Off leash bulldog attacked my Aussie

[WickAndArtoo]

Has anyone else had this happen? Do you ever carry protection for this type of incident? Wick suffered a serious puncture in the throat and multiple lacerations and swelling but will be ok. I'm obviously pretty upset about it. We were just walking this morning at 640 am ish and all of a sudden this bulldog came running from about 30 feet away strait at us from around a blind corner (they were behind a bush) and went strait into an attack.

[Blackdawgs]

I'm sorry about this. The bull dog needs to be reported.

[Sue R]

Yes, what Blackdawgs said! This needs to be documented (photos of the injury, vet report) and reported to the police or animal control, whichever would be responsible in your area. In most towns, there are leash laws and laws against dogs being out of control. The sooner you report it, the more credible it is.

 

I hope your dog will be alright.

[waffles]

Was an owner with the dog? Did you get name, phone number? If he went to the vet, I would absolutely be looking to be compensated, more so for a deterrent for the owner to be more responsible in the future. A police report would be helpful or a report from animal control.

 

In my area, there have been many stories like yours. Recently a dog on a leash dragged its owner over to a small kid and bit his finger off. The lady then left without a word! Luckily it made the news and the next day or so, she turned herself/dog in.

 

Anyways, I would carry a cell phone, which is what I had to start doing when a dog was causing us problems. I finally called dog control (in the moment) after kicking the 100+ lb dog off of mine for the third or so time. Not sure I would want to carry anything I thought might actually stop a dog like that.

 

The incident should be reported to hopefully spare someone else from what you and your dog went through. Best of luck, and I hope he heals quickly.

[Liz P]

Yes, multiple times. I pretty much don't walk my dogs in public anymore. One dog was almost killed and suffered multiple attacks. He developed severe PTSD and has never been the same since. Sorry you have to go through this. My suggestion, go after the owner in a big way. All the dogs who attacked mine had a history of attacking other animals. The owners hadn't learned their lesson an were not keeping their dogs up.

 

PS, I often carry a pocket knife. I won't hesitate to protect my dogs in the future. Sticks, pepper spray, etc don't do much good against a large, determined dog.

[simba]

I had some unsupervised children throw some kind of loud-noise-making thing at my dog recently. We were sitting by the side of the street, the kids saw the dogs, grinned, and threw them at us. I was too busy reassuring the dog to say anything to them as they walked off. They were throwing them at people, too. The entire busy street was very annoyed.

 

Where's a water balloon when you need one? Possibly filled with paint?

[Sue R]

My daughter was roller-blading with her 35-40# on-leash dog in a nice, smallish town in NC where there was supposedly a strict leash law. Two large dogs, a Boxer-type and a wolf-dog hybrid (supposedly) came after her dog. They could only get away from the dogs by going down a slope and into a small stream that ran through town. She reported the incident to the authorities. The dogs had been reported before as harassing other people and dogs. Was anything done? I don't recall but I remember my daughter did not let anyone brush the incident off.

 

Some people are a piece of work and it's amazing more people and animals are not injured, maimed, or killed due to their irresponsibility.

[WickAndArtoo]

Thanks for the concern and stories from everyone. Animal control is closed here until monday, the gentleman was tracked down and he is aware and ok with us calling AC. He feels terrible and paid our vet bill, and offered to do anything he could to help. What happened was that he takes his bull dog to this church yard that's off the beaten path so that he can play with her off leash, he goes very early so as to avoid other people or get caught with an off leash dog, I always walk that area early on Saturdays but he only moved here a couple weeks ago so he had no idea there was another early morning walker. She has never had incidents like this according no to him and I believe him based on how mortified and awful he felt about everything. It sounds like a freak accident this time, and the man seemed as traumatized as I was and I feel terrible for him and his dog as I know that it's probably going to have a huge affect on them too.

 

Fortunately wick seems to be feeling much better now that he finally woke up from sedation. Unfortunately I took him out to potty (we don't have our own yard) and he is absolutely terrified of everything. He was growling and shying away from people and (tiny) dogs that were blocks away... So I pray that I will be able to build his confidence back up with time.

