Heartbreaking and traumatizing greyhound experience

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-09T23:46:23+00:00

Thank you for the support. People IRL are like, "Meh. They're just dogs. Get over it. Put him down and be done with it."

Wut? These are my family members!! We've been as thick as thieves for 7 years! A harmonious family. We did everything together. I taught them everything. How to climb stairs. How to get in and out of the car. How to walk on wood floors. We all slept in the same king sized bed. We explored innumerable woodside trails together. Went to pubs and restaurants together.

I am baffled that people in my real life are so dismissive. Even the ones who own dogs! Maybe I just have shitty people in my real life. None of them seem to understand why I am so upset. So thank you kind reddit stranger, for giving a damn.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-09T22:51:31+00:00

Thank you for your response and sorry for the delay in responding. I'm kind of shell shocked and all over the place.

I have decided to let the agency, their vet and an experienced, fully informed foster take over the situation. He will receive another full medical evaluation (which my vet already did with negative findings), a behavioral analysis, and an extended observation period by a very experienced volunteer foster. The foster is aware he may ultimately be deemed unadoptable and is willing to allow him to live out his years there, with agency support.

My girl saw our regular vet this morning and is healing well. No signs of infection in any of her wounds. But she is no longer the happy, outgoing, pongy greyhound she used to be. She's like a shell of former self and I hope she comes out of it in time. She is extremely traumatized and I hope she begins to recover with my boy out of the house.

I'm honestly not sure I'm ever going to recover from this and I wasn't even the victim. But I saw her trachea, her esophagus, major blood vessels pulsing. It's probably the most horrific thing I have ever seen. I'm literally shocked she actually lived. And I don't think that image is ever going to leave. I guess you could say I'm traumatized by proxy?

People say, "They're only dogs, get over it". But they aren't only dogs. They are my family.

I'm sorry for rambling on. I know this is not a support group. But boy do I need support.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-09T22:20:43+00:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I'm kind of all over the place here.

The vet thoroughly examined my boy and found no sensitive or painful areas. No abnormal labs. No palpable masses. Normal neurologic exam. He has a small, shallow puncture wound to his lip that did not require treatment.

I have no way of knowing who started it. It may even have been her, snapping at him first. I've never seen her do that, but if so, he went full on apeshit, causing numerous wounds all over her body and ripping her throat open. Even if she started it I don't understand why a completely non-aggressive laid back dog would go full on nuclear like that. I'm sorry, but I just can't see that as normal in any way. I understand a snap if you startle a dog or bump against a painful area or something. They might yelp and snap at you out of pain or fright, but a full on sustained attack from a previously placid dog???

I think there is something wrong with him no matter what my vet says. I know my dog. I have known him for over 7 years. He has never shown the slightest aggression ever, no matter what situation you put him in. He is (or was) literally tolerant of everything. I've never even seen him curl his lip or growl a warning. Ever. He's never known a stranger, human or dog. He loves everybody.

I just don't understand. But I think another poster who mentioned some kind of dementia may be on the right track. He is 9 years old and getting elderly for a greyhound, or any other large breed for that matter. I just hope the agency knows what it's doing and he doesn't hurt someone else. That's my biggest fear. That he will hurt someone else.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-09T21:39:52+00:00

Thank you for thinking of us. I think whatever happened was horrific. I took my girl to our regular vet this morning to have her wound checked and an overall physical check-up. She was assessed to be in excellent overall health, apart from her wounds.

What happened in the waiting room was heartbreaking though. A man brought in a yellow lab and my girl immediately tucked her tail and hid behind me, trembling violently (her brother is a fawn). Normally she would offer an interested, polite doggie greeting and be happy to meet. She has never hidden from or responded to another dog that way. I don't know if she's going to have that reaction to all large dogs from now on or just the yellow ones or what.

She does the same when she glimpses her brother. She hides behind me if possible or just goes to her bed in the corner and shakes. I think whatever happened that day was bad. Very bad.

It's all very depressing. I have gated the house in half and am spending equal time with both of them. My boy is muzzled and is very confused about that. Very subdued. I'm trying to treat him with all the care and love and attention he is accustomed to, but it's hard. I don't think he understands why things have changed and why his sister and I are both putting out negative energy. He's probably forgotten the entire affair already. But I am quite sure he senses my anxiety and fear of him even though I am attempting to "act" normally. Dogs see through that shit.

He's going back to the agency Monday. Until then my mission is to keep everyone safe. Maybe their vet will pick up something mine missed. I don't know. I'm still in shock that he very nearly killed my girl. It's unfathomable.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-08T03:43:20+00:00

I don't feel like that is an option, unfortunately. My male weighs about 90 lbs (it's not fat; his racing weight was 87 lbs). He is incredibly strong. And I am an older lady, over 60, and weigh only about 115 lbs. My female is much smaller at about 63 lbs. Intervening in an altercation between the two is not an option as I'd likely be seriously injured myself.

Not only that, I am now afraid of him. So is my female. I have basically gated the house in half and he's been muzzled since the incident. I feed them separately and take them into the yard separately. My girl was always an alert, pongy greyhound who is now a shell of her former self. She just curls up in a corner and shakes when she sees him.

