The Fight

Above and to the left is a photo of Scrappy's ear with a puncture wound that goes clean through as if it were a sloppy piercing. As you can see it is healing nicely and though it will probably scar, it's not something that will affect his quality of life. The photo on the left is the worst of the damage done by the Rottweiler, FattBoy during the fight that occurred on November 30th, 2010. It is a pretty obvious puncture wound that appears to be the work of a large canine tooth! It to is healing up. Those are the only real wounds that he has.

The photo above is of FattBoy's leg and the wounds on it from the fight. There are 3 good puncture wounds, one of which is all the way in to the muscle and tendons of the shoulder. What the photo doesn't show is the rip/gash and the swollen knot. It wasn't easy to get him to hold still for his photo shoot so at the time these were taken I couldn't get a clear shot of the wound on his ear, a 2 inch tear that runs the full length of the inside of his ear flap. His entire body is riddled with cuts, puncture wounds, and abrasions, hidden by his thick black fur. Over all he is healing up nice, and feeling pretty darn good.
It's not the wounds on either dog that I want to talk about here. When a dog has a violent fight with another dog his mind is also affected. It changes the way he thinks, his attitude, his demeanor, and it heightens the likeliness that it will happen again with even more ferocity.
The damages don't stop with the dogs, the people who witness, handle or are responsible for the fighting animal also suffer from the horror and violent nature of the act itself. That is if they are any kind of human!
You can believe that 2 large and tenacious male dogs ripping each others flesh, using all the power and all the muscle behind it, fully engaged to the death is not something a person will just walk away from unaffected!
Once fully engaged, they will not stop until they are so badly wounded that they can no longer fight. You must stop them. I can not honestly tell you that there is a safe way to get control but I will say that there are some options that should be made available long before any fight occurs.
One of which is a good old can of mace or pepper spray. In most cases a direct hit to the face of the dogs engaged will surely gain some quick release. You will need at least 2 people one to get a hold of each dog. Upon spraying the dogs work quickly because the shock affect of the spray may only give you a few seconds of release, in which you need to get a firm hold and as much space between the 2 dogs as possible.
Remember that pain is the least of concern to a Bully. His pain tolerance is much higher than the average pet dog and he will be running on pure adrenaline. The pepper spray won't deter him for long.

About The Dogs

For those who don't know, the first picture of the Rottweiler is FattBoy, one of the 2 dogs that belong to our neighbors sons. They have been just as much our dogs as they are their dogs and they have been here since they were tiny pups. They are only a few months younger than Rebel, who will be 7 years old this February. They are not nice dogs to any one or any thing they do not know. They are, in my opinion, completely insane. Yet, to Rick and I and the people they know they are some of the sweetest, most loyal and loving creatures. Because they have spent their entire lives on 10 foot chains, wallering around in they're own waste, and mud, often tangled so they couldn't reach the poor excuses for dog houses that they have, they have become products of their environment, mean as hell and tougher than the devil himself!
I will use this post in a few ways; to tell the story of a nasty fight, and how these situations can be avoided, and to share the lessons that can be learned from the dogs in your life as I have learned them from mine.
      First of all, I am a dog lover. I love all dogs big and small, mean or sweet. But my focus has and always will be on the "Bully-Breeds". Pit Bulls, AM Staff's, mastiffs, bulldogs, etc. Why? Because I share much in common with them, and I have a deep understanding of what makes them tick. Let me say this while we are here, I do not condone any kind of violent activity such as fighting, or using these dogs for attack or protection. It is dangerous to encourage or to draw out aggressive behaviors in a creature that is basically a huge muscle that has flesh ripping teeth and a high tolerance to pain! It makes no sense at all to bring home a tiny pup then raise it to kill and die bringing grief, loss and huge legal trouble that not only marks you and your family but the entire breed of bully dogs and the people who are responsible for them.
While I do not support any kind of BSL breed specific legislation, I do believe that these dogs should only belong to the people who know the breed, understand the complexities of the breed and are capable of proper care, training and handling. I do not believe that we should all be backyard breeders either, do to the countless genetic issues that cause health problems as well as mentally unbalanced dogs. Not to mention the statistic numbers coming from the dog rescues, animal shelters and vet clinics indicating that we have more unwanted dogs that have to be put down than are conceivable to any dog lovers mind! Did you know that 1 in 600 pit bull dogs are adopted, the remaining 599 are killed? Can you see my point?
It breaks my heart to know that every day they die needlessly just because they were born.
OK back to Scrappy and FattBoy.
Scrappy is the dog in the other photo. He is my little sister's dog who is temporarily staying with us. He is Boxer and Stafford shire terrier. He weighs about 60 lbs, and is healthy as can be. He is such a good dog with people, obedient, sweet and charming. Every body he meets loves him! To look at him is a moment of awe as he is just a beautiful dog. But inside of that big grinning head of his is a prey drive that would put him in the ranks of a lion! These dogs are very, very smart. That is an understatement! They are born with trouble shooting and problem solving, and they don't share that with you. They are emotionally intelligent and they are survivors. With all that comes devotion and loyalty and when they love you they commit. They have a higher than normal desire to please their people and that has no limits.
When you own a dog, you need to keep in mind that our dogs are an extension of us. The pit bull intensifies this as he is connected to your emotions, your habits and your heart.
Scrappy is every bit of that. I don't have to know what kind of relationship he had with my sister, I can see it in her dogs eyes every time I look at him. Even though he hasn't seen her for nearly3 months, he has not forgotten her. He looks for her in everything and every body. He favors me over any one because I am the closest thing he has to her. I am honored to have his respect in that way. It will be sad and empty when he goes home to her, but in the same way I will be happiest of any one to have them together again.
TO BE CONTINUED.........(after I walk the dogs tee heee!)

Welcome Scrappy

Well, here we are day 2 with new resident pup Scrappy. He is settled down and content. Though he is a bit confused and misses his people, he has been more than cooperative and very well behaved. He has never been in a crate before but because he trusts Deana and she asked him to, he loaded right in to it. And there he road silently all the way home.
     The first thing we noticed was that he is a powerful and collected dog and he proved it by snapping the monster cable we installed to accommodate big dogs! He's not a big dog!
So Rick went back to the drawing board on the cable. However, the kennel was finished so we just put him in it and put a light in the tent that he is in, a warm blanket, a bowl of food and a bucket of fresh water and he was more than OK, he went in to the dog box, curled in his blanket and slept. We hooked up a camera with a monitor full time so we can always keep an eye on him. Today Rick will complete the dog-condo and the cable should be up and stronger today to. Mean while I am going to just jump in to the training so that he is distracted and doesn't become stressed about all of the new strange surroundings. Deana did a great job with him and that's going to make a huge difference on what I can do for him. He is a very smart dog. When she got him as a pup, I could see the potential in him even then. He is a very quick learner and he is dying to please.