Gavin was attacked today, he is NOT hurt, but I am upset!

[BG and Gavin]

We were walking through the neighbourhood park towards the garbage can to make a deposit and a man and a black mixed breed 50ish lb. dog sort of emerged from the tree shadow all friendly and saying "hello." Well the dog was off leash and made a b-line towards Gavin (who was on leash) and attacked his face and neck. Gavin cried like I have never heard and tried to hide behind me. I made myself big and backed that (female dog) off until the loser, I mean owner could grab her. I dared not drop Gavin's leash because the small park is not fenced and bordered by busy roads on three sides. Gavin cried and cried. Loser: "I don't know why she did that. She never does that. We sent her away to be trained for doing that." I just put on my happy face and kept going with Gavin acting as cheerful as I could. After we got a block away I examined him for any damage. He looked ok. Then I cried and cried lol. I stopped a couple of times to visit people on the street before going home to try and keep thing positive. I kept thinking if that loser and his dog traumatized my sweet Gavin I can't be held responsible for what I do.

[Sam&Bella]

That is horrible! I hope it doesn't leave any scars in his happy doodle personality:(

And like everyone else said, If it had problems, keep it on the leash!

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks Sam.  Hard to keep a good doodle down I hope.  He is so outgoing and confident, yet submissive that he rarely gets targeted by other dogs.

[Stella]

Glad to hear that Gavin wasn't hurt. But our good, leashed dogs should not have to have these experiences. As you know, Hartley was attacked by an off leash dog at the beginning of August, that led to stitches and when I was brushing him a week or so later I found more (smaller) punctures - although we were aware of three larger injuries, he actually had at least three more that I found later. It makes me so angry, I was in the right but now I don't go hiking in that nature reserve anymore as I don't feel my dogs are safe. I also cried like a baby after we had been to the vets. I think I was running on adrenaline for the first couple of hours and then crashed. Hartley is his usually stoic self, but I noticed at our last agility trial in Innisfill (there is a boarding kennel behind the agility ring) he kept stopping every time a large dog barked behind the fence, which he never used to do. So I think he was worried when he heard that big dog barking, as the dog that attacked him was a large mastiff type. My agility instructor is livid and keeps threatening to go to the local paper about how my champion agility dog was injured, but if you remember the owner of the dog that attacked mine is also the owner of my vet clinic, it is all very awkward!! Hugs to you and Gavin. I know exactly how you feel.

[BG and Gavin]

It was a sin what happened to Hartley and appalling that it was a vet!  I would be a crazy women if Gavin had been injured.  What you are saying though makes me want to double check him while he is in a quiet moment to ensure there are no bites that I did not detect earlier.

[Stella]

I was very very angry, and I yelled at him - a lot. What makes me angry still is that even after it happened he didn't leash his dog, and carried on with his hike........I am still considering changing vet practice, but I actually like the vet I always see and I like the vet techs, and I would have to travel further go to a clinic that has similar facilities. I would check Gavin again later, at the time we only found the one injury (and even then it was only because Hartley kept looking at his elbow), we found two more when I got him to the vets, and the other three I found a couple of weeks later when I was combing him and found the scabs.

[BG and Gavin]

I have gone over him again a few more times. He is a bit flinchy, particularly around him mouth area, but I have not found any punctures,

[Jenny and Cooper]

OMG I just read what happened to your Gavin. I'm so sorry but I'm so glad he is not hurt. Poor baby :( I would have totally cried with you if I met you along the way. Hope this man learned a lesson and never unleash his dog again!

[BG and Gavin]

Thank you Jenny. So sweet of you to say.

[Donna K & Quincy]

I'm so happy that neither you nor Gavin were injured. Quincy was attacked once by an off leash Mastiff, he had a little tear in his ear flap but that was all. Since then he has been a little reactive to some dogs. The girl with this dog also had a Pit with her as well. It was a sight to see, DH was fending off the Mastiff and I was backing the Pitbull away.  When she finally caught up and leashed them she didn't say a word just went on her merry way. Whoever said you shouldn't get in the middle of a dog fight has obviously never met an angry doodle momma. 

[BG and Gavin]

Amen to that Donna. I was fully prepared to take that dog down. I am sad that my buddy Q went through this.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

BG, I'm so sorry this happened to Gavin.  I hope everything's ok.

[BG and Gavin]

Cheryl, thank you.