What happened…

Amanda writes: On our last post we talked about our amazing house sit in the community of Vilcabamba in Southern Ecuador. It was an amazing two months that we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives. The entire stay was so tranquil aside for two incidents with the dogs. The first one happened on our first day and was likely just everybody getting to know each other, the second one is this blog post.

So our hosts have three handsome dogs and one beautiful cat. They welcomed us into their home and allowed us the opportunity to care for their animals. During our two months we created bonds and relationships with these animals that we hold close to our hearts. The personalities of each of the dogs are so unique and I fell in love with each of them all for very different reasons. During our introduction to the animals our hosts were amazing with not only giving us very detailed written instructions but also verbally giving us the rundown. We were shown how to feed them properly and we even walked with them to learn tendencies and get to know what it was like. I can’t think of a better training set up. The instruction manual was also very helpful and we referred to it often during our stay.

On the Tuesday in question we started our day with our regular routine that the six of us were now accustomed to. The boys (as we affectionately called the dogs) did their regular morning business outside and then we bring them in, then Andrew and I enjoy a cup of coffee in bed reading our books while Ms. Penny (the cat) played fetch with her ball. And yes that’s right, coolest cat in town that knows how to play fetch. After our coffee we take the boys out for their first walk of the day. There are three dogs; two big (Pepe & Koda) and one small terrier (Marley). We walk the terrier with one of the big dogs and then the second big dog gets some solo time for the second walk. We walk them three times a day and alternate who gets to go with the terrier each time. After the first walk with the two dogs we come back and then I stay with the two dogs and go in and make breakfast. Andrew goes out for the second walk with the other big dog.

So Andrew comes back and I noticed he took a bit longer than normal. He said the he noticed Pepe had the shivers so he took some extra time on his walk and threw the stick with him to burn off the energy. Andrew fortunately has a great memory and remembered this being in the instruction manual that it has been known to happen time-to-time and knew he was supposed to help Pepe burn off some steam. So we finish our breakfast and go about our regular day. Now that I’ve typed this out I wish I had given more thought to those ‘shivers’ as I continued my day.

Over our two months my days had a great routine with the dogs, in hindsight perhaps I was too comfortable in my routine. I do all of the gardening work and usually take a dog or two with me so they can walk around and enjoy just being outside. Usually after lunch in the afternoon I meditate and read and I take a couple of the dogs with me to sit by my side. If I didn’t know any better I’d say the dogs enjoy afternoon meditation and are very centered when we’re there. Anyways, after breakfast I went to the garden to harvest some yucca, which is a root vegetable similar to a potato. I was going to make salad and yucca for lunch. So I picked the yucca and then figured I’d start boiling it right away and then go back out and pick lettuce for lunch. Pealing yucca is a bit messy and each time I pealed yucca I ended up making quite the mess in the kitchen. So this time I figured I would do the dirty part outside and then finish the cutting on the cutting board in the kitchen. I mean I just finished sweeping and mopping the floors the day before. So I’m going back and forth between the kitchen and the patio outside. I’ve got the two big dogs outside on the patio and the small dog inside. And I’m careful, I’m not stupid; I know that if I leave pieces around the dogs are going to try and eat it. Therefore when I’m going outside to peel the dirty outer peel it’s right in the garbage can. So I’ve now got the water boiling on the stove top and I’m down to my last piece of yucca and I go outside to peel it. I’ve got my head down looking at the yucca and using a knife to peel it and all hell breaks loose!

The two big dogs are attacking each other and my natural reaction was to dive in between them and try and break it up. Big mistake! Looking back I’m disappointed in myself because my instincts were so wrong; that’s the worst thing I could have done. I really put myself in a very dangerous situation and ended up putting Andrew in an even worse predicament. And the icing on the cake is that when I came outside on this last trip I did not close the door to the patio all the way which made it so the terrier could slip through the little opening and come and join the party which is where most the damage came from. So now I’m on the patio wrestling with the two big dogs and then the little dog joins in and I’m yelling for help from Andrew. He comes barreling down the stairs and tries to help me break it up. We end up getting them separated with Andrew’s great memory of how to handle these situations (thanks Dog Whisperer show) and we manage to get the dogs separated and unlock their jaws but not before the terrier takes many chunks out of Pepe, a big bite out of Andrew and chomps my arm a little bit too. The dogs are all going their separate ways now but there is so much blood dripping everywhere and I’m thinking; shit! Shit! Shit! Which dog is hurt and that is when I realize it’s Andrew spewing blood everywhere.

