NEAR Tragedy (NOT involving Halas) At Flyball This Weekend

[Leslie and Halas]

We were in Amana, Iowa, for a flyball tournament this weekend.  We had 6 races on Saturday, and between our 2nd and 3rd races, we were just sitting around relaxing.  I was facing the ring, but I was reading, not paying attention to the races.  All of a sudden, the person who runs the team that puts on this tournament came running by us, towards the ring.  I glanced up to see why she was in such a hurry, and I saw a bunch of people gathered near the start line of one lane.  I said to my teammates, "Uh oh. Something just happened."  

We quickly realized that there had been a collision between 2 dogs.  With so many people gathered around, it was hard to see, but then we could hear a person loudly crying, and we could see a dog on the ground.  The people right by the ring, who were able to see it happen, were also crying, which was definitely a sign that this wasn't a case of dogs simply bumping shoulders as they go by.  Luckily, there are usually at least a couple of vets at flyball tournaments, and I think one of them was judging races at this point, so she was right there.  I believe at least one other vet ran over, too.  At some point, it hit us that the dog wasn't moving.  Not because they were keeping her still, but because she couldn't.  

The people that saw it happen said they hit head on, and then one of the dogs immediately went down, convulsed, and then went still.  As we were watching the vet check her out, we could see that the dog was breathing, but was completely still other than that.  She was laying on her left side, and her front legs were both sticking straight out.  Her right leg wasn't even resting on her left leg or on the ground; it was just sticking straight out.  The initial thoughts were that it was a neck injury. At this point, pretty much everyone in the building had tears in their eyes. The poor dog's owner was just sitting on the floor by her dog, while the vets tended to the dog. 

The vets had someone bring a board over, and they gently moved her onto a board.  When they did this, the dog moved her back legs a little bit, so at least that was some movement.  Up until that point, we all thought she was paralyzed.  Her front half still seemed to be paralyzed, but the movement in the back legs at least gave us hope that it was only temporary.  They got her some blankets to keep her warm, and then loaded her into a car to get to the ER.

Within a couple of hours, we got word that the dog was up and walking on her own, so that was great news!  And some time after that, a picture was posted on Facebook of the owner smiling with the dog, as they hung out in the ER.  The dog was sitting up.  Last we heard, she's going to be fine, but we never did hear exactly what had happened.  Based on the description of the collision, and the temporary paralysis, I guess it was some kind of neck/nerve injury. 

It was eerily quiet in the building this entire time.  There were a lot of dogs crated in the building, and flyball dogs tend to bark quite a bit.  But we only heard about 2 barks the entire time.  I think that even the dogs knew something was wrong.  After a few minutes, racing resumed as normal, although that team didn't race the rest of the day.  The other dog didn't seem to be seriously injured in the collision, but I'm sure he was banged up at least a little bit.  So they may not have had enough dogs to keep racing, but I think the handlers and the dogs were just too upset to run.  I think all of us were very frightened by the whole thing, and that was after we found out she was walking on her own.  We all play this sport for fun, but there's always a chance, however slim, that something like this could happen.  And these dogs are both about 30 lbs.  It made me so thankful that Halas' collision with the lab a few years ago wasn't head-on.  That could have been devastating.  I don't worry too much about him being in a collision any more, because he doesn't even start running until the other dog is almost by him, and even then, he ducks way out to his right, just to make sure he gives the other dog several feet of room to get by him.  That's not great for a racing dog, but he can do that all he wants as far as I'm concerned, especially after this weekend.

In our next race after the injury, Halas didn't do so well.  He ran very slowly, and got distracted.  He did his 4 jumps, but then stopped when the got to the box, and just started sniffing around.  This went on for several seconds, and then he finally turned around and came back over his jumps to me, but he never did get his ball.  He shouldn't have been very tired yet, so I think he was a little sensitive about what had happened.  I don't know if he could really see that anything was going on, but I'm sure he could tell from how all of the people were acting.  The races after that were better, and he did well on Sunday, too.  The team that had the collision did race on Sunday, but neither of the dogs that collided were running.  I'm not sure if the seriously injured dog will ever run again, whether it's her choice or the handler's choice.  The other dog may have been sore or apprehensive, or it could have been injured too, just less severely.  We were all just so relieved that the first dog wasn't permanently paralyzed.  It would just be so tragic for something like that to happen.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thank you for putting "NOT involving Halas" in the title of this discussion.

This is so scary! I hope the dog who was injured makes a complete recovery. 

[Carol and Banjo]

How scary for all.   I'm happy to hear the two dogs are alright.  I don't think I would have ever considered that something like this could happen at a dog "sporting" event.   I'm sure Halas and probably all the dogs picked up on the change of mood.

[DJ & Chance]

Oh, I am so glad that the dogs seem to be okay.  

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

What a crash! OMG it must have been terrifying for everyone. It scared me just reading about it!  I'm so glad that Halas wasn't involved :) and that everyone involved is doing so well.

[Leslie and Halas]

Thanks for your comments, everyone. We were all so afraid that she was paralyzed. Flyball is a great community, and I know that everyone there understood that this could have been any of our dogs. I don't think we'd be racing any more if that had happened to someone on our team. It does make me thankful that Halas runs like he does. He's taking at least one of the risks out of it. There's always a chance for injury, so we do our best to prevent them, but they happen.

I put NEAR and NOT Halas in the title, because I still just find the whole thing really scary, and I didn't want people to worry when they started reading.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Wow, this is very scary.  I am thrilled that the dog seems okay and so glad Halas wasn't involved. We went to a whippet race with our dil last year and one of the dogs (not hers) ran off course into brush.  He died right there - apparently fell/tripped and broke his neck. It was devastating to watch.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Horrendous. Who would have thought that could occur.

[Leslie and Halas]

Oh, Nancy, how awful! When we first heard it was this dog's neck, we were concerned about a broken neck, too.
There are some whippets in flyball. They are unbelievably fast. It's easy to see how they could break their neck if they hit something full speed, but the odds of that actually happening seem so slim.
That's why I'm now more appreciative of Halas' half-speed running style.

[Kyoko]

I am glad to her that the dog was OK after all.... So scary... I guess it is like a mini head on car accident since they are going to their full speed....

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

 I am glad to hear that the dog is ok but how scary for the owner and everyone else there.  It really does make you think twice.  Jake used to love running under a neighbors deck playing chase with another dog.  It made me nervous so I would put up blockades but one day he ran right through them and straight into a board.  He fell but got up right away and wobbled over to me, moaned and collapsed in my arms.......thankfully he ended up being ok but I was so frightened.

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Very scary, glad that the dogs were alright.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Wow, what a scary moment. Glad to hear the dog that was down was doing better and moving.