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Our dog, the sheep killer...(long)
So yesterday we went to visit my ILs and they love animals so they have horses, sheep, etc. We brought our pups along because they love to run with their dog in the yard, which is fenced off from the pastures where the other animals are. Well, I made the mistake of thinking that I could handle one of our 60-lb dogs (the older one, who is a little over a year old) while 7 months pg. We parked really close to the gate to the yard and I was just going to lead her (on a leash) from the car to the yard to let her loose there to play with my ILs' dog since it wasn't that far. Well, being a husky, she pulls hard and I couldn't hold her down and the leash slipped out of my hand because I was focused on keeping my balance. Once she saw the sheep, it was over. No matter how much we yelled, she didn't even turn her head once--she couldn't even hear us because she was so into the sheep. She started chasing them around and MH was chasing after her all around the pastures (but she's way too fast to be caught) and we kept on calling her name but she still wouldn't respond.
I didn't know this but apparently sheep can't run like that for very long or they'll get a heart attack or a stroke. So one of the older ones ended up flipped over on its side, having a stroke, and couldn't get up. MH and FIL tried to flip it back up on its legs but it just buckled and went back over on its side again. MH just went back up to his parents' place today because it still couldn't get up. They're pretty sure its dying =( The vet is going to come take a look at it tomorrow.
I guess instinct kicked in for her and that was the end of it. We spent lots of money on her puppy training and we continually train her at home. When she gets off leash, she always comes back when we call her name. But as I've read and been told before, huskies can never be trusted off-leash because once they see a small animal, all the training its ever had goes out the door. Because we read lots of stories about how well-trained huskies still can't be trusted off-leash, we never let our dogs off the leash. But I dropped the leash. I've always been the type of person that wants to help do things/carry things and I just should've known that I can't do these things all the time anymore when I'm pg. I just feel so "wimpy" for not being able to help out, you know? I should've just let MH take her but he was busy trying to leash our
other pup so I thought I could help by leading her into the yard first
so he didn't have to worry about it. I ended up causing more trouble by
trying to help =(
Re: Our dog, the sheep killer...(long)
Aww hon I'm sorry - I know that must have been hard to watch. Especially because to us, our dogs are our babies, but really they all have these killer instincts. It's like when my sweet Indy killed a possum last month - it shocked me because even though of course I knew he was capable, it just seemed so wrong for my sweet pup to do something like that! At least in your case (and I know this isn't really comforting, but I suppose it's better than the alternative) your dog didn't try to tear the sheep to shreds.
And I can relate to still wanting to not be "wimpy" just because you're pregnant. I'm the same way, and it kills me to have to stand there and watch other people do things without helping out. (((hugs)))
P.S. As a side note, I didn't know that sheep had heart attacks if they run around like that! You learn something every day...
That sounds horrible to watch. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I don't think there is anything that anyone can do to override instinct.
Do you have any concerns about the dog's behavior when your baby gets to the crawling and grabbing stage?
Newlyweds since 2007
Oh my gosh - that's awful. I can't even imagine having to witness all of that.
I didn't know that about sheep either. So I wonder, when they're being herded that must be different because they are at a less frenetic pace? I'm with Lisa, the things you learn every day....
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
How traumatizing! For everyone involved!
Our sweet dog has a major thing against delivery men, and recently she jumped on the front door, which we didn't realize was ajar, and charged at the poor UPS guy. We were sooooo scared!!! But at the end of the day, they're still animals and certain situations trigger those instincts. So sorry you had to go through that.
Did Indy tear the possum to shreds? was it bloody? Yeah, I'm glad at least that things didn't get bloody but I think a dog would do more damage to a possum vs a sheep since the sheep was a little bigger than our dog.
I don't think our dogs will ever hurt our kids intentionally (we exposed them both to kids ever since they were puppies and they love kids) but I feel like their playfulness may result in an accident because they don't mind their own strengths. We keep them outside all the time anyway and we'll never leave them unattended with our LO so I think it should be ok.
He was starting to when Ben ran out to see what all of the noise was.
The possum managed to get up a tree (although it later died), but one leg was basically missing, etc.
Oh, and you're totally right that a dog would do more damage to a possum than a sheep...I just meant that it's a relief that your husky wasn't ripping out the sheep's throat or something horrifying like that (having to watch it have the stroke must have been awful enough, so I'm glad you were spared anything worse).
I worry occasionally about Indy and our babies - NOT that he'd attack them or anything like that, but as you said, he just doesn't know his own strength (or size) most of the time. I absolutely don't think he'd ever intentionally harm them, but there's a good chance he could easily knock a toddler down or something without meaning to.