Kate got attacked this morning.
I am mostly pissed at myself because I knew this was going to happen. In fact, I was just talking to my housemate about this exact scenario three days ago.
For starters, Kate lost a lot of hair and is very bruised and sore, but I was unable to find any puncture wounds on her this morning. I guess that’s good. I am going to go check her over again at lunch time since punctures often don’t bleed – at least not right away – and are generally hard to find on a dog with any length of coat. Other than her purple back, she seems OK. Hopefully, she will still be OK at lunch.
I have not liked this dog since they first started bringing it. Call it a gut feeling. Even as a puppy I was weary of it. She seemed like a problem in the making. Very high prey drive shepherd and the owners are clueless. The dog has no dog manners, no training, and a short fuse. Every time they show up I leave. This morning I was busy talking with another person and didn’t seem them pull up until it was too late. My two were already on leash and ready to go. I figured if we just waited we could get past while the other dogs were doing their “someone new” dance. The shepherd came in very excited and ran straight up to Kate and over her head. Kate air snapped at the dog. Kate is not a fighter at all. Her correction, in normal dog terms, was warranted and appropriate…..buzz off dog. However, the shepherd took issue with it and went after Kate. Kate will not defend herself. She has no interest in fighting. She was just telling a young, exuberant dog to watch itself. Since the dog is not trained, the owners couldn’t get a hold of it. We end up playing ring around the rosie as I am trying to keep myself between that dog and Kate until Kate finally gets away and is pinned in the corner up against the fence.
This was my exact convo with the housemate. I have no issues with dogs communicating. Dogs that I know are sensible and stable, anyway. For example, Kate is not exactly known for looking where she is going. If she happens to bump into or step on another dog in the house, which she does on the regular, she will probably get grumbled at. “Watch it, dummy.” Never an issue. The dogs have the right to request that other dogs don’t stand on their rib cage. However, I generally avoid situations where my dogs may feel the need to correct another dog that I don’t know for this very reason. Unmannerly dogs can certainly take a correction as an invitation to fight. This one certainly did.
I hate that I knew this. I hate that I failed her this morning. I should have walked out the far end.
Should have protected my dog.
Poor Kate.
I can feel a bit better knowing that it was Kate. Bella would guilt tripped me for years.
Seeing as Kate is a little goldfish-esque…
Oh, look, a castle!
Oh, look, another castle!
Oooo, so many castles!!
She has probably forgotten about it already.
Trying to look like a badass
Or, she's out getting a tattoo.
I'm sorry to hear that your Kate was attacked. I hope she feels better and that nothing serious pops up as a result.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to comment on your mention of dog-communication. Not only do I agree wholeheartedly, I think that it is vital that EVERY dog owner and pet parent learns their dog's language.
Thank you so much for bringing it up. Again, I hope that Kate is ok. And don't be too hard on yourself. In this case, the blame rests entirely on the owners of the other dog.
So sad to read about poor Kate. And am mad at those A-hole dog owners FOR you. Some people are just so clueless.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you did your best to keep the other dog away from her, but might have gotten bitten yourself had you pushed it any further.
Sending good vibes miss Kates way for a fast recovery...
Let us know what kind of tattoo she comes home with ;)
Poor Kate, don't beat yourself up over it. We all have these scenarios as much as we try to manage/prevent them eventually it just happens. The blame isn't on you at all, it's on the uneducated idiots! Wishing her a speedy recovery and amnesia ;)
ReplyDeleteAww, I'm sorry for Kate (and for you, it wasn't your fault). I don't go to dog parks, but I worry about this on our walks because we have so many idiot dog owners around here that don't contain their dogs. I hope Kate heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about Kate. You shouldn't blame yourself, you should blame the poor dog owners who shouldn't be bringing their dog to a dog park. I have a similar story with my Mia dog. When I was living in GA I brought my two 40 pound mutts, Mia and Bailey and my friend's Shih Tzu to one of the dog parks nearby.
