The fight....

[Bobbie]

As some of you know Janine and Candy are not friends and Janine is a little too quick with her teeth when they get into a dispute. They have been really really good this winter, though. Until today. There was a bang outside like someone putting mail in our slot (which is one of Janine's triggers) and I don't know what happened but the next thing was Janine and Candy fighting and Jack trying to join in. Janine had Candy down and was at his throat and Candy was squealing.

So I grabbed Jack and threw him out of the room, then grabbed Janine, who will never try to bite me when I pick her up from a fight, and put her in the crate. Candy high-tailed it out of the room so I followed and checked on him. I know better than touch him when he hurts but I told him to roll over and saw no blood except bits on his ear. So I went back to Janine, and she had been bitten on the eye (not punctured, and hardly any blood, either.)

Fast forward five hours, I gave Candy half a Tramadol and he was zonked out, but Janine was in a lot of pain and her eye swelling shut, no major discharge, though. Sensitivity to light. So I called the vet's office and my main vet was taking emergencies so I called him. He said to give her 10 mg Pred (since she can't take NSAIDs) and an antihistamine and I'd already given her Tramadol, too, and give her an antibiotic (all of which I had.) The Pred is for swelling as is the antihistamine. I asked if she should come in tomorrow and he said as long as it looks better, no, but if it has a lot of discharge or looks a lot worse bring her in, but that what I'm doing is what he'd do. (I had the antibiotics left from Merlin and Jack.)

I don't think her eye has more than blunt trauma; she let me look at it before it swelled up and it looked okay. Candy was in more pain at first but now his is better (I gave him Tramadol earlier) and Janine is in more pain. Hopefully she too will feel better soon.

The upside is that since both are suffering, they will work to avoid fighting. (Which is what they have been doing, avoiding each other and trying not to get into it, for which I'm grateful.) It has been about six months since Janine got Candy's eye. I never leave them alone together or feed them together or even put them on the doubler when we walk, but every so often something triggers a fight anyway.

Anyway, send good vibes for Janine's eye.

[Jespah]

Absolutely. Good vibes to Janine and I hope she will be okay. +WUBCLUB+

I can't imagine how stressful it must be to live knowing that this could happen at anytime. My two have had a couple of bang-ups that have been scary - Jem's ear was punctured the last time. I really hope they are both okay and it does deter them from fighting again.

((HUGS)) to you - I know I get the post-adrenaline shakes after mine have even had a small tiff. I don't know how you do all that you do Bobbie, you are a wonder.

[Bobbie]

I get that way, too, with the adrenaline.

Janine seems to feel better already after the meds and ate dinner, which is good as I didn't want her having the antibiotic on an empty tummy.

Most of the time I don't worry about it except to exercise preventative measures- they aren't like the two females that the instant they see each other, go for each other. They really do try to avoid it. And if it were not Candy Janine would go for another dog- some of you saw her get Jack when we were camping. She was better on medication but now she can't take it. The saving grace is that I can pull her off so I can stop the fight and they are never together when I'm not there. And no food when they are together except peanut butter- they will line up and take their pills with peanut butter taking polite turns, go figure.

[Jespah]

I can't peel mine off each other when they go at it. If I grab Rupert, Jemma thinks it's so she can have a better chance at killing him. The last fight they had scared the heck out of me. I was out front of our building and there was a sandwich on the lawn. Rupert went for it and Jemma came up next to him and all heck broke loose. I had been shopping and my groceries ended up all over the sidewalk.

Glad Janine is already feeling better. I really hope her eye will be alright.

[Bobbie]

If it is Jack fighting, its dangerous to grab Janine as Jack will jump at me trying to bite her. But Candy can't jump very high though one time I did have to keep pushing him away with my foot. And Janine never tries to turn and bite me which is what Candy would do, I'm sure. So I just grab Janine's little body and pick her up (this time I tried whacking them with tennis shoes first but that did absolutely no good.)

[corgiland]

Lots of vibes for Janine's eye, Bobbie.....and to all of you....

That would be so frightening.......

[Jane Austen]

I have a cat and dog situation. Last week Duchess attacked the cat who was cornered on his bed by the door. Don't know what brought it on but they tease each other. And neither wants to back down.
I tried to grab Duchess by the fur on her back. With a twenty pound cat wrapped around her head it was difficult to separate them. I finally got a good grip and took Duchess into the other room where I removed a cat claw from the top of her head.
We haven't known them to fight when they are alone together, just when we are there. June

[midgesmom]

I hope Janine and Candy are both feeling better this morning!

