{the bite}
I've gone back and forth about this putting this story on here for 2 months. Should I write up a post, how to do it, etc. This is our family scrap book so I feel like it needs to be done. We are all healing up mentally and physically so it will probably help to get everything down now that its settled in.
Below is a timeline of events:
March 11th, Walter bit Cub's face around 10:55pm.
We had been gone all day at a basketball tournament, at bedtime Cub asked if Walter could sleep with him. Which wasn't a big deal, the kids often sleep with the dogs on the weekends. Walter was keeping Cub up since he was wide awake from being in the kennel, resting all day. Not sure what time it was when Cub woke me up asking me if he could go watch TV since he couldn't sleep. I said "No, go back to your room and read". That is a decision I am still struggling with... I sent him back in there. When he returned to his room, Cub saw Walter chewing on something. He sat down next to him and realized it was chocolate so he took it away. He has done this many times before to Walter so it wasn't even a question in Cub's mind. He was eating something he shouldn't be so he took it away. That's when Walter bit him. He didn't posture and attack him or even growl. They were sitting on the floor next to each other and Walter just turned and chomped him. He didn't give Cub a warning that he was upset. Really, I don't know if he was upset probably more like hey I want that treat back. Either way, it doesn't matter.
Dan and I woke up to the most terrible screams, Dan was up like a shot and kicked open Cub's door. I thought a person was attacking him, I think Dan did too, from the sound of his screams. I never would have imagined our family dog was capable of this. Dan was rushing him to the kid's bathroom as I was coming out of our room. Dan went to the basement to put Walter in his kennel and to start the car. He knew where we were headed. I saw Cub's face, covered in blood, and I couldn't really tell what happened. I saw the blood trail running across the hall and into his room. Cub was still screaming as I was trying to apply pressure to his wounds. The more upset he was the faster the blood was coming out. I believe I said "What the hell happened" and I think he said "Walter did it", or "he bit me", we cant really remember. We were standing in front of the sink as I looked up at him in the mirror my heart just sank. I felt like it stopped. I knew that his was bad. His skull was showing from about in inch into his hair line down his entire forehead! I continued to apply pressure, trying to get the bleeding to stop. Cub started to feel weak and needed to sit down, I went down on one knee and he sat on my leg. As he calmed down we got every thing under control and ready to leave. Cami was gathering misc clothes for us to wear and we got in the car.
March 11th, arrived at Waconia ER around 11:10pm
I walked Cub into the ER and everyone stopped to stare at us. I can see why looking back, Cub is wearing a coat with no shirt, blood on his face, head & neck and I'm holding a bloody towel to his head trying to guide him to a wheelchair by the check in desk. It wasn't until the admin lady asked me where my injuries were that I realized how bloody I was. I had a stringy blood clot hanging from my wedding ring and blood running down my hands. My arm, shirt and socks we bloody, and we all looked disheveled from sleeping. I laugh when I think about that sight. Dan went back to the room with Cub and the nurse while Cami took me to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Cami has the sweetest heart, while I was washing up she just looked so scared, "He's really hurt bad isn't he?" "Yeah, baby, we better go find him" was all I could say without losing my cool. The Waconia ER really didn't want anything to do with us, in a good way. His injuries were above their abilities and they admitted it right away. The Doctor in Waconia called ahead to Children's in Minneapolis to get a Plastic Surgeon ready and to prepare them for our arrival. The nurse cleaned him up a bit and bandaged his face for travel. After Cub was on IV's of fluid and antibiotics for awhile, he was stable enough to leave and we drove him to Children's Hospital.
We took the following pictures but I didn't want to show him anything until he was all fixed up. I really wasn't sure how he would react. At this point I think he was still in shock.
March 12th, arrive at Children's ER around 1:45am
After a quick check in with the ER department, we were waiting in our room. It was comforting to be there, I knew he was in good hands. While we waited for the Surgeon to arrive we had some quiet time to watch TV and just sit. He asked a few times to see the pictures of his face but we held off until after surgery. As much as I wanted them to start fixing him up, I was scared. I didn't want him to have train track scars all over his face. I guess I didn't know what to expect and was worried. We met the surgeon, Dr. O'Neil and anesthesiologist, I don't remember his name. This is Cub's first time going under and they were great to talk him through it and answer questions. They gave him a sedative before wheeling him away. After a minute or 2 he looked at one of the nurses with glasses and said "oh wow, you have 4 eyes". They knew he was ready. Cub asked me to record him when he was waking up incase he did or said anything funny. They told us it should be around an hour but depending on what they find it when they really look at it, it could be longer.
