#69. Confession: My Dog Bit Me in the Face, & I didn’t See it coming.

C

I have hinted that something tragic had happened with my previous dog Sydney. I felt it was time to share her story. I need to start with some background about her first. A friend of the head of the rescue I was with had a brother in law who raised hunting dogs & he was taking some pups in to his Veterinarian in Nov 2014. His Vet said to him I have a Wirehaired German Shorthaired Pointer that needs a home. He knew that Jonathan had placed hunting breed dogs before. So he went back & saw the dog & said “no the breed you have a Wire-haired Pointing Griffon” & what’s the situation. Sydney (not her name then) had been brought in my her owner to be euthanized & the Vet asked why, she was almost 3 & healthy. He said she went after him, the Vet & staff were shocked (plus there wasn’t a visible mark on him), because she was a very submissive/scared dog, they had seen her since she was a pup. They pushed him a little & he admitted to kicking her, pulling her off things & more. They convinced him to surrender her. Jonathan took her home & she was so scared & even soiled a chair when a male stranger came to the house. A few weeks later I was asked by the rescue president if I knew anyone who would want to foster her. I said I would, I had always been good with fearful dogs & wanted to help her. I was not expecting to adopt her. Dec 1st 2014 she was brought to my home & she wouldn’t hardly even look at me. She was scared of so many things & no question in my mind she was abused & needed time & patience.

For my birthday in Feb I officially adopted her & we began a journey together of building trust & confidence in the outside world. It took me 3 months to get her to walk to the end of my driveway (4 cars long). I took her to A Sound Beginnings Classes, basic & 2nd level obedience classes, then nose work classes, tricks & fun classes, classes to desensitize her to many things including strollers, & umbrellas. All things taught in a positive manner to build confidence & to help her to flourish & not be so frightened. She was smart & learned quickly & was food & praise motivated. She eventually was able to go places with me like camping & some stores. She had a hard time around certain men & was protective of me, we were so bonded & I would be told by even strangers how devoted she was to me. She was not always good around strange dogs, but through counter conditioning & desensitization she learned to look at me & sit when she would see a strange dog coming. I didn’t let her interact with strange dogs.

She most likely had never been away from her home much or exposed to many things as a pup as dogs should be to help prevent fears. ( I blogged about this #52) Of course there was the admitted abuse, which probably happened quite a bit over the first 3 yrs of her life which added to her fear. She definitely had a flight not a fight mentality, but would act protective when she felt a possible threat to me, human or dog.

We had a great bond & we learned a lot from each other. I introduced her to the sport of parkour, not officially because men would be an events & that was too risky. I don’t know who the abuser was but I could probably guess what he looked like by her response to certain men. We did Parkour on walks & at any opportunity we could. She would jump up on rocks/boulders & sit, walk on playground equipment, walk brick wall tops, street curbs & enjoyed learning new things. I introduced her to swimming & she enjoyed it & would stick her head in a mud puddle if it was the only water she could find. She would even swim in Nov when it is cold here, but being a hunting dog with a double coat she didn’t mind.

Dec of 2020 I lost my senior dog Ace who was pictured in a previous photo with Sydney & me. Then Feb 8th 2021 I was ready for bed, Sydney went out & did her business & like I always did I sat on one of the 2 steps from landing to my kitchen & dried off her paws. I was so taken by surprise, no warning, she attacked & bit me in the face. I didn’t realize she must have come at me twice because by reflex I put my hand up in front of my face & had small wounds there. I believe she lashed out twice then looked at me like nothing had happened & lets go to bed now. Blood was flowing but I had no idea yet how bad I was injured. I got up & went to the bathroom, I believe Sydney followed me, not in a threatening way. She seriously was not acting like anything happened. I believe I shut & locked the gate to the hallway & went to the bathroom to access the injuries. I wear a night guard & it was in my mouth & there was so much blood coming from my mouth & under my left eye. I could tell, not sure exactly how, but through the blood, one of my teeth was not in the right place. I work in the dental field, so I immediately called my boss, I was crying so hard he could barely understand me. He asked me if I needed to go to ER first & I said you have to put my tooth back in place first. I knew from my many years of experience that teeth need to be put back before things start to tighten up or heal. He told me he would meet me at the office, 15-20 mins for me & 25-30 for him. I honestly don’t recall some of the details, but I crated Sydney & called my rescue friend Sara for moral support while I drove (phone is hands free) to the office. It was late so she knew something was wrong, so she told her husband she needed to answer my call. She really helped me as I drove one handed with tissue & paper towels on my face to help stop the bleeding.

