Pack of 13 dogs Attack English Sheepdog at Doggy Daycare

2/25/09: It's over a year ago now that Jasper was attacked. He is now doing really well and has healed from the hundreds of wounds he experienced from punctures and tears from bites.

It took about 6 months for his wounds to close & fur to grow back. He had injuries to internal organs too - (internal ear & saliva glands). It took lots of TLC and time with antibiotics to heal - those took almost a year to truly heal (from swelling, to return to function & get rid of infection).

He has not changed personality-wise, is still playful and fun-loving and very gentle with other dogs. He doesn't seem to remember the incident, thank god. And a few months ago he had some vaccinations re-done. He gained 20 lbs. since his ER visit! He is 92 lbs. now. He made up for those 5 days straight he didn't eat a thing. He should be on a diet now.

I still think his story should be told, mainly for those thinking about taking their dog to a daycare and for those running a daycare, or looking into running one.

I have nothing against daycares, but one really needs to look hard to find an experienced daycare, with references, and rules regarding what breeds and temperaments they take, and whether or not they have enough employees to handle squabbles with dogs - there will always be playground fights just like with kids.

The backup plan for what a daycare does in case of a squabble is the MOST IMPORTANT thing to look into and ask about. I have heard from quite a few doggie daycare owners since this happened. They say they use water hoses, high numbers of employees, other distractive measures and separating the dogs into smaller groups appropriate to size and temperament to deal with this issue.

Bottom-line, they need to NOT have such a large ego as to say it's ok to keep 13 dogs in one pack with no precautionary measures for a fight, and think that it's OK to put one young guy in to supervise. Or not, I still have no idea if the dogs were even being watched in that split second that the fight broke out - I would assume this type of damage - with 13 dogs - or even with 5 dogs on 1 - could happen in 5 minutes.

So supervision can be the difference between life and death.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• doggy
• daycare
• puppy
• old
• english
• sheepdog
• jasper
• mauling
• dog
• wounds
• pitbull
• fight
• flesh
• torn
• bite
• bulldog
• terrier
• american
• bully