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The doghouse

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Original poster

Stranger's dog bit me - what should I have done?

32 replies

namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 17:55

Name change as this is very outing if linked to other posts.

I'm still dwelling on this which happened recently and frustrated I didn't take more action so I guess this is more of a rant than anything else! But grateful for thoughts...!

I was walking a friend's house and crossing the road. A woman in her 60s/70s (fully white hair but not frail looking) was crossing the road towards me and she'd stopped on a little traffic island with her (cute and innocent looking!) medium sized fluffy dog. I've googled since and I think it's a labradoodle or goldendoodle maybe.

I crossed my bit of the road onto where she was standing on a sort of traffic island and waited there to cross the next bit of road. Out of nowhere (a few seconds after I'd stopped next to them) the dog jumped up and bit my thigh where my shorts were!

No barking before or after so doesn't seem to be aggression? Perhaps playing? I'm stumped! Nothing I can figure out that I did to prompt this. I was wearing big sunglasses so it couldn't see my eyes perhaps and clearly I crossed the road and stopped next to them on a little traffic island maybe 2-3 metres long so I was fairly close to them perhaps?!

She was saying "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and pitifully telling off the dog but not at all sternly. I was just in shock and said "for f-'s sake it's actually bit me!.. Seriously.?! etc" I was trying to look at the bite but it was sort of lower thigh/ beginning of my bum and at an angle I couldn't really see! It seemed like it had grazed the skin but couldnt see too well. I was just so stunned said something like "well it didn't break the skin" and huffed and puffed a bit and didn't really know what to do so I carried on walking!

It hurt quite a bit and I had a good look later (and clean etc) and it had two tiny puncture marks but as this bite was THROUGH denim shorts they were more like scratches but it really hurt and over the course of the evening it's turned into a nasty bruise! Even worse now a few days later.

I've reported it to the police online but no cctv and I didn't think to get the details of the woman or take a photo of them. So it's been filed and I guess that's that.

I'll see if I can attach pics but I'm just dwelling on it so much as I feel like I should have done more- if I'd been wearing a dress then it would have been a serious puncture wound and if I had a child with me then god knows. What would you have done if it was you? Or if you were the dog owner?

Thanks if you've read this far!

(Oh and it was in Wigmore area in Kent if you think you know who it was..but that's fairly unlikely, I know!)

OP posts:
Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 17:57

pics attached now I hope... from the first day to a few days' later

OP posts:
Sevenfifty · 11/08/2022 18:02

Gosh, that’s a big bruise for a little dog! My DS was bitten by a dog which broke the skin and needed two lots of antibiotics. The dog ran out of a garden to bite him and so we knew exactly whose it was. Police couldn’t really have cared less. They went round, said the dog seemed placid and that was the end of it!

sunsetsandsandybeaches · 11/08/2022 18:03

That's a really, really nasty bite. Are you up to date on your tetanus?

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I would be putting a post on social media (anonymously, if needs me) with a description of the lady and her dog to see if anyone knows who she is and has her details, or to see if she has the guts to come forward.

I hope you're okay. Bites are really nasty and can really shake you up.

Greatfyl · 11/08/2022 18:05

You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, I’m sorry that happened to you. I can’t think of anything either of you should have done differently. Hopefully the dog owner went away and sought advice/support for what to do next and you reported it as you should. Maybe you could have got her contact details but it’s not surprising you didn’t think to do that at the time.

Hyvsvaar · 11/08/2022 18:05

That is a nasty bruise ouch, was it out in This heat, I’ve heard of normal placid dogs losing their shit when over hot

No excuse of course, I’m sorry this happened to you

my spaniel who is 6 and is the most ridiculously sweet think was 2 and dh took her to work and she tried to bite the ankles of someone who popped in…he was mortified she never barks, does anything out of the ordinary and hasn’t since

Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 18:07

Thanks.. I think that's why I'm so frustrated about it all. It hurt a lot and to begin with I was surprised as to how little damage was done but now the bruise has really come out I feel angrier and angrier that I just didnt stop and take the woman's details and do more! I feel like I should at least be sending her the pics!

