# Attacked



## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

The thing i worry about most while walking my dog is being attacked by another dog (well my dog not me).
Well that day came today and i was so scared i did everything wrong and panicked!!!!

I decided to take Buddys mate with us for a walk (tiny jack russell puppy) ,both were on leads and id just walked onto the field where i was going to let them off,i saw a car parked up and two women heading towards it with two dogs who i thought were on leads so i didnt let my two off.

However her dogs were'nt on leads and the staffi saw us and just ran straight towards us i just froze scared stiff (im so ashamed of myself!)

The dog by passed Buddy and went straight for the little puppy and pinned him down he was growling so much i thought he was biting him so i tried to get him off (which i think made it worse) i wont go into to much detail but the whole attack was horrid and the poor pup was so scared.

The women grab her dog and put him away we checked the pup over and he was fine ,the dog thankgod had dominence issues and all the noise sounded worse then it was ,he hadnt bitten the pup ,the pup was just shook up abit like me.

I feel so guilty ,i did everything wrong and the situation could of been so much worse,i remember reading you should let your dogs lead go if being attacked and i think had it been Buddy i would of done but the pups so small my instinct was to protect him by trying to pull him towards me which i know is wrong,the lady said i should of picked him up but i always thought you should'nt?

Any advice appreciated .

My neighbours were very understanding and im sure the pup is fine (him and bud went on to have a lovely walk together).

Im also to soft ,i was so glad he was ok i was quite understanding with the lady but i wish id said she should muzzle her dog when its out in public place's.


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

It all happens so quickly it is impossible to react in a measured way. My jack russell was attacked by a neighbours german sheperd he came from nowhere and pinned her down then shook her in attempt to break her back! The owner was there and grabbed the dog but by then the damage was done 35 stitches and three days at the vets! The owner did pay and promised to muzzel the dog in public. That lasted a few months! It left me very apprehensive about meeting strange dogs. I still like to be sure about another dog before I will allow play some may think I am over reacting but unless it has happened to you it is easy to think that.

Also it is not up to you to pick your dog up it is up to others to ensure their dog is controlled. The remark 'he only wants to play' is in my experience the most selfish and irritating response and shows the other owners don't give a ****!


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Your right it was all so quick hence reason i went to jelly.


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## Turi (Jun 28, 2011)

Donna if it's any consolation I would have done the same thing. When you're scared all reason goes out the window! I hope you're ok x


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Me too Donna! I doubt very much if I let go of the lead in that situation. It sounds like you did the best you could. x


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

Thank god nothing terrible happened. Poor puppy
The owner was wrong, you shouldn't have picked the pup up, it makes them more of a target and could have provoked a full on attack, which by bending down to pick up the dog you would have been putting your face with in easy biting distance. No one can really think fast enough on the heat of the moment for the correct thing to do, we just react. So you did fine. That owner should have had her dog with dominance issues on a lead!! She should be taking advice not dishing it out  
I am glad you and dogs were ok.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Just posted a video so you can see them both happy as larry after the attack.


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## designsbyisis (Dec 27, 2011)

Oh Donna - I know how you feel. Dexter has been attacked twice so far. Here is the first time http://ilovemycockapoo.com/showthread.php?t=7029
The second occasion happened not too long ago. I was just 30 yards from home ! My neighbour (whom I don't know well at all) opened his front door just as we walked by and his Yorkie ran out full pelt - he went straight for Dexter (there was no sizing him up or anything) biting & growling. I didn't think - put my hand down to separate them and the dog bit me. It was a deep puncture wound but also badly bruised as the little **** hung onto me. I was so angry. He did apologise but said that his dog doesn't like any other dogs !!! Fortunately Dexter was fine but I had a nasty hand for a couple of weeks. And do you know what irks me even more is that the neighbour has not bothered to come up & enquire about my hand or anything. If that had been my dog I'd have been on the doorstep with flowers & apologies.

I don't know what the correct course of action is. The immediate thought is to try & pull off the offending dog. Its easy to see how children get injured. I do hope you feel ok now. I don't actually think Dexter was affected too much although I did make a conscious effort to find him a couple of friendly dogs to say hi to next time he was walked.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

OMG thats awful!! What happens if a dog bites a human ?? i thought they could be made to muzzel the dog??

Must admit i thought he could bite me which i think made me freeze.I know where the lady lives and i really want to go round there and tell her to muzzel her dog (think i will talk to hubbie first as he knows her husband, there may be a polite way of doing it?)

On a lighter note im sure while all this was going on Buddy was flat on the floor in submissive pose LOL


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## Pollypiglet (Oct 22, 2011)

It is a criminal offence for a dog to bite a human in public. I know it is difficult with a neighbour but I would have reported it to the police. If no one complains the owner will continue to make lame excuses. Your hand could have been a todlers face!


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## Jedicrazy (Apr 26, 2011)

Poor puppy  try not to worry too much about what you could have/feel you should have done. I think most of us would have been the same. Thankfully no serious injury but I would definitely say something to the owners (or possibly report) as the next dog might not be so lucky. Your comment about Buddy in his submissive pose did make me laugh .