Andrew is smart enough that he runs his hand immediately under cold water and we put pressure on it to try and stop the bleeding. As he’s standing at the sink he asks me to show him my arm, which turns out no punctured skin as I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and then he immediately turns his thoughts to check the dogs. He’s still spewing blood into the napkins and all he’s thinking about is everyone else. We wrap his finger with pressure and then inspect the dogs and assess injuries. While there are some pretty good bites, Andrew definitely got the worst of it. After we determine the dogs aren’t going to die I think the adrenaline rush starts to come down and now Andrew is off balance and nauseous. He sits down and I get him some water and a bucket in case he pukes. While I want to get him to a hospital he’s amazing and puts the dogs first. We talk to the owners (not an ideal call to make), make sure the dogs are cleaned up, we treat their wounds, try and make sure the dogs are going to be okay alone and then head down to the hospital.

As I write the story it’s all so clear to me, however it wasn’t at the time it happened. All of these details weren’t apparent to me at the time. At the end of it all, it’s easy to look back and think about what you could do differently. At first when we called the home owners and were talking with them, I couldn’t figure out what the hell happened. They asked what happened and I said I have no idea. I was cutting yucca and the next thing you know, the two dogs are attacking each other. A day later we have the luxury of playing it all out in our heads and trust me there are many things I would change and with that said I don’t blame anyone or any dog. It’s just one of those situations that you can’t predict and there is no fault. The outcome could have been so much worse and I’m so grateful that it wasn’t. I hope that the dogs heal well and Andrew heals well too. I can’t believe how lucky we are to not have been bitten more, that Andrew’s wound will heal (fingers crossed), or that the bites I did get didn’t break the skin. I mean as I type this the next day my body is so incredibly sore and I feel like I’ve just been in a fight, which I suppose is exactly what happened. Rolling around with two 30kg dogs with a little 14 kg terrier thrown in the mix for fun. But there is a part of me that thinks I was an idiot! First to not process the ‘shiver’s’ more closely and be aware of that and maybe change my daily routine to not include outside time with the dogs, second to not cut yucca with the dogs nearby, third to not close the door to the third dog (the one time!) and lastly to jump into the middle of the fight. Are you crazy Amanda? You’re going to try and break up a fight with two large and strong dogs? As I type this I still can’t believe how incredibly lucky (and stupid) I am. And then to yell for help only to put Andrew right in the middle of it?? Hello – McFly! As most of you know, Andrew can annoy me some days and make some decisions that I don’t agree with. However clearly when it matters most I can count on him. After a day like yesterday all I can say is I’m married to a brave, compassionate, strong, sensible and grounded man. He didn’t hesitate for a moment to jump right in and make sure the dogs weren’t mauling me, he didn’t hesitate to make sure that I was okay and then the dogs were okay before getting himself the medical attention he needed. And not once, even when I was crying my face off about how stupid I was to handle it the way I did; would he let me take the blame. He’s my hero. He came to my rescue, not question, no judgments; just unfiltered strength and love.

So now that this is behind us we’ve agreed that while this particular incident was lousy it doesn’t tarnish our stay in Vilcabamba or our love for these animals. They’re amazing and while the little terrier ended up causing the most damage not only to Andrew and I but also the other dogs; he’s still pretty cool. Our schedules and patterns will change and unfortunately we likely won’t be enjoying as much outside and meditation together, but our main goal is to keep them safe and happy. And next time I’ll be bloody sure to close the door to the patio (that one time – doh!).