Fair warning: no synchro in this post. Well, maybe there is, buried somewhere.
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Our animal companions occupy a special place in our lives. They love us unconditionally, trust that we will love them back in kind and take care of their needs. In September 2011, our daughter, Megan was living at home, and asked if she could adopt a puppy from a dog rescue organization in our area. The puppy she settled on was a border collie/lab mix (we think) whom she named Nika.
Our golden retriever, Noah, took to her instantly. They played together, slept together, and until she was big enough to stand up to bullies at the dog park, Noah defended her. A deep bond developed between them.
When Megan moved to Orlando for her Disney internship, we kept Nika because she was living in a high rise in downtown Orlando and working 8-10 hours a day. During our frequent visits, it was always obvious that Nika regarded Megan as her human. She loved us and Noah, no question, but when Megan walked into the house, Nika went nuts. And when Megan left again or we drove back home after a visit, Nika seemed out of sorts.
This little bundle of joy burrowed her way into my heart. Everything for Nika is about curiosity, joy, exploration. She doesn’t run, she hops. She doesn’t just race into the dog park to greet her friends, she tears in there, her tail whipping from side to side. And when she encounters a dog who is not so friendly, she instantly falls to the ground, rolls onto her back, and offers up her belly as if to say, Hey, dude, be my friend, okay? And she’s like that with humans, too. She loves everyone.
In June, when Megan’s Disney internship ended, she decided to start a dog walking business. Her area is perfect for it – lots of high rises inhabited by young professionals who all have dogs that spend eight hours alone while their humans work. Nika went to live with Megan and Ollie, her roommate’s dachshund.
Noah’s world suddenly shrank. He sort of moped around the house, didn’t run and play at the dog park, and was certainly less active than when Nika had been around. I’m convinced that Noah sank into a kind of depression. Whenever the two of them got together after a separation, their love for each was palpable. One time, Nika literally jumped out of window of Megan’s car to get to Noah.
All day today (August 3), I’ve been feeling out of sorts without knowing quite why – one of those days when you feel antsy, restless, for no apparent reason. So tonight we’re at dinner with friends, talking about an app we hope to develop, and get a call from Megan. Nika has been attacked by a pitt bull, in the elevator of the building where Megan lives.
Megan is totally freaked out, Nika is covered in blood, and the elevator and hallway are saturated in so much blood, she says, that it looks like the scene of a murder. I tell her to get Nika into the shower so she can see where she’s injured. After numerous phone calls, Megan says that Nika has a deep puncture wound in her neck and she and a friend are rushing her to an emergency veterinary clinic.
The upshot of all this? Nika went into surgery for the wound in her neck, the parents of the young woman who owns the pitt bull marched down to the concierge desk and insisted on knowing who the “other dog” was, because that dog (Nika) was at fault. The concierge refused to give them Megan’s name; she was standing right there as the parents went on about this.
Megan blurted, “I own the other dog and she would never hurt anything or anyone.”
Matt, the concierge, said, “You need to see the security video,” and played it for them. It clearly showed the pitt bull lunging for Nika, grabbing her at the throat. The father said they would “help pay for Nika’s vet bill.”
$1200 and change. Really? Think again, my friend.You’re going to be footing the entire bill.
The pitt is being taken away tomorrow by the county’s animal control shelter. Any time a police report is filed about a pitt bull, this is what happens. I have to say that I feel bad for the pitt. This species fills animal care facilities all over Florida. Most of them are euthanized. As our friends said tonight after Megan’s call, “They are lovable dogs. But they can turn on you in a flash and when they do that, they are wild, uncontainable.”
Please keep Nika in your thoughts.
OMG Trish,
I’m sitting here in tears…..poor Nika. And Megan. This must have been such a traumatic event for them both. My heart goes out to them and I’m sending all my love and light to Nika and Megan. I’m glad to see that in the above comments that she’s improving.
It was – but Nika is apparently on the road to recovery, back to her hopping joyful self. The tubes in her neck come out on Wednesday.
thinking of you nika! auntie gypsy
I am so sorry, I forgot to say I was also sending healing to Megan!
She must have been so distraught. I hope that she is doing better, Nikka really needs her now!
again, I send love and hugs to BOTH Nikka and Meghan.
Thanks you, Mom. Megan said Nika is improving – she’s eating, playing with her roommate’s dog. Good signs.
Definitely healing thoughts to Nika – what an awful experience.
Pitt Bulls are banned in the UK, plus some other dangerous breeds. I love all dogs – but some dogs are fighters.
Trust there is good news now on Nika.
