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Chai's Updates

Runaway!

Well, today Chai had her first major runaway incident. She was whining at the door and Aiden (my 3-yr-old) decided to be "helpful" and let her out. She was whining because there were a couple strays running around outside that she wanted to play with! She bolted as soon as the door was open, and my wife couldn't get her attention to come back for anything. Julie chased the dogs for about 3 blocks before giving up and rushing back to the kids she'd had to leave alone in the house!

I got the frantic, stressed-out call at work a little before 3:00, and got someone to give me a ride home since I had dropped out car off at the shop this morning (thanks, Gary!). I spend the next hour or more on foot, roaming the 10+ square blocks between our house and Franklin Park to no avail. Some people thought they had seen her, but she was no where to be found.

I ended up heading back home to pick up my bike to cover more ground. By the time I had gotten my bike ready to go (both tires were flat), the neighbor kids came running down the street to tell us that Chai was down the street in their yard! The bitch had come back on her own, panting a bit, but none the worse for wear. She had gone at least a 1/2 mile away, crossed two major 4-lane roads at one of the busier times of day (TWICE), and just came trotting back into the driveway like nothing had happened.

We're glad to have her back, and even more glad that she came back safe and sound. But we're definitely gonna hafta work on self-control a lot harder with her for a while now.

An (overly) eventful night at the park...

Last night we were walking with our friends up at the park as usual. All the "regulars" were there - the happy-go-lucky Great Pyrenees female, the laid-back Bernese Mountain Dog female, the energetic little cattle-dog mix female who is Chai's bestest girl-friend, and the big lug of a Great Dane male that's been joining our group lately. All of them get along great, and the girls have always been very welcoming of new dogs to the group as well. Unfortunately, the Dane wasn't so welcoming of a "newcomer" last night.

Well all usually make at least one lap around the park with most of the dogs off-leash so they can get a good run and wrestle in. We were most of the way through our "lap" when the "newcomer" showed up - a timid yet playful Doberman male. He's been around the park when we're out there off and on, but isn't really a regular and doesn't spend a lot of time with us. This was the first time the Dane had encountered him.

When the Dobie showed up, Chai and her buddy rushed down to greet their familiar playmate. No big deal, goofy playing pups as usual. But then the Dane came rushing down to see what was going on. Neither the Dane or the Dobie have been neutered yet. Not good. Before anyone could blink, the Dane went territorial and attacked the Dobie who was less than half his size!

The Dobie's owner was closest to the mess, and started beating the Dane with his leather/chain leash and kicking him to try to get the beast off his dog. I was next on the scene, and tried to pull the Dane back, but 150+lbs of dog is not something that is easy to control. The Dane's owner was pretty quick after me, and between the two of us we were able to wrestle the Dane to the ground and break his hold on the Dobie. But not before some pretty significant damage was done.

The Dobie ended up with at least half-a-dozen puncture wounds in his neck and shoulders. Fortunately, none of them were gushing blood, but the poor dog was terrified and obviously in a lot of pain. We tried to get ahold of various emergency clinics and vets, and finally managed to make contact with one. They advised that if the wounds weren't bleeding, that it would be best to take the dog home, clean him up, and bring him to get patched up in the morning. The Dobie eventually got settled down enough to walk on his own, so that seemed like a good plan.

Both dogs' owners were pretty shaken up by the ordeal. I didn't get to interact with the Dobie's owner at all since I was busy helping the Dane's owner hold his dog down (it was taking both of us to keep the Dane down until he had calmed down again), but the Dane's owner was horrified that his dog had injured another dog. He left his phone number before taking his dog home, and plans on paying for all the vet bills. And it sounded like even though they've been planning on breeding the Dane, that they may go ahead and have him neutered since this is the second time he's shown aggressive behavior towards another male (first time attacking though).

The adrenaline finally started to subside a bit, and we finished our walk. But that was a very tense half-hour or so. Im' happy to report though, that all the girls did a good job of staying out of the way and not getting involved. They were curious about the triage efforts, but were just as content to play with each other from 50 yards away. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with that type of encounter again.

Back from getting spayed...

Well, Chai's surgery went great, and she did really well overnight at the vet's. We went to go pick her up this morning, and she was VERY happy to see us. And very energetic too! I expected her to be a little more groggy, but she's her usual perky self: wagging, trying to get up on the furniture, licking everyone in the face... All in all, I couldn't be happier with how well she's doing .

The challenge now will be keeping her calm and laid back for a few days to let everything heal up. I'm sure she'd be out playing with her doggie friends right now if I let her. And we'll have to keep an eye on the licking. So far, she's doing pretty well leaving the incision site alone, but we may end up needing the "cone of shame" if she decides she needs to clean it herself.