I get a call from my dad that my parents are at our house, with their dogs. Typically not an issue. However, this time I didn't know they were coming and espeically not with their dogs. They are in my house with our foster dog Abe and thier 3 dogs, without us there to help manage anything. Tell me that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Go on tell me. No, you can't--that's cuz that's a terrible idea and any sane person should know better. These dogs have not had a proper introduction and the brief contact they had with a fence between them resulted in thier intact lab male going out of his mind trying to get at Abe. Meanwhile, Abe is not being aggressive at all.
SO my dad tells me the dogs are getting along, expect for that moment my Mom tried to get Abe and Behr (the lab) to go into the bathroom together. Then they got into a fight and my dad had to separate them. First of all, why on earth would you try to get two male dogs in a tiny space together who just met. Second, why do you need to dogs to go into the bathroom with you? Stupid.
Then alls well and the dogs are getting along again. My dad leaves to pick up yet another dog from the vet. Leaving my Mom alone with the dogs. First off, my mom is no dog whisperer, however she'll honk her own horn and say she is in total control of her dogs (not!). She's the type to keep telling a dog to sit and when he doesn't comply (becuase you never formally taught the command in the first place, but, hey, training is overrated anyway right?) the obvious solution to keep saying the command only louder--and getting mad adds to the effectiveness of the command giving.
Anyways, apparently my dad gets home just before I do. I walk in and my Dad is visibly mad, and my mom is all dramatic and freaked out. Great. I ask what happened. My dad tells me that while he was gone there was a big 'ol fight and when he entered the house he notices all the furniture in the dinning room is knocked over. My mom pipes in, she couldn't pull them apart and had a hard time stopping it (no shit). Behr was going out the back door, Abe wanted to go out too and then you can imagine what happened--two stranger dogs trying to get out of a narrow doorway (bathroom incident all over again, tight quarters).
I look around the room, there is blood on the carpet, blood on our couches. Abe is in his crate somehow and he is dripping blood onto his bed. Berh is on gracie's dog bed (my dad took her with him to the vet and she's still in the jeep) and there's blood on that too. My mom is saying, "I was yelling at them and they didn't stop". WTF? Really? I say (sternly) "you can't yell at them when they are in a fight, they aren't listening to you, you have to pull them apart by the collar". She got bit in the process becuase who knows HOW she tried to get them apart. No need to amputate, she's fine.
My dad and I check out the dogs. We're both clueless because we weren't there when this mess happened.
Berh first since my spot check on Abe doesn't look horrible. Behr's got bite marks on his lip, swollen under his jaw. Turn him over and he has a big 'ol cut in his chest, and he's got another on his side. He's going to the vet.
Now Abe:
The damage? Abe is limping off his right foot, had both ears torn up (one bite almost went clear through the ear to the other side), bloody lip.Berh has maybe 20-30 lbs on Abe. Chocolate lab. Abe wins. Its scary because we don't know what the consequences are going to be. All the rules change when a pit bull is involved, regardless of what the situation is. In defense or not, doesn't matter unfortunately. Decades of misuse of the breed, they are essentailly damned. Everyone hates pits (okay, a majority of people dislike pits).
In the end, my parents are paying $278 dollars to patch up Behr and they are banned from bringing thier entire pack over to our house, I told them (well, mostly directed toward my mom) "you can't bring all your dogs here, you cannot control them. You can bring 1 or 2, but you can't bring them all. You don't know how to control your dogs". Don't care if she's pissed or offended.
After Mike and I clean up the blood, and put was needs to be into the washer, I have to call the agency and let them know what happened, Abe isn't ours afterall.
Thankfully, Becky is understanding and actually isn't surprised because apparently intact male dogs are responsible for most dog fights and attacks. The magic age of these reported findings? 2 years old. Testosterone levels are out of control. Behr is 2 1/2. Becky's ending comment to me is, "get him (Behr) fixed!". Yay, we know. We've told my parents several times they need to get Behr fixed. They aren't breeders, there is no reason at all why they shouldn't get him spayed. Again, irresponsible. Don't buy the whole 2 y.o. intact male dog thing? Look it up.