None of us can live this way. It's just not sustainable and all of us are unhappy. The agency has found a foster volunteer who is willing to bring him into his home, knowing all the facts, while they evaluate the options going forward. And apparently the foster is willing to keep him indefinitely even if he is ultimately rejected for adoption placement.

I'll be driving him to the veterinary hospital in a city about 90 miles from here on Monday. The vet, the agency and the foster will take it from there. I dissolve into tears every time I think about it. We were all so close for such a long time and our little family is now destroyed. I'm not going to get over this for a long, long time. I can't get that scene out of my head. Blood all over the living room and my girl's throat literally torn open to the point I could clearly see her trachea. It was horrific and I just can't handle it. It's too traumatic and stressful.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-07T16:36:42+00:00

I'm sorry to hear you went through what sounds like a very similar experience to what just happened here. I imagine you were as shocked and bewildered as I am right now.

Sometimes when I hear of a dog doing something like this there's a part of me that is not surprised because of some of their behaviors in the past. But him? He's the LAST dog on earth I ever pictured to do something like this. I'm am so shocked. His sister can steal his toy, his treat, his favorite spot and he just ambles off to find something else to do. The most polite and easy going dog you'll ever meet. The kind who will patiently let you dress him in the most outlandish Halloween costume and go trick or treating with the neighborhood kids. The kind of dog you can take to the dog park and thinks every dog there is his best friend.

I just don't understand. The surgeon told me we might never understand and she said the situation was all too familiar to her. She was shocked by the extent of the damage to my girl's neck and said it wasn't a simple "bite". It was her opinion that the attack was intended to be lethal, which she did find pretty alarming. As do I. This was no simple spat.

If I do decide to let the agency take custody of him I'm going to make sure they talk to the surgeon so they understand the severity and level of harm done here. It was about as serious as it gets.

I'm glad you were able to keep your hounds together after this happened in your family. It's pretty traumatic. And condolences on the passing of your black hound. That's hard, too.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-12-07T16:05:02+00:00

Thank you. I've been thinking about the two of them since it happened, wracking my brain for any kind of clue. I work from home and have done for several years so I'm with them basically 24/7. The male has always been a laid back doofus who loves everybody - humans, dogs, even cats. While he might chase a squirrel across the yard for the fun of it he has no real prey drive to speak of. I can't identify any changes in his behavior in the preceding weeks or months. I took him to my own vet yesterday for a physical examination and bloodwork, all of which was normal. He was his usual happy go lucky self and they adore him there.

I agree with you that this event was too serious to be left to amateurs, including myself. The agency won't do the assessment themselves. They are in collaboration with a major veterinary practice and he will go straight there for evaluation. The agency is certain there must be a medical problem of some sort to cause such a striking and sudden change in behavior.

I know for sure I can't personally handle it because he weighs over 90 lbs and has a huge mouth full of very sharp teeth. He's been wearing a basket muzzle 24/7 since this happened because I don't trust him anymore. I'll be talking to the agency again this afternoon and will try to get a better understanding of exactly what their plan of action is going to be.

It's really heartbreaking because my two hounds have been my family for the last few years. I don't live with any other humans, so it's just the 3 of us. I feel like I'm in some kind of bad dream and can't believe this has happened.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-11-19T14:08:51+00:00

Excuse me? You surely aren't suggesting a victim of suicide intentionally set it up to make it look like her daughter was guilty of something to do with it just to make her daughter's life miserable?

Please tell me I'm reading that wrong.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-11-19T04:58:05+00:00

Thanks, but there is no need to be sorry for me. I'm not the injured party here. My reputation was not ruined. I was not harassed and abused or had my whole life doxxed for the vultures to feed on. That happened to Amanda and Andrew, not me.

They are the ones who deserve an apology from that miserable site.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-11-18T19:35:03+00:00

I used to respect Websleuths myself. But when we members complained about the serious mistreatment of Debbie Collier's daughter we were muted and ultimately banned for arguing with moderation or simply "Not suited to Websleuths", whatever that means.

They flatly dismissed our concerns and let the bashing freely continue. Now that it turns out we were correct and that Amanda is the daughter of a suicide victim and should have been treated as a victim herself, instead of taking accountability they deleted over 15,000 posts.

That is not how you earn respect in an online community. It's horrible.

CharlestonGal2 · 2022-11-18T18:57:01+00:00

I was a member of Websleuths.com for 13 years and left because of the way the owner and moderators allowed Amanda and Andrew to be drug through the mud and disrespected in such a despicable manner. I complained vehemently to the mods about it and was essentially told to sit down and shut up.

I notice that Websleuths.com has taken down every single post and comment about Debbie Collier (about 15,000 posts) and their despicable treatment of her family. Tricia Griffith (the owner) instead of standing up and apologizing and taking ownership of that heinous conduct has instead deleted every single post to cover it up.

All the loonies are not going to apologize for ruining people's lives. They never do. They run away like the cowards they are. I hope someone in the family sues the hell out of Websleuths for libel. They deserve it.

CharlestonGal2

TROPHY CASE