I was visiting friends so I don't live in the area anymore but I think a friend has posted on Next door? I'm not sure how that works.

Yes thankfully I had tetanus in 2020 and a doctor in the family just said to give it a good clean and it would be ok so hopefully it should be fine on that front.

OP posts:
FleasAndKeef · 11/08/2022 18:07

Gosh that looks painful! Contacting your local dog warden is probably the most effective thing you can do, with a description of the dog and owner. If you have a police incident number you can pass that to them too and they can put it together with any other reports of the same person/dog

FedUpToTheBackTooth · 11/08/2022 18:08

Dog bites even small ones ALL need antibiotics. Please make sure you go to the doctors.

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 11/08/2022 18:08

Ouch, totally understandable that you got flustered in the moment.

I would say that what you should ideally have done is basically what you'd do for a car accident

  • take each other's details
  • report to 101
  • get a medical check up.

I would say to report because the dog might have bit people before or might again and it's important that a record of that is on file in case it's deemed the dog is actually dangerous.

FedUpToTheBackTooth · 11/08/2022 18:11

Sorry just saw that it didn’t break the skin. Are you sure though? It looks really sore.

Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 18:11

Oh and the dog was like one of these but with patches of white as well as light brown all over. Not remotely scary looking!

Stranger's dog bit me - what should I have done?
OP posts:
Longdistance · 11/08/2022 18:12

You need to find who’s dog that was. This probably isn’t the first time either as I assume she scuttled off. You could scout the area near your friend’s house and wait for her to see where she lives.
I hope you’ve got that bite looked at? Looks sore 😔

Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 18:18

FedUpToTheBackTooth · 11/08/2022 18:11

Sorry just saw that it didn’t break the skin. Are you sure though? It looks really sore.

Well it's got those teeny tiny puncture marks as you can see in the first pic and you can see the scab almost in 2nd one... that's through denim shorts too so I guess only a a mm or so of the teeth could have got in? I can't even see any holes in my shorts so I wonder if it's like scratches from the spikes of the teeth that causes this through the denim shorts, but not breaking the shorts iysqim? Doctor family member didn't mention antibiotics after having seen the pics so I'm hopeful it wasn't necessary...

OP posts:
Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 18:19

FleasAndKeef · 11/08/2022 18:07

Gosh that looks painful! Contacting your local dog warden is probably the most effective thing you can do, with a description of the dog and owner. If you have a police incident number you can pass that to them too and they can put it together with any other reports of the same person/dog

I've never heard of a dog warden!! So thank you, I'll look at this..

OP posts:
bighats · 11/08/2022 18:22

I was bitten by a very large puppy. I thought it was lost as it was dragging its lead tearing across the park with no one close by. It wouldn't let cross the path and was lurching at me. I was carrying some bamboo which I threw to side to try and get it a way. It then bit my closes and totally trashed them.

The owner was really aggressive about. She's just a puppy, she's a rescue, it's your fault you were carrying a stick. I took a picture to which she aggressively and goadingly gave consent and found out who they were and that other people had problems with them.

I reported it to the police, because at no point did I see her actually discipline the dog, she was too busy going ballistic at me for also saying "WTF my clothes are ruined.
And why is your rescue not on a lead?" "There are kids in the park." If she'd responded differently I wouldn't have reported it but she wasn't in control of the dog.

She later went on a local dog group and said some crazy lady tried to befriend her dog and waved a stick at it and she wanted to find me to pay for my clothes lol. I decided not to pursue it as I'd only heard accounts of them being really aggressive.

I love dogs but honestly i think people should have to do a mandatory course before getting one. So many bad owners around, especially after lockdown.

MaybeThisIsntForYou · 11/08/2022 18:30

No barking before or after so doesn't seem to be aggression? Perhaps playing?

Did the dog seem quite young?

Jumping up for attention is a common thing that dogs have to be trained out of.

Biting is also a normal developmental stage in young dogs that requires some training. It's a bit like babies sticking everything in their mouths.

However, it's not normally done that hard! Learning bite inhibition (that is, learning not to bite too hard during play) is another normal learning curve it sounds like this dog has missed.