I arrived a work & got things turned on & ready. I knew x-rays were needed & I wanted photos just in case needed in the future (won’t share those, they aren’t pretty). My boss of quite a few years, was a rock, he says I was a rock & after the initial call he never heard me cry or complain of pain. He took xrays & then looked at me & said I think I have to extract the tooth, this is my tooth just to the left of my very front tooth #10 for those who know teeth #’s. I am a woman of faith & I had been praying since the incident & I wasn’t ready to loose my tooth. The tooth was already out of the socket, Sydney had actually already extracted my tooth & it was laying sideways out of the socket. My boss took an instrument & got hold of the tooth & unexpectedly it sucked back into the socket where it had originally been. A miracle from the Lord if you ask me. My boss was shocked, he had never heard or seen that happen, at this point the tooth had probably been out of my mouth for an hour. He wired a few of my teeth together to help support the tooth that had been extracted by my dog & I drove to the ER for stitches. My boss offered, but I said I can drive myself, I figured I drove to work. A lot of the blood was from the tooth but not all of it. I drove to an ER 8-10 minutes from work & they stitched my lip, they did the best they could but turns out a small piece was gone. The injury to my cheek couldn’t be stitched, the skin was gone so it was cleaned & dressed & I was released about 3:20 AM. I had to have a root canal, follow up yearly to be sure my body doesn’t reject the tooth & I saw an ENT facial surgeon & a lady who does skin therapy. The scars are minimal now & I wear a lipstick that matches my lip color to fill I the missing piece.

Heading home the idea that I had to interact with Sydney was a little scary. I didn’t understand why this had taken place, what triggered it. I knew Animal Control was called & would be calling me, so much was going through my head. I let her out I think, but think I crated her again for the night, I know she didn’t sleep in my bed. Where I live after a dog bite the animal has to be seen by a Veterinarian within 48 hours. In the AM I called my Vet who knew Sydney very well & made an appointment for that evening. I also called Jonathan who had rescued Sydney & he felt so bad. I explained I had her for like 6 years & I loved her & vice versa. He told me about a Syndrome called “Rage” & he thought it sounded like that could be the issue. I knew I wanted to research it more and see if he was right. I will admit I was scared that she might go after me again & it dawned on me that a year before she had attacked my senior dog Ace for no reason. I was in the room & saw it happen & she hurt his neck & broke one of his teeth.

My Vet called me before I went to see her & she felt Sydney had what she calls a “behavioral seizure” & was most likely caused by a brain tumor. There was no way to know, but all the things we talked about pointed to this. There is no treatment & yes there was a risk it could happen again. She was so compassionate & we discussed options, but I knew I had to say goodbye. I could not risk her hurting someone else or me again. I knew it was not her fault & I really believe the abuse she endured during her first few years of life may have caused neurological damage in her brain & maybe leading to a tumor developing.

My sweet friend Sara didn’t hesitate to go with me to the Vet when I asked her. Money was tight so a couple I am close to gave me money to help cover all the expenses at the Vet. I believe in teaching a dog to be comfortable with a muzzle which was helpful during COVID when you couldn’t go into some Vets office with your pet. I muzzled Sydney & took her to the Vet the evening after the incident & balled my eyes out as I said goodbye. She seemed a little confused, but also seemed to understand, I can’t explain it. Wow this is harder to write & keep the tears back then I thought, it would be, the night she crossed the rainbow bridge was Feb 9th 2021. Tears are healing & I miss her & I know this incident was not her fault & she had a syndrome that was unknown till it was too late.

My next post will go into the rare syndrome of Rage in dogs. I hope you will come back & read my next post & others as well.

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