What I Learned from Animals
June 6, 2008 by Lillie
My husband’s Dobermans used to curl up at his feet and put their heads in his lap. The dogs and I weren’t best buddies, but we got along until the morning I was running late for work.
This was back in the days when I showed up at my interior landscape company by the time the doors opened, before I learned to trust my managers.
This particular morning I was already behind schedule when I remembered I had to stop for gas. As I was backing out of the driveway, my husband, who had worked all night on a law enforcement job, pulled in beside me. I asked him to call the office to tell them I would be late. Instead, he said, “You call them, and I’ll get gas for you.”
After he pulled away, I realized the house was locked and my key was in my purse … on the front seat of the car. I went into the backyard to get the spare key out of its hiding place. Dobie, the male dog, who been chained to keep him away from the female in heat, had broken the chain and was engaged in … er … amorous activities … with the female. Without thinking, I walked up to him and gave him a light kick to get his attention.
Fortunately, it took him a few seconds to … disconnect, giving me time to turn around. He came after me, knocked me down, and started biting me on the top of my head. I tried to fight him off, but my resistance led only to bites on my arms.
After what seemed like forever, I thought I would surely die. I prayed, Lord, it looks like I’m about to meet You. I don’t want to be fighting when I enter Heaven. Forgive my sins and take me into Your Kingdom. Then I went limp, at peace and ready to die.
As soon as I went limp, Dobie let me go. He stood and watched while I got up and walked around to the front of the house. When Jack returned, he saw me standing in the carport, covered in blood. He wanted to take me to the hospital emergency room, but I preferred my family physician, who has a minor emergency clinic. We got there before opening, but one of the staff saw us through the door and took me to the emergency room to lie down.
Dr B arrived in a few minutes and gave me pain medication, but he delayed stitching the wounds until he talked to a plastic surgeon. He said my skull was exposed in an area about the size of a quarter, and he thought I need skin grafts. The plastic surgeon told him, “Stitch her up as best you can. We’ll do the grafts later because dog bites almost always lead to infection. Let’s get the infection cleared up before we graft.”
The pain was so intense that I couldn’t sit up. Dr B and his nurses used pillows to raise my head enough for him to reach the wounds. He took more than 50 stitches in my head and several in my arms. As he sewed, he said, “You’re lucky he got your head. If he’d got your carotid artery, you’d be dead now.”
Dr B prescribed antibiotics and told me to see him every day to clean the wounds and check for infection. Although I spent several days in bed with excruciating pain, the wounds healed with no infection and no grafts.
Twenty years later, the only physical evidence of the attack are two scars on my right arm – one in the shape of a five-pointed star and the other in the shape of a crescent moon. But, as usual, the lessons remain.
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Plan ahead – if I’d filled my car with gas on the way home the day before, I wouldn’t have been in the back yard that morning.
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Never come between true love … or true lust … in the animal world.
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An aggressive animal may seem tame, even loving, but it hasn’t lost its aggressive instincts.
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Head wounds bleed A LOT.
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Dog bites cause excruciating pain, the worst I’ve ever experienced.
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It’s difficult to feel comfortable around dogs after being attacked.
But, most importantly, I learned sometimes the best thing to do is to let go. I believe that if I had kept fighting, Dobie would have continued to attack until I was dead. Our natural instinct is to fight back – and many times, we need to fight back. But if you seem to be fighting a losing battle, maybe it’s time to go limp, let your enemy think you’re dead … and live to tell the story.
This post is my entry in What I Learned from Animals at Middle Zone Musings and High Callings Blogs.
Photo: “© Emmanuelle Bonzami | Dreamstime.com”
[tags]What I Learned From Animals, dog bites[/tags]
Wow. I’m glad you’re still with us. That was horrifying.
We had a doberman when I was little. One time my brother told me to bite it’s ear. I was 4 years old at the time, so I did it and the dog bit my head in response. I was alright though; no major injury.
