Irresponsible pet owners...
The title should have more aptly read "Attacked by a pit bull", but that wouldn't have been fair to the dog since it was the owner who was a complete idiot.
Just need to vent after being traumatized at our local beach the other day by a completely out of control pit bull that I had to be forcibly pulled off Chewey's neck... Talk about scary ;-/p>
I saw that the dog was a potential problem as soon as it came down onto the beach. Mostly because it was very over-excited and had no sense of "personal dog space". Chewey absolutely does not do well with bigger dogs who come charging up to him and will warn them off (which as you can imagine doesn't work out so well if the other dog is reactive), so I made a note to keep an eye on the dog. The beach isn't huge but there's usually enough room to stay away from a potential situation there just by staying on one side of the beach or the other.
In any case, sure enough within 5 minutes that dog had a small black and white dog pinned, although I didn't see what started it. The fight was split up and the dog was unharmed - but the owner still left her dog off-leash (!) Once that happened I immediately put Chewey on his leash to keep him away (with the intent of leaving or moving if the dog came over to our side). Unfortunately I clearly didn't take it seriously enough or move fast enough... I was talking to some of the locals about the antics of one of the dogs (who had just found a nice pile of dog crap to chow down, ick) and in the process didn't notice that the dog had run over towards our group. The next thing I knew he had charged right into the middle of us and I wasn't fast enough to keep him away from Chewey. Sure enough they got into it and he had Chewey down on the ground and was clamped onto his neck within seconds. It took 2-3 of us to get the dog off - I actually ended up having to pry the dog's jaws open with my hands because nothing else was working. In hind-sight not the smartest move but at that point Chewey was shrieking so my brain shut down and instinct took over. In some sense it wasn't as bad as if it had been a "real" fight, since the dog was stationary, I just wanted it off him before it was able to regrip or start shaking him.
Thank goodness there were a bunch of fellow dog owners who knew Chewey. and jumped in to help. I wouldn't have been able to get the dog off on my own and the owner was completely useless. I vaguely remember her saying in the background that her dog "had never done that". I guess she had already forgotten it had happened < 5 minutes earlier. At any rate, we were both very very fortunate - it could have been so much worse. It turned out that the dog mostly had Chewey by his neck ruff (thank goodness for that thick Corgi fur!!!) so the only damage was some scrapes to his ear. I had a couple of minor puncture wounds which could have been from either dog.
To add insult to injury the woman gave one of the witnesses a bogus phone number after it happened (I was occupied keeping Chewey down and away from the dog), so I couldn't even follow up with her to find out if her dog was up to date on rabies! Chewey is so I'm not worried about him, but I would have been much more comfortable to know that the dog was up to date. Arggh... I couldn't believe it. It would never even have occurred to me to lie about something like that. Since then I've heard from multiple sources that it's all too common ;-< Hopefully there won't be a next time but if there is we'll just have to make sure to follow the person to their car and get ID, take a pic, or whatever.
If you've gotten this far, thanks for letting me ramble ;-> I've had nightmares the past couple nights about it and I'm hoping this will be cathartic! I learned lots of lessons from this one. The sad part is that in the long run it will be her dog who will probably pay for this owner's irresponsibility.
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Comment by Beth on March 3, 2014 at 10:13am
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So scary! I don't understand why people with dog-aggressive dogs can be so darned blind about it. The bogus phone # makes me think she knows her dog is a problem (he may have been reported before and she's afraid he'll be taken from her if reported again). Too many people seem to think if you can just love your dog enough, it will fix all his issues. The number of times we have encountered seriously dog-aggressive dogs in the park near our home staggers me. Don't take your dog to places with lots of other dogs if he thinks it's fun to try to kill other dogs when he sees them! Sheesh.
Glas no one was seriously hurt.
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Comment by Denis J. on March 3, 2014 at 9:43am
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Glad he's OK and the situation didn't get worse. I understand about the reaction you took and you can't blame yourself for putting yourself in harms way cause probably most dog owners would have done it as well. When Wally gets into a similar situation my reaction is to run over as well and try to push, kick the dog over.