[mtoy]

Ouch, it's so scary when it happens.

When Link and Millie fought I always tried to throw something between them. Anything - a blanket, a footstool, a stick - whatever I had nearby. Not food, of course. A sudden very loud noise can work too. Putting my arms in there anywhere near Millie would scare me, it was a last resort. It's amazing that neither one ever got hurt.

[Bobbie]

Nothing stops Janine except pulling her off Candy so lucky for both of us she lets me do it.

Janine is herself this morning, her eye is much less swollen, and she is happy and yappy. I'll take a close up look at it when she comes to cuddle but I can tell it is better.

[ZdogZ]

How scary! Glad Janine is feeling like herself this morning.

[funnyfarm]

Here are some healing vibes from the corgi crew!
And some hugs for you too Bobbie!

[CorgiMum]

How terrifying!!

Glad to hear that Janine's eye is better this morning. And Candy is ok too?

Out of my 4 corgis the only fight I have ever had was Dylan & Danny last year when a friend gave each if them a toy while they were in an ex-pen together outside at a trial & both dogs were pumped. It scared the heck out of me.

It's good that Janine will let you pick her up and not transfer to you.

[CasaCorgis]

Bobbie, how very scary for you. I've never had to separate my boys, but I think I would be terrified if I had to attempt such a thing.

Healing vibes all around!

[thebeach.corgi]

Sending vibes that recovery goes well for Janine's eye and also for Candy's bites. Yikes. How scary for you breaking up the fray. +WUBCLUB+

Your calmness and ability to act amid crisis is amazing!

Another round of vibes that peace and calm will reign
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+WUBCLUB+

[Jane Austen]

Did I see one time that the suggested way to pull corgis apart is to grab a back leg? I think that is in the archives of one of the corgi websites.
I found numerous websites with instructions on breaking up dog fights, just by searching "How to break up dog fights" June

[Jespah]

A back leg is an option if you cannot use anything else to get between the dogs. The biggest danger is that the dog that you grab will think it is being attacked from another angle and naturally react by attemtping to bite the grabber.

These things happen fast and they are very frantic at the time - I know I tend to just react and grab the closest dog I can without thinking - I have been lucky so far not to have been bitten. Fights between mine are always related to food. There will often be tension for many days after a fight and I am vigilant with keeping an eye out for dirty looks - generally, it's Jemma throwing them at Rupert. The first time they FRAP or play together after a fight, I usually play it up big time and get silly with them and praise them a lot. It tends to burst the tension bubble and they go back to trusting each other again - until the next "food fight".

[Bobbie]

Your calmness and ability to act amid crisis is amazing!


Who said I was calm??

[Bobbie]

Did I see one time that the suggested way to pull corgis apart is to grab a back leg? I think that is in the archives of one of the corgi websites.


It's very hard to grab a corgi by a back leg. That works with bigger dogs but remember they can still whirl around and bite you, but for corgis it is less useful. I've tried it. The only thing that ever works for me is to pick up Janine.

[Bobbie]

Mine have a truce most of the time but when Janine flips out truce is over for the time being. I'm very careful but keeping them separated all the time so far is not necessary. (Before Candy it was Merlin and usually much more one-sided.) I hope it does not escalate to needing to separate them all the time; so far it hasn't, it is something that only occasionally happens and a fight serves to remind both of them that they don't want to let it happen. They are pretty well-matched.

[jeepgal]

Glad to hear Janine is on the mend. Hope Candy's bites are healing as well. Hugs to you Bobbie for having to deal with it. That would be very scary to have to break up a fight like that.

My two haven't really ever gotten into it too bad. When there have been little tiffs, it's Trixie that provokes it and Murphey is generally trying to get away.

[travelers]

Good old Janine, consistant as ever!
Poor Candy!
Lesson here I think for all of us, ya gotta be the Alpha in your house, Bobbie clearly is.
Beth
PS
Janine in...............
THE FIGHTER, seems like a natural:BIGGRIN"

[Bobbie]

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee256/Bobbie54_2007/Dog%20photos%202011/Janineasthefighter.jpg

[Jespah]

Oh dear - that looks scary - you are sure she is okay?