March 12th, Cub went into surgery around 4:15am. (daylight savings time turned the clocks ahead)
A nurse lead the 3 of us to the waiting room, we all searched for a comfy spot (which there wasn't any to be found) to rest and wait. A screen showing the patients in the OR was front and center. Cub was entered into surgery at 4:15am, he was the only one. I was happy to see that I could watch his progress and know when he was done and in recovery. Cami fell asleep quickly. There wasn't a couch in the waiting room, it was filled with chairs and benches, nothing that Dan could comfortably lay on. He ended up falling asleep for a bit, hanging half off the double chair. Poor guy. I was tired but knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep. After flipping through the channels with no luck of a Housewives of Anywhere reply or even a sappy movie to watch I got up to make coffee. I checked the screen and it was sleep mode with the little Windows icon floating around. What? Where's Cub? What is happening with him? I was upset, I went to the nurse's station to figure this out. It was empty so I walked around and wiggled all the mouses at the desk to see if the screen would pop back up. No Luck. Feeling frustrated, I continued on to make my coffee. It didn't go well to say the least, the empty cup slipped from my hand and that set off all of the emotions I had been holding in. Thank God we were the only ones in this waiting area. I had a fit; a full blown, temper tantrum. I was furious and crying and saying things that started out as a prayers but ended up as a profanity laced rant. Once I opened the flood gates, all the emotions came out. I wanted to do the "right" thing and pray but my anger was getting the best of me for a bit. Then I cleaned up the coffee room and went to the bathroom and cried. Dan and Cami were sleeping and none the wiser of my actions, which is probably for the best. No witnesses, except for some security guard watching the footage I'm sure.
March 12th, Cub in recovery room around 5:50am.
He was asleep but his face looked amazing. The Doctor lost count but estimates he has about 100 stitches over 2 layers. She describes them as the laces on a baseball instead of the normal stitches you'd get on your hand or something like that. The nurse was trying to get him to drink and eat something to wake up so we could go home. I had the camera ready incase he did something funny. The only thing we laughed at was watching him eat the orange popsicle she gave him. He had a hard time getting it in his mouth. There was a lot of specific wound care and medication instructions coming at us. I recall thinking, I hope I remember all of this later we are so tired right now. It took everything we had to get him to wake up enough so they knew he was ok. We were all anxious to get home. He just wanted to sleep finally they let us go around 9:15am or so.
We must have answered the same question 10 times that night, "yes, it was our dog." Over the course of the night we all had little talks about Walter. Confirming that this mistake was inexcusable and he needed to be put down. The range of emotions we were all dealing with was extreme. On the way home, Dan made arrangements to get him out of the house immediately. I offered the kids a chance to say goodbye and they declined. Earlier, Cub said that Walter broke his heart but I wanted to give him a chance to say good bye. Their decision was fine with me, it's hard to know how kids are going to react but they need to be given the opportunity and choice. I went downstairs to say my goodbyes but I couldn't. I just wanted kill him, really I was so angry. I wanted to save Brian the trouble of taking him in and just give him what he deserves. Honestly, that's how I felt after what he did to my baby. How could he do this to Cub and to his family. He ruined everything! I wanted my kids to have some of the best memories of growing up with a Great Dane that I did. Their memories will be tarnished forever, and that breaks my heart. Both Danes we've had ended in tragedy and they both left us before they turned 3 years old. I'm so sorry. I wanted Walter and I was his biggest supporter and he completely betrayed us. As I watched Dan walk him to the car I got really sad, his life with us was done. I said goodbye quietly but he didn't hear me. We loved him.
We are very blessed that this injury wasn't any worse, I am fully aware that Cub came out of this very lucky. I know there are worse things to happen to kids, really this looks like a surface injury but our hearts were broken that night. It's one thing to lose your family pet, it's one thing to have a terrible accident happen to your kid but this combo was a lot to take. Its taking longer then I imagined to get over the mental part of it. Dan and I still have a hard time being around screaming kids at times and I wake up thinking I hear Cub screaming at night. We still have to replace the carpet upstairs before all the visual reminders are gone.
Dan and Cami were amazing that whole night. Cami was there to carry my purse, provide comic relief and sleep in every hospital room chair available. Dan, of course, was a rock. He's so calm and rational that it kept us all in check. I know he has his private moments of pain and sadness just like I do as we work through and recover from this incident. He's always got a plan and a cool head to get, and keep, this family on the right track. Whether that's mentally, physically or spiritually he's our guiding light. Cub is doing so well and it so amazing. He has no issues with dogs or any fear of them. Dan was right when he said it was a blessing that it happened how it did. To one of us and not someone else. Cub is strong, just like Dan, he will move on from this. Plus, boys and scars kind of go together.