Noah,
You were fortunate that you weren’t seriously hurt. At 4 years of age, that would have been devastating.
I had dog that told me goodbye in his final days, then he laid himself down and died. RIP
Julie,
Seems like the best way to lose your friend, though it’s always sad.
dam Lillie! good lesson from an horifying experience. good to here that you all good now though. but thaking into account your life now and how you pull through you must be much better…
stay well
greg,
Thank you. I am very thankful that this situation turned out so well.
That was a very tragic experience. Dobie must have felt threatened when you gave him a slight kick while he was mating and had to reassure his mate that he is the more dominant one.
I am happy to hear that you have completely recovered from your horrifying experience. I also learned a valuable lesson from reading your post – Letting Go doesn’t always means you are giving up the fight.
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Sandra,
Of course, if I had stopped to think I would have realized how stupid it was to kick Dobie (even if it just a little tap). But all’s well that ends well.
Lillie, I feel sad and sorry for that terrible incident happened twenty years back. Its horrifying and disgusting. Whatever people say I never like to grow pets at home. They has to be kept in zoo. I too had a very similar experience in my childhood but not as disgusting as yours. A policeman was training his Labrador on the street and I was walking near to it. He didn’t tie the dog to its chain and set it free. It started to chase me and I was running to save myself. It looked very ferocious and being a kid I was totally scared. Finally the dog chased me down and when it came closer i stabbed it on its head and in return it bit my calf muscles so badly. Actually the mistake is of that policeman, but from then onwards i hate dogs no matter how cute they look or how friendly they are.
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Girish,
Your experience must have terribly frightening to a child. I understand not being comfortable around dogs since then—I always get a little nervous around larger dogs.
Personally, I think miniature huskies or smaller breeds of dogs are particularly safer, but big dogs are bound to cause trouble at one point or another. I do not like big dogs.
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randall,
I’m not comfortable around big dogs, now. I prefer cats to dogs in general.
I’m sorry for that terrifying experience…. I’m happy to hear that you made a great recovery. My children and I love animals and I have to remind them not to get in a dog’s face. Even if you wouldn’t think they would bite, you just never know what can happen.
Melissa,
You’re wise to teach your children to be safe around animals.
Animals are really creepy and I am sorry to say that I hate them and the habit of growing pets itself. Humans should allow animals to live their own lifestyle. No matter how much ever care you take animals have to stray along as a part of their live. by arresting them you are going against its will and that is the reason most of the time they get ferocious and we face problem. I am sorry if I had offended any of the animal lovers especially the dogs.
Michael,
I am not opposed to raising animals for pets, but I do think people need to be aware of animals’ nature and what animals make good pets.
It is a nice article. What caught my eye is this: “sometimes the best thing to do is to let go”. You are absolutely right. If you keep on struggling to something, the more you struggle, the more pain. Those lessons you’ve learned are already stored in my head the moment my eyes read the words. Thank you.
Thank you, Ann. You picked out what may be the most valuable lesson I learned from this: letting go is sometimes the best choice.
Ouf…it’s hard to imagine “letting go” when a dog is bitting you like this. Courageous you were.
One thing I personally learned with dogs is that they are very sensible to the way WE feel….anxious vs calm.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Max,
I wouldn’t say I was courageous. I just didn’t want to enter Heaven fighting!
How scary that must have been for you. It is very unfortunate, but I’m glad to hear that you were okay. It is an amazing and touching story. I find that dogs are very intuitive to our feelings and it was either that or God’s intervention that kept you alive. I agree with you that sometimes the best thing we can do is to just let go and give it to him. It is when we hold on too tightly that we run into problems. Thank you for sharing this.
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Matthew,
You’re so right that when we try to hold on rather than giving it to God, we can get into trouble.
Wow, scary story. My husband and I always go walking and we’ve often said we should carry a big stick or something just in case…
.-= Mary@Sault Ste Marie Real Estate´s last blog ..Mortgages for Sault Ste Marie Real Estate =-.
