I'm sure you've all been wondering...whatever happened to that sweet, yet very rambunctious hound we were fostering? Well, after a couple training classes to establish a stronger relationship and understanding between dog and human, Holmes has transformed from that lovable Tasmanian devil to....well...a MORE lovable, slightly less devilish dog. So, in case you haven't figured it out yet....we failed as foster parents, because in the end we ADOPTED Holmes! The truth is, we have fallen for him...especially my hunnie, who has found his new best bud. You can't help but fall in love with his big floppy ears and those dark melancholy hound dog eyes. You can't help but laugh when he gets a new squeaky toy and just squeaks and squeaks it like its the coolest thing in the world. And you can't help but smile to see the Holmes and Georgia together, whether playing or napping, like best buddies.
Now to my cautionary tale--
One morning last week, I could hear the dogs tussling through the house as I lay in bed trying to sleep. This is standard doggie behavior and never malicious, but when I heard Holmes give a high pitch yelp...a sound not of excitement, but of pain...I jumped from bed to see what had happened. At first I thought Georgia was biting his mouth and wouldn't let go, but I quickly realized the reason the dogs weren't separating despite my efforts to break them apart was because Holmes had gotten his lower jaw twisted in Georgia's collar and was stuck. I calmly tried to pry his long skinny jaw from her collar, but after he panicked and struggled to free himself, I realized he was strangling Georgia (the dog of all dogs, the princess of the house) and her lips and tongue were turning blue and her body was becoming limp. I screamed at Holmes to "relax", and in my own panic that she might be dead, I began to cry. Thank goodness I had enough sanity in that moment to grab the meat scissors from the knife block and cut Georgia's collar off of her. She slowly took in a few breaths, Holmes licked her face to comfort her, and a couple minutes later she was breathing normal, walking normal and even wagging her tail for a treat. This was a close call, and after searching online, I realized that this is not as unique an event as I thought--many dogs have rough-housed and gotten themselves into this predicament, and unfortunately if the owner wasn't around, many of those dogs have died. Thanks to the invention of the Break-away collar, incidents like this can be prevented. A breakaway collar is designed with a safety clip that releases if caught or tugged on.
One morning last week, I could hear the dogs tussling through the house as I lay in bed trying to sleep. This is standard doggie behavior and never malicious, but when I heard Holmes give a high pitch yelp...a sound not of excitement, but of pain...I jumped from bed to see what had happened. At first I thought Georgia was biting his mouth and wouldn't let go, but I quickly realized the reason the dogs weren't separating despite my efforts to break them apart was because Holmes had gotten his lower jaw twisted in Georgia's collar and was stuck. I calmly tried to pry his long skinny jaw from her collar, but after he panicked and struggled to free himself, I realized he was strangling Georgia (the dog of all dogs, the princess of the house) and her lips and tongue were turning blue and her body was becoming limp. I screamed at Holmes to "relax", and in my own panic that she might be dead, I began to cry. Thank goodness I had enough sanity in that moment to grab the meat scissors from the knife block and cut Georgia's collar off of her. She slowly took in a few breaths, Holmes licked her face to comfort her, and a couple minutes later she was breathing normal, walking normal and even wagging her tail for a treat. This was a close call, and after searching online, I realized that this is not as unique an event as I thought--many dogs have rough-housed and gotten themselves into this predicament, and unfortunately if the owner wasn't around, many of those dogs have died. Thanks to the invention of the Break-away collar, incidents like this can be prevented. A breakaway collar is designed with a safety clip that releases if caught or tugged on.
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