"9407Singapore Labrador Retriever dog bites" pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.

Once bitten twice shy?

He was intelligent, no doubt about it.  He could remember me even though I made house calls infrequently.  He had a very good memory and would bark ferociously only when strangers came to the house but not at friends of his owners.

A good looking Labrador Retriever?  Yes, I would say so. 

Did he have enemies?  I thought he did not have any as he was even afraid of a cat hissing at him when he tried to befriend the neighbourhood cat.  That's what the aged parents of his owner said to me as they always offered me the blackest charcoal coffee from beans roasted in Malaysia when I visited the dog on a house call.  Not much aroma left depending on my luck, unlike the more bitter Starbucks coffee kept in vacuum packed bags.  

Now, look at him with wounds all round his neck. (Click thumbnail to see bigger picture)  He had just gone out from the side gate to explore the surroundings.  More like he pushed his way out whenever the side gate was opened by the old folks.  He was just too strong for the seventy-year old parents of the owner.

For the past six years, he had been pushing his way out.

This early June morning, a Doberman on a lease was being walked nearby.  He used to bark at this Doberman for the past years, from behind the safety of the gates.  The Doberman barked back.  

This time, he was outside the house foraging inside the garbage bins.  The Doberman went berserk, broke away from the leash and with one mighty long jump, pounced on him. 

The tranquility of this residential enclave was pierced by loud screams of one Doberman.   He was not resisting but the biting continued despite his submissiveness. 

The Doberman would not listen to his Owner. Maybe he did not know how.  Perhaps he never would.

There was a gentle breeze with fragrance from the orchid flowers wafting into the gardens of the neatly manicured lawns of the neighbours in this Cluny Road neighbourhood which stood at the fringe of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Swirling blood drops over powered the perfumed floral scents.  The grey colour of the Cluny Road changed hues.  The Doberman wanted to take the life of this enemy.  Where's the jugular vein? The killer instinct was too great.

The owners were mesmerised by the savageness of the Doberman.  They could not separate the dogs when they were fighting.  Sometimes, it was risky to intervene as the human being might get bitten instead.  Of course, the Labrador Retriever would not bite but the Doberman might.  A tree branch was found and thrown at the Doberman.   Mr Low, the Labrador's owner found a few stones and threw at the attacker.

It seemed an eternity. The pent up frustrations of being barked at for years, only a Doberman would know.

How to stop the attacking Doberman?  A police patrol car came by. The police blasted their car horn.  It stopped the Doberman from his attack and was quickly led away.

On day three, the Labrador Retriever developed a high fever as his groin area felt very hot to the touch.   He had lost his appetite and was sleepy.  Washing could not help to clean up the wounds.  Would he die from septic blood poisoning?  Was it too late now?

The retired parents were very worried and contacted their busy son who usually worked late into the night.  In the hot and humid climate of Singapore, the bacterial infection had commenced.  There was a sour smell around the neck.   Matted hair mingled with oozing blood from eight-inched wounds round the neck.   Fortunately, the jugular vein was not ruptured by the Doberman. This big vein brings blood back to the heart. If it was severed, copious bleeding would have resulted in death in a short period of time. 

The aged parents of the owner loved him despite his diagnosis of hip dysplasia and allergic skin problems.  Despite his love of digging holes and nibbling away the flowers in the garden. Despite the fact that his urine caused the carpet grass to wilt to a brown patch spoiling the greenery of the lawn of the bungalow.   Despite his naughty habit of having a dip in the crystal clear swimming pool whenever nobody was around.

"Will he recover from the big gaping wounds in his neck?  Would he need stitching to close up the laceration?" Mr Loh asked the veterinarian.

"He will need a clipping of his coat," I said.  It would be best to shave off all hairs from his neck.  Might as well shaved away the whole coat to see if there may be other lacerations.

"It is better not to stitch up a bite wound as there would be much bacterial infections." 

Flies appeared from nowhere, buzzing at the Labrador's neck.  The smell of dried blood must be attractive to flies.  Maggots would develop if the flies laid eggs.

The multiple wounds were washed daily for the next seven days. 
Lots of the bubbling hydrogen peroxide were used initially to cleanse the wounds.    Antibiotics were given by injection.  It took more than fourteen days for the wounds to close.  The veterinary bill was more than three hundred dollars.

The Doberman owner refused to pay saying that the amount was too high.  His veterinarian would have treated Prince for twenty dollars.  In any case, the general practitioner charged around eighteen dollars for wound treatment in people and that included medicine.  Why should he pay so much?

Would the Labrador's owner lodge a complaint with the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority?   Or make a police report or both? What would happen then?  Could they enforce payment of veterinary fees?

The aged parents said: "Let sleeping dogs lie".  Prince was alive and well.

Did I say he was an intelligent dog? Would he recall that his enemy might be lurking around and attack him again if he went out of the gates?  Whenever  I visited him to monitor his skin allergic conditions , he still nudged his way out of the side gate to explore the neighbourhood.  Once bitten certainly was not twice shy for this well loved Labrador Retriever.

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