Keeping your small dog safe around big dogs and while traveling -- Pet 'Net Safety Event

When Rick Caran and his girlfriend, Judy Donnenfeld, went traveling this September with his 5-pound Yorkshire Terrier, Jilli, he had no idea the tragedy that would ensue when he and his tiny dog stopped to visit friends who had two big dogs. One of the dogs suddenly grabbed Jilli by the throat, tearing a large gash in her neck. Luckily, Jilli survived, but it wasn't always clear that she would. "I want to use Jilli's story as a cautionary tale to remind people with small dogs what can happen in seconds, and how you can be prepared if such an emergency occurs," says Caran.

Rick Caran and his Yorkshire Terrier, Jilli, before she was
attacked by a big dog in September 2009. (Rick Caran)

Eleven years ago, Donnenfeld was driving down a road in Huntington on New York's Long Island when she spotted a furry creature walking down the road. It turned out to be a little Yorkie who had no collar or tags and was dirty and hungry. "She might have come directly from heaven," says Caran.

After vain attempts to locate the dog's owner, Caran decided to adopt the dog, who he named Jilli.

Caran has trained dogs for fun since he was a child and soon discovered that Jilli was not only adorable, but intelligent. He began using bits of cheese to teach her basic commands, then progressed to more complex tricks based on his theory that "five minutes a day of fun training can produce a happy trickster and wonderful family member."

Today, Jilli is the affectionately recognized as the World's Only Poker Playing Dog. She and Caran travel the world delighting audiences with Jilli's numerous tricks. They have appeared on The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly and on Animal Planet, just to name a few. She is also a certified therapy dog, a "Goodwill Ambassador" to Yorkshire Terrier National Rescue, and helps raise money for fundraisers and animal rescue organizations.

This September, Caran and Donnenfeld drove with Jilli and two other dogs through the Midwest, making public appearances and visiting people in hospitals and retirement homes.

They had finished one of their last visits to a senior citizens' home and were driving back to New York when they decided to accept the invitation of friends in New Jersey, inviting them to visit their home.

Jilli, after being attacked by a big dog. (Rick Caran)

Ever cautious, Caran called ahead from his cell phone and asked whether his friends' two big German Shepherd mix dogs would be okay around a small dog such as Jilli. "Jilli is so small that a big dog could mistake her for prey," Caran explains.

Their dogs would be fine around each other, the wife assured him, saying that her dogs knew the  difference between small dogs and squirrels.

It was a Sunday afternoon when Caran stopped in New Jersey to visit with his friends. They brought their dogs to the front yard on leashes. The two large dogs immediately converged on Jilli, sniffing her from all sides. Feeling trapped, Jilli "woofed" at them, says Caran. After separating the dogs, Caran suggested they keep the dogs apart for safety.

"We were standing in the backyard, talking, when the big dogs returned and came up to Jilli, who was sitting at my feet, " Caran recalls.

"Jilli went 'woof!' and the dog just grabbed her by the neck and Jilli started screaming."

(The owner of the big dog, says Caran, insists her dog did not "attack" Jilli, but that it was a "fight" between 5-pound Jilli and the 40-pound Shepherd mix.) 

As the big dog lifted its head, looking as if it were about snap Jilli's neck, Caran grabbed the dog in a bear hug. "I saw nothing but Jilli," says Caran. "Her face was full of blood and I just wanted to comfort her." The dog dropped Jilli. Scooping his tiny dog in his arms, Caran tried not to panic, but admits to letting out a yell "that could probably be heard in the next county," he says.

"I didn't know where the nearest emergency veterinary clinic was," says Caran. "It took us 20 minutes to find a hospital on the Internet and another 40 minutes to drive there, following our host." Jilli's entire face and half her body was covered in blood. Racing to the hospital, Caran says it seemed that Jilli was dead. "We kept checking for her heartbeat," he says.

Once at the hospital, it seemed Jilli would survive. "Thank God it didn't hit a major artery because in the hour it took to get her to the hospital, she would have bled to death," says Caran.

Jilli's neck was sewn back to together with 30 stiches and a stent was inserted for drainage.

Today, Caran is thankful that Jilli is alive, though she suffered nerve damage and cannot close her left eye. "She's a survivor," Caran says about his dog. 

Jilli performing again, just three weeks after being attacked by a
big dog. (Rick Caran)

Though Caran mourned for the ordeal that Jilli had been put through, he realized soon after the incident that his sad demeanor was affecting his dog. "When I would go to Jilli in her bed, I was so saddened to see her like that and it broke my heart," says Caran. "But I realized that it broke her little heart to see me so sad. When I forced myself to smile and greet her the way I always had, every day of her life, she became happy to see me." That, and the eventual re-introduction of her doing tricks -- a little at a time -- jumpstarted Jilli's healing process.

"She always loves to make people smile, so when she started doing her tricks again, it was just what the doctor ordered," Caran says.

Just three weeks after she was attacked, Jilli made her first public appearance at a doggy fundraiser. She appeared to be back to her delightful self, entertaining the crowd by playing poker, basketball, doing magic tricks with Caran and grabbing tissues out of a Kleenex box everytime someone sneezed.

"I let my guard down for five seconds and Jilli was attacked," says Caran, who says he should have listened to his instincts and held Jilli in his arms.

Caran provides the following reminders about keeping your small dogs safe while traveling:

(1) Be careful of your small dog when it is around a big dog. "It's not that big dogs are bad," says Caran. "But you need to realize what can happen to a tiny dog in just seconds." 

(2) Take note of the locations of veterinary clinics and emergency hospitals when you're traveling with your pet. Hopefully, you won't need to use the information, but you can save precious time if an unfortunate incident does happen.

(3) Always smile when you spend time with a pet who is injured. "Your attitude affects your dog and they don't like to see us upset," Caran says.

Watch Jilli play poker in this adorable video...