Avoiding and Handling Dog Attacks
Last night while I was taking Pickles out to do her business before bed, we were pursued by an aggressive Doberman who scared the bejezus out of me. I grabbed Pickles and we ran onto the deck and inside without injury, but it freaked me out. After I called Animal Control, I couldn’t stop thinking about what would have happened if he’d lunged at me or attacked my precious baby. What would I have done (other than screaming bloody murder)? Frankly, I don’t know. So I decided to do some research.
From About.com’s Guide to Walking, Wendy Bumgardner:
- Keep a safe distance between yourself and dogs being walked on leashes.
- Ask owner’s permission before approaching a dog, on leash or in yard.
- Never approach a barking, snarling, sleeping, eating, or nursing dog.
- Do not stare the dog in the eyes.
- Turn sideways and slowly withdraw.
- Put an object such as a tree, post, or bench between you and the dog.
- Speak softly and gently to calm the dog, “Good dog, it’s OK, go home.”
- Stand still or maintain a constant slow pace out of the dog’s territory.
- If local law allows, use pepper spray when charged by the dog.
- If charged, get something between you and the dog’s mouth - umbrella, pack, jacket, stick
- If attacked, curl up in a ball and protect your face, neck, and head.
Read the rest of Wendy’s advice.
But what do I do if another dog attacks my dog while we’re walking?
I had a heck of a time finding anything about that, but I did track down this article on breaking up a dog fight:
Dog fights are a very dangerous thing to try and break up alone. You should never rush in and try and grab the dogs to pull them apart. They are in high “fight drive” and are not thinking clearly when fighting. If someone grabs them they will bite without even thinking about who or what they are biting. This is how your loving pet can dog bite the living crap out of you in about a second and a half.
Well, duh. But wait, here’s something kind of useful:
Keep your cool you have a job to do.
Do not waste time screaming at the dogs. It hardly ever works.
Your goal is still the same; you must break up the fight without getting hurt.
Go get a leash (allow the fight to continue while you do this).
Dogs are almost always locked onto one another. Walk up and loop the leash around the back loin of the dog by either threading the leash through the handle or use the clip. I prefer the thread method.
Now slowly back away and drag the dog to a fence or to an object that you can tie the leash to. By doing this, you effectively create an anchor for one of the dogs.
Then walk around and grab the back legs of the second dog and drag it away from the dog that is tied up. Remember to turn and circle as they release.
Drag the dog into a dog pen or another room before you release the back legs.
Go back and take the dog off the fence and put him or her into a dog kennel.
Sit down and have a stiff drink (or two).
But that’s really only helpful if the dogs fighting are two dogs I know.
The bottom line on dog fights is that unless you are trained it is best to never step into the middle of them. In the worst case, let them fight. It may resulted in death or severe injury to one of the dogs, but it’s not worth the damage it could cause to you if you make a mistake trying to end the fight.
So I’m just supposed to watch my puppy get eaten? There’s got to be something else I can do! I sure can’t find it, though.
Post your dog attack advice in the comments, and please share any links you know of!
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POSTED IN: Exercise, Fitness, Health, Injury, Pets, Prevention, Real life, Wellness
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9 opinions for Avoiding and Handling Dog Attacks
Lively Women » What to Do When a Dog Attacks Your Dog: Violence at the Dog Park
Mar 19, 2007 at 1:43 am
[…] other day I was musing about how I’d react if another dog attacked my precious baby Pickle-Pie. Today I found […]
AnimalEnthusiast
Mar 30, 2007 at 5:01 am
These are some really great tips, that I will definitley keep in the back of my mind. Thanks for the information. Hopefully I won’t ever have to use any of these tips, but you never know!
Chad Patterson
Apr 15, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Most dogs that are barking and being aggressive wont attack without provocation. as long as your puppy submitted to the aggressive dog there wouldn’t have been a fight. a fight occurs when two dominate dogs meet and one will not submit to the other if you want good information on dogs read about wolves and their pack behaviors they directly correlate to dogs.
Kristen King
Apr 16, 2007 at 2:39 pm
She was on her back with her belly exposed, trying to wriggle away and whining in terror. She definitely wasn’t fighting back — just trying to run. Is any movement considered lack of submission?
kk
Lisa Boutwell
Apr 23, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I have a story that happened to my puppy on 4/20 at obedience school. It was our 3rd Friday to meet with the same group of dogs at the park. My puppy, Ashton, (born 1/14/07), is a blue heeler/cattledog, and as sweet as can be. Everyone loves him in school, and he couldn’t wait to get out of the truck that day when we arrived. This time, as we crossed the RR tracks, with the park on the left, he jumped into my lap as if he knew we were almost there. The group included a Dalmation (8 mo’s-male) who has changed our lives. We excitedly joined the group at a park bench to get aquainted before class. Ashton stopped to talk to Stella, a golden retriever-2yrs. They finished, and out of nowhere, without warning, the Dalmation attacks Ashton, grabbing him by the ear, and not about to let go. Both dogs were on leashes. The owner of the Dalmation, and myself froze. They told me not to pull Ashton away. I just knew that the moment they were separated, my dogs ear would be ripped off. Kim, the trainer reacted immediately by trying to open the dogs jaws. She’s all of about 5′ tall and 100 lbs, but you wouldn’t know it from the way she got behind the dalmation trying to free my screaming baby. Witnesses say it was a full minute that the dog had his teeth clenched into Ashton’s ear canal, rupturing his eardrum, and breaking cartilage that will never heal right. After he got freed, he ran under my truck, and we couldn’t get him out for 20 minutes. I took him straight to my vet, and they needed to sedate him to drain all the blood out of his ear. He has 2 drain tubes, medicine 2x day, and we hope he will be able to hear out of that ear, but we don’t know. I’ll write more later. Lisa
Lisa Boutwell
Apr 23, 2007 at 8:44 pm
I called the owner Friday evening after Ashton came home. I told her that the vet bill is $358.15, and can she take care of it. I fully expected her to pay immediately. She said that she would make some payment arrangements with my vet, and she would pay it off when she could. I will be taking Ashton tomorrow to get checked. What are my recourses? I appreciate any comments to help my dog. Thanks, Lisa
Kristen King
Apr 23, 2007 at 8:49 pm
You need to call your local animal control office right away and tell them what happened. They’ll tell you what to do. I hope poor little Ashton is okay!!!!
kk
Cory
Jun 5, 2007 at 12:08 am
From experience (not from expertise), I disagree about yelling not working. I watch my dog at the dog park at all times — I practically hover over him — and have stopped aggressive wrestling by yelling “No” at the dogs and by clapping my hands over them. Of course, these were just rougher-than-I’m-comfortable-with tussles that likely wouldn’t have escalated into anything deadly, but I worry that their play could pique the interest of a more aggressive dog, who might come over and ramp the whole thing up to a real fight.
Chris
May 18, 2008 at 12:00 am
Dumping water on two dogs attacking each other almost always works. Even just a sprinkling, like from a watering pot works.
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