Help nurse Drama back to health
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During the weekend of September 7th, my girlfriend planned a surprise camping trip for my birthday for us along with about 10 of my friends, several who surprised me and flew in from out of town. We had set up camp at the base of the 14er Huron Peak and were enjoying each others company around the fire with everyone's favorite, aka my dog Drama. Unfortunately, I decided to get up from the fire and walk to my car about 30ft away at the exact time when an older couple was walking by with their Great Danes. The Dane under the "control" of the woman saw Drama in our campsite and bolted. This resulted in the woman legitimately taking flight and landing chest first in the road which obviously caused her to let go of the leash the dog was on. Although the Dane came all the way from the opposite side of the road and into our campsite, it only took a matter of 1 or 2 seconds before it was latched onto Drama's hind quarters. There was no sniffing or growling, this was not a dog fight, this was my dog being mauled by a 140 to 150 lb monster of a Great Dane.
Luckily, I was only about 5 feet away from Drama when this occurred and was able to dive onto the Dane as soon as I realized what was happening. Unfortunately, in the 5 seconds or so that it took me to remove the Dane from Drama, the damage had already been done. The Dane had complete control over her and had my 70lb dogs rear end in the air shaking her like a rag doll. Once i had removed the dog from Drama, I was able to pin it to the ground and keep control over it.
At this point I looked up and the old woman had fortunately gotten herself up off the ground and come over to our campsite to retrieve her dog... at this point, the first thing out of my mouth was "I really hope you are ok"(to the woman), I bring this up because it was my first instinct to make sure this woman was alright even before thoroughly checking out my dog which had just been severely mauled by her Great Dane. After handing off the Dane to the woman, I was then able to further inspect Drama... below is what the wound first looked like right after the bite.
As you can see, the Dane punctured Drama's skin with both it's upper and lower teeth. At this point we realized that we need immediate medical assistance for Drama and drove straight back to Denver. What we hadn't realize at this point was that the Great Dane had been able to close its mouth which means it had removed all of the skin from the muscle and the skin was now loose in between the two wounds... the scary part is that if I were any farther away from where this incident happened, then this skin would have probably come right off into the Dane's mouth.
The last picture above is what Drama looked like right after the first surgery was completed in the early a.m. hours of September 8th. Because of the loose tissue in between the wounds, they had to place a drain tube to allow fluid to flow out of the area.
What we at this point thought may be a 2 to 3 week recovery for Drama has since turned into a 2 to 3 month recovery. We had taken Drama home and everything seemed alright for the first couple of days but on day 3, a foul stench overtook the house and we were unsure what was causing it... we thought it must be the fluid leaking out of the drain tube. On the morning of day 4, we knew that Drama needed to go back to the Vet Hospital immediately. The skin in between the two wounds had burst and the cause of the foul stench we had smelled the day before was now obvious. It was rotting flesh. The worst case scenario had happened, the skin in between the two wounds had the blood supply cut off to it and had died. In a matter of 3 days the flesh had completely rotted to the point of exploding apart. It went from what is causing that smell to Drama needs an immediate surgery in about 15-20 hrs, it was unbelievable. Below is what the wound looked like right before her second surgery.
As you can see, all of the skin was dead and now had to be removed. Drama went into surgery right away and the below is what the wound now looks like after the second surgery.
Drama now has about an 18 sq. in. open wound on her rear end. As you can see, even small bit of the muscle had to be removed due to the infection and dead tissue. These are some of the hardest pictures I have ever had to look at, I truly love this dog and to see her in this kind of pain is very difficult for me especially as she has never been even slightly aggressive towards any humans or any dogs. The night of the incident was no different, Drama was right by my side when she was mauled and she never did anything that night to provoke an attack or to threaten anyone else. She was enjoying our night of camping just like everyone else.
Drama has needed daily vet visits since the incident to remove and replace the above wet bandage and for the next month(best case scenario) will have to go to the vet daily until they decide she can go more than a day with the same bandage. Thankfully the Vet does believe that she will make a full recovery and hopefully she can walk away with no more than a bald spot after all is said and done.
Unfortunately, the owners of the Great Dane's did not even offer an apology the night that this mauling happened and even originally denied giving us their contact information. Luckily as I was loading the car to take my dog back to Denver, two of my larger friends were able to help by following the people back two their campsite and get their information. This whole thing just seems so illogical to me, I would never act as these people acted if my dog had just severely mauled someone's dog. I would have done anything I could to make sure I didn't end up losing possession of my dog in the process. Instead of offering to help with expenses they decided to not respond to our calls and eventually once the police finally got in touch with them said that my dog was the aggressor and that we as a group were threatening them. Now instead of handling this as civilized adults, we instead get to go to court which will end up just costing us more money and who knows what the outcome will be(the county that this happened in doesn't seem to care too much about animal on animal attacks).
If you are still reading at this point, I really appreciate you even taking the time to listen to this story... it was a horrible night that has had severe consequences for my dog and is costing me a lot of money that I don't really have at the moment. The original two surgery's cost $850 and $1,250 with another $50 being spent every single day getting the bandages changed at the vet as well as more expense to come for further antibiotics. In total this whole ordeal will end up costing over $3,000 at the Vet alone... assuming everything goes perfectly from here on out. If you have an extra couple of dollars and would like to help Drama get back to full strength, her and I would greatly appreciate the help. Drama is like my child and my #1 friend, she has climbed 11 14ers(I love climbing 14ers and Drama is the best hiking partner I could ask for) with me here in Colorado and she would have had her 12th last weekend if this wouldn't have happened, hopefully if all goes well she can be back up on the mountain with me for her 12th summit next summer.
