A dogfight at the ranch

Well now that the holidays are behind us and it is a New Year, one of my resolutions is to post more on the blog. My personal life became very busy last year and I just didn't have the time to post like I wanted. So here is the first post for 2012.

You remember the rescue dog Chloe that we adopted last February? 

Chloe

She has been growing like a weed. She has gained 19 lbs since she has been here. She now weighs 98 lbs. She is very loveable with my husband and myself.  Her job here at the ranch is to guard our goats and  the house.  She takes her job seriously and loves it.  The only problem we have is that she does not like our other dogs. Of all the dogs that we have, she only likes Pan. (I don't blame her as he is a good looking boy). 

Pan

Well just the other day, Meadow our other female Maremma was here at the house.

Meadow

We were outside doing the chores and  Meadow and Pan came to visit and walk to the barnyard with us. Meadow was just sitting and paying no attention to Chloe. All of sudden I look over just as Chloe leaps onto Meadow and grabs her in the back of the neck. Chloe had broken her lead that we had her on.  She decided to defend her territory from Meadow.  Chloe didn't care about Pan, just Meadow.  We were fortunate to be outside and to be able to break them up by pulling on their tails. It causes them to release the grip that they have on each other.  But dog fights are scary as they make a lot of noise and there was some yelping going on. I do not like dog fights. After separating them and putting them on leashes, we examined each dog. Meadow had a little blood from her ear, but not a puncture wound.  We did not find anything on Chloe.  I treated Meadow's ear for a few days, cleaning it and putting some antibiotic cream on it. It healed up nicely.  Tuesday morning when we went outside to do the chores, we noticed that Chloe had some blood stains on her side. We examined her and found a large abscess under her fur that she had been licking. So a call to the vet and an appointment was made. When we took her in to the vet, we placed a muzzle on her, as she does not like our vet or any other male strangers in the vet's office.  Our vet examined her and yes he did find a very small puncture wound above the abscess.  Dogs mouths are full of bacteria so a puncture wound should always be treated with antibiotics.The other problem was Chloe licking it and not allowing it to heal.  Our vet suggested that we place a t-shirt on her to keep her from licking. He gave us antibiotics for Chloe and we wash the abscess daily and place some other medicated cream on it. Then we put her t-shirt on and duck tape it to her back. This way she can't lick the abscess.  It is working and starting to heal.  Below is a picture of Chloe wearing her shirt. I think she looks cute in the color Fushia. She even smiled for the camera.

Chloe dressed in pink.