Oh my gosh poor Nika! That is so awful. I hope that Nika is able to recover from her attack and heal well and that Meg too is ok, that must have been very traumatic. I wish I wasn’t always so judgmental and cautious when I see a pitbull, thinking they will automatically attack anyone and anything, but I do think that, despite hearing how wonderful of a pet they can be, they make me nervous as these type of events are more common than not. Poor baby, I hope the vets were able to stabilize Nika and make her more comfortable. Best wishes.
I feel that fer around them, too. Weird, right? How do our preconceived notions about them contribute to what happens?
Oh my gosh, my heart is just aching for sweet Nikka.
I do feel she will be okay but am sending lots of love and healing her way.
They say whe you pray for someone a light shines up to heaven, I think heaven is quite bright tonight!!
Thanks, Mom. I like that part about stars in the heavens.
Megan had to take Nika to a different vet today just so they could check the tubes.
They gave her some high nutrient food, she drank some water, the tubes get taken out on Wed.
I’m betting sooner because of all the healing she got today!
I know Megan would miss her terribly, but maybe having Nika with Noah right now would help Nika heal faster?? Noah seems extremely protective towards his smaller soulmate companion, and animals frequently do seew to heal more rapidly when they are among someone of their own kind who is a caregiver for them, as Noah is for Nika. It’s a thought. And Noah could help keep Nika’s mind off her emotional trauma, maybe, which had to accompany the physical wounds. Just thoughts about the inexplicable and glorious relationship between animal friends.
Some of you may remember our yellow lab LadyGirl and her feline best pal MaCat. Ladygirl crossed over after a lengthy battle with illness, and two weeks later, MaCat followed her with a sudden illness. Whenever LadyGirl would have a seizure, MaCat would sit very close to her, on the nearest arm of the sofa, and wait for the seizure to pass. She watched her friend without moving a hair, still as a statue, and when the seizure was past, MaCat jumped down and nuzzled her canine friend, grooming her and licking her and loving her. She mourned when we lost Lady, and two weeks later, MaCat followed. They wanted to be together. Cat and dog….didn’t matter. They were
bonded. I think Noah’s presence might help sweet Nika heal faster, maybe. Again, just a thought……
Have been thinking along the same lines. I want to wait until the tubes are removed from her neck, then see what’s what.
Horrified to see this! Have transmitted healing to Nikka just now,there were 11 comments here and I transmitted at 11.11 pm! Good strong link with Nikka,hope it helps!
On the same day my terrier Tuppence was pinned by the throat to the floor by a dog and I was able to pick her up & leave with her & cant believe Tuppence looks like a minature version of Nikka,similar markings,same loving gentle nature!
Thank you for sending healing to Nika! Good synchro there with the 11s! I’m glad Tuppence wasn’t hurt.
Love and light to Nika – this is just horrible. I really do not know why people insist on keeping these dogs! I know they are sweet, but their bite is so much more horrible with 600 lbs of pressure. The damage they do is always so much more serious than a regular dog. Ghaaaaa!!!
You are so welcome for the candles and the positive thoughts! Our animals are our family. We have a black chow directly next door; his name is “Racket”, and while I’m generally not afraid of animals, Racket terrifies me. He is beyond vicious and there are many children in our community. The neighbors are wonderful, caring folks, but they allow Racket to be on a heavy chain that is locked on the inside of their garage, and he is able to come outside quite a few feet into the yard. Once in a while he manages to get loose and run, and that is scary as the dickens. I know they love him, but he’s a tragedy waiting to happen, I’m afraid. He is a house dog and stays inside except to do his business. They can’t even walk him on a leash because he’s so mean, not even with a muzzle. He has a heavy chain in the backyard where they put him to do his stuff. But if a child happened to come by, it would be horrific. Racket hates everybody and everything except his two owners, and he’s even bitten HER once, requiring stitches. I hurt for the dog because I know sooner or later the worst can happen, and Racket will be blamed. There’s a lot of farmland and coutryside near here, with many farms and ranches where Racket could live happily without harming anyone. I do wish they would give him to such a place. I agree 100% with Lauren. There is no room for “bad animals” within a neighborhood, and these people who keep them for purposes of fighting or feeling “macho” are much worse than the poor dogs, who are doing what they are trained to do. In Europe, pits were bred to hunt wild boar, and that instinct carried easily into attack mode towards the world at large. Lab and Goldens are generally bred for search, rescue, and service, as Shelties and Aussies like Nika are bred to herd and protect. Animals, as children, learn what they are taught by humans, generally.