I understand it's not the best but in a pack mentality the Alpha Dog will use agression and dominance to pry the fight apart. Therefore, If my bark can be loud enough and I can let the attacking dog he'll have to fend with me then so be it.
I was at a local dog park this past weekend when on Sunday after a regular with his Boston Terrier "Linus" came in and joined the group of other dogs 9about 5-6 of us. As soon as he came in he jumped on the Boxer, tried to bite all the big dogs and three altercations happened in about 5min. The owner was laughing while trying to get his dog but he quickly left the park with his Boston.
Wally does not get along with Boston Terriers as their temperament and play style is so agressive and dominating that it makes Wally go nuts. So everytime a Boston comes in I'm all attention but I agree, why should our day of fun be ruined for stupid owners??
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Comment by Linda on March 3, 2014 at 7:56am
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Glad you don't have to get the shots. I understand they are easier than they use to be but still not fun. I'm in an area that has a high rate of rabies so I'm sure if it was I'd have to get them. It's good tho that it was reported, maybe next time, and there will be a next time, someone can get info on her and she will get caught.
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Comment by Diane on March 3, 2014 at 12:34am
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No, I'm not going to have to get shots (fortunately!). That is why I had to go to the ER though (because they are the only ones who carry the vaccine in the county). The incidence of rabies is so low in this area that generally the only time they do the shots is if wild critters are involved or the attack was unprovoked (ie the dog just walked up and bit me). Of course I had to go to the ER to find that out... They couldn't have just told my regular doc when she called!
You are right though - it is the dog who will ultimately pay the price for her irresponsibility :-(
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I'm glad you went to the ER to be checked. Do you have to go thru the shots since you don't know about the dog? I'm glad it was reported and that there are people who will keep an eye out. I feel bad for the dog truth be told...he will end up paying for the owner's irresponsibility.. A dog will be mauled, a person will be bitten badly and the dog will pay with it's life and the owner will get nothing more than a fine and maybe pay some medical bills.
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There aren't ever lifeguards on this particular beach, but I did report it... I ended up having to go the ER to find out what the rabies protocol was (since the dog's history was unknown) and reported it when I went there.
Unfortunately without the owner's name or a real phone number not much they can do ;-( The police made a follow up call yesterday and just said to be sure to call them if we see her or the dog again. Somehow I doubt we will but you never know. Unfortunately I probably wouldn't even recognize the owner because I never got a good close up view of her (although other people I know did), but I would definitely recognize the dog.
We also have a local off-leash advocacy group that is very involved in the community and that beach in particular so I notified them to keep an eye out as well (since a lot of their members frequent that beach).
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Comment by Bev Levy on March 2, 2014 at 9:29pm
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So glad you are OK but I would still report it.
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I am so glad to hear that both you and Chewey are ok! Max does not like in-your-face big dogs either and will warm them off and that can be bad with an aggressive dog. Only once have I had an attack on any of my dogs. I was walking my female Irish wolfhound and went past the local auto repair place. They have a GSD guard dog. Why they didn't have him chained while they were open for business I will never know. He came charging at us full tilt. OK, my dog was twice the size but she was not a dominate dog nor had she ever been in that situation...her best buddy and training partner was a GSD. Like you, I didn't think and stepped between them...I did manage to get a good kick at the dog and that slowed him down enough for the owner to get control.
Are there any officials or even a lifeguard that patrols the beach area that you could tell if you see them again? Obviously if she gave you a bogus number she knows that her dog is like that.
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Thanks. You are right it's very scary! I just feel very fortunate that neither of us got hurt badly. I'm also happy to report that other than a sore ear Chewey doesn't seem to be traumatized - he was more than ready to go back down there yesterday to play with his dog buddies. I wasn't quite so keen yet ;-> In the future I'll definitely pay more attention to my intuition/observations about other dogs down there...
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Comment by Laura and Tommy Jefferson on March 2, 2014 at 5:40pm
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I am so sorry this happened!! Tom got attacked by an off leash pitbull last year too!!! It was horrifying! So glad that Chewey is ok!!!! :)
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