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## Sezra (May 20, 2011)

so sorry to hear about this Donna  Glad the puppy was ok but don;t be too hard on yourself. It is difficult to know how we would react until we are in the situation ourselves. My neighbours dog has issues and yet still walks off the lead. She is lovely with people but attacked Daisy when we were out once. Daisy now hides from her  but thankfully wasn't injured. I also panicked and tried to turn away from the dog whilst lifting poor Daisy up and out of the way. Luckily the owner managed to grab her dog. the biggest thing that concerned me though was that it could have been Annabel out walking Daisy and I am not sure how she would have reacted in such scary circumastances.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Thanks for all your kind words ,ive been re-playing it in my mind all night !

Hopefully the other owner has to and maybe she will re think about letting her dog off lead?(though i doubt it).

Buddy's been attacked by a greyhound before and even though it was scary because he had a muzzle on he couldnt do any damage,if i see her again im going to mention this I know she said he wouldnt bite but if he has this aggession in him something could just snap and im sure she would'nt know how to live with herself if he did kill another dog or worse harm someone.


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## mandym (Jun 5, 2011)

Gosh how awful! I dont think you did anything wrong,i think you did what most of us wouldve done and that was try to protect the puppy.I wouldnt have let go of the lead either,the dog couldve picked up the pup and ran off with him,afterall jack russels are only little.That dog shouldve most definately been muzzled! I know they say not to pick up the puppy if attacked but when kd was young she was attacked by a dalmation and i picked her up and held her up high kicking out at the dog til it gave up,it was terrifying.Hope the little pup is ok now xxx


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## KCsunshine (Apr 16, 2012)

omg, poor puppy, I think you acted really bravely. You protected the puppy as best you could. You know what, perhaps very naively I have never even thought about what I'd do in that situation, never having owned a dog before, it has never crossed my mind about our dog being attacked. But seeing this thread has scared me a little, Particularly as when walking I'll have a toddler in tow alot of the time too.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

Donna don't be hard on yourself. None of us know how we would react in such a situation. I don't think you did anything wrong. Whilst reading this post I was thinking what would I do. I've got to the bottom of everyones comments and still I don't know what I would do.

I personally wouldn't say anything to the owner, I think you will get short thrift. You'd do better to just report it.

Chin up


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Donna .. sending you a hug ... like Julie said  chin up & hug Buddy boy xxx


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Thank you guys xxx

On a ligther note my husband popped over to my neighbours that evening as they were having a few drinks etc and they couldnt hear him knock on the door so he decided to walk in only to be bitten by their other dog (whos very old and dosnt have good eye sight) the dog bit through his jeans and left a nasty bite ! Thank god his tetnus was upto date !

Good job were easy going


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## Janev1000 (Oct 4, 2011)

Oh no that must have been a bit of a shock for your poor husband! Hope he's ok now. x


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## JoJo (Mar 2, 2011)

Ouch ... your poor hubby .. but on a good note .. at least it wasnt you Donna or a child .. sorry Donna's hubby but you know what I mean ... you tough men can take it lol


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## Eddie (Sep 30, 2011)

Donna you sound just like me, after Eddie was put into the vet hospital for 4 days by a greyhound, I dread 'another 'incident' happening.It sounds like you did what most people would do, if you had picked the puppy up it could have ended up giving him issues or you and the puppy getting badly bitten.Unfortunately some people have strange ideas about acceptable behaviour in their dogs and I dont think anything you could say to the woman would change her attitude and I think we have all been in the situation where in the calm after the event we think of something cutting and brilliant we wish we had said.There is so much advice on what to do if your dog is attacked but its one thing to drop the lead if there are no roads that your dog will run across and how can you risk doing that with someone elses puppy.
A family on our road have a GSD and the son was walking up the street with him last week and I didnt realise he was off lead and he saw me with Eddie coming back from our walk and came lunging straight across the road and I hustled Eddie into the garden and closed the gate on him.The dog is only 7 months but is enormous and after being hurt once too often by large dogs I know Eddie doesnt tend to like large puppies that havnt learned to play properly and I dont want him scared when he is on his lead , so everytime I leave the house now I have to look out for the dog because the owners havnt really got it under control, even on the lead it almost drags the mum over, but its difficult with neighbours because you dont want to fall out with them.I think you are amazingly forgiving with yours.
Sadly I'm not sure that reporting a dog has much effect anyway ,it just seems to be something that is accepted that some dogs go for other dogs and there is no responsibility on the owners even when they cause huge vets bills, but it might be worth talking to the local dog warden.A few weeks ago I signed a petition started up by a woman whos labrador was attacked by a pack of ten dogs that burst into their garden, the photos made me cry but he did survive, her employer is an MP who was going to get the issue of dog owners responsibility debated in parliament if she got enough signatures ,I wish the law would change it might make people think twice about letting their dogs run amok.
I'm glad the dogs are OK they are very resiliant after all.


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## DONNA (Jan 7, 2011)

Neighbour has just told me Mickey ran away while out for a walk yesterday when another dog approached him ....oh dear i feel so guilty ,i told her he needs to be out and about meeting friendly dogs to try and reasure him not all dogs will attack him,i really want to take him out again but i dont think i dare ask.


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## Eddie (Sep 30, 2011)

DONNA said:


> Neighbour has just told me Mickey ran away while out for a walk yesterday when another dog approached him ....oh dear i feel so guilty ,i told her he needs to be out and about meeting friendly dogs to try and reasure him not all dogs will attack him,i really want to take him out again but i dont think i dare ask.


Could you offer to have him around to play with Buddy or to take him to the puppys home so that he can build up his confidence with a friendly dog?


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