Seriously, thank you so much for reading even if you don't have the ability to donate, maybe you can pass this on to someone who can. This whole thing has been a nightmare and I just want to make sure that Drama fully recovers from something she didn't deserve.
Luckily, I was only about 5 feet away from Drama when this occurred and was able to dive onto the Dane as soon as I realized what was happening. Unfortunately, in the 5 seconds or so that it took me to remove the Dane from Drama, the damage had already been done. The Dane had complete control over her and had my 70lb dogs rear end in the air shaking her like a rag doll. Once i had removed the dog from Drama, I was able to pin it to the ground and keep control over it.
At this point I looked up and the old woman had fortunately gotten herself up off the ground and come over to our campsite to retrieve her dog... at this point, the first thing out of my mouth was "I really hope you are ok"(to the woman), I bring this up because it was my first instinct to make sure this woman was alright even before thoroughly checking out my dog which had just been severely mauled by her Great Dane. After handing off the Dane to the woman, I was then able to further inspect Drama... below is what the wound first looked like right after the bite.
As you can see, the Dane punctured Drama's skin with both it's upper and lower teeth. At this point we realized that we need immediate medical assistance for Drama and drove straight back to Denver. What we hadn't realize at this point was that the Great Dane had been able to close its mouth which means it had removed all of the skin from the muscle and the skin was now loose in between the two wounds... the scary part is that if I were any farther away from where this incident happened, then this skin would have probably come right off into the Dane's mouth.
The last picture above is what Drama looked like right after the first surgery was completed in the early a.m. hours of September 8th. Because of the loose tissue in between the wounds, they had to place a drain tube to allow fluid to flow out of the area.
What we at this point thought may be a 2 to 3 week recovery for Drama has since turned into a 2 to 3 month recovery. We had taken Drama home and everything seemed alright for the first couple of days but on day 3, a foul stench overtook the house and we were unsure what was causing it... we thought it must be the fluid leaking out of the drain tube. On the morning of day 4, we knew that Drama needed to go back to the Vet Hospital immediately. The skin in between the two wounds had burst and the cause of the foul stench we had smelled the day before was now obvious. It was rotting flesh. The worst case scenario had happened, the skin in between the two wounds had the blood supply cut off to it and had died. In a matter of 3 days the flesh had completely rotted to the point of exploding apart. It went from what is causing that smell to Drama needs an immediate surgery in about 15-20 hrs, it was unbelievable. Below is what the wound looked like right before her second surgery.
As you can see, all of the skin was dead and now had to be removed. Drama went into surgery right away and the below is what the wound now looks like after the second surgery.
Drama now has about an 18 sq. in. open wound on her rear end. As you can see, even small bit of the muscle had to be removed due to the infection and dead tissue. These are some of the hardest pictures I have ever had to look at, I truly love this dog and to see her in this kind of pain is very difficult for me especially as she has never been even slightly aggressive towards any humans or any dogs. The night of the incident was no different, Drama was right by my side when she was mauled and she never did anything that night to provoke an attack or to threaten anyone else. She was enjoying our night of camping just like everyone else.
Drama has needed daily vet visits since the incident to remove and replace the above wet bandage and for the next month(best case scenario) will have to go to the vet daily until they decide she can go more than a day with the same bandage. Thankfully the Vet does believe that she will make a full recovery and hopefully she can walk away with no more than a bald spot after all is said and done.
Unfortunately, the owners of the Great Dane's did not even offer an apology the night that this mauling happened and even originally denied giving us their contact information. Luckily as I was loading the car to take my dog back to Denver, two of my larger friends were able to help by following the people back two their campsite and get their information. This whole thing just seems so illogical to me, I would never act as these people acted if my dog had just severely mauled someone's dog. I would have done anything I could to make sure I didn't end up losing possession of my dog in the process. Instead of offering to help with expenses they decided to not respond to our calls and eventually once the police finally got in touch with them said that my dog was the aggressor and that we as a group were threatening them. Now instead of handling this as civilized adults, we instead get to go to court which will end up just costing us more money and who knows what the outcome will be(the county that this happened in doesn't seem to care too much about animal on animal attacks).
If you are still reading at this point, I really appreciate you even taking the time to listen to this story... it was a horrible night that has had severe consequences for my dog and is costing me a lot of money that I don't really have at the moment. The original two surgery's cost $850 and $1,250 with another $50 being spent every single day getting the bandages changed at the vet as well as more expense to come for further antibiotics. In total this whole ordeal will end up costing over $3,000 at the Vet alone... assuming everything goes perfectly from here on out. If you have an extra couple of dollars and would like to help Drama get back to full strength, her and I would greatly appreciate the help. Drama is like my child and my #1 friend, she has climbed 11 14ers(I love climbing 14ers and Drama is the best hiking partner I could ask for) with me here in Colorado and she would have had her 12th last weekend if this wouldn't have happened, hopefully if all goes well she can be back up on the mountain with me for her 12th summit next summer.
Seriously, thank you so much for reading even if you don't have the ability to donate, maybe you can pass this on to someone who can. This whole thing has been a nightmare and I just want to make sure that Drama fully recovers from something she didn't deserve.
Organizer
Jacob Houseknecht
Organizer
Wheat Ridge, CO
