When I first met Jacko, he growled at me. I had gone out to the waiting room to see who was next. Mr Malone, Jacko’s owner, smiled and said ‘Hello.’ I bent down to greet the little terrier dog, and that is when the growl started. It was a deep, throaty growl, and as I looked into his eyes, I could see no sign of friendliness. I realised at once that this was not a frightened growl. It was an angry, belligerent, trouble-seeking growl. His dilated pupils and flattened ears told me that he wanted to attack. He was keen to have a fight with me. I took two steps back, but the growl did not stop. Instead it grew louder.
On that occasion, Jacko was simply having his annual health check and vaccination. I had the advantage of being in control. and he did not know what to expect. He was walked swiftly into the consulting room and the door was shut behind him. A rapidly applied muzzle took him by surprise, and before he realised that he had been hoodwinked, he had been checked all over, injected and released. As his owner led him out of the consulting room, Jacko kept glancing back at me, as if he was imprinting my image in his memory for future reference.
One month later, Mr Malone was on the phone, in a panic. He had been out for a walk with Jacko, and two big collie dogs had approached them. The dogs had been friendly enough, but Jacko, with his usual impetuosity, had flung himself at the dogs, snarling and growling. The dogs reacted with defensive aggression, and one of them had picked Jacko up by the back of his neck and shaken him. The dog fight had lasted no more than half a minute, and there were no other injuries, but Jacko was now looking very sorry for himself.
When he arrived at the clinic shortly later, Jacko was dripping blood from injuries around his shoulders, and he was breathing very rapidly. It looked as if he might have serious injuries to his chest, with the risk of his lungs been punctured. Yet he still managed to growl as soon as he saw me.
He needed urgent medical treatment, and a full examination was essential. so a swift injection of sedative was the first stage. Jacko was soon deeply asleep. His breathing was comfortable, but he was not moving otherwise. Working quickly, a nurse helped me to clip away the fur from his injuries. There were several deep puncture wounds on both sides of his chest, and there was a large firm swelling beneath one wound. We took some X-rays of his chest, expecting broken ribs and possibly damaged internal organs.
Surprisingly, the X-rays showed that Jacko had escaped serious injury. He was simply very badly bruised, with torn skin and lacerated muscles. Treatment was simple. We flushed the bite wounds to minimise any infection, and he was given a course of antibiotics and strong painkillers. He was then placed back into the kennel for recovery.
We did not need to look at him to monitor his breathing for long, because as soon as the growl started again, we could hear from a distance that he was alive and ready for action.
Jacko has been healthy since that incident. He still comes back once a year for his annual health check. He is the same as ever, although the dog fight episode did change him in one way. Instead of just growling, Jacko has started to howl as soon as he enters our waiting room.
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