Niblet & Stella..."The Fight"

Niblet- Player #1

Peanut-Player #2  (Witness)

Stella-Player #3

When you returned home from Kansas City, Missouri, after being forced to remain at the eating disorder clinic at Research Medical Center against your will, you wanted to get a dog.  I remember worrying about this idea thinking how difficult it will be for you to take care of a dog. You could barely take care of yourself let alone a dog....but I realized that a dog would be good company for you and would give you some feeling of protection, as well.
The fact that you were in the hospital for several months and were basically forced to gain some weight I will always in my heart know that it allowed you to live for probably one extra year. As difficult as it was to commit you against your will, it was one of the most difficult decisions that dad and I have ever had to make. I wouldn't wish the experience on my worst enemy......( a story for a different post).

When you arrived home, you were so happy to be back at your apartment......
although, the experience had angered you so much, the extra weight you had put on made you feel like crawling out of your skin. However, you were so happy that you were able to drive your car again too. Before you went to Missouri you were unable to drive, you were so weak.....It had been such an emotionally draining 4 months, having just tried to battle the evil monster that lived within you. It was like dealing with my daughter who was possessed. The verbal abuse, anger, phone calls (which I dreaded) twice a day...was not you, it was your eating disorder yelling rather loudly in my ear. It was sooooo mad, upset, and forced you to say things to me that you regretted and apologized for later.

You had found Niblet at a shelter in Chicago. She was born with a cleft palette and was going to be destroyed but was lucky enough to be rescued by the shelter. They gave her the opportunity for surgery so she could hopefully live a full life. You had told me that you felt a certain bond with her since she was "messed up"....like you felt you were too.

She has a wonderful personality and gets along well with all people. She loves kids too....the only bad thing was that she was too much dog for you. Being a young dog and needing to run around a lot, you had a difficult time meeting her needs. You would let her out of your apartment and run up and down the hallway as fast as she could. Also, in the winter, you would put her on a long leash and let her outside the door to pee while you waited inside the vestibule still holding onto the leash. I know it was too cold for you,  having depleted every last ounce of any body fat presented a lot of problems in your life. 

You would love to go to tanning places all the time to warm up especially in the winter months. Now, they have made up a new word for people who are addicted to tanning. It's "tanorexia"....a bit ironic.

So to continue the story of Niblet, Stella, and Peanut, which is what I am devoting this post to.....after you left on March 18th, 2010 one of Chels friends, Krista, was kind enough to take Niblet temporarily. I was hoping that it would work out permanently since they really loved each other and Krista owns a barn where Niblet could run around and hang out with the horses. It turned out that Kristas schedule prevented her from keeping her since she was gone for too many hours during the day. She did live with her for a few months...which in itself was extremely helpful and I will always be grateful. At that point we actually asked dad to take her and he absolutely did not want her. He just didn't want the responsibility of having a dog.....so I decided that we would try and have her live with Chel and I...even tho we already had 2 dogs in a small house.

Things went well for a few months and Stella and Niblet would play and play hard...all the while totally irritating Peanut. Peanut had very little tolerance for Niblet and would let her know it. One day while the 2 dogs were playing, it had escalated to a nasty altercation and we ended up having to separate them. It scared me a bit since I don't think it would be a fair fight since Niblet has pit bull in her and has those really strong jaws. I think that too maybe it was the beginning of them trying to establish who would be alpha dog of the household. After all, Stella was here first.....
About a week later my girlfriend, Rosalie was visiting us from Arizona and we were all in the kitchen and out of nowhere the 2 started growling and fighting with each other. Chel was right there and tried to separate them. Rosalie got the bright idea to grab some water in a glass from the faucet and planned to throw it on the dogs . In all the chaos, Chelsey reached down, Ro threw the water right in Chelseys face. We all laughed, it was hysterical. It wasn't quite so funny after we came back from visiting the emergency room and Stella had to have several staples in her chest and came home wearing the cone of shame.

One evening a few days later I was home alone and Chel had gone with her policeman boyfriend, at the time, on a "ride along". I had just let them in from outside and was in the process of putting Niblet behind the gate where we had them separated, and I heard one of them growl quietly. Before I could get the situation under control they started fighting and attached themselves to each other. We were right in front of my bedroom and they were ferociously growling and biting. Stella still had her cone around her neck, which I firmly believe saved her life since Niblet couldn't get her teeth easily around her neck to bite down....and probably too the fact that her mouth is not as effective as one w/o cleft palette surgery. I had grabbed Niblet by her back end and started pulling with all my might, but to no avail, they were stuck together like glue. I was screaming and yelling and tried for about 5 good minutes, then gave up. I ran out of the room thinking that maybe if I wasn't there they would stop. I slammed the door and immediately called 911. I ran outside and then called Chelsey but she didn't answer. I found out later that she had heard the call in her boyfriends squad car that came into the radio dispatch. He raced her back to her car so she could come home and help me with the situation.
I came back into the house and listened by the door, I was so afraid to open it for fear I would see Stella lying dead on the floor. I waited patiently for the police to arrive and finally he comes to the door and reluctantly came in...he said," what would you like me to do"? I asked him to please look and see what was in the bedroom...it was quiet at that point.  He told me that his partner was outside and she was a dog person, could she come in and look. So she came in and bravely went into the room to check it out. She came out and suggested I take the "black one" to the emergency room as soon as possible and that she was in bad shape. I wrapped her up in a blanket and drove to the emergency room....( i don' think I have ever had an emergency happen when it wasn't normal daylight hours or not on a Sunday).
Stella's chest was basically open on both sides, I think the both of us were in shock when we arrived at the hospital. I remember seeing the tech behind the counter who was an old friend we used to ride with years ago, Jennifer. It was good to know a familiar face after an experience like that. The police waited til Chel came home and decided not to report the incident to the Canine Patrol since they were both my dogs. I don't think that the police get many calls like this one.

Chelsey was right behind me and had stopped at home to get Niblet to meet me at the hospital. Stella gave Niblet a run for her money, but her injuries were not as life threatening. We spent a good portion of the evening at the hospital and about $2,100.00 later had to leave both to spend the night so they could be monitored. When we returned home we cleaned up my bedroom......there was blood everywhere.....splattered on the walls, carpet, bed...even in the shower they were wrestling with each other. It was like a picture from the show "Forensic Files"!

Stella the next day...poor baby!

 To this day I can't tolerate the noise of dogs either growling or fighting...I think I will be traumatized for years to come.

Stella eventually recovered from all of her injuries in time and finally Dale agreed to invite Niblet into his home, they are very happy together. They were meant to be together...Chel actually had a hand in helping him make the decision to take her. So everyone lives happily ever after and we get to see Niblet now and then.....

We miss you more each day........m