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]
Lillie, what a terrifying incident! I can’t believe what an eventful life you have had – or how calmly you’ve been able to write about it here.
Thanks for sharing it though – fantastic story, and great lessons learned.
Joanna
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Why I’m Proud To Be A Blogging Dork
Joanna,
My life has certainly not been boring.
My doctor says I never have “normal” problems – I always have to come up with out of the ordinary experiences. Then he says, “But you’re in pretty good shape for the shape you’re in.” I’m blessed that I’ve survived everything that’s been thrown at me and have become stronger as a result of it.
Eep!! That’s just an awful story, though thankfully a happy ending.
When I was a kid, I’d visit my cousin’s horse farm for weekends during the summer and she would always warn me. “If you’re leaving the house, make sure Tuscon (her German Shepherd) comes out with you.” She explained that when he was alone in the house, he took his guard-dogging VERY seriously and might go into attack mode when I came back inside. As long as he came out of the house and re-entered WITH me, there was never a problem–and he really was a nice dog–but it’s always important to remember that, no matter how trained we think they are, they’re still animals.
(This coming from a woman who has based her entire online knitting persona on the fact that she’s Chappy’s Mom–I absolutely adore my dog and think of him as a member of the family, but, um, he still licks himself in places that aren’t particularly polite…)
–Debs last blog post..Once Upon a Time…
Deb,
More people have experiences like you being Chappy’s Mom than I had. And most breeds of dogs used as pets aren’t naturally agressive.
I look forward to reading a lot of heart-warming stories about what people have learned from animals – like my client’s article: Who’s Training Who?.
But, as you say, we have to remember they are still animals.
Wow, that sounds like it must have been a very frightening experience. I have been lucky around dogs and with the exception of a few nips have never been really bit.
One time at Christmas though we were all sitting around at my uncle’s house and out of no-where, his hound dog jumped up and attacked my cousin. She ended up needing several operations and still has a few scars.
You should definitely always be wary around animals that are not yours. I can not imagine my dog attacking me or anyone, but I am still very careful when she is around young children.
I’m sorry to hear about your cousin. I was blessed to recover so well with such little treatment. You’re wise to watch your own dog around children – it’s not likely that anything will happen but it’s good to be prepared.
well, im happy for u to have recovered very well. i think the animals that is your dogs is to be thanked. sometimes animals can be very helpful and sometimes very lucky. i love animals mostly cats and doggies!:)
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Thank you for your good wishes on my recovery. I’m not quite sure what you mean by the dogs needing to be thanked, though.
Lillie,
You truly never fail to amaze me with the experiences you’ve endured in your life. Most amazing is how wonderfully you have overcome them. I really admire you for that, and your eloquent writing style.
Thank you for sharing another facet of your life!
Have a blessed weekend!
Lisa
Lisas last blog post..Tuesday’s Tips and Tidbits for Better Writing
Thank you, Lisa. I think everyone has their own difficulties to endure, some far worse than anything I’ve experienced. It’s so true that it’s not what happens to you in life that matters; it’s how you respond to what happens.
Oh, Lillie — that must have been terribly frightening. I’m glad you came through it all right, and I don’t blame you a bit for being nervous around dogs you don’t know.
Thank you so much for your kind words and well-wishes on my second Blogiversary.
Thomma Lyns last blog post..Second Blogiversary
Thomma Lynn,
Yes,I was blessed to survive and recover fully.
I’m not afraid of dogs any more but I am wary, especially of large dogs and breeds that tend toward aggressiveness.
Wow, Lillie! Great lesson from a truly frightening experience! Glad you’re OK now. Although, considering your eventful life and how you’ve survived just fine, maybe I should ask: how’s the dog? Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Er, sorry. :-
Nevertheless – thanks for joining us again this month… and so early, too!
Robert Hruzeks last blog post..What Are You Saying, Without Saying a Word?
Robert,
I knew you’d be shocked that I didn’t wait until 11:59 Sunday night to get my entry in. Don’t count on such an early entry next time … though I’ll try not to be the last one, maybe 11:57 PM.
The dog was put down and the head sent to some department in Austin to be examined for rabies. I think my husband and the vet took care of this while I was still getting stitches. They could have isolated him for some period of time under strict observation, but they felt that once he had shown such aggression, there would be a constant threat of it happening again.
i learned too from my cat a lot. his patience. but also how to show disappoiting-is a real interesting thing, we should all learn more from animals.-
julios last blog post..Autokauf mit Herz und Verstand
Julio,
I trust your lessons from your cat were less traumatic to learn than the lessons I learned my dogs.
