Smalahundur Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 And got mauled for my troubles, ungrateful ******.... Yesterday we went to check out the fences at our new place, because we were planning to move the rams there. The fences there made of sheep net with a line of barbed wire on top. Max likes to jump fences. At the end of our walk Max decides to jump the fence, and miscalculates; He goes over but both his hind legs get grabbed by the barbed wire and he ends up hanging upside down screaming his head off. The wire got flipped over so he is hopelessly stuck. With visions in my head of ripped tendons and torn muscles I run to him, grab him by the torso (he is hanging on the opposite side of me), and lift him out. By now Max has completely lost his mind, quickly snaps at my fore arm,(leaving fang marks) immediately letting go, only to lock on to my biceps, and I mean locking on, really biting down. I decide to grit my teeth, bear it, and lift him out (all this happens very quickly). He lets go of me the moment his hind legs are loose, but to say I was not very happy with him is an understatement... My right biceps is black and blue, with scratched skin. I was really lucky to be wearing three layers of clothing, long sleeved cotton shirt, woolen sweater, and a soft shell jacket. Jay for the cold spring, had I worn just a t shirt that would not have been scratches but deep punctures.... Of course Max is completely unhurt; not limping, not even a scratch to be found on his legs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 LOL? I know you are glad that Max is fine, and it doesn't sound like you suffered too much either. I can empathize with your split-second decision making, that in hindsight, maybe wasn't the best option - but heck, it worked. I have had a couple of those too. One was when one of my woolies managed to get a hind leg wrapped between 2 lines of hi-tensile. Luckily, he was lying on the ground and not struggling. [still can't figure out how the leg got scissored between the wires.] I ran over and pulled the wires apart, the leg came out and then the wires scissored shut over the fingers on both hands. I was trapped! Luckily, someone else was around and I yelled to them to bring a rake so we could use the handle to pry the wires apart so I could get my hands out. Second, when Torque was a puppy (~3-4 months old), I had him in an X-pen in the house while I was on the computer nearby. I heard these blood-curdling screams and ran over to find that he had managed to wedge one of his front paw pads between two of the panels and it was being pinched. I immediately reached towards him to pull the panels apart, and he bit down on my hand. Oops. A little blood, but not much. Welcome to the "Act First, Think Second" club!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maralynn Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Ouch!!! Glad you both escaped relatively okay. One of those "all dogs could bite if they're hurt enough/scared enough" situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 You don't know what would have happened to Max if you didn't react quickly - so freaked out, he might have hurt himself bad. And now you are a hero injured in the line of duty. (it is a funny though ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxi Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Oh boy...Sorry to hear about the Max's reaction to your aid...hope your bruising settles quickly. ..but as you know, things could have so easily turned out much worse for either/both of you, so I guess in someways the dice rolled the right way for you...and forewarned is forearmed. What are you going to do to try to make sure it doesn't happen again? .next time there may be much more significant consequences -I''ve seen a working dog wrecked from ripping his hind tendon when his leg was caught while attempting to jump a high tensile wire fence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Bordercollies Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 That "act first, think second club" sounds like one I might belong to. Glad to hear Max is ok, but I can imagine what was going through your mind at that moment. I think a lot of us must have had one of thosse moments where reacting comes before thinking. A few weeks ago, I heard a commotion outside and just knew the dogs were busy harming one of the barn cat kittens. I simply stormed out the house yelling "leave it" at the top of my lungs. Rather to my surprise Zorro who had the little kitten in his mouth quite promptly put her down and the other four stepped away. I think they might have sensed I'm serious and the hell will be loosed if they do not listen. I grabbed the kitten. who in her panicked state decided I was as much her enemy as the dogs and scratched and bit me, one of her needle sharp teeth going straight through my nail. Not fun, neither was the Tetanus injections that followed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 Any animal can bite when it's under stress. The severity of that bite can depend on their bite inhibition, which can be improved with training. Glad you are both ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Thanks Liz, a good laugh was just what I needed to cheer me up a bit. I'll start working on that training right away! Also, everybody else, thanks for the good wishes etc. My right upper arm really looks impressive now; nice colors, but it doesn't hurt much (it hurt like a "female dog" an hour or so after it happened) unless I poke it. Thought about it, could I have done this differently? I don't really know, taking a hold of him differently might have been possible (two hands on the scruff of the neck?). But I was positioned really akwardly, being forced to reach over the fence to heave this full grown male bc back over. The dog hanging upside down, and being in total panic was not helpful. The accident itself I regard as a freak incident. Anyway Max is okay, and I am not seriously hurt, that's the main thing. Today we had the first training session after the lambing break, and it went fine. All's well that ends well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I accidentally closed my old dog's tail HARD in the screen door. He swung around, in a huge amount of pain, and stared straight into my eyes and let out the meanest growl I've ever heard out of him. For about 30 seconds, I knew that if I moved a muscle, the dog was going to bite me. Then he came out of his pain glaze, and acted quite contrite, trying hard to be friends again. Pain does crazy things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borasaurus Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I accidentally closed my old dog's tail HARD in the screen door. He swung around, in a huge amount of pain, and stared straight into my eyes and let out the meanest growl I've ever heard out of him. For about 30 seconds, I knew that if I moved a muscle, the dog was going to bite me. Then he came out of his pain glaze, and acted quite contrite, trying hard to be friends again. Pain does crazy things. Kieran did something like that to my sister, who didn't even close the door that hard on his tail. Although, what do I know, it probably really hurt. After that, he (understandably) wouldn't let anyone near his rear for a few days, but was completely fine and back to his happy-go-lucky self. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Just to be on the safe side - do you have your tetanus shots up to date? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I had something similar happen with one of my cats--twice. In both instances he somehow managed to get a window blinds cord wrapped around his tail. In both cases he panicked and ended up swinging by the cord, which of course just tightened that much more on his tail. It sounded like a cat fight. Really all I would have needed to do was grab him, lift him to release the pressure on the cord around his tail and I could have unwrapped it, BUT I wasn't about to grab a panicked cat, so instead I grabbed scissors and cut the cord, both times. As predicted, as soon as his weight was no longer on the cord, it came right off his tail. So maybe carry some sort of fencing tool with you? Perhaps cutting the fence would have meant more work later, but would have prevented the bites you received while trying to help. I'm sure the bites are awful, but I can understand his panic and I'm sure he wasn't thinking "this human is trying to help me," but rather "I'm trapped, and it hurts and I'm fighting for my life!" I'm hoping he doesn't try jumping any more fences. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm hoping he doesn't try jumping any more fences Max sounds to me a bit like my Darinka. All of my dogs were taught to jump fences when I told them. This practically prevents any possible problems, and I limit their jumping to safe places. Until I got Darinka. She jumps over anything she feels like; so she is unpredictable, particularly that there is a streak of insanity in her brain and a spring in her butt. I have had to learn to anticipate her desire to jump and tell her "no". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 @Maja, no worries, I shoe my own horses, and decided to update my tetanus injections over a decade ago, and kept them updated since. @Julie, don't laugh too loud, we were there to check the fences, so we were carrying tools in a small backpack. There was no time to think, and even then, I doubt I would have risked the delay of unpacking the tool and cutting the wire. Yeah these dogs are very different, Gláma will try to avoid jumping fences whenever she can, Max loves to fly over anything. Knowing him I seriously doubt this experience will change that. Well I did wish for a harder, less sensitive dog than Gláma... I will do my best to get a handle on this jumping though, not something I'd like to experience again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moosikins Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Glad you're both alright! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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