Break your dog’s heart in less than 2 seconds!
This is our biggest girl, Jill. Have you ever seen such a heart breaking? This is also her lampshade, e-collar, cone, plastic-white-slowly-strangling-monster!
Jill is an interesting canine. She came to us in between hurricanes several years ago when we had five of them in a row. Her first weekend out of the shelter was in a crate barricaded in our closet. She didn’t pee for two days. Once the hurricanes died down and she was able to acclimate to our family we realized she’s a fantastic dog with unique skills. She can effortlessly jump onto and balance on our kitchen window sill. She can escape a privacy fence if given half a chance. She politely takes treats from your hand and she asks for them by sitting, then bopping her butt up and down so you see she is actually sitting. But, by far, her most unique skill is in trying to kill the other dogs.
Hard to imagine that smiling face has a killer lurking beneath, huh? Well, she’s personally sent 3 of the others to the hospital with various puncture wounds and one even sporting a broken jaw! Her patented move is amazing. In a split second, with the slightest of warning, she gets the other dog in between her front legs. The chosen dog for her assault is always upside down by her ninja move and their head will be in her mouth. Because of this propensity and her abilities in scaling houses and fences we had to make some decisions. Place her in another home? No, most who would want her would have other dogs and it would just take an instant for someone to be dead. Remove her canines? This was considered but her size could still harm a small dog if she was in attack mode. Use a basket muzzle 24/7? Yes!
That’s been our answer and Jill’s used to it. She can bark, eat, drink, lick herself and has even still jumped a dog or two and knocked them in the head with the muzzle. I give her breaks from it when I can but she proves, often, as long as there are other dogs around she cannot be fully trusted. Did I mention she can still lick herself?
This is a really good hot spot. Jill has licked her leg raw. Lots of dogs do this and for various reasons. They start off as a response but then become an obsession complete with endorphins. Jill has battled some allergy issues but she also just likes to suck on blankets and things. So I think those combined and wal-lah!
I’m treating this with a natural healing gel and keeping her away from it. When this all began last week she wasn’t wearing the cone. I applied the gel and bandaged her leg. It began healing within a day. Got up yesterday to find she’d started a new hot spot ABOVE the bandage! So, out came the lampshade. She’s never worn one before and had a hard time believing her legs could work at the same time. We couldn’t help but laugh at our troubled mutt but she soon ventured out and is now maneuvering like a champ.
Our cattledog, Dixxy, is also wearing a cone. She had the complete opposite reaction. Dixxy is our biker chick dog and you can’t phase her. Bring it on! She doesn’t care what she runs into or scrapes against or gets stuck against, she pushes her way past. First time I’ve had to deal with two dogs in cones at the same time. We must be aware of our legs at all times, being hit by one of them hurts!
Dixxy’s hot spot is on her flank but I’m suspicious of it being pain related. She has severe rheumatoid arthritis. I’m using the same natural gel and hers is healing, too. Once it’s completely healed, she’ll see our vet if she continues to chew.
Our poor, silly coneheads!
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