Mary,
This was our own dog in our own backyard, but you never know what you will encounter when you are walking.
That must have been a very traumatic experience for you. My sister was also bitten by a dog, and she got a scar on her lips where she was bitten. we would always tease her that she tried to kissed that dog. But that incident really traumatized her.
Charisse,
Being attacked like that makes you wary of any dogs for a very long time. I still avoid large dogs.
I’m very sorry to hear about your experience. This very minute, as we speak, 8 or 9 people are bitten by a dog in the USA alone (4.5 million annually). Many breeds are banned (Dobermans are not) and I think more breeds should be added to the list. Although I must agree that many dogs are nice and cute, you can never trust an animal. If you’re looking for companionship and tenderness, make friends with people or fall in love…
Lance,
It was my fault that I was attacked. I should have known better, but children are attacked for doing things they have no way of knowing they shouldn’t do.
Wow what an ordeal you went through!I can’t imagine how painful that must have been. But what an inspiration that you have learnt so much from the incident and can teach others. Well done
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Matthew,
It was absolutely the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced. One good thing: now when I think I’m in pain, I remember that experience and feel much better.
One of my friends’ child had a similar but worse accident. My friends’ son apparently went near their doberman pet while eating its breakfast. The dog made a huge bite on the child’s neck. Unfortunately, the child never recovered due to losing a lot of blood. My friend, in anger, shot his five year old pet in the head. It was a really horrible experience for the whole family.
Claire,
What a tragedy! My family goes out to that family.
I agree with you on that.Maybe it really happened for a purpose. Maybe it happened to you for you to come up with a realization that would make you a better person and also to share what you’ve learned to other people.
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celine,
I hope what I share is helpful to others. This experience certainly made a dramatic impression on my life.
I have several dogs and i learnt from their behavior. They mostly attack when they feel threatened. A few things I avoid to do now:
– when 2 dogs are fighting you can’t do much to separate them. I tried once and one of them bit me.
– if a dog sleeps, call him before touching it, otherwise it might bite
– when a dog is eating, don’t touch him or bother him.
– don’t touch a dog you don’t know when he’s wounded
Dogs feel when you are scared, anxious…:It must have been scary for you but you were right to go limp.. that’s what my pekinese did when a rottweiler attacked him: he faked being dead.
Cori,
Thanks for the tips on when not to disturb dogs.
What a frightening experience. My partner was attacked by a dog whne he was just two and sitting in thE back of his dads car, the dog jumped in and grabbed him round the throat.He was lucky to survive and still bears the scars on his face and neck (he is now 38). But the worse thing is he has been very frightened of all dogs ever since.
louise,
I understand the fear of dogs. I am not as afraid as I used to be, but I don’t like to be around big dogs. If your partner was attacked as a child, that would have been more terrifying that what I went through because everything is more intense for a child.
at least now were aware of dogs..plus be careful next time;)
scarlet,
Believe me, I’m careful around dogs now.
Wow, I have to admit I’ve never been a dog fan, but damn, scary stuff. I admire your ability to draw some positives even from such a negative experience.
Chris,
It’s pretty easy to see positives when I realize I survived and I could be dead.
Dogs are known to be aggressive and always prepared to attack anytime especially dobermans. I am glad that you survived and learned your lesson. I totally agree to your post and in this line “the best thing to do is to let go” even in real life or situation we must learn how to let go things when we are losing.
Ron,
Yes, letting go is a valuable lesson and a good strategy in a variety of circumstances.
OMG that is so scary! You’re so lucky to have survived this.
I personally love dogs but I have heard so many terrible stories like yours or worse. I think some breeds are more aggresive than others but I guess they can all get aggressive under some circumstances.
You are so right in saying that “sometimes the best thing to do is to let go” … I think it’s within us to fight back but I agree that sometimes you need to let go – this is relevant in a lot of incidents that we go through in our lives, like a loved one hurting you, not getting that job promotion you’ve always wanted, etc.