[Liz P]

No, it's not a freak accident. If this guy was walking early in the morning to avoid other people, he knew he had a problem. He should not be letting his dog run off leash!

 

Sorry to sound skeptical, but two of the dogs who have attacked mine where like this; being walked at odd hours because they were dog aggressive. I am tired with that sort of stuff going on.

[WickAndArtoo]

No, it's not a freak accident. If this guy was walking early in the morning to avoid other people, he knew he had a problem. He should not be letting his dog run off leash!

 

Sorry to sound skeptical, but two of the dogs who have attacked mine where like this; being walked at odd hours because they were dog aggressive. I am tired with that sort of stuff going on.

I keep going back and forth about it. I appreciate your honesty, at this point I am merely hoping to move past it because I continue to rack my brain and go over it in my head. I wish everyone would keep their dogs on a leash, it would solve this issue (besides true accidents). Aside from what I have already done and calling the animal control on Monday it is out of my control. All I can do is avoid him and pray it never happens again. I have never experience anything this traumatizing I am so sorry you had to experience this too, my heart truly goes out to you and your beloved.

[WickAndArtoo]

I had some unsupervised children throw some kind of loud-noise-making thing at my dog recently. We were sitting by the side of the street, the kids saw the dogs, grinned, and threw them at us. I was too busy reassuring the dog to say anything to them as they walked off. They were throwing them at people, too. The entire busy street was very annoyed.

 

Where's a water balloon when you need one? Possibly filled with paint?

Wow, that is awful! I would have been livid your poor dog and you. Too bad you can't call child control and make them be kept on a leash. My mom would have never allowed that! (Nor would I ever had wanted to harass any animal).

[WickAndArtoo]

My vet didn't do x-rays to look for internal injuries, should I be worried?!

[simba]

I wouldn't expect x-rays for an incident like this? I'm not a vet, just going off what has been done for my dogs in similar situations. X-rays mostly look at bone, and a break is unlikely from a fight.

 

About the kids- I've never been so glad that my elderly dog is mostly deaf. So she was fine, a bit surprised at hearing something but not frightened because it wasn't as loud for her. My friend's extremely nervous dog held it together superbly, so proud.

[chrisandgabe]

A pit bull in our neighborhood slipped its lead (I think- I hope it was leashed) and attacked Gabe in October. It was one of the scariest moments of my life trying to get his leg out of that dog's mouth, and I'm so grateful it was his leg. The dog ended up not being owned but my neighbor, but a foster from the city's animal control shelter (not a no-kill shelter). The foster told me she was going to see if ACCT (animal care and control team) would cover my vet bills, since they owned the dog, and then reported that they said they wouldn't cover my vet bills, so she was going to start a go-fund-me to raise the money to reimburse me.

 

I thought it was insane that ACCT wouldn't cover liability bills for their fosters and contacted them directly, and they said OF COURSE they'd cover the bill, their foster wouldn't be liable, and asked for the foster's contact info. I think what actually happened was she didn't report the incident like she said she had. I reported it, gave them the contact info I had, and shared that the foster had told me this dog had attacked her cat earlier in the week. The dog ended up being euthanized, which wasn't my goal, but I did need Animal Control to be aware that a dog in their care charged across a street and attacked my dog, and wasn't easily pulled off. I'm pretty sure she was only euthanized because she was a foster dog from a shelter that will euth for space. She quite honestly wasn't worth their resources.

 

I was very lucky that Gabe wasn't any more or less reactive afterwards, maybe even a little less. My husband and I now carry Spray Shield when we walk Gabe. I think I'm more nervous when I see unleashed, unfenced dogs than Gabe is. Best of luck in recovery to all of you.

[D'Elle]

Very sorry this happened to you; horribly traumatizing for you and the dog both. It is one of my worst nightmares.

 

I do not believe the owner of the dog, however, and think it would be not out of line for you to press charges.