Below is a timeline of events:
March 11th, Walter bit Cub's face around 10:55pm.
We had been gone all day at a basketball tournament, at bedtime Cub asked if Walter could sleep with him. Which wasn't a big deal, the kids often sleep with the dogs on the weekends. Walter was keeping Cub up since he was wide awake from being in the kennel, resting all day. Not sure what time it was when Cub woke me up asking me if he could go watch TV since he couldn't sleep. I said "No, go back to your room and read". That is a decision I am still struggling with... I sent him back in there. When he returned to his room, Cub saw Walter chewing on something. He sat down next to him and realized it was chocolate so he took it away. He has done this many times before to Walter so it wasn't even a question in Cub's mind. He was eating something he shouldn't be so he took it away. That's when Walter bit him. He didn't posture and attack him or even growl. They were sitting on the floor next to each other and Walter just turned and chomped him. He didn't give Cub a warning that he was upset. Really, I don't know if he was upset probably more like hey I want that treat back. Either way, it doesn't matter.
Dan and I woke up to the most terrible screams, Dan was up like a shot and kicked open Cub's door. I thought a person was attacking him, I think Dan did too, from the sound of his screams. I never would have imagined our family dog was capable of this. Dan was rushing him to the kid's bathroom as I was coming out of our room. Dan went to the basement to put Walter in his kennel and to start the car. He knew where we were headed. I saw Cub's face, covered in blood, and I couldn't really tell what happened. I saw the blood trail running across the hall and into his room. Cub was still screaming as I was trying to apply pressure to his wounds. The more upset he was the faster the blood was coming out. I believe I said "What the hell happened" and I think he said "Walter did it", or "he bit me", we cant really remember. We were standing in front of the sink as I looked up at him in the mirror my heart just sank. I felt like it stopped. I knew that his was bad. His skull was showing from about in inch into his hair line down his entire forehead! I continued to apply pressure, trying to get the bleeding to stop. Cub started to feel weak and needed to sit down, I went down on one knee and he sat on my leg. As he calmed down we got every thing under control and ready to leave. Cami was gathering misc clothes for us to wear and we got in the car.
March 11th, arrived at Waconia ER around 11:10pm
I walked Cub into the ER and everyone stopped to stare at us. I can see why looking back, Cub is wearing a coat with no shirt, blood on his face, head & neck and I'm holding a bloody towel to his head trying to guide him to a wheelchair by the check in desk. It wasn't until the admin lady asked me where my injuries were that I realized how bloody I was. I had a stringy blood clot hanging from my wedding ring and blood running down my hands. My arm, shirt and socks we bloody, and we all looked disheveled from sleeping. I laugh when I think about that sight. Dan went back to the room with Cub and the nurse while Cami took me to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Cami has the sweetest heart, while I was washing up she just looked so scared, "He's really hurt bad isn't he?" "Yeah, baby, we better go find him" was all I could say without losing my cool. The Waconia ER really didn't want anything to do with us, in a good way. His injuries were above their abilities and they admitted it right away. The Doctor in Waconia called ahead to Children's in Minneapolis to get a Plastic Surgeon ready and to prepare them for our arrival. The nurse cleaned him up a bit and bandaged his face for travel. After Cub was on IV's of fluid and antibiotics for awhile, he was stable enough to leave and we drove him to Children's Hospital.
We took the following pictures but I didn't want to show him anything until he was all fixed up. I really wasn't sure how he would react. At this point I think he was still in shock.
March 12th, arrive at Children's ER around 1:45am
After a quick check in with the ER department, we were waiting in our room. It was comforting to be there, I knew he was in good hands. While we waited for the Surgeon to arrive we had some quiet time to watch TV and just sit. He asked a few times to see the pictures of his face but we held off until after surgery. As much as I wanted them to start fixing him up, I was scared. I didn't want him to have train track scars all over his face. I guess I didn't know what to expect and was worried. We met the surgeon, Dr. O'Neil and anesthesiologist, I don't remember his name. This is Cub's first time going under and they were great to talk him through it and answer questions. They gave him a sedative before wheeling him away. After a minute or 2 he looked at one of the nurses with glasses and said "oh wow, you have 4 eyes". They knew he was ready. Cub asked me to record him when he was waking up incase he did or said anything funny. They told us it should be around an hour but depending on what they find it when they really look at it, it could be longer.
