We had an incident the other day when this little Miss Tonella, who I have talked about here, got into a tangle with the other dogs. Scratch that, not a tangle but a full blown dog fight!

Backstory: We have three dogs in the compound; two female, one male. The male is generally polite, likes chilling but very playful, and loves the kids. The two females do not see eye to eye. They have to always remain separated. So we have one on one side of the compound, and the other two on the other side with three gates so they cannot reach each other.

The one that’s by itself is called Anatalina, she is playful, likes attention and sheds a lot. Rex the male, gets along with both pretty well, but he and Tonella (the one that bit my exercise mat) are tighter buddies. So he will stroll to where Anatalina is, sniff around a bit ( I guess his way of saying hey to her), then wander back to the garden after a few minutes to frolic and chill with Tonella. I think he is a charmer, covering his bases with the girls, letting them know he’s cool with each of them, LOL.

Do you ever get a sense of foreboding? When all is quiet and tense, you are just waiting for something to erupt but not sure what it is?

There was a lapse the some evenings ago, when one of the smaller gates was left open. Anatalina’s territory is on the kitchen side, so she always keeps me company when I am cooking. I had gotten started on dinner but she had not come to the window yet to do her doleful eyes act in her attempt to get some treats from me.

I should have really gone to check but I didn’t think much of it. A few minutes later I heard loud barking and a shout. H rushed out of the house to check what was happening. I stayed back with the kids so they would not follow him.

Sure enough, Anatalina being the smart girl she was, saw the open gate and walked through into the garden, where Tonella pounced on her and the fight began. By the time H and one of guys on duty got to the dogs, Rex was part of the fight! Imagine a snarling jumble of three adult dogs, tangled and rolling in the grass, nipping and barking. Chaos, I tell you, CHAOS. Because of the commotion, the neighbours’ dogs began barking too! It was quite a noisy racket.

After a few minutes of loud clapping, physical effort, and I guess Tonella’s really painful injuries, the dogs separated and all went back their bloody ways. Each retreating to their own areas, panting heavily. Their ears were bleeding, all scratched up and they were all whining in pain, it was not a pleasant sight. H did some dog first aid and called the Vet who told him what to do, till he would be able to come over the next morning.

The dogs are all much better now, thankfully. The vet came and checked the injuries, treated them accordingly and all three got a clean bill. Their ears are healing well, and hopefully all of us in the compound have learnt our lesson now and will not leave the gates open.

That incident made me search a few sites on what to do when this happens and below is a short list of some sites that offer good information:-

• https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/dog-first-aid-kit-essentials/
• https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/dog-on-dog-household-aggression/
• https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/first-aid-for-dogs
• https://www.wikihow.pet/Get-Your-Two-Dogs-to-Stop-Fighting
• https://www.scottsdalepethotel.com/dogs-fight-amongst/
• https://www.thesprucepets.com/safely-break-up-a-dog-fight-1117894

I sure hope we will not have to go through this again, but if it happens at least we will be better informed.