Well, the article doesn't say whether the porcupine was attacked or not. Maybe the dog was curious and got too close? A domesticated animal probably doesn't have the experience to know to stay away from something like that... A dog in the wild would probably be more cautious. I blame Obama.
That many quills happened because he didn't quit attacking once he got stuck. The Porcupine was almost certainly not the aggressor. I still feel bad for the dog because it didn't know any better. This could have easily started off with a curious sniffing.
Do bulldogs not have functioning pain receptors? You'd think after the first few quills the dog would determine that it's not worth it. That many quills indicates either mindlessness or insensitivity.
We had a dog that did this twice IN ONE MORNING! No doubt the stupidest dog on the planet. All together this dog got quilled five times. Anyway, normally when dogs do this they get maybe a few dozen quills at most. But they can lose an eye or both, so it's no joke. This is the most extreme example I've ever seen. And porcupines can throw their quills, but it's not on purpose. As they whip that tail/ass they drive the quills in. Any that fly off won't have enough energy to penetrate very far. Quills are hollow, and quite light, but they do have barbs (like a fish hook) so they work their way in further + further. The best way to remove quills from a dog is to first cut the quills - they are hollow and air filled, so this will shrink their diameter a bit. But first, blindfold the dog (if possible). If you don't blindfold the dog, they see you getting near the quills to pull them and they suspect more pain will come. Then put the dogs head in a doorway and close the door on its neck, stabilizing the head somewhat. Then using pliers, pull upwards as you squeeze on the quill (squeezing and yanking at the same time) and repeat until finished. It's really an art, and you get better each time. As I said earlier, stupid dogs will give you plenty of practice.
Speaking of quills, let's talk about the hedgehog - you call those quills? Obviously they are meant to deter attackers, but they are terribly weak and ineffective.
First, the female must relax its quills. Doing so allows her to raise her tail and, in maneuver that biologists delicately refer to as “presenting”, signal her readiness to mate. So how does the male (or sometimes several males as porcupines have been observed fighting over a female) porcupine get the female “in the mood” and induce her to relax her quills? By embarking on an elaborate courtship ritual which includes squirting the female with high-pressure jets of urine. And that’s just one of the steps in a fairly elaborate mating ritual…. If the encounter is a success, a little porcupine appears seven months later. Fortunately for the mother, the infant is born in a placental sac, and its short quills are soft for the first half hour or so of its life. http://wild.enature.com/blog/dangerous-love-or-just-kinky1/