I’m so sorry about your daughter’s dog, and urge you to take the owners to court if they so much as sneeze about paying the entire bill. Pit bulls were breed for vicious dog fighting in “fight pits”, which is why they are called pit bulls – they will attack other dogs, or humans sometimes, just because that’s what they are breed to do, just like an Australian shepherd will start herding whatever animals are around to herd (they especially can’t help themselves around sheep).
People want pit bulls mostly for “macho” reasons, and enjoy the idea that their dog is “a killer”, and I have rarely found it otherwise, unfortunately. Tucson where I live is full of macho idiots with pit bulls that spend their lives without much love in small yards and every year or so get out and kill other dogs or occasionally children. Efforts have been made to outlaw the breed in Tucson because no less than 5 children have been killed by pit bulls in the past decade, but the same mentality that reserves the right to freely by an assault rifle will not consider spaying their dangerous dogs.
Killing children? Wow, I didn’t realize this. In our county, spaying and neutering for pitts is free – but not mandatory, as far as I know.
She seems to be recovering. She has tubes in her neck, which come out in 5 days, and the pitt has been removed from the building by animal care and control.
Gazing at the photo of Nika cuddled up with Noah when she was just a baby makes me weep in its sweetness. As I promised you in my email to you earlier, I’ll have a candle burning for Nika….and also for the pit bull. It is the fault of humans that viciousness is bred and encouraged into certain breeds of dogs, and that breeding goes back centuries. All canines have feral roots from antiquity, but many have evolved out of the spontaneous fierceness that was originally needed for their survival. However, it’s been my experience that ANY dog of ANY breed can revert to its feral roots under certain circumstances, and unfortunately pit bulls are among the worst to do that. In GA I owned a small AKC Great Dane kennel, with only two studs and one bitch, which was all I could manage to handle but which was successful. I was extremely particular about the folks who got our pups, and did thorough background checks on them and even kept up routinely with them after they took a pup home. Danes are notoriously serene, sedate dogs, just enormous. When our middle son moved here with us a few months ago following his divorce, he brought his Great Dame “Matt” with him. Matt was a huge male that our son had adopted as an adult, and he hadn’t had Matt very long. Matt was a lover, not a fighter. But….we discovered that Matt had untreated heartworms and was past saving, so we were allowing him to live out his life with as much love and comfort as we could provide. It wasn’t time to let him go; our vet kept a close eye on him. Then one night when I was here alone, Matt very suddenly without provocation attacked my Sunshine, who is a yellow lab service dog. He grabbed her by her throat as she lay sleeping on the carpet and started slinging her around. I was screaming and terrified and had no choice but to hit Matt very hard on his backside with my walking stick. The look in his eyes I will never forget as long as I live. He did let Sunshine go, and he began to fall over, stumbling around. He was having a seizure. Thank God when our vet came….she makes house calls…Sunshine wasn’t too seriously hurt, but we had to let Matt go. Vet told us the attack was the initial part of his seizure. It was heartbreaking. This is an entirely different story than poor Nika’s, though. And the poor pit who attacked her. I blame the humans, always. People shouldn’t be allowed to keep breeds that are known to be vicious anywhere near other people and other animals. It’s all so tragic, and so sad. But again, the candles here are burning for both of the dogs, and I hope the pit will find his way across the Rainbow Bridge when he “goes to sleep” and that his humans will NOT get another such animal! They should pay with more than money, in my opinion. Sorry for the tirade. I just get really upset over the animals.
I feel bad for the pitt, too. Thank you for the lit candles!
oh, no! SO sorry to hear! not sweet gentle nika! is she home now or still at vet’s recuperating? and how is megan doing?
nika – i know the force is with you – be well! many healing and caring thoughts – auntie gypsy
She’s recuperating, gypsy. I’ll let her know auntie gypsy was asking about her!
thinking of nika and her humans!
Thanks, Gypsy. I’m tempted to go get her!
I say euthanize the human owner whose energy infused that dog
Viv – she’s recovering!
What a completely sweet dog Nika is. You can see it in the pictures and your description of who she is to everyone is completely clear. I think Nika should come back and live with you so that Noah can keep an eye on her. Please keep me informed as to how she is. I love her already!
Definitely. Heal whole and hearty, Nika. Be at peace, Megan.
I have felt that unfounded edginess prior to a traumatic event. It’s helped me focus and get clear as soon as I know the issue. I never would have thought to shower the dog to determine the primary wound – brilliant.
Yes, go after full payment from the responsible party.
The shower was one of those things you suggest because you are freaked out and don’t know what else to say. In this case, it turned out to be the right thing to say.