A traumatic morning.
- Thread starter Candy
- Start date
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
She's great up on the Moor, cautiously confident with dogs who are new to her (which is fine, she's always been like this, she's just being polite and sensible) and very happily greeting and playing with dogs she knows and likes. She's still a bit more anxious on lead when walking along pavements but I'm currently reading 'Inspiring resilience in fearful and reactive dogs ' (although I don't think I'd really describe her as fearful and reactive, more a bit scared) and so we're working on building her confidence. The police now have the report from the vet. I'm thinking that if I haven't heard from them soon I'll ring to ask where they're up to.
Joy is due for another check up at the vet on Tuesday, just to make sure everything is still healing as it should. She has started putting her front paws up on the bed again for our morning greeting, which she stopped doing after the attack, probably it would have been painful for her, so it's all looking good.
Thanks for asking x.
Joy is due for another check up at the vet on Tuesday, just to make sure everything is still healing as it should. She has started putting her front paws up on the bed again for our morning greeting, which she stopped doing after the attack, probably it would have been painful for her, so it's all looking good.
Thanks for asking x.
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
Fine, thanks for asking. Wound healed nicely, some thickening of her abdomen wall due to the crush injury but the vet wasn't worried by it. It might go eventually or it might not. She's signed off for now!
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
Funnily enough the lovely police officer who has been dealing with the case rang me about 15 minutes ago. The incident was captured on CCTV but unfortunately the images weren't clear enough to identify the dog or his owner, so currently they are unable to proceed further. However the case will be kept on file and re opened if there is another attack. I haven't seen the man or the dog since that day a few weeks ago when I spotted them on the towpath from my window and saw that the dog was on lead. If all that comes of this is that the owners have realized the importance of using a lead to prevent further attacks then I'm happy enough with that.
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
Also Joy, with a little help from our friends, appears to be getting her confidence back. I think it's made me consciously put more work into this and that can only be good. She's proving to be more resilient than I had realized and I'm proud of my brave little GoodGirl! 
Candy
Biscuit Tin Guardian
- Location
- West Yorkshire, UK
Late entry, due to absolutely having to binge-watch the last three episodes of 'The Tourist'. It's a year ago today that Joy had her horrible attack. I always remember it and think 'Beware the Ides of January!' (As opposed to March) Anyway, in the run-up to it I have been taking stock, how does Joy seem to be coping now? Has there been a big change in her confidence around other dogs? Is there anything else that I should be doing to help her? Could I have prevented it in any way?
The answer to the last question is honestly 'No' at least, not without never taking her for a walk. She was on the pavement by a road, on lead as she should have been and the other dog was off lead. We rounded the corner and there he was. He went for her before I had time to draw breath, let alone take any kind of preventative action, so although I still relive it from time to time, I know absolutely that it wasn't my fault. As for the rest of the questions, Joy had to be walked on lead only for six weeks following the attack, to allow for healing. During this time she showed a marked increase in anxiety around other dogs which was hardly surprising. However, I made sure that her first off lead experience with other dogs was on the Moor,
where there's plenty of space, and that the first dogs she met were Fiona's little gang, who she knows well and feels safe with. This was a really good positive experience for her and seemed to help to pave the way forward.
I do feel that her confidence has for the most part returned, although she is still understandably anxious if an unknown dog runs directly at her without stopping and she will react to this by barking and if she's on lead, lunging. The only time this ever really happens is when we're walking on the towpath and someone is running with a dog on lead. An off lead dog running with a person still tends to observe the usual dog etiquette of slowing down, sometimes lying down and checking Joy out before continuing to run, whereas a dog on lead doesn't have the opportunity to do this, which is what upsets and frightens Joy. Under these circumstances I have taken to standing still and holding up a hand in a 'Stop' position to the running person, then thanking him/her for stopping (surprisingly most do!) and explaining briefly my reason for doing this. I found it a bit daunting at first but it gets easier every time and most of the time people are understanding about it. Most importantly of all, Joy is fine with this, so it's worth the occasional person thinking I'm a mad dog woman. Otherwise, she seems by now to be pretty much the same as she was before the attack, a very sweet natured and gentle little dog who is playful and friendly but just naturally cautious. Walking with Fiona and her happy little gang yesterday I was reflecting on the attack and the subsequent year and asking for her thoughts. She said 'If I had just met you and Joy today, I would think the same as when I first met you, which was that she was a lovely little dog, just quite sensible and naturally cautious. I think she's done really, really well.'
So that'll do nicely for the time being I think. It's wonderful how the healing process works, both physically and mentally, although that doesn't mean that there's no more room for improvement. Off to bed now, thanks again to all of you for your support during that very upsetting time and Goodnight from GGJ and me xxxxxxx
The answer to the last question is honestly 'No' at least, not without never taking her for a walk. She was on the pavement by a road, on lead as she should have been and the other dog was off lead. We rounded the corner and there he was. He went for her before I had time to draw breath, let alone take any kind of preventative action, so although I still relive it from time to time, I know absolutely that it wasn't my fault. As for the rest of the questions, Joy had to be walked on lead only for six weeks following the attack, to allow for healing. During this time she showed a marked increase in anxiety around other dogs which was hardly surprising. However, I made sure that her first off lead experience with other dogs was on the Moor,
where there's plenty of space, and that the first dogs she met were Fiona's little gang, who she knows well and feels safe with. This was a really good positive experience for her and seemed to help to pave the way forward.
I do feel that her confidence has for the most part returned, although she is still understandably anxious if an unknown dog runs directly at her without stopping and she will react to this by barking and if she's on lead, lunging. The only time this ever really happens is when we're walking on the towpath and someone is running with a dog on lead. An off lead dog running with a person still tends to observe the usual dog etiquette of slowing down, sometimes lying down and checking Joy out before continuing to run, whereas a dog on lead doesn't have the opportunity to do this, which is what upsets and frightens Joy. Under these circumstances I have taken to standing still and holding up a hand in a 'Stop' position to the running person, then thanking him/her for stopping (surprisingly most do!) and explaining briefly my reason for doing this. I found it a bit daunting at first but it gets easier every time and most of the time people are understanding about it. Most importantly of all, Joy is fine with this, so it's worth the occasional person thinking I'm a mad dog woman. Otherwise, she seems by now to be pretty much the same as she was before the attack, a very sweet natured and gentle little dog who is playful and friendly but just naturally cautious. Walking with Fiona and her happy little gang yesterday I was reflecting on the attack and the subsequent year and asking for her thoughts. She said 'If I had just met you and Joy today, I would think the same as when I first met you, which was that she was a lovely little dog, just quite sensible and naturally cautious. I think she's done really, really well.'
So that'll do nicely for the time being I think. It's wonderful how the healing process works, both physically and mentally, although that doesn't mean that there's no more room for improvement. Off to bed now, thanks again to all of you for your support during that very upsetting time and Goodnight from GGJ and me xxxxxxx
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