 

I used to live in a bad neighborhood and I carried a tactical baton; solid steel. It is legal here....you would want to check local laws....but you can find them on the internet. One time two large pit bulls attacked Jester and once I snapped that thing out they ran. I never had to hit a dog with it but I snapped it out regularly when walking my dogs because there were a lot of loose and vicious dogs. If I ever had hit a dog with it, it would have caused some damage. Easy to carry and easy to use.

[Liz P]

Sometimes pressing charges and getting pushy is the only way to really teach owners like this a lesson. At least that is my opinion after being the owner of the attacked dog. It's also my opinion after doing many a rabies release exam on dogs that have bitten and dealing with the owners. So many are in denial...

 

Simba, radiographs are often recommended in trauma cases even when no fractures are suspected. We are looking for injuries like evidence of internal bleeding, free air in the chest, hernias, etc.

[CSW]

We had a problem several years ago in the town I live in, with loose dogs attacking and killing smaller dogs as they were being walked on leash. I went to the local sporting store and bought a small pepper spray canister. I mentioned it to a police officer friend of mine. He said it was fine to use as long as you explain (if you ever use it) you thought the unleashed dog was going to attack YOU. Just something to remember.

[geonni banner]

I'm sorry this has happened to people. I would not hesitate to use lethal force against a dog like that. There are too many dogs dying in shelters every day to keep one like that alive. And no, I don't care if it's "Not the dog's fault."

[mbc1963]

Grrr! This gets me SO mad!

 

I walked my reactive dog Buddy for 10 years, and never stopped being surprised that people would let their "friendly" labs and other big dogs charge straight at us. It just put me in the middle of a dog fight. And there was nothing I could do to change the outcome. I ended up with stitches and 3 hours in the ER (and bad sensitivity to the antibiotics) one night because a "friendly" dog slipped out the gate.

 

With my new dog, I'm seeing the opposite: she's very timid about big dogs, and her instinct is to run away from them if they charge us. Twice now this has triggered the "prey" drive in bigger, faster dogs, and Cricket has been literally running for her (imagined) life, trying to get away from several large dogs chasing her down. Twice I've been panicked that she's going to run into traffic in her desperation to get away. In neither case could either owner of the big dog gain any control of the dogs. After months of forward progress, this most recent incident has left Cricket timid and shy of new dogs again. All because one "happy" big dog couldn't be controlled.

 

I don't know what I'd do if my dog were actually injured in an attack. This is infuriating.

[WickAndArtoo]

A pit bull in our neighborhood slipped its lead (I think- I hope it was leashed) and attacked Gabe in October. It was one of the scariest moments of my life trying to get his leg out of that dog's mouth, and I'm so grateful it was his leg. The dog ended up not being owned but my neighbor, but a foster from the city's animal control shelter (not a no-kill shelter). The foster told me she was going to see if ACCT (animal care and control team) would cover my vet bills, since they owned the dog, and then reported that they said they wouldn't cover my vet bills, so she was going to start a go-fund-me to raise the money to reimburse me.

 

I thought it was insane that ACCT wouldn't cover liability bills for their fosters and contacted them directly, and they said OF COURSE they'd cover the bill, their foster wouldn't be liable, and asked for the foster's contact info. I think what actually happened was she didn't report the incident like she said she had. I reported it, gave them the contact info I had, and shared that the foster had told me this dog had attacked her cat earlier in the week. The dog ended up being euthanized, which wasn't my goal, but I did need Animal Control to be aware that a dog in their care charged across a street and attacked my dog, and wasn't easily pulled off. I'm pretty sure she was only euthanized because she was a foster dog from a shelter that will euth for space. She quite honestly wasn't worth their resources.

 

I was very lucky that Gabe wasn't any more or less reactive afterwards, maybe even a little less. My husband and I now carry Spray Shield when we walk Gabe. I think I'm more nervous when I see unleashed, unfenced dogs than Gabe is. Best of luck in recovery to all of you.

Thank you for sharing your story, I am so sorry this happened to you. It was the most traumatizing thing I have ever experienced in my life so far, so I know how you must have felt.... And still do feel. We weren't so lucky and the bull dog went for wicks throat, however we were incredibly lucky in a sense because the half inch deep puncture wound was about an inch from his jugular! the vet says that he believes his thick fur saved his life since there was bruising on his whole throat. He has other injuries on his side and tummy from when she missed (I like to think it was when I kicked her away from him).

 

I feel sick to my stomach leaving the house with them now, even leashed dogs make me uncomfortable at the moment so I know what you mean about that. Wick actually had for the last couple months finally stopped being excitement (dog) reactive with lots of training so I was devastated to have this happen. So far it has made him people (new) and dog reactive, but has actually kept it to a small growl and seems far less interested ... Mostly just scared and continues to look behind himself repeatedly in fear.

 

Can the shield spray accidentally spray your own dog? Had your fear lessened over time?

[teresaserrano]

That's a terrible thing to happen.

In almost 30 years of owning dogs, I only had one dog atacked once, and thankfully it wasn't serious. I was walking my dog and I heard shouting, I look and see this german shepherd running fast to us and his owner racing after him. The dog latched on to my Sara, thankfully the owner arrived right after and grabed him. I tried to calm him down as he was shouting and screaming and both dogs were nervous and it wasn't helping. That's when I realized I knew this guy.

 

Sara had long black hair, I ran my hands all over her to check for injuries but she was allright. So I focused on calming the guy. Interesting thing is, my Sara was a somewhat fearfull dog, but when the guy calmed down, she did the untinkable, she began playbowing to this dog who had just atacked her. So I told the owner, keep the leash loose and let them smell each other. He was not so sure but I guided him. Long story short, they ended up playing nicely off leash.

 

I don't think that, now, I would let my dog play with this dog in these circumstances. It went well, but it had the potential to go wrong. I later heard this same dog had killed a small dog. But at the time it felt right, and it worked. I noticed that Sara was not traumatized by the experience, and I think that my effort to keep everybody calm, minimize the incident, and to allow interaction between the 2 dogs when she asked for it, contributed to it. She was a wise dog, if she showed interest to interact with the dog, it was because she didn't feel threatned by him.

 

About the lasting impression on us humans, I know the next day I was very nervous, turning around every time I saw a dog in the distance. I took Sara for a long walk in some lonesome paths where it was improbable we would meet anyone. So we where turning a corner of the road and come face to face with 2 dogs lying on top of some makeshift kennels. One of them leaps into the air in our direction when he sees us. I instinctively stepped in front of Sara, pointed at him and yelled a very strong "NO".

 

I had never seen a dog turn around in mid air, but that guy did it. And my fear went away.

[chrisandgabe]

Thank you for sharing your story, I am so sorry this happened to you. It was the most traumatizing thing I have ever experienced in my life so far, so I know how you must have felt.... And still do feel. We weren't so lucky and the bull dog went for wicks throat, however we were incredibly lucky in a sense because the half inch deep puncture wound was about an inch from his jugular! the vet says that he believes his thick fur saved his life since there was bruising on his whole throat. He has other injuries on his side and tummy from when she missed (I like to think it was when I kicked her away from him).

 

I think especially because the dog went for his throat and stomach, it needs to be reported to Animal Control and/or the police, whoever handles dangerous dogs in your area. This could have been way worse for you and Wick, and could be for the next dog. The dog is dangerous and needs to be reported as such.

 

 

I feel sick to my stomach leaving the house with them now, even leashed dogs make me uncomfortable at the moment so I know what you mean about that. Wick actually had for the last couple months finally stopped being excitement (dog) reactive with lots of training so I was devastated to have this happen. So far it has made him people (new) and dog reactive, but has actually kept it to a small growl and seems far less interested ... Mostly just scared and continues to look behind himself repeatedly in fear.

 

Can the shield spray accidentally spray your own dog? Had your fear lessened over time?

