how he is a little different in his behavior, I know it is always a possibility that he changed after the fight, but even thought it is not very flattering for me, I think I am the one who has not been observant enough, and that he was like this even before the fight. I know for a fact that he wasnt like it hmmm say 3 or 4 months ago, so something has changed. I just hope it is nothing that is a health issue. And yes I am separating them, I have done some attempts but, you can tell how they totally stiffen up and Zeus is growling and looking like he is going to attack at any sec. I feel real bad, first I keep thinking that had I only been more observant maybe it would never have happened, and it is always easier to prevent a fight from happening the first time than it is to prevent it from happening again. We have been working with them, sitting down petting and calming, taken walks with both of them at the same time. But at least for now, it is way way too much tension in the air when they see eachother, so I do not want to push it. Hopefully it will calm down, but according to the trainers I have spoke to, it may be too much to hope for. But it works pretty well acctually, better than I thought, to have them separated, we have worked out a routin and everyone seem quite happy with it.
Marit
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Once when I was in my late teens, I think about 19 I rescued a german sheppard mix and everything was fine until I ran into to 2 freinds from highschool and their litter of rotties in the park. Well my little shep and there little rotties where of the same size so dumb us let them off lead to play 3 rotties and my shep.....well the rotties ATTACKED like a pack of wolves my poor little shep never trusted anyone especially me again. I had to rehome him because as he got older he trusted me less eventually bit me and then just every time anyone got near him he showed teeth and bit so because I was living with my mom and she paid the bills she said he has got go. Well I said no but when I went away with my freinds on vacation I came home to no dog!!!!!!!!!! I still hold that over my mothers head 20 years later!
Oh well live and learn.
Jen
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I am sorry to hear, and I guess I can understand you mom too. But it does hurt you when you feel it is your fault that your dog has been in a fight. And I know had I only been looking harder (and I usually keep telling everyone with more than one dog, how important that is) it probably would never have happened. But now it is done and I will have to try and make the best of the situation. I really should try and take a pic of those teeth, the roots are just huge.
Marit
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Thanks yes he is, and I so wish it hadnt been such a big thing, you know having to run off with him to the vet. and then his recovering, it made it so much harder to put them together again, than if it had been possible to try and deal with it straight away. And yes Hear was 15 months and I am sure having her hormons all over the place. The muzzle seems like a good idea just that Zeus who was most hurt (Hera wasnt one bit injured) he is I am pretty sure the one who will start anything, I think the reason it got so big of an injury was not from biting or anything, I think when they were tumbling around he somehow hit his mouth in something and that way knocked his teeth out. But I am sure they feel my tension and that doesnt help any. This is by no mean the first dogfight I have had during the years I have had dogs, and the people I bought my danes from, were having to separate dogs, but it is by far the worst injury from a fight I have had to deal with on my own dogs and yes it is scary, the intensety when they are grabbing eachother and blood everywhere, well it is probably going to take me some time to get over and meanwhile I am sure the dogs feel how tense I am when they start to act up, the last thing I want is another fight right now. I will try the muzzle though, but I may actually start muzzling both of them, just to see how they act when I let them loose together.
Marit
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:D Funny... hehe that is the hard thing isnt it?? To figure out what is right. I have the nylon muzzles in bulk since I used to work as groomer, so I will definately try that method, and hopefully get some ideas about what is going on, without anyone getting hurt. You are right, it is scary AND expensive. And my husband, ohhh dear.... he cant even see something that may, just may need a bandaid lol.... He was about to faint, I think the only other time I have seen him that weak was when I had the c-sec with youngest daughter and started bleeding later on the same day, he wasnt all that strong then either. The kids dealt with it better than he did, they were all covered in blood by the time we got to the vet. and I didnt hear one word about it being cross. Poor Zeus
Marit
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A lot of interesting information here. I have the same dilemma with my old female rottweiler, Greta. We added a new pup (14 mos. old last October) to our home where Greta and Lou (neutered male) have lived together since pups. Lou and Greta get along great, of course, though they have had some issues with other dogs. Strangely, even though Greta was socialized constantly, from puppy kindergarten, to several visits to offleash parks each week, she still became dog-on-dog aggressive around age three for no apparent reason, other than perhaps I was favoring her. I was still firm with her and expected her to be obedient and let her know I was the alpha, but still...
At first, she was fine with Betti and then she began baring her teeth at her sometimes. Eventually, she just ripped into her with that full-blown "intent-to-kill" out of control attitude. So far, we have put a nylon muzzle on Greta and try to keep them separated to give Greta relief from the muzzle as often as possible. Betti does not want to fight and I noticed she postured herself so as to give Greta submissive signs. Betti will also run and jump into my lap at the first sign that Greta is around unmuzzled.
So, I believe, in our case, it is definitely a dominance issue. But, now I have questions about the possibility of a thyroid condition. We have always carefully monitored our dogs' diets to maintain their weight, but if Greta eats any more than her usual two cups or 1.5 cups twice per day, she starts gaining weight fast. That's why one of her nicknames is PIG. Since she does not have a tail, we cannot check for the "dry spot". She has regular blood panels for her heart condition, so I will ask our veterinarian about the thyroid test. It would be amazing if that is the reason for her bossy, beligerant tantrums and outrage. :o
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Thanks a million, it was real real interesting, and noooo I never get tired of reading about things like that, everyting that educates is super interesting to me. I am glad to hear that it is an easy thing to treat, and love the fact that you can get it in regular pharmacies. In Sweden where I come from, we always get the prescription from our vet and then we go to the regular pharmacy, they carry the dog, cat and horse meds too, even for livestock, pigs well you name it. So it was totally new to me how the vets do it here, that they not only give you a prescription but the meds too. I used to have horses too and once one of my horses had an eye infection, the vet prescribed an ointment for it, some time later one of my danes had a red and irritated eye, I took her to our vet and he prescribed the very same stuff for her, then I got an eyeinfection after a cold and guess what.... when I went to the doc. he gave me the very same stuff and both the horse and the dog had had already lol..... Like you say, a lot of the medication, are the same for people and dogs. If you feel like it, I would absolutely love to hear about how it is now classed as an "auto-immune desease" and what can come from that. When you said one of his siblings lost muscle mass on its head, is it to the point where you can see it, does it look painful?? Thanks again for all this information, it is really very helpful
Marit
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OMG! What a horrific experience for your family!
My mom had 5 dogs and 2 have to be seaperated form eachother a male and a female. They both have very dominant personalities and were ok together until the female matured, (boy was older) then they both were alpha, and neither one would give to the other, it was a horrible bloody mess, I will never forget it! Needless to say they both reside at their home still, but do not ever spend time together. They would kill eachother. Mom tried everything to cohabitate them them after the fight but eachi s an Alpha and nothing worked, so the have different runs and come in at different times. My dad had to go as far as putting electric fence up on the top of their kennels t o keep them from trying to get out and at eachother.
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"K9k" thanks for all the info, most of my friends think I am more than a little wacko, because I love to get to know as much as I can about health and diet and all other issues with dogs, they think it is boring...... Ha... if they only knew how much fun it can be. I am looking forward to your next post. Hope your yardwork went well, and do I know what you mean when you say how the laundry is stacking up, I have a sep. hamper for handwash and the little odd things, and when you want to put something in that hamper now, you have to really really carefully balance it on the top, every day I hope it will be gone, but no such luck yet lol.....
kildeskennel, yes it was scary, very much so,and like someone else said I am sure now when I try to put them together again, they can feel how tense I am and well so far it has not worked, I will try the muzzle thing, to see how they react without being able to injure eachother. But who knows maybe I will have to have them separated. I will keep you all posted on how things go, anyone got a valium to spare lol.......
