We had two days to go in our current and final house sit in France for this year when there was a ‘situation’.

Around 6.30pm, the German Shepherd, who I call “Big Girl”, viciously attacked one of the little dogs – the one I call “Scruffy” (because even after I brush her she still looks a mess, and she loves getting dirty). Mick was on the scene when it happened (thank goodness) while I was upstairs.

I could hear the commotion – Mick yelling at Big Girl, and Scruffy squealing in both pain and terror. No instructions (aka yelling) from Mick could get Big Girl to release Scruffy. Finally, Mick had to grab Big Girl under the chin and wrangle the little dog free.

I sprinted down the three flights of stairs and arrived  just as Mick had everything under control. Big Girl looked quite guilty, and poor Scruffy was very distressed. The other little dog (who I call “Princess”) was also distressed at what had just taken place.

Mick was very shaken by what had taken place as well. He had not thought that Big Girl, with her very big teeth, could have had a go at him while he had her in a head lock.

Mick was pretty sure that the attack had taken place because Big Girl was asleep near the little gate that keeps them in the downstairs living area, and as Mick came down the stairs, Scruffy got excited and raced over to meet him and accidentally jumped near (or even perhaps on Big Girl, but she only weighs 6kg) and Big Girl was not happy about that.

Mick and I had a good look at Scruffy and could see she had two (smallish) puncture wounds which we treated with antiseptic spray. The wounds only bled a little, and after a big cuddle, Scruffy seemed fine. Mick and I kept the two little dogs away from Big Girl for the rest of the evening.

The next morning (the day before we were to leave),  I contacted the owners and told them what had happened. (We did not think we should disturb them the previous night because both dogs were okay, and we thought there was nothing that needed to be done.)

We were wrong.

The owners advised us that we had to take Scruffy to the vet for an injection and to get some antibiotics for her to ensure she did not get any infection.

So, off we went, leaving the remaining two dogs in separate parts of the house.

Mick did his best to hold on to Scruffy while we waited in the veterinary surgery for her appointment.

The vet, thankfully could speak English, and so the phrases I had prepared to explain what had happened were not necessary.

The vet shaved near the puncture wounds, and after cleaning them, gave Scruffy an injection. She was so well behaved.

When we returned from the vet’s, Scruffy got such a warm welcome from the other two dogs – as if they had not seen each other for ages when it was actually less than an hour. Big Girl seemed to have forgotten what had happened, although Scruffy was certainly cautious around her .

For the remaining time we were caring for the girls, Mick and I continued to keep the little ones separate from Big Girl. We did this while we packed our bags, vacuumed the house and prepared a three course meal for the owners on their return. And when I had 5 minutes, I listened to my French lessons with my French girls by my side.

We enjoyed some good French wine we had bought to share to say ‘thank you’ for the opportunity to sit in such a wonderful home, and we were able to explain more fully what had happened with the dogs.

Then we shared some excellent French wine they had in their cellar while we talked about returning some stage to sit for them again.

It turned into quite a big night!!

After a slow start the following day, we headed off for a very quick self-driving tour of Brittany – a region Mick really wants to see before we say au revoir to France.

DISCLAIMER

You may have thought us neglectful not to ‘report immediately’ such a serious incident as the vicious attack on the little dog. But there is more to this story than I have let on.

Before the owners left, we spent almost two days with them learning about the dogs and their routines. As all of them were rescue dogs, we also learnt a bit about each dog’s foibles. We were told that Big Girl had attacked Scruffy before – a couple of times. (Hence, the quick advice for us to get Scruffy to the vet’s, The owners however had not told us about that part of the story.) The two previous attacks had taken place during a game of ball throwing – so we were under instruction not to play ball with the dogs while we were caring for them. And of course, we didn’t.

So when the attack took place, we knew this was not the first time it had happened, and Mick was convinced it was because Big Girl was ‘rudely’ awoken from a deep sleep, and not because she was determined to annihilate Scruffy.

There was something else they had not told us – and that was that Big Girl is quite ‘territorial’ about the gateway entrance into the downstairs living area. The owner mentioned (after the attack) that he often carries Scruffy across the threshold in order to avoid any possible ‘situation’.

Now, that would have been useful to know beforehand.