This absolutely shouldn't have happened, but solely from your description I wonder if this is an undertrained and oversized puppy, rather than a dog which is genuinely aggressive.

GuyFawkesDay · 11/08/2022 18:30

My child was bitten this week by a dog in the park. Is now on antibiotics. We know the dog and it's circumstances aren't brilliant.

Police are taking it seriously, and dog warden has been informed. I feel bad but next time it could be a toddler's face

Sitdowncupoftea · 11/08/2022 18:34

You need to report it. Dogs don't just randomly bite like that. I would hazard a guess it's done it before. That could have been a child's face. Sorry but no excuse. My dog is muzzled near people and hers should have been. Probably she's one of "the little dogs it doesn't count crew". Go to local A&E too.

Ishacoco · 11/08/2022 19:01

That's really bad! And through shorts! Not sure what you can do now but I hope it heals well.

Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 19:07

MaybeThisIsntForYou · 11/08/2022 18:30

No barking before or after so doesn't seem to be aggression? Perhaps playing?

Did the dog seem quite young?

Jumping up for attention is a common thing that dogs have to be trained out of.

Biting is also a normal developmental stage in young dogs that requires some training. It's a bit like babies sticking everything in their mouths.

However, it's not normally done that hard! Learning bite inhibition (that is, learning not to bite too hard during play) is another normal learning curve it sounds like this dog has missed.

This absolutely shouldn't have happened, but solely from your description I wonder if this is an undertrained and oversized puppy, rather than a dog which is genuinely aggressive.

Yes that's what i was thinking too...I don't understand why, if it was angry/scared/aggressive it didn't bark or growl before or after. So maybe an older puppy or untrained younger dog which was trying to play!? But still not safe to be out in public if that's the way it behaves. That's also why I'm so much more frustrated I didn't get the woman's details as I feel like she might have brushed it off too but I'd love to send her the pictures of how nasty the bruise is now so she sees how bad it actually was! 😤

OP posts:
lunar1 · 11/08/2022 19:08

You will need antibiotics, ds1 was bitten in a park through cord jeans, it wasn't as bad as yours.

The OOH gp triaged us through to A&E, they said any bite breaking the skin even slightly needed antibiotic cover.

Original poster
namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 19:09

namechange1238 · 11/08/2022 18:19

I've never heard of a dog warden!! So thank you, I'll look at this..

Show quote history

Damn...I've googled and there doesn't appear to be a dog warden in Medway. They have something about an animal warden for various things to do with stray dogs etc but when you get to the part about reporting a dangerous dog it just to go to Kent police.

A friend said something about notifying local vets but I didn't know if that's a bit too far and they're probably not likely to give out any info!

OP posts:
MeridianGrey · 11/08/2022 19:10

The only thing you could’ve done is get a photo and post on SM to alert people. You can report to the dog warden but it will be difficult for them to identify her. If there are multiple reports though that might make a difference .

Jalisco · 11/08/2022 19:13

I'm absolutely not going to make excuses because no dog should attack without provocation. But you asked an open question about what you should have done, and I'd have given more room to a dog I didn't know. Those islands are quite small, so you must have been close. I'm not blaming you at all, it's just advice. Largely based on the fact that I don't trust any dog owner I don't know, and that's coming from a lifelong dog owner. It's not the dog that worries me, it's the owner.

Provided you don't attack or show aggression to me or my dog, you could damned well sit on him and he'd let you! But he's really well trained. Regrettably, my experience is that most people make little effort to gain their dogs properly.

Soubriquet · 11/08/2022 19:17

Jeez ouch that’s a nasty bite.

I’ve been bitten by dogs 3 times in my life. First time was an excited dog who missed the toy and got my leg. Hurt. Bruised but fine.

Second was a dog I was training at a rescue centre. Little bastard went for another dog and got me. Broke the skin but was fine.

3rd was my own dog. He had a chicken bone and I had to prise it out of his mouth. He bit down to keep it and got my finger instead. That was a nasty bite. Swelled up and filled with pus. Was ok though.