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Old March 30th, 2011, 06:48 PM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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Unhappy Thought I had to say goodbye to Meiko today

WHAT A DAY

Everything started off fine today with the animals here. Morning chores went off with out a hitch, everyone fed, watered and ready to start the day.
Things took a terrible turn for the worse just before lunch time.
I was standing outside talking to a friend who had stopped over to do some microchipping ( I cant look at a needle with out passing out) after we were finished.
Meiko and Kita were wandering around in the bush behind the horses where they stash their whole chickens they dont want and grab a snack as they please.
Being that Meiko is a Border Collie and herding is just so hard wired in him, he decided to chase off the horses on his way back through their field ( he does this several times a day) not run them but just move them.
His normal "herd" went well and as he kept trotting towards the house Miss Fe ( who is the boss mare of the herd) came after him. This is not out of the ordinary with Fe.
Just as Fe was behind Meiko ( like every other day) he turned at her to chase her off again, EXCEPT today Miss Fe turned on her haunches and kicked out.
All you could hear was "snap" and Meiko dropped like a bag of potatoes. Immediately I start running down towards them at this point yelling at Fe to "Get out" (which to her means MOVE IT) because she had turned again and was going back at him to stomp I am sure.
Kita who was right there this whole time, lunged at Fe sending her off in a bucking bronc of a fit ( again usual behaviour for a playful Fe)
Just as we were almost at Meiko he got up. I seriously thought he was dead.
He was very disoriented and bleeding really badly out of his mouth.
I was in full panic mode at this point.
Once he came to fully ( less than 5 minutes) I loaded him up in the car and to the vet we went.

He is one lucky bugger. NOTHING broken, not even a tooth even though the brunt of the kick was to the side of his face judging by swelling. His xrays showed nothing, no fractures and no abnormalities with his brain. He did have a tooth go through his lip which is where all the blood came from though.
He was given a shot for pain and is on "bed rest" for the next day or so and I have to keep him closely monitored for any changes but he seems to be doing fine so far.

Took him out for a pee a little while ago onleash and as soon as we walked out the door he did his "I'm gonna herd you" stance and look when he saw the horses Its sad to see something so hard wired into his brain that he has done for years recreationally (cattle and horses) but he is getting slower in his old age (he's now 10) He has been kicked before but never bad like this and most definately not ever in the head

So keep Meik in your thoughts for the next day. I'm sure he will be fine and back to his shananigans by the end of the week, hopefully learning a lesson but I highly doubt it.
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Old March 30th, 2011, 07:40 PM
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So glad to hear that he is going to be Ok.

Gosh that must have been so scary.

to you and Meiko for a quick recovery.
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Old March 30th, 2011, 07:58 PM
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wow what a lucky outcome to an unlucky event!
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Old March 30th, 2011, 10:16 PM
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Shaykeija Shaykeija is offline
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Wow that is one luckypup. Meiko, honey, Fe has big feet.Please try to stay away from them....
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Old March 30th, 2011, 10:53 PM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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I have honestly not ever been so scared in my life I dont think.
I can still hear the sound and see him drop, I wont be sleeping at all tonight for sure. I am watching him like a hawk (and possibly getting on his nerves)
He is doing good, still a little out of it but possibly could still be the drugs doing that.
He ate a small helping of dinner a while ago and went to his secret stash in the basement to grab a toy to bring to the bedroom. He's in there with his squeeky bone thing now.
I know he's ok because I can hear the squeeker every few seconds.
Now its brain racking time to keep him out of the horses. They dont bother the dogs normally but Meiko instigates them and with his ageing body and slower speed and reaction time its just best to figure something out to keep him from going in at all.
I am thinking of digging up the invisible fence along the road side ( we only have it looped there to ensure they dont go out on the road or in the front yard really) and running it a bit more strategically around the horses.
Or...
Remote citronella collar to keep him out.
For now that will be the route to take, they're only running around when I'm out there with them so it will be easy enough to deter him from going in with them.
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Old March 30th, 2011, 10:58 PM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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That would have been scarey for sure. Glad nothing was broken and no brain injury. That doesn't surprise me that he would be wanting back herding the horse. a stubburn boy.i will be thinking of him.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 03:03 AM
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Goldfields Goldfields is offline
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Get him some sheep and he'll forget the horses hopefully. But seriously, glad you are going to try and stop him. I don't let my dogs anywhere near our horses after witnessing an incident involving, not a dog, but two horses. A hackney mare of ours got after a filly and to avoid a bite on the rump, the filly turned sharply. Down she went, broken leg, and though that was many years ago I still get tears in my eyes thinking about it. She was beautiful. If you get my drift, Erykah, we want the horses as peaceful as we can have them. Plus, having stallions here it wouldn't be a kick I'd worry about as much as a dog getting struck at or bitten badly. I sincerely hope you don't get any flashbacks .... or maybe you are? It's awful when that happens. Sickening in fact. Give him the best gentle cuddle for me, poor dog, and a big cyber hug for you seeing it's shook you up so badly. I once rolled a dog trailer on the way to shows and know all about those nasty flashbacks. Best thing that ever happened that I had to get back in the car and drive it home. Like getting back on a horse after being bucked off - tho' I still got flashbacks regardless.
Must get out and exercise the dogs. Best time of the day for all of us.