March 12th, Cub went into surgery around 4:15am. (daylight savings time turned the clocks ahead)
A nurse lead the 3 of us to the waiting room, we all searched for a comfy spot (which there wasn't any to be found) to rest and wait. A screen showing the patients in the OR was front and center. Cub was entered into surgery at 4:15am, he was the only one. I was happy to see that I could watch his progress and know when he was done and in recovery. Cami fell asleep quickly. There wasn't a couch in the waiting room, it was filled with chairs and benches, nothing that Dan could comfortably lay on. He ended up falling asleep for a bit, hanging half off the double chair. Poor guy. I was tired but knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep. After flipping through the channels with no luck of a Housewives of Anywhere reply or even a sappy movie to watch I got up to make coffee. I checked the screen and it was sleep mode with the little Windows icon floating around. What? Where's Cub? What is happening with him? I was upset, I went to the nurse's station to figure this out. It was empty so I walked around and wiggled all the mouses at the desk to see if the screen would pop back up. No Luck. Feeling frustrated, I continued on to make my coffee. It didn't go well to say the least, the empty cup slipped from my hand and that set off all of the emotions I had been holding in. Thank God we were the only ones in this waiting area. I had a fit; a full blown, temper tantrum. I was furious and crying and saying things that started out as a prayers but ended up as a profanity laced rant. Once I opened the flood gates, all the emotions came out. I wanted to do the "right" thing and pray but my anger was getting the best of me for a bit. Then I cleaned up the coffee room and went to the bathroom and cried. Dan and Cami were sleeping and none the wiser of my actions, which is probably for the best. No witnesses, except for some security guard watching the footage I'm sure.
March 12th, Cub in recovery room around 5:50am.
He was asleep but his face looked amazing. The Doctor lost count but estimates he has about 100 stitches over 2 layers. She describes them as the laces on a baseball instead of the normal stitches you'd get on your hand or something like that. The nurse was trying to get him to drink and eat something to wake up so we could go home. I had the camera ready incase he did something funny. The only thing we laughed at was watching him eat the orange popsicle she gave him. He had a hard time getting it in his mouth. There was a lot of specific wound care and medication instructions coming at us. I recall thinking, I hope I remember all of this later we are so tired right now. It took everything we had to get him to wake up enough so they knew he was ok. We were all anxious to get home. He just wanted to sleep finally they let us go around 9:15am or so.
POST OP
We must have answered the same question 10 times that night, "yes, it was our dog." Over the course of the night we all had little talks about Walter. Confirming that this mistake was inexcusable and he needed to be put down. The range of emotions we were all dealing with was extreme. On the way home, Dan made arrangements to get him out of the house immediately. I offered the kids a chance to say goodbye and they declined. Earlier, Cub said that Walter broke his heart but I wanted to give him a chance to say good bye. Their decision was fine with me, it's hard to know how kids are going to react but they need to be given the opportunity and choice. I went downstairs to say my goodbyes but I couldn't. I just wanted kill him, really I was so angry. I wanted to save Brian the trouble of taking him in and just give him what he deserves. Honestly, that's how I felt after what he did to my baby. How could he do this to Cub and to his family. He ruined everything! I wanted my kids to have some of the best memories of growing up with a Great Dane that I did. Their memories will be tarnished forever, and that breaks my heart. Both Danes we've had ended in tragedy and they both left us before they turned 3 years old. I'm so sorry. I wanted Walter and I was his biggest supporter and he completely betrayed us. As I watched Dan walk him to the car I got really sad, his life with us was done. I said goodbye quietly but he didn't hear me. We loved him.
We are very blessed that this injury wasn't any worse, I am fully aware that Cub came out of this very lucky. I know there are worse things to happen to kids, really this looks like a surface injury but our hearts were broken that night. It's one thing to lose your family pet, it's one thing to have a terrible accident happen to your kid but this combo was a lot to take. Its taking longer then I imagined to get over the mental part of it. Dan and I still have a hard time being around screaming kids at times and I wake up thinking I hear Cub screaming at night. We still have to replace the carpet upstairs before all the visual reminders are gone.
Dan and Cami were amazing that whole night. Cami was there to carry my purse, provide comic relief and sleep in every hospital room chair available. Dan, of course, was a rock. He's so calm and rational that it kept us all in check. I know he has his private moments of pain and sadness just like I do as we work through and recover from this incident. He's always got a plan and a cool head to get, and keep, this family on the right track. Whether that's mentally, physically or spiritually he's our guiding light. Cub is doing so well and it so amazing. He has no issues with dogs or any fear of them. Dan was right when he said it was a blessing that it happened how it did. To one of us and not someone else. Cub is strong, just like Dan, he will move on from this. Plus, boys and scars kind of go together.
DAY 2
Healing is progressing nicely
Left: 3 weeks after surgery Top right: 1 week after surgery.
Thank you for the cards, food, gifts and prayers. It meant a lot, more than you know, that you took the time to help and support us. Cub insists on keeping the Get Well cards up on the mantle to this day.
~A.
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