ReplyDeleteNow I did this because my dogs were regulars at dog parks and knew how to behave. The Shih Tzu had never been to a dog park but she loved to play and chase Bailey. The dog park was divided into 3 parts, the small dog side, the big dog side, and the chase the ball side. My plan was to take the 3 into the chase the ball side which was normally empty and let them run around. But you have to walk THROUGH one of the other sides to get to it.
I pulled up and saw there were two small dogs on the small dog side. I thought to myself, small dog people don't like bigger dogs per se so I won't walk through there and make them upset. I look over to the big dog side and right in front of me a black and tan coonhound and two other dogs gang up on a Greyhound. Why didn't I leave right then? Not sure. The owners separated the dogs and as I came in the Greyhound and owner were leaving. I saw drops of blood on the cement. Should have been my second clue. I feel like an idiot in retrospect.
But we were just going to walk straight through to the back. I knew we weren't going to stop and play, just walk to the separate part of the park and not worry about any other dogs. I carried the Shih tzu because she wouldn't know what to do. Mia was in front of me, wearing a hoodie because it was chilly. Bailey trailed behind me.
And I saw it right before it happened. The coonhound nailed Mia when she was 3 feet in front of me. The coonhound's friends joined in. They had her on the ground, I reached in the middle of the mass (stupid) with one hand (shih tzu still in the other hand) and grabbed Mia by the hoodie. At this point everyone was around trying to get the 3 dogs (all at least 60 pounds) off Mia. I was dragging her back toward the gate but those dogs were trying to get her. Bailey kinda nipped at heels on the outside but she couldn't do anything. Finally got Mia and Bailey into the the little in between fenced in space. A girl came in with me because I was freaking out.
Blood everywhere. The inside of Mia's ear was ripped open. Ears bleed. A lot. Somehow there was a police officer in the park and he heard the noise and drove down. He made the guy with the dog who started it exchange phone numbers and addresses with me. The guy kept saying how "his dog never did things like this" to which I said "He just did it to the greyhound before I came in." He seemed to lack memory of this event.
Six staples and $350 dollars later, Mia was fine. She's more wary of larger dogs but she goes to doggie day care and dog parks and is fine. I sent my bill to that idiot of a dude and he DID pay $300, probably because there was a police officer involved. In the letter he enclosed he blamed me for the event and the fact that I was carrying a small dog in my arms- how that plays into his dog attacking mine 3 feet away from me I'm not sure but he surely didn't want to take any blame for it. I am thinking of what name to call him but all words are inappropriate right now. Definitely someone who shouldn't be bringing his a-hole dogs to a dog park.
And just today, in a completely different state, Mia told a dog, politely, no I don't want to play with you. Dog didn't catch on. Mia snapped and barked, other dog squealed but as soon as I said "Hey" Mia backed off and it was over. But suddenly my dog is the a-hole, even though no one was hurt and Mia was just saying "HEY I said NO." Sigh.
I need to get a fenced in yard.
Sorry to hear about your pup:( My dog got attacked on a hike the other week and while he forgot about it almost instantly, I beat myself up over it for days on end. It's so disappointing when dog owners can't recognize when their dog should not be allowed freedom around others:(
ReplyDeleteHope Kate heals quickly! Absolutely sucks that this happened, but it wasn't your fault. Shit happens occasionally, it's inevitable. You were the responsible owner in the situation, so don't beat yourself up.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about this. This is my first time here and I can't believe that this is the post that I read. All three of our dogs were attacked, but none of them were seriously hurt.
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago that I'm unable to take our dogs to the dog park. There have been so many close calls and like you, I could have predicted each interaction.
So now we only go early in the morning, like today, when it's just us.
I'm so sorry that this happened to you and I hope that your pup is doing better today.
She's totally out getting a tatt. She'll be fine. And now you know for sure about that other dog. Sometimes I jut wish that dogs could TALK.
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Consequently i am sorry to see regarding kate. You should not pin the consequence on by yourself, You should pin the consequence on dog owners exactly who should not getting their particular doggy to your doggy car park.
ReplyDelete