I spent yesterday afternoon at the vet (well on the parking lot of the hospital because of the coronavirus...). No it was not for Skye. It was for Sunny, the little dog of a friend. Her mom works in urgent care extra long shifts, and we took her for a playdate. The third one actually. Skye bit her. Bit her and shook her. It was fast. It was terrifying. Although both my husband and I were supervising the interaction closely, we weren't able to prevent it. Luckily for everyone, the wound was only superficial but still required stitches.
I received a video from Sunny this morning giving me an update. She is doing well, and is getting lots of extra love and attention. I am very grateful of this ending, but it could have been worse. Much worse. I don't blame it on Skye. I can't imagine what she went through at the farm. Although she was a great mom, she didn't really have interactions with the other dogs. Actually the only interactions she had were most probably when the farmer threw her with a male dog to mate. Not the best dog socialization! I am actually blaming myself. Although Skye doesn't give clear signals, I know that she is stressed when we bring a dog over. I was pushing her over her comfort zone. Some stress is required to make progress, but it's really hard to know how much is too much. I am really sorry I let this happen. I really hope I didn't traumatize Skye further (and little Sunny of course! she is the main victim after all). Maybe Skye will never have dog friends. Who knows? We are definitively putting dog socialization on pause.