In your case, the hurt was mostly physical but when it’s emotional, in my opinion you heal much faster if you just let go and move on.
Megan,
I agree that letting go of emotional hurts is the first step to healing. Resentment, anger, unforgiveness … all these cause long-term problems.
I was bitten by a dog once. I was on my way to the grocery shop in Amsterdam when this ferocious pittbull came blasting through the door. It was barking and running towards me and it scared the living daylight out of me. It jumped in the air and i was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t move. Like Micheal Jordan it jumped in the air 5 times its on size and bit me in the upper part of my arm. fortunately it didn’t bite through my jacket, so it barely grazed my arm. Well actually it didn’t hit me at all, it just wanted to play. But it was a scary day..
Alexandra,
I’m glad you weren’t hurt.
Marie,
Thanks for visiting to promote the dog book.
I remember when I was a kid, around 10 years old while still living in Russia, there was this stray dog outside I kept playing with. It seemed to be all nice to me but then one day, I was playing with it as usual and all of a sudden it started biting the heck out of my arm like I was a piece of meat. Thank god I was wearing a very thick jacket so its bites didn’t do much damage and I didn’t have to go to the hospital, but that taught me a good lesson about dogs.
Walter,
I’m sure that was a terrifying experience. My experience was traumatic, and it must be even more so for a child.
When I was a little boy my first pet was a dog, a puppy, we spent the better part of 2 years together. Then one summer when we were spending the summer vacation on our family farm, my pet dog – and best friend was run over by a bus. I’m 37 now, and I’ll never forget the day my pet dog died in my arms… I was 10 at the time.
I don’t know what is a worst feeling, being attacked by your pet dog or having your pet dog die in your arms?
I guess it’s 2 different things. One is physical trauma and the other is an emotional trauma – but they both hurt a lot though.
I’m glad you’ve recovered from your injuries… As, I’ve moved on from my pain as well, but just like you the scars are still there.
Joe,
That would have been very traumatic at that age. I’ve never been that attached to an animal, but I just got an e-mail from a client that she is devastated because she lost her beloved dog.
That was a traumatizing experience. But I think that’s where humans differ from the rest of the animal kingdom — “HUMANS THINK, ANIMALS REACT”. & you get what you give to the animals. I mean, love begets love, hurt begets hurt. That’s my own lesson from the animals.
hengm,
I understand what you’re saying that “love begets love and hurt begets hurt.” But I had never done anything to hurt our dog. I did “hurt” him at that one moment because I interfered with a biological function, but it’s not like I was cruel to him or routinely hurt him. I agree that if someone treats an animal cruelly all the time, they can expect the animal to react accordingly. But you can show love regularly and then make one mistake as I did, and the animal will still resort to nature and attack.
What a terrible and frightening story. What happened to Dobie afterward?
I know that Dobermans by nature can be aggressive, and interrupting their love games if you’re not sure you have complete control over the animal is not the best idea. But now after I’ve read your post I feel uncomfortable even about my dogs. They are German Sheppards and our 3-year-old nephew plays with them all the time, he physically torments them and tries their patience really hard. I was surprised that they behave with child much better than with adults, and display a lot of patience. But beast is beast, I bet you never suspected that your own animal can do such things to you, so the whole story is frightening.
Carla,
Dobie was put down and sent for rabies testing. I don’t want to scare you about your own family dogs; I just know I’m a lot more cautious now.
Yes, I understand, caution will never hurt =)
Carla,
Caution is good–paralyzing fear is not.
I agree with you. I love my dogs so much that when something is threatening them like a bunch of stray dogs I’m ready to defend them on my own by throwing stones and sticks at those dogs (stray dogs usually tend to runaway when you try to throw stones at them, even little ones – they have already developed a habit). Though my dogs are big and strong, I don’t want them to be bitten as this brings a lot of problems, so there’s a situation when you have dogs to defend you but you would rather defend them because you care so much =)
Though the younger dog is a not as smart as my older one, and can slightly bite you when playing with sticks (she’s just stupid and confuses hand with stick, bites very lightly), I see that they are very devoted and harmless. The different thing is of course when there is a child around, and while you can entrust yourself to a dog, I would not do that with child.
