Animal Health 08/13/20 - Dogs Biting Other Dogs

Dr. Karen Emerson of the Emerson Animal Hospital in West Point introduces us to a beagle who had been seriously mauled by a Great Dane.

Dr. Emerson stresses the importance of supervising when pets get together, especially larger dogs that don't know their own strength.

Dr. karen emerson: good morning, sunrisers.

I'm dr. karen emerson.

And today i have these very, very special guests.

This is , and this is and this cute little beagle they're holding is tater tot.

Well, a few weeks ago, we were all pretty scared for tater tot.

It was memorial day weekend.

Everybody was over.

The family was over.

Of course, a lot of people brought their dogs.

Well, they also brought a great dane dog.

Tater tot and the great dane played together all day with no problems. then toward the end of the day, they got in a spat and the great dane actually bit tater tot into the chest cavity.

Katie called me.

This is actually my technician's dog, we got up here.

I didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was.

We got on the table.

And the great dane had actually punctured into tater tot's rib cage and broken a rib.

And actually the chest wall was and he was losing oxygen rapidly.

Dr. karen emerson: so of course we got tater tot in surgery, went in, closed the chest wall, kept him on oxygen for a while.

And this is actually a few weeks later from memorial day, you could see he had a very large incision.

And what i'm really trying to show here is how dangerous it can be when a large dog bites a smaller dog.

And this is one of those situations where you're like, "why did they get in a fight?

You know, they played together all day.

They didn't have any issues.

But you know, we didn't know a lot about this other dog.

It was a new dog."

So what i really want to get across is if you're going to have family over or company and they're bringing a very large dog, just make sure those animals are watched throughout the day.

Dr. karen emerson: i actually personally have a great pyrenees.

He's 120 pounds.

And sometimes he gets a little rough, even with the dog he's lived with forever.

Large dogs do not understand their strength and they do not understand how much bigger they are.

Great danes can get up to 200 pounds and little tater tot here is in the 20 pound range.

So it was so important that she bring him here.

We actually do offer emergency services for our clients till eight o'clock at night.

So that's something good we do offer to help you out if your dogs do get into a fight.

Dr. karen emerson: and always be prepared, if you're going to have family over, get the dog situation figured out.

Ask your family members, "has your dog ever attacked another dog?

How long have you had this dog?"

Just ask a few questions.

And i know some family members you think, "i don't want to offend them."

You're not offending, you're saving lives.

So if you have any questions, are you going to have a large gathering or you're about to purchase a large dog and want to talk about how to adjust that large dog into your lifestyle, just give us a call and make that appointment.

And i promise your pets will thank you.

I hope you have a great rest of your week.

Announcer: wcbi animal health with dr. emerson was brought to you by emerson animal hospital in west point.