Marit
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Thank you, I can defenately use a cheering crowd in my corner. I love that kind of books too, and the gross pics never grosses me out, if it is a vet. show on tv, with surgery, the other in the family are either turning away or covering their eyes, I lean forward so I can see better lol.... I used to have fishes too. Well still do, but now it is the kids, so a much smaller tank and just the easy kid fishes. But some years ago, I used to have a rather large tank and had hmmm is discus the english name for them too, that is the name they go under in sweden but I am not totally sure here though. Most people find it strange when you talk about "treating" and "quaranteening" fishes lol.... but they are really a lot of fun. I also bred arabians, and when I had children got into showing and breeding shetland ponies, so they could have ponies their size. Oldest daughter started horseback riding when she was 1,5 years old, okay lol.... she didnt decide, I thought it was about time she got up there, so she didnt have much of a choice. Have also always had dogs and cats. and most pocket pets. I was an animal freak as a little girl, and made my poor parents put up with almost every pet in the book. My dad told me that, when I saw my first western movie, I got soooo upset and cried when a horse fell, then when a man got shot I didnt say a thing lol....
I am so looking forward to hearing about thyroids and the masticatory myositis
Marit
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Yes they are sweethearts lol..... My first pony was a shetland, I got him when I was 6, and the very first time I rode him in the woods I fell off 7 or 8 times in 30 min lol......
Ohhhh they are called discus here too, great, well yes they are a little difficult to keep, but I love them, so sweet (if a fish can be sweet lol)
It is sooo funny though, that you too reacted the same way to the falling horses. I guess I have given those genetics to my daughter too, she is a vegitarian, not because she doesnt like meat, but because she can not stand the thought of eating an animal. I have most of my adult life been active in animal rights, but I am sure Malin will become some kind of activist, hanging from a tree fending for some poor defensless animal. She needs to calm down a bit and mature, but the heart is in the right place, and I can see myself at that age in her, so it is hard to tell her to back down a little. I can also see that Jennifer is getting more and more into defending animals, Chris (hubby) sometimes likes to joke about how hungry he gets when he sees a pig or cow and Jennifer can not stand that anymore, she actually cries and tells him that we can get all the pigs and cows he wants but they will be our pets lol...... She is still not real clear about that the hot dogs and meatballs she is eating is from them, and I will wait to tell her, or she will go vegitarian on me too. I didnt eat meat for about 10 years either, I still can not eat a steak, or ribs or anything that would remind me of an animal, the very little meat I eat is when I buy hamb. meat and cook it myself so I know whats in it lol.... but I am a big fish lover, yeah..... this time eating them hehe, especially salmon. Hmmmm can anyone explain how in the world I got here....... I think this thread is about Hera and Zeus fighting and now I am taling about food okay it is time for me to go to bed ;D
Marit
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hehe he is doing just fine, but he is a grouch for some reason. He is not at all happy with Hera and has shown signs of bad behaviour towards Galahad too, so I will have him very well checked out when I take him to the vet.
And yeah..... mmmmmmm I am soooo getting hungry lox (we would spell it lax) is soooo good. I also love it with homemade cold potatoe salad. And I have my fav. salmon. I buy the fillets and put it in an oven dish with salt, pepper, lemon pepper, fresh dill and lemon on top, a little cream around and bake it, make a sauce of cream/milk dill, salt pepper and a bullion cube with garlic and parsly and serve with boiled potatoes. Ohhhh gosh.... I have to go eat something ;D
Marit
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I've never heard of Lox or Lax? But here in Washington we have great fresh fish! Halibut is by far my favorite, well after Lobster of course. It's so interesting to hear about how the everyone lives, eats, sports teams, etc. We are all so spread out and different and soooo interesting. I just love hearing about all of it, which may be why I'm so addicted to you all! Keep telling stories!
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That was wonderfully said.
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Just wanted to check in and see how they are doing now.
