Dog Attack

[anna114young]

I am so shaken. I took my 6 month lab for a walk this morning just through the housing estate I live on. I was 5 houses away from mine, end of walk in sight and I noticed a dog, no collar or lead, no owner. It spotted me (it was about 10-15 metres away) and ran towards me and my lab (who hadn't spotted it before it was up close). Small dog, maybe a terrier? I panicked. I knew it was going to attack from it's body language. It bit my dog hard on the back leg and she yelped.

I didn't know what to do, I've heard you should never pick up your dog in that scenario but I just panicked. I screamed and shouted and eventually the dog let go and we went home where I promptly burst into tears. Lab seems okay, a little quiet but no obvious injuries.

On speaking with neighbours (I'm relatively new to the area) they said that the house the dog came from there are 4 dogs and all have been known to be on the loose and the owners don't seem to care. There have been at least 5 incidents in the last year including biting a person who needed medical attention.

I have contacted the dog warden but I have been left feeling like I can't walk my own dog!

What should I have done? What would you do?

Firstly report it until its addressed. No dog should run up to an on leash dog and jump up or attack no matter what breed.
There is an compresses air can you can buy from pet shops. You need to desensitise your dog to it first. It makes a noise and scares the other dog off. You should not have to use one but too many idiots have dogs now.

It never used to be something we had to deal with on a daily basis though. It used to be very rare if at all.

It's getting more common, this sort of thing . Walking on-lead young Lab and a couple approached with a scruffy black and tan terrier, off-lead. Woman started the usual sweet talk of pathetic owners, telling it to be gentle, don't hurt, that sort of crap. I said if they had any doubts about their dog's behaviour to put it on a lead. Cue five minutes of trying to catch it. Then marital row about the lead. All this time my boy was sitting quietly, staring at me adoringly. Eventually they walked past me, terrier kicking and screaming and snarling. I said thank you and smiled sweetly.