What happened to you is very shocking but the fact that you recovered well is good. I pray for you to have a good and healthy life and to never experience such accidents again. Cheers!
Thank you for the good wishes and prayers. I appreciate them.
hello lilie.
i was just reading all the comments. All these people are behind you. You have got all these well wishers. All their blessings are with you..
take care
Thats why I have a chihuahua. Even at it’s most vicious it’s still only a foot long. In all seriousness I was gripped by your incident. I can’t say that I would have the peace of mind to go limp the way that you did. I don’t even think that I’ll remember this if something like this would happen to me, though I pray I would.
CurlyNicole
Lillie, what a horrifying story. The way you tell it it came up on my by surprise. It must take courage for you to think about the incident, let alone write about it, so thank you for giving us this strong dose of reality.
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Yes very very true indeed! The moral of this incident is that stay calm and cool instead of losing your temper and control over your mind and body as this will ensure animals that you trust them to the fullest!!!
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This was a gripping story. I’m so glad you recovered from that attack and that you were able to share the lessons you learned with us.
Ruth Chatliens last blog post.."A Match Made in Heaven" (or the rest of the story)
WOW – Dog attacks can be sooooo frightening. The stay cool part is a must! I personally like to avoid anything that looks like it is going to attack.
I simply can’t wait to send you to meet another dog…. named MAX – who is an airedale terrier …. large and often misunderstood as a dog who attacks. BUT this dog is in a story that will refresh your heart. Don’t miss this one!
yikes, just came across your post and sorry you had such a bad dog experience. The fact the dog was in heat should have been a red flag to be a bit more cautious. I hope you are okay today. I wonder are you afraid of dogs now?
Jak – Dobermanss last blog post..Blue Doberman
Oh my stars….what an amazing story. And what a great lesson it taught you and you are now able to pass along.
Doberman Pinschers can have unstable temperaments. Dogs carry disease, which makes their owners kissing them all the more repugnant and foolish.
If you’ve got a new baby in the house, make sure your dog understands that it is in an inferior position to the child, or there may be tragic consequences.
Wow, well first i would like to say that i’m glad you weren’t permanently damaged from that attack. Also, it makes me think twice about what type of dog breed to select. I am actually thinking about getting a dog next month and i would go insane if something like that happened to a member of my family. Most likely i’m going to get a Border Collie or a Arabian Husky.
Hmm, that’s something to chew one. First time stopping by, glad I came.
such a nice story it is
Your learnings will teach a lot to your readers and thanks for sharing this.
Dog attacks are really dangerous. The law should be reinforced against the owner of those dogs who attack the public.
great story .really liked it. glad i have no dog at home
Although I responded to all comments when they were written, my threaded replies were lost when I moved my blog.
you once told you kick him a bit.. instinct of an animals is to fight back when they where hurt.. and his doing something not really mean for kicking
geek05´s last blog post..Australian Open 2009
geek05 (if you typed YourName@Keyword, I could address you as a real person, and you would still get your keyword link),
I admitted I made a mistake by kicking the dog. However, the “kick” was very light—I was just trying to get his attention.
I responded to all comments when they were left. However, when I moved my blog, threaded comments were lost.
That is such an awful experience. I think we trust dogs too much and they are very capable of doing great harm. Children are especially in danger of getting bitten by a dog and that seemingly loyal friendly dog can bite a child on the face when least expected.
kathy,
Children tend to play rough without realizing it, which can lead to aggression from a dog that thinks it’s responding in kind. Children must be taught to be careful around animals, and dogs that show any aggression should be removed immediately.
It’s very true that the bond between owner and dog can be very strong — to the point where they don’t like a new spouse or other family members. It’s that loyalty that keeps them around, though, even if they are only a few steps from lashing out at someone.
I’ve found that it matters alot on the breed; I’ll never trust one of the more aggressive breeds around children, but the calmer ones (like goldens or labs) very rarely attack.
Steve,
I assure you we’ll never have another Doberman around here.
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.
randall´s last blog ..Training Your Siberian Husky to Fetch
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.
Matthew´s last blog ..Housebreaking A Dog – Helpful Advice updated Wed Apr 7 2010 10:09 pm CDT
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
Matthew´s last blog ..How To Increase Your Profits (Without Any Extra Customers)
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.
celine@harley davidson handlebars´s last blog ..Handlebars- prepping internal wiring Part 1
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.
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