Pup attacked :(

[Karbea]

My gorgeous little man (8 month old cocker) was attacked by 4 dogs in our local field today.
He wasn't bleeding anywhere even though he was really bitten. I took him straight to the vet who checked him all over, his heart rate and temp was fine, she found a small graze, but said he was badly bruised as he was very uncomfortable when she touched him, she gave him a pain killer and a anti biotic.

This afternoon had been dreadful, he will hardly walk, he is just looking at the floor, won't eat treats, shaking really badly, I feel like a terrible mum, I promised him I would never allow anything to happen to him and I did.
He's currently a shadow of his usual self, I just want to cry.

What can I d to help him, how long does bruising pain last in dogs? When will he get his bounce back?
Will he always be traumatised by this?

Thank you :(

[milkybarsrus]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear this, your poor pup and poor you too! I don't have any advice as I'm new to this too. But I'm sure, lots of love and attention will help. And please don't beat yourself up over it, it wasn't your fault! Take care of yourselves, big hugs. X

[BMW6]

So sorry for your poor boy. I hope he recovers asap and isn;t traumatised.

I know how you feel

[MistressMouse]

horrific for you and doggie. wishing you both a speedy recovery from this awful incident. it's my worst nightmare when walking my girl (after witnessing a dog attack over the summer.)

[Karbea]

I've had to rush him to the emergency vet and they've kept him in, he was really sick and very very lethargic.
The vet says he has hyperthermia and is dehydrated and has soreness in the abdomen. She's putting him on a drip and taking bloods and giving him an ex ray.

I feel dreadful, we can't have children and I know he shouldn't be, but he is my baby :(

[mrslaughan]

That's just terrible - I think what you need to be thinking about if his future socialisation, so that he doesn't end up scared of other dogs.....do you have friends with well behaved, well socialized dogs he can meet up with so he realizes he doesn't need to be scared of other dogs.
Can you report the other dogs to the dog warden?

[Bowlersarm]

Oh OP poor you and him, it's so distressing.

All I would advise is have him neutered ASAP. Socialise him like crazy with nice dogs that you know.

Hope he's ok. Were the other dogs with one person?

[Karbea]

No, they were with 3 other people.

Yes I know lots of nice dogs, he is so friendly I hope this doesn't scare him and change his lovely personality.

Tbh, right now I'm just hoping he pulls through :(

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

sending good wishes to you and your pup.

[Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme]

Oh my goodness I'm so sorry for you.

My boy is a cocker.

I really hope he pulls through and there's no lasting damage.

Of course he's your baby. I've got two dc's and I still refer to my boy as my first (adopted) child.

Keep us posted and have a big old hug from me.

[pigsDOfly]

Oh OP so sorry to hear this. I think we all have this fear when walking our dogs if they're young or small.

Please don't think you're somehow at fault. You haven't let him down and you're not a terrible mum.

For what it's worth, I've known quite a number of people whose dogs have been attached by other dogs and the dogs all seemed to have deal with the trauma and recovered surprisingly well. I hope you little boy does too.

Take care of yourself. And as Ilovemydog said. Do keep us posted.

[Karbea]

The vet phoned at 6 this morning and she said his temp was still rising and the X-ray had shown some fluid in his abdomen, so she was going to take him down to theatre. I asked what his chances were and she said good, I'm just praying, I've had a massive cry. I had a feeling he had internal damage, I wish I'd just forced the vet in the morning to X-ray.
Please pray for my little boy, and give all of yours massive hugs and an extra couple of sweeties today :/

[tillyo]

Aww poor little thing, hope his ok. This is my worst fear when I'm out with either of my 2. Was the dogs with their owners who attacked him? Can you report it? Hope your ok try not to get too upset I know it's easier said then done. I treat my 2 like babies aswell. Maybe go pet shop and but hum some of that really nice expensive food with the chicken and rice in it as that's what he'll need after an op. Keep us updated x

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Karbrea please don't beat yourself up with might have beens. Often it takes several hours for these kind of injuries to show themselves. The kind go injury that causes blood in the abdomen wouldn't have shown up on x-ray and probably wouldn't have been at a point that its could have been seen on ultrasound earlier.
I really hope you get some good news soon.

[fanoftheinvisibleman]

Will be thinking of you and him.

As everyone else has said it is your worst fear, and ever present for me as my 15 month old dog sometimes does the I'm not listening thing so if I happened to cock up and not lead him in time he could blunder in.

I hope everything goes well in surgery and he recovers soon.

[Bowlersarm]

Thinking of you Karbea. Poor pup.

[basildonbond]

Poor little thing - and poor you - hope you get some good news soon

[SallyBear]

Karbea, hope that it all went well. Sending you healing thoughts from both me and my puppy.

[Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme]

Hey Karbea how's it going?

[Fluffycloudland77]

Oh that's just our worst nightmare, someone/something hurts the cat.

I hope he pulls through. It must have been so scary for you.

[BinarySolo]

Hope you're pup is on the mend. Just to echo what everyone else has said, this really isn't your fault so please don't blame yourself. I know how awful you must be feeling as my dogs been attacked before and was kicked by a man when she was a pup because she dared to sniff his dogs. She's 9 now and the memory of that still makes me stabby.

Don't be in a rush to neuter him. The hormones that an unneutered dog produces can help confidence, so if he's not agressive or mounting everything in sight it's not necessarily going to help. Neutered males often get mounted by entire dogs which will not be helpful if his confidence is knocked.

Fingers crossed he's psychologically fine and his behaviour was different due to feeling poorly.

Thinking of you both with everything crossed for you.

[binger]

So sorry this has happened. I have a cocker too and the one good thing is they are sturdy strong little dogs. Keep us posted.

[roguepixie]

I hope everything has gone well and your boy is on the way to recovering?

Thinking of you all and have sent some messages skywards for his complete and swift recovery.

{{{{{hugs}}}}

[idirdog]

How is he? - what a horrendous thing to happen to you both. All fingers crossed for him

[pigsDOfly]

Thinking of you and your little pup Karbea and sending you both lots of positive wishes.

Hope you get some good news very soon.