[Bobbie]

That was yesterday at its worst, when I couldn't get her to look at the light. Today she looks pretty much normal. Slight swelling, a little goop, mostly just fine and she is feeling fine. And good Janine, she never even once tried to rub it on anything or paw at it.

And Candy's ear looks fine although it is bothering him a bit and he holds it funny. He won't let me check so he gets what he gets.

[taflar]

A back leg is an option if you cannot use anything else to get between the dogs. The biggest danger is that the dog that you grab will think it is being attacked from another angle and naturally react by attemtping to bite the grabber.

If you get the back leg or legs off the ground they can't get to you as easily. Drag them to another room and as you back out, let go of dog and shut the door. Give them a few min to calm down.

You can do the same thing with a tail on a cardi.

Peggy

[Bobbie]

My biggest problem is when the other dog is Jack, as he will jump and bite at Janine after I pick her up and his aim isn't very good (i.e., he might get me.) Then I'm fending him off with a foot while trying to stuff her in a crate or the utility room. At least with Candy I'm more or less safe.

The other big danger with more than two corgis is that the other(s) will usually join in on the side of the winning dog or at least the dog on top. Luckily the time Janine and Candy got together on their own Jack was with me. But some people have come home to find a dog killed or badly injured when they've all been left together.

Btw, someone on another forum was just commenting (a non-dog forum) that she didn't know how the word describing the female dog got to be used as a derogatory term. I said she never had a female corgi!

[mtoy]

Btw, someone on another forum was just commenting (a non-dog forum) that she didn't know how the word describing the female dog got to be used as a derogatory term. I said she never had a female corgi!

I second that comment!:TWITCHY:

[2CrazyCorgis]

Bobbie, I hope Janine is okay, glad she is better today. I know how stressful it can be - Bella and Rudy have had some loud, snarly scary fights. Luckily neither of them has ever had a mark on them. My instinct is usually to pull Rudy back since he is the more aggressive one, but when I do that Bella takes the opportunity to latch onto his butt! If you can get them by the scruff on the back of their neck you can usually get both of them without getting bitten, it is very tricky though.

This is not really related, but the comment about the female dog reminded me of something from a herding trial. We were in our judges briefing for HT, she commented that the arena we were in was the maximum size allowed so it might be easier for the sheep to get away from you. One handler (with a GSD) commented that it would probably make it much harder for the "poor little Corgis". The judge laughed and said "Anyone who thinks Corgis aren't fast should try to catch one sometime!". :TWITCHY:

[Dillydoodle]

Oh my goodness! How scary all this must have been.. we have been very lucky here that the only fights we have had have lasted 2 seconds or less and are broken up by my yelling at Dillon to stop since he is ALWAYS the instigator. I am very lucky that these disputes can be stopped verbally. It doesnt hurt that Gus is so submissive.. this is a good reason why the fight never progresses.

Poor Candy getting beat up and poor Janine...she looks pathetic in that photo... her poor eye... owww...

It must be really stressful to worry when something will happen that will trigger the next fight... i would always be on eggshells... ( becuase i am the biggest worry wart ever!)



I

[Bobbie]

I disconnected the doorbell last year when we were sleeping near the door and Janine jumped Merlin when it rang. (Even after I put a sign up saying please do not ring it!) That was a really big trigger for her. Unfortunately so are things that just SOUND like doorbells.

[dcole]

Wow, that picture of Janine after the fight looked awful. Glad to hear that her eye is better now as is poor Candy's ear! +WUBCLUB+

[Bobbie]

Wow, that picture of Janine after the fight looked awful. Glad to hear that her eye is better now as is poor Candy's ear! +WUBCLUB+

Her eye actually looked much worse than that. But now it looks pretty good. I gave her a pain pill again last night so she would not rub at it and will do today, too.

[Jespah]

I'm glad that it is much better - thank goodness he didn't catch any of his teeth on the actual eyeball! :SHOCKED:

[Bobbie]

Janine seems afraid of Candy now and Candy is trying to take advantage of it. Unfortunately that does no good as when Janine fights it isn't something she premeditates, so it won't matter that she is afraid. It does help her keep her distance, though, which is good. It worries me when they go through a doorway together although that has never been an issue with them. But they seem to know it isn't an issue.

[CorgiMum]

Hope all is quite at your house today.:SMILE: