Attacked by another dog...

[Erin]

My first day off in three weeks, and I spent the afternoon crying at the vets office...

My husband was walking Hershey this afternoon in our neighborhood, and notice a great dane tied to a house down the street. The great dane saw Hershey and pulled its cable so hard it snapped. He ran right up to Hershey and my husband, but wasn't acting aggressive at all... My husband, being the nice guy he is, didn't want their dog to get hit by a car in the street, so started walking back towards the house, and trying to the owner's attention(who was inside the house). As soon as Hershey and my husband got near the house, the dane lunged at Hershey and grabbed her by the back of the neck. And would not let go. Long story short - the dog wouldn't let go of Hershey until my husband pried its jaws apart...

I got home just as they came back from their walk, and my husband had already called the vet. Hershey was acting very normal and very excited to see me. As I bent to pet her, I got blood all over my hands, and soon realized she had puncture wounds all over her neck. I just lost it, and put her in the car, and drove to the vet...

She's okay. She got a nice new haircut, taking off most of the hair around her neck. The vet cleaned the wounds and gave me antibiotics and some doggie pain-killers. She's zonked out in her doggie bed, but she's eating her food and seems ok... The wounds are open, but I have to keep them clean.

Anybody deal with this before? I really hope Hershey isn't too traumatized long-term.... I think my husband might be though...

(My current problem now, is that she smells like a kennel! This other dog was all over her, and was obviously not as "fresh-smelling" as Hershey... but i'm wary to get her all worked up with a bath...)

[Ginny Nightingale]

I feel your pain! And Hershey's too! I am glad she is OK--Many years ago, a neighbor had a friend visiting who left a dog tied to his truck--I had a little Lakeland terrier at the time, who was small, but very muscular. The dog broke the chain and came to our yard and attacked my dog who was just lying on his back in submission--my husband had to chase the other dog away with a lead pipe. My terrier had a slash on his chest that required 20 stitches. The vet said that the muscles on his neck saved his life because he had multiple puncture marks that did not go thru the muscle. The SCARIEST part is that my daughters who were 6 and 8 at the time had just come in from the yard...I didn't even want to think about what could have happened.
We got the man's number and made him pay the vet bills, but now that I look back on it, I should have called the police.

[Elizabeth]

That is horrible! I am so sorry to hear about Hershey getting hurt :( I would wait to give her a bath as that is a breeding ground for infections... I would wait for sure-- maybe ask the vet how long the antibiotics take to build up in the system so that you can give him a bath without worrying as much.. Good luck and we hope for a speedy recovery!!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

How awful! poor Hershey. This is a great fear of mine.

[Tamara & Giada]

WOW........so sorry all of you had to go through that! I would have cried all afternoon too. Glad Heshey is ok!

[Kim Williams]

This is so scary. I enjoy walking Parris also and see many dogs tied up. Very frightening. Keep us posted on Hershey's progress.

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you. I always carry pepper spray. Here's my story from last week
3/25/09
I was walk & rolling wi Zorro. Zorro walks, I roll in my electric scooter. Suddenly a loose intact pit bull ran up to Zorro. Someone growled. I don’t know if it was the pit or Zorro but I wasn’t waiting to find out. I grabbed my pepper spray & hobbled into a standing position, got between them & started yelling “go home” at the top of my lungs, pointing my pepper spray at the pit. He backed away from me but wasn’t leaving. I kept yelling. I grabbed my cell & called 911. I told the cops I was standing between my dog & an intact pit with mace pointed at the pit. I was yelling at the pit between words to 911. “We’re on go home street” etc. I take the same route every day but I didn’t know what the cross street was. I had to try & move around & stay between the dogs to see the street sign. I finally gave them the the streets & hung up. Then a car drove up & my neighbor, Trudy, got out of the car with a leash. She leashed the pit & asked me if I was all right. The pit was submissive, wagging and a nice dog. (notice I’m not using the word sweet. Have you ever noticed when a pit lover mentions pit, they always put the word sweet in the same sentence? 100% of the time) I said, Gee you got here fast Trudy. Did you come from my 911 call? That was a stupid question. Trudy volunteers at the humane society but wouldn’t have come out on a 911 call. Then Belle came over & Suzanne. They were all saying “Joy are you all right?” I felt so cared about. Its so nice to have neighbors who care about me & know my name. Then the cops showed up. Belle said that the pit belonged to people up the street who lost their house. They gave the pit to Patty (their mom) who lives on that corner. Patty has no experience with dogs. Ordinarily I would just put the dog back in the yard like the golden, the boxer, a couple of bassets that always get loose. But not the pit. I don’t want an intact pit being cared for by inexperienced people in my neighborhood. Even a nice one. I told the cops I wanted the pit put in the shelter & neutered. The woman cop just about died laughing. She said “she wants his balls cut off!” I said “Yup! That’s exactly what I want”. She just howled. She thought it was so funny. I think she actually wanted to cut off a few balls and I don’t think she was thinking about dogs. Finally animal control came along & put him in the truck. I told her he was a nice dog. I didn’t want him put down, just neutered. The cop laughed again & drove off howling. Everybody left and my neighbors hugged me and said they were glad I was okay. That was so nice. On my way home, a couple of blocks away, animal control stopped me to get some more info. A neighbor I hadn’t met before was working in his garden. He came over & told us that the pit had been in his garden. He had spent some time with a raised axe aimed at the pit. That would have been horrible for everybody! He couldn’t help it that he was born a pit. I’m torn between sympathy & self preservation.
Later I called Cassy, the new shelter director & told her he was a nice dog. Not aggressive. He probably just wanted to play with Zorro but Zorro may have been protecting me. I’ll be checking when the hold date ends. If the owners haven’t picked him up I’ll call my friends at pit rescue & tell them what I nice dog he is & hopefully they’ll rescue him. (All the rescues attend meetings together at the shelter from time to time so all 40 breed rescues know each other.) A nice relaxing morning walk & roll in my quiet neighborhood. PUppy love from Joy & furry folk

[The Berry Oaks Doodle Ranch]

Hi Erin, I read your note poor Hershey,and glad to hear she will be ok!!

[Chris & Boys]

Well, I definately empathize with your DH. I was terrified of large dogs until I got my GR 14 years ago. I am still cautious, but much more at ease. It is awful that they had a huge dog like that tethered outside unsupervised. Unfortunately, a fence probably wouldn't have stopped him if he really wanted out. I am so sorry for Hershey and your husband, no one should have to go through this. I agree, if you are not comfortable with the steps the owner is willing to take to prevent this from happening again, I would report it. Doing so may prevent it from happening to another dog, or person.