Not So Good News......

Clyde and I were so happy after adopting two new-to-us Dobermans that used to be street dogs last Sunday.  Venus our current Doberman wasn't too happy about her new siblings at first, but after a few days seemed to be enjoying their company. We'd take the three dogs on walks together and the new dogs walked almost perfectly on leashes after just one try. During the first day the two females exchanged a few growls since both seemed to be jockeying for dominance.  The male seemed oblivious to the whole thing and just went on happy-go-lucky like the youngster he seemed to be.

After yesterday's deluge of rain stopped I went outside and worked with them for a while teaching them to sit and stay. The female seemed to pick it up quickly but the male was a bit more of a challenge. We missed our morning walk with them due to the rain so later in the day before dinner I suggested we go.  Clyde agreed and we walked our pack for about 45-minutes just like we did the previous days.  The new dogs had never been leashed trained yet grasped the concept after only the first day, and walked almost perfect.  The female walked alongside of us and the male followed just a step or two behind, with Venus maintaining her nose ahead position as usual. After the walk we feed the three dogs at the same time, each with it's own bowl as we observed them carefully.

Clyde grilled some chicken for us and we marveled at how the two females were frolicking in the grass playfully and chasing each other like best buds after just three days together. But this time the male seemed to cop a jealous attitude and within seconds jumped on Venus in a brutal attack mode.  Clyde ran over to break up the fight and pulled him off of her and Venus quickly took off to hide. As soon as he was free the male immediately ran after Venus as if he was going to finish her off.  Clyde again jumped in and pulled him off of her forcing him to the ground until he surrendered. The muscular young 45 pounder fought back, nipped Clyde and attempted to maintain the upper hand.  Clyde put him on a leash and secured him away from the house on the bohio, a safe distance from Venus.  Clyde checked on Venus who was obviously quite shaken up but seemed ok so he came into the house to clean his own wound.  A few minutes later Clyde went to check on Venus again and noticed an open wound.  After further examination he noticed even more open wounds that were deep and went straight down to her muscle. He looked for something to wrap the wound with after applying antibiotic cream but the bandage didn't stay on and fell to the ground. Clyde then noticed several other deep open wounds and thought she needed to be seen by a vet ASAP.  We called a friend who told us which local vet has emergency services and after a quick call we were in his office.

Although the vet spoke no English after examining her he said, "oh my God," as he looked at the deep wounds that barely missed nearby veins.  The vet explained that he'd have to put her to sleep in order to sew her up and then we'd have to leave her overnight for observation.  Quickly she was out like a light and we were asked to leave the room.  About an hour later she was done and pumped full of pain killers and antibiotics. We said night-night to her and came home only to find the male dog roaming freely, somehow he'd broken free from his restraints. As soon as Clyde opened the front gate to our property he darted out, apparently afraid of Clyde after their brawl.  A few minutes later he returned and we closed the gate for the evening.

I sent an email to the woman who we'd adopted the dogs from and she called and offered to take them back.  Heartbroken and in tears we drove them back into Panama City today to be placed up for adoption again. We'd already become attached to our new friends and really, really wanted it to work out. But Clyde was afraid that we'd never be able to trust the male dog again, especially with Venus recovering from surgery in a vulnerable position.

You can see the saved area on her upper
right leg where most of the damage was done

Glad to be home "alone"

 

We picked Venus up from the vet around 1pm today just like the vet suggested. He wanted to keep her all morning to give her some more antibiotics before releasing her to us.  She needs to wear a cone around her neck for eight days so that she doesn't lick her stitches and needs to be rechecked in ten days.  Fortunately we were nearby when the fight broke out otherwise we fear the worst may have happened to Venus. So for now we'll let her heal up, rest up and sometime in the future we'll decide what to do about bringing home another dog....along the gringo trail.