I love Welsh Terriers!
A raccoon is a formidable opponent indeed, for any dog and your small dog was incredibly brave to take one on!
You’ve got to love terrier grit. I bet she is dreaming of vanquishing that coon! She will probably be even more keen to attack one again if she gets a chance!
Hope she heals well. Terriers are tough.
Thanks, Houndhill. She’s getting zippier each passing day, and more resistant to wearing the cone. She’s one tough little dog, and I do love her grit. Formidable.
I was telling a friend about the fight, and made the mistake of saying, “Dog was attacked by a raccoon.” Friend said I maligned the raccoon. Raccoon came in for a drink, and was attacked by my dog. I have to admit that he is right.
Ah but raccoon entered dog’s yard, and if your terrier is anything like my terrier, that’s a crime worthy of the death penalty.
I can’t believe no one’s thought of this yet: The raccoon was not caught and quarantined (or immediately killed and tested), which means no one knows whether it could be carrying RABIES. You therefore must assume that it possibly could have been. Most places in the USA, raccoons are one of the most common vectors. NEVER take a chance!
If you came into ANY physical contact whatsoever with any saliva or blood on your dog that could have been from the raccoon, you NEED to get on the phone IMMEDIATELY to find out if you need HUMAN post-exposure RABIES shots.
This is a matter of life and death unless there is no raccoon rabies known to be in your area at all, even though it’s less common in WA state.
PLEASE call the nearest hospital and tell them you were exposed to raccoon fluids 3 days ago, and follow their instructions until they give you the all-clear.
Absolute head-smacker this wasn’t the FIRST question your veterinarian asked!
Glad your dog is improving - she is a terrier after all - takes more than a danged raccoon to lay them low. Not sure she will have learned a lesson tho - courage is in their DNA.
@Crashing Boar Thanks for the info and your concern. I didn’t come into direct contact with the raccoon, and don’t have any breaks in my skin through which the raccoon’s saliva, via the dog, could have infected me.
Also, according to our state department of health, bats are the known carriers of rabies in my county.
But you made me look, so thank you.
Glad you’re OK, OP!
For people living in places where rabies in common varmints IS endemic:
Should your dog mix it up with 'em and NOT be injured enough to require immediate vet attention, the best practice is NOT to touch the dog, quarantine it in a pen or crate where it can’t make physical contact with any person, and wait 2-3 hours. Rabies virus in saliva or blood dies once exposed to air, and according to the Animal Control where I live, 2 hours of air and sun exposure will render the danger moot on surfaces and coat.
When my guys caught a raccoon a few years back and ran it into their own kennel where they proceeded to break it up, I just banged the door on them (fortunately they had full water pails in there) and called AC. AC came, gloved with the noose-stick and bagged up the varmint, who against all expectations DID test positive, resulting in immediate re-boosters for the dogs even though they were current and recent. I got quizzed like you can’t believe as to whether ANY fluids got on me from them–had that happened, the shots would have been happening, too!
Bottom line: Don’t touch, bathe, pet, comfort, or otherwise handle your varmint-fighter until enough time goes by to remove the risk; and even THEN you might want to wear gloves when feeding/watering for a few days.
Once again, the above advice is for those in areas where rabies in raccoons and other common wildlife is endemic.
yikes! That is some serious stuff.
Glad your dog is improving.
We used to have a Chihuahua when I was a young kid. Like all Chihuahuas, he thought he was Napoleon. We lived next to some woods, and a raccoon would come up each night to make sure that the trash can was securely closed with its serious lid. Apparently, the previous residents weren’t as careful with their trash. Big old persistent coon. We had a carport light and would watch him out the window.
One night, Brownie was out there, and the raccoon came a little early. The Chi charged him, and the racoon was bigger. Coon just smacked him and rolled him over a few turns with the momentum and stalked off, and Dad ran out and got Brownie. EVERY SINGLE NIGHT after that, that crazy Chi would wait at the window for the coon, then go have a fit at the door wanting out to rejoin the battle. He just KNEW that this time would be the time that he could get him. On the couple of times he was out and they tangled again, same result, he still wanted more just as soon as he could get his feet under him. Wasn’t put off at all. We’d tell the dog that he was no match for a raccoon, but he didn’t believe us. Had to admire his spirit, if not his good sense.
ya gotta admire the spirit.
Which all brings me back to my first thought when I saw this thread: Shoot the coon while it’s treed. Save the dog…
For all the coon lovers: There are plenty racoons in the world, they are not an endangered species…
Maybe but rabies is some serious disease if one gets it. It isn’t always fatal but it sure can be.
From the CDC regarding pets.
Any animal bitten or scratched by either a wild, carnivorous mammal or a bat that is not available for testing should be regarded as having been exposed to rabies.
Unvaccinated dogs, cats, and ferrets exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized immediately. If the owner is unwilling to have this done, the animal should be placed in strict isolation for 6 months and vaccinated 1 month before being released.
Animals with expired vaccinations need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Dogs and cats that are currently vaccinated are kept under observation for 45 days.
Small mammals such as squirrels, rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, chipmunks, rabbits, and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States. Bites by these animals are usually not considered a risk of rabies unless the animal was sick or behaving in any unusual manner and rabies is widespread in your area.
However, from 1985 through 1994, woodchucks accounted for 86% of the 368 cases of rabies among rodents reported to CDC. Woodchucks or groundhogs (Marmota monax) are the only rodents that may be frequently submitted to state health department because of a suspicion of rabies. In all cases involving rodents, the state or local health department should be consulted before a decision is made to initiate postexposure prophylaxis (PEP).
That’s an awesome idea, and I would if I could. But in my little corner of suburbia (small houses and yards, a close-in suburb to Seattle) I’m pretty sure that shooting a gun at 2:30 in the morning would draw some attention that would not leave.
My dog is up-to-date on vaccinations, and just had her rabies booster in late June. That’s one benefit of using the same clinic for regular and emergency care. By the time I got there, they had reviewed her file.
Stitches come out Friday. She’s ready for swimming and a bath!
I’m so happy she’s feeling better. You’re going to have to keep her away from raccoons. She did not learn her lesson. Nor did a terrier (Schipperke mix) we had who got sprayed by skunks twice… you’d think one time would do it. She would probably have been sprayed more if we hadn’t moved.
I met someone with a Yorkshire terrier and a Pitbull. One evening she heard a great deal of barking in her backyard and she went out to see what was going on. The Pitbull ran in and the Yorkie was standing there, so she picked her up by the harness and realized that her dog weighed quite a bit more than usual. She brought her into the light and realized her Yorkie had a possum in her mouth. She shook her by the harness yelling “Drop it. Drop it.” The dog dropped the possum, but it amazed her that her little Yorkie terrier went for the possum and her pit bull seemed afraid of it. Terriers are scrappy!
I won’t walk my dogs anymore, the pit bull population has exploded (especially the puppy mills) and people like to walk them, sometimes letting them off leash. It’s not safe for people or dogs or anything.
What does this have to do with a terrier having a scuffle with a racoon in their own backyard seven years ago?
I was replying to the person whose dog got attacked by the pit bull. Not you, so mind your own business.
Be mindful of the date. This post is from 2018.
BTW. It’s a public forum. There is a DM feature you can use for private conversations.
I knew it was old but it pulled up first in search…Old conversations can be helpful too!
There is no reason to be rude.
Instead of bumping up a 7 year old thread about raccoons and dogs, you could easily start a new thread about your concerns about walking your dog because of the local pit bulls.
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