Nature trails and parks are always a great way to exercise your dog, and they are
especially popular with pet owners on warm summer days. This is exactly where LuLu, a 10 year old chihuahua, and her owner decided to go one sunny day in April. They were walking along the trails at Rock Bridge State Park when LuLu’s owner heard shouting in the distance. Ahead she could see two bigger dogs without leashes running up to her, with no owner in sight. In the blink of an eye both dogs attacked LuLu from both ends. It happened in an instant, and instinctively LuLu’s owner reached down to save her. Unfortunately, the other owner was bicycling down the trail and did not stop to help. LuLu’s owner acted quickly and rushed her to our hospital.
When she arrived at our clinic, we knew we had to act quickly. LuLu had skin punctures and lacerations on her abdomen. Once Dr. Sappington started surgery, she noticed that LuLu also had some damage to her shoulder muscles. She was quickly patched up, but she had a long recovery ahead of her. We sent LuLu home with some antibiotics and pain medications, and her owner kept a close eye on her. Unfortunately, additional areas of damage cropped up shortly after going home (it sometimes takes a few days for the full extent of a traumatic injury to show itself). We found methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus in the wound, so we had to change her antibiotic. Because of these issues, we had to leave the wound open and do daily bandage changes. We did wet-to-dry bandages, which physically remove dead tissue and pus from the wound very effectively, however it is painful to remove so each bandage change required sedation. After nearly 2 weeks of treatments, we were finally able to close the skin wound for good. Since then, LuLu has made a fantastic recovery and has shown us just how tough she is!
Following leash laws is essential for the safety of people and dogs when out in public places. If you do come upon loose dogs it is a good idea to pick up your small dog before the loose dogs reach you to try to avoid a dangerous situation. If your dog winds up in a fight, here are some great pointers for ways to break it up while keeping yourself safe: https://www.vin.com/vetzinsight/default.aspx?pid=756&catId=5861&id=8454321
