Yesterday, both our dogs (Lucky and Clover) were attacked by another bigger dog.
Clover was inches from death. The dog had her ear and face. And would not let go. It was some kind of shepherd pit bull mix. Powerful jaws. Laser focus. It was going in for the kill. And Clover was helpless.
Lindsey was whacking the attacking dog on the face. And I did the thing you're not supposed to do when in this situation. I put my hands in the attacking dog's mouth. Because, as far as I was concerned in the moment, there was no other option.
The attacker was inches away from clamping its jaws on her neck. And then it would have been game over for her. I am certain of that. I've unfortunately seen it happen before. So I got in there and was prying the dog's mouth open as hard as I possibly could.
Lindsey was whacking its clenched jaws. And the owner of the attacking dog was pulling on its neck, and wailing tears, "No! No! No! No! No!"
I pulled so hard that my fingers are still numb from the pressure. And with a combination of whacking and prying we got the jaws of death open for a fraction of a second. Just enough to free Clover and shuttle her bleeding head away.
But I paid the price with a painful bite. Right into my right middle finger. And Lucky was back at our front door whimpering and obviously injured too.
The whole thing was an insane whirlwind of confusion. Because Lindsey had just put the kids down for a nap. And we had someone show up at our door to take a look at our roof (which needs replacing).
The roofer was on the roof, and the dogs were barking. We didn't want to wake up the kids. So we opened the door to let him in the front lawn.
And then the first attack happened.
Lucky got it hard. But was quick enough to run away (not without having his face torn open.) Then Clover came in to defend. But got pinned down and was moments from death. That's when Lindsey and I jumped in. While the roofer stared in shock.
In the end, Neighbors started showing up, while the owner of the attacking dog was curled up on the ground, literally sobbing tears.
I was trying to round up the dogs, find out what the damage was. I didn't know how bad the dogs were hurt, or how bad Lindsey was hurt. And I knew my finger was swollen, blue and oozing blood. I didn't know if the kids had woken up yet from the commotion. And I knew we needed to get the info of the sobbing lady on the ground.
Somehow we rallied the troops, delegated. Our neighbors and Lindsey's brother volunteered to take care of the kids while we rushed off to the vet. (Absolutely awesome of them.)
And at the vet, we found out that Lucky actually got it the worst. His face was sliced right through at the lip and a bunch of nerves were exposed. It is likely he will have nerve damage that may effect his sense of smell and taste, and possibly the muscles in that side of the face.
Clover mostly got holes in her ears that needed to be patched up. But we were able to save her from impending doom.
And the vet looked at my finger and said, "Yea, you should go to urgent care. But hey, here's some Advil. You should take some."
Lindsey's hands were pretty red and bruised up, and had some scratches, but she got off pretty good all things considered.
I'm glad we were able to save Clover. And that everyone is relatively OK.
The dogs are drugged up and sitting on the couch right now. And I'm typing to you with my numb fingers. But man, that was a traumatic experience. One that we'll be recovering from for awhile.
This may sound weird, but I'm super glad both Lindsey and I hit the gym and lift weights on a regular basis, and have for years. Because I don't know if Clover would still be alive if we weren't able to brute force rip open that dogs jaws, even for just a split second.
I know it took every ounce of strength I had, and without Lindsey's help on top of it, I doubt we could have done it. And I'm certain Clover wouldn't have made it.
This event has really inspired me to finish my "Parent Power" program I'm creating right now. It's designed to help you be the strongest, healthiest, version of you. Even with the crazy difficulties and lack of time that comes with being a parent. Because parents need to be strong, healthy, and ready for the unexpected challenges that life throws at you. Even if it's being parents to your pets.
If you're interested, sign up to my email list for more details when they're available. (Link below.)
http://seanbissell.com/sign-up
But man, I'm just glad everyone is still alive and seeming to be healing up better than expected right now.
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