ILSnwdog Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidcrystalcompass Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent.You may have to get rid of the Sheltie. A buddy of mine had a similar problem. It never went away. And it always happend when the family was gone. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I had two dogs, one a Doberman Husky mix, the other a Cairn Terrier. There was always a struggle for supremacy between them, coming from the Cairn. They got into it once while I was home,and able to break it up. The Cairn had her head pinned to the floor, and teeth holes on the back of her neck. When I got the other dog off her, she went after the other dog, and took a chunk out of that dog's leg. They were months getting back to normal. A couple of years later, they went at it again, when no one was home. We're talking blood on the walls, tufts of hair missing. But whatever happened that second time, they worked it out, and it never happened again. I hope Payton is ok, and definitely keep an eye on them. Hopefully whatever caused this is solved between the two of them. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent.You may have to get rid of the Sheltie. A buddy of mine had a similar problem. It never went away. And it always happend when the family was gone. If that's going to be the case, and it very well might be, ILS should board the dogs the next time his family goes away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umoveme Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Animals are just that. Many time "attacks" make no sense to us. There is so much to a dog's behavior that we generally don't understand. Sven maybe warned Payton in the past with body language that you never picked up on and this one time, Payton didn't "submit" to Sven's warning. This body language is all very subtle. Over the past 3 years I have researched dog behavior because I recently purchased a high drive working dog ( like a GSD). He is friendly to other people and is aloof to other dogs, but I could never in a 1000 years predict what he would do with another person or animal when I wasn't there. You didn't do anything wrong. Sven was just being a dominant GSD. I'm sorry for your other pup. :( I would be devastated as well. I'm always tempted to get my boy a companion, but you never know how animals will get along when you are not home. Most of the time dogs can live in harmony and be best friends, but your situation is not uncommon 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Animals are just that. Many time "attacks" make no sense to us. There is so much to a dog's behavior that we generally don't understand. Sven maybe warned Payton in the past with body language that you never picked up on and this one time, Payton didn't "submit" to Sven's warning. This body language is all very subtle. Over the past 3 years I have researched dog behavior because I recently purchased a high drive working dog ( like a GSD). He is friendly to other people and is aloof to other dogs, but I could never in a 1000 years predict what he would do with another person or animal when I wasn't there. You didn't do anything wrong. Sven was just being a dominant GSD. I'm sorry for your other pup. :( I would be devastated as well. I'm always tempted to get my boy a companion, but you never know how animals will get along when you are not home. Most of the time dogs can live in harmony and be best friends, but your situation is not uncommonI was afraid of that. Payton has Napoleon complex. He wants to be an alpha male, but when you tip the scales at 16 lbs...not going to happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) Sorry to hear this, I was in the middle of trying to break up a dog fight a few years back. It was one of the most intense situations I have ever been involved with. Got my a** bit more than a few times. Had to go to the emergency room. It still haunts me at times. Very nasty when you feel hopeless. Edited January 22, 2016 by troutman 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) Do you suppose a dog trainer is out of the question, so perhaps Sven can be taught to get along better with the smaller dog? Edited January 22, 2016 by fraroc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Sorry to hear about Payton and I hope he pulls through. IMO all dogs have the mentality of a four year old child. Most of the time they can be fine, but if their button gets pushed they can easily overreact. That sounds like what happened in your case. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Cub Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) Sorry to hear about this, Jim :( I hope everything works out okay with Payton. My family's a cat family, and we've never owned dogs, but our cats have gotten into it before and it's never fun to deal with when your pet gets hurt. Sending some good vibes your way, man. I hope despite all of this you and your family were still able to have a fun vacation. Edited January 22, 2016 by BowlCity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) You don't think the babysitter brought some other dog in the house which attacked the Sheltie?? And then blamed it on your other dog? That's terrible anyway mate, get well soon (Sean) Payton! Edited January 22, 2016 by treeduck 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sullysue Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I'm sorry to hear about this, ILS. It's so hard when you love all of your pets and then something like this happens. I hope Payton recovers and the situation gets better. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 sorry bro :( 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I'm so sorry to hear this. Unfortunately I've heard of multiple similar attacks by Shepherds from people I know which is one reason I would never own one. They're not quite like other dogs (being closer mentally to the wolf I have heard), and even though may be trustworthy around their own humans may suddenly just "lose it" and bite. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Eagle, people have said the same about pits, and I love pitbulls and I think they're the best dogs in the world. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Eagle, people have said the same about pits, and I love pitbulls and I think they're the best dogs in the world. Yes I know, but I chose not to bring Pits into the conversation. There are certainly a lot of nice ones out there but there are also a lot of untrustworthy ones as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Sorry to hear about this, Jim :( I hope everything works out okay with Payton. My family's a cat family, and we've never owned dogs, but our cats have gotten into it before and it's never fun to deal with when your pet gets hurt. Sending some good vibes your way, man. I hope despite all of this you and your family were still able to have a fun vacation.Vacation was awesome! Just tough coming home to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 Do you suppose a dog trainer is out of the question, so perhaps Sven can be taught to get along better with the smaller dog?Sven has been through obedience training already. And he's never had a issue before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 When I got home from work, Payton greeted me at the door this evening. That was encouraging. :) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent.Sorry to hear this...this is horrible. How are your kids taking it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILSnwdog Posted January 23, 2016 Author Share Posted January 23, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent.Sorry to hear this...this is horrible. How are your kids taking it?Kids don't seemed too phased. Wife on the other hand... She isn't crying now that he's home. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Animals are just that. Many time "attacks" make no sense to us. There is so much to a dog's behavior that we generally don't understand. Sven maybe warned Payton in the past with body language that you never picked up on and this one time, Payton didn't "submit" to Sven's warning. This body language is all very subtle. Over the past 3 years I have researched dog behavior because I recently purchased a high drive working dog ( like a GSD). He is friendly to other people and is aloof to other dogs, but I could never in a 1000 years predict what he would do with another person or animal when I wasn't there. You didn't do anything wrong. Sven was just being a dominant GSD. I'm sorry for your other pup. :( I would be devastated as well. I'm always tempted to get my boy a companion, but you never know how animals will get along when you are not home. Most of the time dogs can live in harmony and be best friends, but your situation is not uncommonI was afraid of that. Payton has Napoleon complex. He wants to be an alpha male, but when you tip the scales at 16 lbs...not going to happen. I'm sorry this happened. It sounds like this^^^ was probably the crux of the issue; Payton acted up and Sven just defended himself. But, as Umoveme mentioned, dog behaviour is often beyond the scope of what we observe. Next time you go out of town can you board Payton so he doesn't act up? Boarding him, and not Sven, will help to *not* reinforce that the house is Payton's territory. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldRUSHfan Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 Eagle, people have said the same about pits, and I love pitbulls and I think they're the best dogs in the world. I have a friend that had a Stafordshire Terrier (Pit bull) and that dog was the sweetest dog I ever met. Someone stole him, he was so non agressive.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombstone Mountain Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 The family and I were on vacation in Florida. Had a wonderful time. While we were gone, our house sitter (next door neightbor's 23 year old daughter) called us and told us that our German Shepard attacked our 16 lbs. Sheltie (Well call the Sheltie Payton from here on out...because that is his name). They wanted to take him to the emergency vet. Not wanting to have our neighbors pay a big vet bill for us, we asked them just to keep an eye on the Payton. That was Sunday night. We get home Tuesday afternoon, and we see that something isn't right with poor Payton. I take him to the vet. Well, Sven, the German Shepard, really f***ed him up...bad. Our vet has me run him to the emergency pet hospital. They do surgery on Payton to clean out his wounds, and put a drain in. He stays for two days. His whole left side of his torso is bruised, and full of stitches. We got him home yesterday afternoon, but he is a mess, and will still need at least two surgeries, and we are already $2,800 in at this point. What makes this so much worse is that Sven the Shepard is the sweetest dog. The kids climb on him and he does nothing but lick them. He plays with the cats and all he does is poke them with his nose and paws at them. When new people come over, he greets them wagging his tail. When we lay on the couch, he jumps up and goes to sleep next to us. It just doesn't make sense. He is the sweetest dog. My wife doesn't care for Shepards (The only reason we have Sven is because she knows how bad I've wanted one), but even she is head over heals in love with Sven because of how sweet he is. This is so out of character for him. This is such a kick to the crotch for me for three reasons. First, one of our puppies is really hurt, and could still succumb to his injuries. Second, we are out $2,800 so far, and that number will increase as we continue to treat him, and more tissue in the bite area die. And lastly, this is almost the most disturbing thing...this attack is so out of character for Sven. I can't make sense out of it. I have never, ever seen anything close to this kind of behavior from him. Could it happen with the kids? Could he do it to the other dog again. I'm just confused and befuddled! :( Thanks for letting me vent.I hate it for you man. Sucks 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted January 23, 2016 Share Posted January 23, 2016 I hope you're not thinking about putting down Sven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now