If someone else’s dog ran away and you see it wants to attack you, you better not run away. A good thing is to pretend you know her and want to play with her, tell her good words, play nice. Surely they are familiar with such behavior from their owners and tend to lose aggression. With stray dogs it’s different as they are not used to contact with owners, but sometimes calm and soft words help as well. Dog feels your mood and has the capacity to change theirs according to yours. If you ran into a huge pack of dogs and they are agressive, don’t run away and try to stand with your back to the wall, so that no dog can get you from behind. Try to figure out the leader of the pack (he usually stands a bit aside and watches the development) and throw stone at him. Once the leader runs away, the whole pack runs away too.
Carla,
You’ve made some well-thought-out suggestions. Based on my experienced, I’m inclined to passive (going limp) reaction rather than an active (throwing rocks) reaction.
I found it to be interesting that you gained a positive lesson from getting mauled and mangled by a dog. I assume that many folks out there are continuously engaging in battles via daily life that are not worth fighting for and/or causes more harm than good, and simply need to just let it go. But typically, fighting for something is usually a good thing. Well, at least you made it through to tell this useful story that ended up being a good learning lesson in life.
Kevin,
I’m definitely a fighter and talk frequently about perseverance. That’s why it was such an important lesson for me: there are some situations where fighting and perseverance aren’t the right response. It’s not virtuous to keep fighting when we’re fighting for the wrong thing.
Your story has many morals but two inspired me a lot
1- Never disturb anyone while he/she is loving.
2- Always keep away from the reach of Dogs.
Moris,
Those are excellent morals you took from my experience.
[...] Here is what Lillie said for those of you who might have missed it. [...] But when I was attacked by a Doberman, I fought back and just got more viciously attacked. In intense pain and bleeding profusely, I [...]
I love the moral of this story, it reminds me of when we push against something it can push against us – like standing opposite of someone and pushing – in that pushing we support each other in staying in the same place. When lets go – or stands up the other then either falls or stand up and the fight is over.
Else,
That’s an interesting observation about pushing.
Ohh my god!!I had chills as I was reading your post. Very well written I fealt as if I was there! Im hoping your doing much better and that’s a thing of the past, huh? Dogs sometimes can be very unpredictable! A kick, a swap, a move over shove can upset even the most docile of dogs. I just hope your good! Leave a comment with us I’d love to hear from you!
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Cherie,
I’m fine–had a painful recovery but not too long.
You’re right, Lillie. Fighting back worsens situations.
Peter,
There are times when fighting back is appropriate, but certainly there are many times when it isn’t.
“But, most importantly, I learned sometimes the best thing to do is to let go. I believe that if I had kept fighting, Dobie would have continued to attack until I was dead.”
That is such a true statement. Sometimes we fight so hard against things… sometimes against things that God has planned for us. Many times I’ve looked back in my life and seen the turmoil I’ve caused for myself because I didn’t let go, and let God lead the way. Thanks for sharing, Lillie.
Jason,
We do tend to create much of the turmoil in our lives, don’t we?
I had a similar experience with my cousins german shepherds…it was the most frightening experience of my life, I also resisted and fought back, that was a mistake. Shepherds hold on to their bite and don’t let go. Glad you recovered.
Jeb,
I’m glad you survived and hope you don’t have any serious ill effects. The dog bites were the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced, and the experience was terrifying, so I really feel for you.