Last edited by Goldfields; April 5th, 2011 at 07:58 PM.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 04:08 AM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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oh my god you must have been terrified!!! I'm so glad Meiko is ok, its going to be a hard task to keep him from herding.....sending up prayers for you all.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 10:20 AM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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Well the tough bugger is back to himself 110% today
I'm keeping him in the house for the day regardless, to be certain.
We were out this morning a bit playing around and he didnt bother hitting the bushes behind the horses today.
Tomorrow new training for horse pasture begins, wish us luck.
Thanks for all the good thoughts for him.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 10:22 AM
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angeldogs angeldogs is offline
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Glad he's back to himself.good luck with the new training.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 11:02 AM
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what wonderful news, hopefully the new "training" will go well.
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Old March 31st, 2011, 12:58 PM
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omd, I would have freaked, erykah! How terrifying! I'm so glad he's okay! He's a lucky boy to have survived that.

I hope the new training goes well!

Meiko, you be a good boy!!
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Old April 4th, 2011, 09:24 PM
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Luvmypitgirls Luvmypitgirls is offline
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Oh my gosh!
That must've been terrifying for you erykah!
I'm so glad he's ok!
Someone was watching out for him, he has a guardian angeldog!
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Old April 4th, 2011, 10:11 PM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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We have lost a few great dogs over the years who knew Meiko, I'm sure it was a collaborative effort of all of them watching over him.

Training...
Its not going very well, I have hired a trainer to come out for e collar training. I tried with the citronella spray collar and it did NOTHING to snap him out of his herd mode. He is yet to go back in with the horses since and has been on a lunge line when we go near the horses, but right away when they come up to the fence he crouches down and starts giving them eye.

We will get there, he may be an "old dog" but he's going to learn some new tricks.
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Old April 5th, 2011, 10:12 AM
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OMG Erykah,how terrifying,but I am happy beautiful Meiko is ok,Fe has really big strong legs,maybe Meiko will,hopefully be too scared t go near her again
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Old April 5th, 2011, 02:09 PM
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Just saw this now, how very scary for you. Glad to hear that Meiko came out of it okay though. I have a friend who lost a young (year and a half) dog to horses this past summer. They were visiting friends with a dog and they both went out into a horse pasture when nobody was looking. Their dog was used to horses my friends dog was not - sadly he was badly kicked and died of his injuries. So glad Meik is okay. Tender hugs to him and good luck to you with the training.
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Old April 5th, 2011, 09:36 PM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chico2 View Post
OMG Erykah,how terrifying,but I am happy beautiful Meiko is ok,Fe has really big strong legs,maybe Meiko will,hopefully be too scared t go near her again
Nope, he is more than willing to go in again, we went over to my mans parents who have 30 some head of cattle and a Rough Collie (who works them but is a year old and a bit quicker on the draw now than Meiko) Meik was with us on our visit as he loves his truck rides.

When we got there Odie was moving cattle from one pasture to the other for the night and no sooner was the truck in park and Meik was out the window and in with the cattle Thankfully Odie was just about done what he was doing and Meik just sent back a straying calf and my FIL closed up the gate and sent the dogs out.

I noticed tonight though he worked that little calf a LOT closer than he usually would have. Either way, he's not the speed demon he once was and we really have to make sure with the horses. Fe is not afraid of dogs one bit, she just plain hates them. But having Elmo here really got her over her hatred towards the dogs, he was always in there with them and even though Fe considered charging him off, he was just too fast. She settled a lot about dogs now, planning on working with her a bit more on this however I think it is going to be pointless since she will be working cattle this year so I have to keep that slight aggression towards things in her.
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