Lovable Labrador survives bad injury

Callie recovered well and is now re-homed – thanks everyone for your good wishes. Callie was attacked by a dog just before she came in to us.   Her injuries were horrific, her face mangled and she had a lot of stitches right through to the inside of her mouth which had to be sewn up as well.   She was in shock and very sore.   Her face swelled and she couldn’t eat.   We felt so very sorry for her, Callie is a lovely dog but there was not a lot we could do at first except give lots of t.l.c.. and sympathy.

We made her as comfortable as possible, she had a soft deep bed so she could relax and we gave her soft food from a spoon.  She didn’t want to open her mouth to eat so we had to coax her to take a little bit at a time.   Her injuries were too bad for us to put a picture of her online, her face swelled up and we were worried whether there would be any permanent damage to the nerves in the area.   Apart from where her face had been ripped open there were bite marks all over her head.

But time is a great healer – and antibiotics and aloe vera gel have helped too.   Callie is a fairly young and normally healthy dog and this was a big plus in her recovery.   Dogs that are already weak or elderly take a longer time to get better.

Caring for Callie has been very intensive but extremely rewarding as we’ve seen her respond a little more each day.   At first she was frightened and we had to be very careful not to catch her wounds – her face swelled up such a lot in the early days.   Gradually the swelling went down and she began to eat on her own.   From the start we took her out for little walks – we had to be very careful putting a collar on as her head was so tender.

It was a great day when we took the stitches out, we could see that it was more comfortable for her although we are still dressing her wound.  The stitches inside her mouth were the dissolving type thank goodness!

Now she’s almost fully recovered and ready to meet people again.   Callie is a lovely girl, a jet black Labrador with a super expression and beautiful soulful eyes.   She is gentle, very affectionaate and well behaved.  And she’s been lucky – there doesn’t seem to be any nerve damage to her face and apart from white flecks where her skin was broken, she is as good as new.

Callie has met other dogs and with such a kind and trusting nature she is ready to make friends and play again.   We wouldn’t like her to be anywhere near an aggressive character though.   We are looking for a very special home for this lovely gentle dog – if you’d like to come and meet her please get in touch.