Presidents' Day: One of the work holidays we get every year. I was just excited to be able to sleep in and catch up on some rest. No big plans for the day other than Physical Therapy. No sledding plans, as there still wasn't any snow, but we were coming out of a bitter cold spell (for VT). The temperatures were well below zero and the predictions were -30 degrees Fahrenheit with the wind. And the wind was blowing.
Doolin and Quin were in the kennel next to the house, basically under my bedroom window. Their fighting woke me up. It sounded somewhat serious, which is odd - these two, being brother and sister, normally get along. And if there is an issue, Quin is dominate over her brother and she normally doesn't take any smack from him. I listened for a bit and they stopped. I figured they were just arguing over dog house space.
Since I was awake, I decided to go down into the basement, toss a few more pieces of wood on the fire and head back to bed for a bit more sleep. (Not only had I not been getting much sleep, but I was coming down with a nasty cold and wouldn't be getting much sleep over the week. But I didn't know that yet.) Plus it was still dark out and I really don't like getting up when it's dark out unless I have to. I like winter, but I'm not a huge fan of how long the darkness stays. (I probably wouldn't do well in an Alaskan winter.)
I finished fixing the fire and crawled back in bed. Doolin and Quin starting fighting again. I thought, Okay, this is really weird for them. Time to get the winter gear on and go see what the issue is.
Back downstairs I go. Pull on the hat, winter boots, long winter coat and gloves. Flip on the outdoor lights and head out. I get to the kennel door and hear lots of growling and Doolin's mouth around the back of Quin's neck. Get the kennel door open and leave it wide open, thinking Maybe they'll stop fighting and go for a short run around the house. They didn't move towards the door or away from it. That's really weird.
I enter the kennel and reach the dogs. And then I see what's really going on and my stomach drops down to about my knees. Doolin's jaw is somehow caught in Quin's collar and Quin is struggling to breath. I tried getting Doolin unhitched from Quin's collar, but he was stuck so well I couldn't make any headway. So I run into the house; I don't even bother to close the kennel door.
Quin is suffocating! I don't want to bury a dog today.
Scissors, I need scissors. But I didn't find my long sheared scissor where they normally are. Serrated knife, I need a sharp serrated knife. Run into the kitchen, grab my sharpest serrated knife and run back outside. The dogs are right were I left them.
They must have know I was trying to help since they hadn't moved. And they didn't move when I put the knife under Quin's collar, sawed while applying pressure and the collar was off. Quin started breathing easier. I pulled the collar off of Doolin's tooth, where it was still stuck.
Both dogs got to come inside. Doolin had some minor cuts under his eye from their scrabble trying to get free. I washed the blood off his face. I kept running my hands over Quin's neck, but didn't find anything sore or broken or any cuts. Pretty soon the two started playing in the house.
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| The collar. |
Not an alarm I recommend. Yet it wasn't to be my only one.
Almost two weeks later I woke up to another fight. Gambit and Rohan were going at it.
I'm still confused as to what set that one off. They had been getting along real well. But the whole tooth I found after the fight lying on the ground may have had something to do with it. And their hearts didn't seem in it like a lot of their fights. By the time I got into the kennel (it had rained and then the temperatures dropped below freezing, so all the locks were frozen), the boys were pretty much done fighting.
Gambit had a cut on his muzzle that needed a few stitches and Rohan had some surface cuts. They've been fine in the house together since then, but I have been leaving Rohan in the 8x8 to the main kennel by himself. He seems more comfortable that way, but he is right next to Brother and two of the other dogs, depending on how I've got them rotated.
Now if the dogs will let me go back to just having the alarm wake me up!