Lisa
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Thanks for asking. Well, Zeus has decided that he is going to be the "problem kid" in the family. The only dog he gets along with anymore is Buffy. It is so far a total mystery to why he is acting this way. Still working on trying to figure out what and why and how, have had some tests done but nothing that explaines to why he all of a sudden has turned into a dog aggressive dog. It is a sad thing really, I have gotten used to work around the problem, but I am not totally happy about it, I guess it would be easier and less worrying if I knew why. He is super fine with Buffy, but he cant even stand to look at Hera, and he has shown signs that are way way out of line with Galahad. And I am not taking risks there, I know he has been in fight and most likely would fight even Galahad even though he is a puppy, and i am not going to let that happen, the safest way to get a dog to be dog aggressiv is to have them be attacked by another dog, and especially if it happens when they are babies.
Soooo at least for now, Zeus and Buffy is group one and Galahad and Hera group two and thats how they are teamed up when we do stuff with them too. I wish is wasnt that way, and hopefully things can be corrected and changed if we can figure out whats up.
Marit
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Oh, Marit, I'm sorry to hear that Zeus hasn't bounced back like you had hoped. Please keep us posted on how things progress. I'll keep my fingers crossed that he relaxes and all the pups can be one happy family.
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Thanks Heather, yes it is kinda sad, not only does it make a difference for him, but for Buffy too, I dont want Zeus to be alone, so since Buffy is the only one he can be with, she tends to be separated from the other dogs too. I try to make a point of Having her with the other ones but sometimes it is just not happening as much as I wish.
I still have hopes that whatever it is, he will get back to his normal self
Marit
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My house has the seemingly random dog fight every once in a while (probably 2-3 times in the past year). It always ends the same with Rocco penning Maia to the ground by her neck. I have never seen how they start because I'm sure if I was watching they wouldn't do it. The only blood we have had is from bitten lips or ears.
I seperate them and then let them both back out and they kiss and make up. I think my guys it's like human kids having sibling rivalry. You did great with grabbing his back legs. I learned that trick in one of our obediance classes. Also never try to get in the middle if you can't get a clear grab or if you feel nervous about grabbing them.
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Sorry to hear about you dogs fighting - I have had bull mastiffs all of my life and have conducted much research on the breed. The one thing i did learn was no matter how young you introduce bull mastiffs to other dogs, they will most likely never get along. After months and months of reading and follow ups on the breed - many books stated that bull mastiffs will only get along with its own breed. They are very protective dogs and they rule there house. Your lucky that you got to the dogs in time b/c bull mastiffs and other bullie breeds have much different jaw structures than other breeds. For instance, your husky has a long nose with sharp teeth, the worst it could have done to the mastiff was puncture it which would require stiches, but a bull mastiffs mouth or any dog with a short snout uses its back teeth to take chunks out skin - they can cause a lot of damage to other dogs and even humans. I know that both dogs are part of the family but if those dogs dont get along - it would be wise to get rid of one of them - otherwise next time you might not be so lucky
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interesting. But I think it's the mastiff that is fine with everyone and it's actually the husky that is the problem child.
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Just a question, that may have been answered but I didn't see it. Did you ever have his Thyroid tested? I know someone suggested it.
If you haven't yet, ask the Vet to do a full Michigan Panel test. Not an in-office test (it's not comprehensive enough). They have to send it out, but you'll know everything about his thyroid after that. And if it's fine, at least you'll have a baseline to go by later in case anything shows up.
We have the same problem with certain girls. Mira a Newf, and Maggie a Golden HATE Lucy and Lucy hates them. Lucy IS the problem. She started on them when they were puppies - mothering/smothering. Mira wanted none of it and as soon as the little Newf got big enough to say "STOP IT" effectively, she did. Lucy had done the same to Maggie, who's a smaller Golden than Lucy, so Maggie made sure she had Mira on her side, and now they MUST be kept apart from Lucy. They BOTH hate Lucy. It's gotten pretty nasty in the past, but no serious injuries.
Separating them is a serious pain in the rear, but it keeps Lucy alive!!
Hope all is well with your boy now. How's everything going?
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You say you didn't feel very brave when you stepped in, but that is what courage is, doing something when it IS scary. My heart raced just reading it, I can't begin to imagine the horror of being there. Good luck and I hope everything works out with the situation.