I love dogs and my experience says that you need to be calm and composed when you are interacting with one for the first time. You must not give a knee-jerk reaction if you find a dog to be very inquisitive. It will attack you only if it feels threatened. I do not have one with me because my mom will ensure that we both are out the house the very next day I have one with me. I can’t blame her because she is too scary. But, I just love spending time with them. I have also noticed that dogs seem to understand people even if they are interacting for the fist time. At one instance I remember, it took me about an hour to communicate with a rather ‘unfriendly’ and ‘ferocious’ fox-terrier but after having spent about an hour, I found it to be very friendly. The owner was taken aback and was willing to hand over the reins to me. I had to resist the offer else we both would have been wandering in the streets as of now for a shelter.
abhilasham,
I learned the hard way not to give a knee-jerk reaction!
when I was a child and just start to learn how to walk , I get out of our tent and go directly to the strongest camel we had , it was sitting down and I caught the upper of his legs , it stands up and start to move in circles to drop me down and then kill me , my father saw that and run to take me down , I think both are lucky
thank you
mario,
How frightening! I’m so glad your father saved you from a very dangerous situation.
i am soo sorry for this. its very scary. i’m glad you are with us. my kid want’s us to get him a puppy, but after going thru this, i have second thoughts.
Rick,
I would never want to be responsible for depriving a child of a puppy. Millions of people (young and old) enjoy their canine pets with no problems. I just recommend you be careful in the breed you choose. Starting with a puppy is probably easier than bringing a full-grown dog into the home, as the puppy will grow up with the child. Get advice from someone knowledgeable about dogs to help choose a gentle breed that loves kids.
I do not have a pet dog but I have surely heard that they are very faithful. I wonder how they did this to you. I think you are right about not disturbing them during their pleasurable times. However, why did you disturb him in the first place? Another lesson could be to know about a particular breed’s behavior patterns before getting them home!
Taras,
Perhaps you can read the post again to find the answers to your questions. Thank you for visiting.
WOW! And this was your own dog! I sure wouldn’t have it after that. Praise God the damage wasn’t worse. Yes, sometimes we just have to let go and quit fighting. Everything is a spiritual battle in some manner, and sometimes we just have to stop and say, “Ok, God, you got this one because I can’t.” I was surrounded by a pack of wild dogs on a beach in Italy when I was stationed there with my dad in the navy in the early 80s. They were barking and nipping at me and closing in. Fortunately the adult daughter of the people we were visiting was nearby and rescued me. Even though I got nothing more than a few small rips in my clothes, it was a scary odeal none-the-less.
Carl@extreme makeover heart edition recently posted..I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is Mine
Carl,
And we should probably turn things over to God a lot faster than most of us are prone to do!
I can imagine that your experience was very scary. A pack of wild dogs would be terrifying.
Wow! this story is remarkable, you made great points in regards to timing.. being in the wrong place at the wrong time and also about what if?.. The chain of events that make us all go around and come around, what if I had put gas the night before? or simply what if I paid more attention and remember to grab my keys? etc.
This story reminded me of my ENC1101 class, we read a story called “Hyena” and it definitely made an impression on me. I just recently got a Miniature Pinscher..She is the sweetest, black and tan. However, I will keep your story in mind. Let’s hope for the best.
Vanessa,
Thank you for the kind words about my post. Enjoy your new dog—I’m sure you’ll have a good relationship.
It was terrifying to read, I can’t even imagine the pain that you must have endured. Though I must say, you were lucky, dogs are very less likely to bite in head.
Alok,
I was fortunate that I had time to turn around so he got me in the back of the head rather than in my neck.
I am blessed – and amazed – at the wonderful support my readers give me.
You don’t know how you would respond in any situation until/unless you’re actually confronted with it. Although I hope you never have an occasion to remember to go limp, I hope you will remember it if you ever need it.
I just didn’t want to enter Heaven fighting. I believe that was the Holy Spirit leading me to do what I needed to do to save my life.
Well, I certainly didn’t trust that Doberman – even a little bit, much less to the fullest.
But going limp instead of fighting back probably saved my life.
Yes, we can learn from the worst situations. And I like to share what I’ve learned so others can get the lesson without going through the bad experience!
In this case, the dog that attacked me was my own. It would have been different if my dog got loose and bit someone else. That’s why we had him put to sleep—we didn’t want to take a chance on that happening.