 

I will say my fear has lessened over time, but it's definitely not gone. We're in a new neighborhood now, and on our new walking route there's an ACD who is never leashed that hangs out in a driveway, never seems to come near the street/sidewalk, mostly just lays there, but is never supervised by people (that I've seen). He might be behind an invisible fence, not sure. We were walking past the other day and the dog got up and started trotting towards us. I booked it across the street with Gabe and could feel the anxiety rising in my body. My husband reminded me we see that dog regularly, and it's never bothered us, and ended up running right to the back door of its house, not towards us at all. But just seeing the dog moving towards us really triggered my "fight or flight" response. In general, my husband is much more likely to let Gabe meet dogs, which is good for Gabe because he has a much richer social life because of it, but I'm too scared of a fight to let him meet many dogs. I feel like I'm constantly looking around for dogs, both off-leash and on. It's an experience I never want to have again.

 

I think the Spray Shield could theoretically get both dogs in a fight situation, depending on how effectively you're spraying it. It's just a citronella spray, so my thought on it has been if it inadvertently gets Gabe while getting another dog away from him, we'll just deal with that. It won't hurt him, just be annoying.

 

Gabe's fear and reactivity have greatly lessened over time (they weren't made much worse by the dog attack, but prior to he was people and dog reactive). It's been a great learning experience to work with him through that and watch him learn and grow. I love watching him whip his head back to me when we see a new person out in the world (especially when they talk to us- the horror! ) and I do hope with time Wick feels more comfortable in his own skin. I'm lucky to have trainers that I'm friends with that were great resources in the post-attack period, and able to not only give us a safe place for him to run and play, but had access to some appropriate dogs to interact with, so we've been able to work on social interactions too.

 

It's going to be a long road, and I wish you both all the best. I think my biggest piece of advice is just not feeling guilty about reporting the dog. I strongly feel that responsible dog ownership means advocating for all dog owners to be responsible too. I know that not all dogs are going to be friendly and good with other dogs, but a responsible dog owner manages that situation and doesn't put their dog in situations where they can inflict harm. That dog shouldn't be off leash without being in a fenced in, controlled area. I'm glad it sounds like he was reasonable about it, and I hope he learned not to do that going forward.

[Smalahundur]

PS, I often carry a pocket knife. I won't hesitate to protect my dogs in the future. Sticks, pepper spray, etc don't do much good against a large, determined dog.

A pocketknife neither. You have to get it out, fold it open and then you have a puny blade that for you to use it, forces you into the attack radius of that large determined dog. Last but not least to stop an attack with a knife blade and stop it quickly is rather difficult.

If I would have to deal with this kind of trouble I´d much rather be wielding a sturdy walking staff, preferably with a pointy steel ferrule.

[geonni banner]

Not to mention, in the heat of the moment, trying to stab a flailing, snarling dog - and not stab your own dog - could be pretty challenging. And then there's the tendency for folding knives to do just that - on your hand. Swiss Army knives, one of the most commonly carried, don't lock open. A Buck knife with a three-inch or 6-inch blade does, but as noted above, it puts your hand - that appendage with so many little crunchable bones, tendons, etc. - in harm's way.

[TxMom]

I carry a locking pocket knife with a decently sized (3+ inches) blade. It comes in handy a lot, but I don't consider it much of an option for self defense (or defense of my dog). I'm told a knife is hard to use effectively for self defense without a lot of training. Unless you know what you're doing, you're likely to only cause superficial wounds that will escalate things rather than end them, and you're likely to get hurt yourself in the process. Hopefully also superficial, but eventually blood loss adds up. I would imagine in the case of trying to use a knife on a dog, you'd get your hand bitten pretty badly. Maybe worth it if there aren't other options, but it sure wouldn't be my first choice.

 

Anything that allows distance is your friend. If things were serious enough that I'd be willing to try stabbing with a pocket knife (deadly force), I'd rather use a gun. More effective, and it'd keep me out of tooth range. Realistically, though, I think a big stick would be most appropriate for the vast majority of incidents.