Toby is our 3 year old red Staffordshire Bull Terrier.  He loves walks in the woods and like most staffs bombs and barges his way around.  

About 18mths ago we took Toby for one of these walks.  He had a great time chasing the odd pheasant and having a drink when he got thirsty from the hollow in the tree. 

My children, Amy and Luke, play hide and seek with him, but he's no tracker dog and takes ages to find them. When we got home Toby had a sleep, which was not unusual.

The next day I noticed a little cut on the top of Toby’s head which didn't seem to be bothering him.  It wasn't till after school when we went to meet Amy and Luke that he started acting oddly.  He didn't want to walk on his lead and kept pulling sideways.  

By the time we got to the school Toby was screaming out in pain every time his collar tugged on the lead.  I carried him home and by this time his eyes had bloodshot and he had a bloody discharge coming out of his eyes.  He was clearly in a great deal of pain and looked horrendous.  I thought he must have had some sort of stroke.  

We got him straight to our vet, Mr Sanyal, who was alarmed to see the state poor Toby was in.  He explained that it was very unlikely to be a stroke but he was afraid it was something serious and kept him at the surgery for tests.  

The next day we went to collect Toby still unaware of what the problem was.  The nurse had it turned out diplomatically said he was comfortable and up and about, when I had phoned to enquire.  

Mr Sanyal had done an x-ray and knew what the problem was, but was trying to explain without distressing our then 10 year old daughter Amy, that Toby had broken his neck and it was critical.  

He told us that there was little he could do as far as immobilising the joint, as dogs do not tolerate a neck brace that would be fitted in the case of a human with the same condition, they do themselves more damage trying to get them off.  He gave Toby some antibiotics and anti inflammatory, we had to keep him as calm as possible, not let him climb stairs, jump up wear a collar or go for any runs for about 10 weeks.  

The pain was being caused by the swelling putting pressure on his spinal cord, there was a risk this could leave him paralysed or would affect his ability to breath and he would die. 

We couldn't take it all in, how on earth could this happen.  Mr Sanyal said he could tell from the x ray that it was a compression fracture he had head butted something at speed to do that sort of damage.  It was then I remembered the little cut on the top of his head we surmised he had run into a tree when we had been out in the woods the previous day.

I was up with Toby most of that night he cried and looked so depressed I really thought he had had it.  I called Mr Sanyal and took him back to the surgery the next day for more anti-inflammatory injections at one point he thought his only chance was to go to a specialist hospital that could offer surgery.  Thankfully it never came to that. 

Toby seemed to be improving and we were due to go on holiday for a week, he goes to Wincott Kennel at Wye.  We were ready to cancel but Mr Sanyal said it would be ideal as being in kennel would be just the thing to restrict his activity if they were prepared to have him.  He was still on daily meds.  I spoke at length to the owner David who agreed and arranged the isolation block for Toby's arrival. 

We bought a harness, no more collars, and it was agreed he would be walked several times a day on his own on a lead.  I phoned the kennel every day and we were reassured he was settled and it seemed to be working as David admitted that if I hadn't told him he would not have guessed Toby had a broken neck. He has run kennels for years and had never heard of any other dog doing this.   

Mr Sanyal had, only a week previously, treated a small dog that had done the same but had sadly died.  A friend of mine was chatting to a Big Issue seller whose Stafford had run head first into a lamp post but had escaped injury and recently a friend’s Stafford ran head first into closed patio doors.  One of Toby's cousins was hit by a bus and just got up and ran home...............are these dogs really cats in disguise, stupid or incredibly tough?

Toby was kept to light exercise for the 10 weeks and made a full recovery.  We thank Mr Sanyal for his treatment and care of Toby and Wyncott Kennels and their staff where Toby still enjoys his holidays.

Here is a recent picture of Toby out on one of his walks.  When he gets hot he wallows in muddy puddles like a hippo.  

Alison Jackson

12th June 2004