Dog Attack

[Zoopy1]

My nearly 9 year old grey was out walking with me on Sunday, having a sniff when all of a sudden a dog slipped its lead and sprung at him. It was awful and took a short while for the owner to get his dog off mine.

Long story short, my boy had puncture wounds on his rear end and on his back legs and couldnt weight bare on his back right leg. After a trip to the out of hours vet and £200 bill (paid by the owner of the other dog) we came home and had a very unsettled night, pain killers and antibiotics prescribed with x rays to follow the next day if necessary.

I decided that x rays werent needed, obviously sore but nothing broken, really heavy bruising all over inner thigh and tummy just now coming out.

My question is this... how do i build my confidence back up walking my boy? I really dont want him to be badly affected by this but so far when walking him since Ive been so on edge with any dog around either on or off lead!

Anyone had experience of this and how did you deal with your own anxiety?

[BatterseaBrindl]

We were attacked by a neighbours loose dog a few years ago.

Thankfully Nigels heavy winter coat took the brunt of the attack. I hate to think of the damage had he not been wearing that coat.

Sadly, the neighbours chose to euthanize their dog ( ) after they were fined and charged by the bylaw officer.

 

And even though I knew the dog was no longer going to be a problem, it still took me weeks to walk down that road again.

The first time I ventured down there another neighbours super friendly, very safe dog came running down his driveway towards us and I totally freaked out. His poor owners were so kind to me as I sat in the middle of the road sobbing my heart out

 

On a positive note, my 3 hounds had no issues at all walking down past that house.

 

So... I have no advice on how to 'get over' the attack, except time time time.

 

As well... I do hope you reported the attack to the authorities. I wish I had reported our attacking dog when he first started following us and his owners refused to keep him contained.

Edited September 27, 2018 by BatterseaBrindl

[HeyRunDog]

As they say if you fall off a horse you've got to get back into the saddle.

 

It might be counterintuitive and worrying but I think you've got to do the same route again as soon as possible. The worst thing is to hide yourself away and become over protective of your grey who will pick up on your anxiety.

[JohnF]

Yes, I know how horrible that sort of thing can be. Time and 'getting back in the saddle' is the only real healer. Just carry a stout walking stick with you, or maybe one like a staff. (Even a folding stick gives you more range to use as a prod). We're not allowed to carry sprays and real weapons in the UK.. Another thing to do is read up on dog's body language and 'calming' signals. You'll then get confidence from knowing that most dogs are not behaving in a delinquent manner.

 

Report all attacks or places where a dog persistently makes you fear it. (That makes it 'a dog dangerously out of control in a public place' according to UK law. Even one on a lead that lunges and bites your dog falls into that category.)

[Roo]

Can you walk another direction for the time being? Taking walks to get your confidence back up is important, but it's easier if you don't have to pass the house in question. Then, when you've been walking for a bit without incident, you can start going the other direction again. It also may help your comfort level if you can carry a walking stick. It'll give you peace of mind to know that if there's an attack, you can whack the attacker.

 

I know how this feels and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. My 13 year old terrier was attacked by a neighbor's rottie who broke her leash to get at us. We'd never seen the dog before that day, and I rarely saw her since (her owner decided to confine her to the backyard for the time being after the attack). But I'll never entirely get over the terror of having a large rottie loping towards my terrier, picking her up, and shaking, and the sound of Daisy's doggy screams still haunts me. I have never before intentionally kicked a dog, but I did that day, and that's the only way I got her off Daisy. Miraculously, Daisy escaped with only minor puncture wounds and minimal emotional scarring. She was already terrified of dogs (I believe there was an incident before I got her) and we'd done so much work on getting her comfortable walking by dogs, and this set her back a ways, but after some more work, she was able to pass dogs on the trail without too much of an issue. That being said, I still flinch when I see loose dogs or dogs pulling at their leashes.

 

I'm sorry this happened, and I wish both of you a speedy recovery

[MP_the4pack]

Emma was attacked in June. Her wounds healed, but emotionally she still has issues. She made it very clear to me she is not walking down that path anymore. I'm not going to force her. There are other places to walk.

But it seems she's way more leary of other dogs than she used to be. She was always ready to play, now she hides behind me.

 

I'm fine. I don't think she's getting any vibes off me. She used to be fairly outgoing. But she's had two traumatic experiences this year. She lost her sister in January and was extremely close to Tanzi. Then the attack.

I'll just keep going about things normally, except walking that one path.

[EllenEveBaz]

After my hound being attacked by a loose dog in our neighborhood years ago, I think anger helped me recover. Like your situation, it was terrifying. Unlike your situation, the other dog's owner was totally at fault and also required me filing a case in small claims court to get any vet bill repayment from him. I was burning with rage for a long time. I was also determined to be a staunch defender of my hound. It took a teenager wielding a skateboard to get the attacker off, and I couldn't count on having another rescuer on hand again. My hound was confident and outgoing, but balked at walking down the block where the attack had happened. We walked around the rest of the neighborhood with me in an almost looking-for-trouble attitude. I guess my advice is that if you don't feel brave on the inside, try acting brave on the outside and it will work its way in.

[Guest Nephofthewoods]

My last service dog got attacked by a pack of ranch rescues it didn’t phase her in the long run but it traumatized me for sure. ((she only had minor puncture wounds, the dogs tried to basically wishbone her back legs) never told on the ranch owner but I wish she had helped with the vet costs after...

[Zoopy1]

Thank you for all your replies, Im sure things will improve! I will try being brave on the outside! And Ive already got a stick just to feel a bit better prepared just in case.

[Rakete]

Taking any kind of stick with you might be helpful but could also make things worse, as some dogs do react to people carrying things.

 

If you would have hit my Pit Bull girl with a stick her reaction might have depended in the state of mind, she would have been in - running towards an other dog to check it out, you would have chased her away. If she had been in "up for trouble"mode, hiting her would have made things much worse, as it would have raised her "energy and aggression" level.

Like a grey sniffing at a bunny is something completely different, as a greyhound going for a bunny. Totaly different state of mind an energy.

 

It is the same with any other kind of weapon like sprays. They could do more harm then help, if used in the "wrong state of mind".

 

I am not shure if there is a real help out there for severe dog attacks out of the blue (this might happen more often in the US, as there is a different way to keep and treat dogs). To prevent the "not so severe" trying to be as uninteresting as possible, like no direct eye contact between potential contrahents and walking in a bow around other dogs might help.