By Maurice Chesworth

Last updated at 08:32, Friday, 12 June 2009

Dog owner Heather Metcalf was prepared for the worst as her Jack Russell Woodso fought for his life.

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The terrier’s neck had been broken and ripped open after an attack by one of her other dogs.

Despite two life-saving operations by vet Ann Noble, Woodso, now 11, was too weak to eat and was fading fast.

It was then Heather, of Raughton Head, near Dalston, came up with her cool idea – ice cream.

Heather said: “I tried to imagine what I might be able to eat if my throat was hurting as badly and thought of ice cream.

“Straightaway he started to lap it up and found it easy to swallow. I knew he was getting some goodness into him.

“There were still a few setbacks along the way, but the ice cream proved to be the real turning point in his recovery.”

Heather had left her three dogs together as normal.

“They had always got on very well together but that day there must have been a jealous scrap. When we found him he was unconscious and barely breathing, There was blood everywhere.”

Paragon Vet Ann Noble didn’t hold out much hope for his chances when Heather first brought Woodso to the surgery.

“‘He was in shock and barely alive with severe cuts and bruising to his neck.

“He was given intensive treatment with oxygen, intravenous fluid therapy and pain relief and the first surgery was carried out when he was stable enough to cope.’

It was just the start of a long slow road to recovery. X-rays showed that the tips of all the bones in his neck were broken and the muscles torn down to the bone.

Heather says there were moments when she wondered if she was doing the right thing by trying to keep him alive.

She said: “He really belongs to my son William and we knew that if anyone could help it would be Will.

“He was at university but got straight on the train to come home. We went to see Woodso after surgery and he was pretty out of it and covered by a blanket but when he heard Will’s voice we saw the blanket move as he tried to wag his tail and we all just collapsed in tears.

“He was allowed home where he slept in our bedroom where we could keep an eye on him. But he was too weak to eat and that was when we put him on the ice cream diet.”

Woodso, who was attacked in May 2007, has now become a character on the Cumbria horse scene travelling with Heather to shows and events all over the county in her horsebox.

And if Heather’s having an ice cream – Woodso gets one too. “He still loves the stuff and I’m sure it saved his life,” she said.

First published at 05:10, Friday, 12 June 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk