Dog Attack by GS while walking my dogs
I stopped about 10 feet back from the corner figuring I'd give them plenty of room to pass. As they crossed the intersection the GS spotted us, ran toward us, and attacked Barney, biting him in the head several times. She called the dog but had no control of it. Fortunately Barney is in full coat and fall, and with me kicking at the GS it was enough of a diversion to prevent any serious injury. In the melee I dropped Maggie's leash and fortunately she just sat there and watched the whole thing. The lady finally caught up with the dog and got hold of the leash and I gave her a stern warning that the next time I saw the dog off leash I would call the police. The next day we stopped by the police station and I talked with an officer about the situation. His advice, next time call 911 since that's the fastest way to reach the local police, and in the meantime carry a pepper spray canister with you. Wasn't a good day, but thank the Lord it could have been a lot worse. |
|
|
| Wow!
I'm glad the GSD didn't turn on you, George! Is Barney completely OK??? It might be hard to see any punctures or bruises under all that hair. |
| I went over him pretty good and couldn't find any areas that were swollen, or bruised; definitely no breaks in the skin. Barney is very laid back, but he stood his ground and didn't seem too concerned after the event. We've passed the same spot several times since and the guys seemed to have no concern. The GS was actually small for his breed, a least smaller than Barney (110 lbs). I was more concerned with the dogs, didn't even think about myself. |
| That could have turned into a really horrible situation. I'm you guys are okay, give Barney a well deserved belly rub from me and one for Maggie as well, for being such a good girl. |
| Thank goodness things turned out as well as they did. I don't know what people like that are thinking, letting the dog walk around out of control. Some owners are so irresponsible. |
How scary. 
George, I was on the phone with LeAnne when I came across your post - read it aloud to her. She says you must have had one heck of an adrenalin rush. We are just glad that you, Barney and Maggie are OK. I hope that dog owner wises up and holds on to her dog's lead next time. |
| I am so glad you are all ok. Can you find out who this lady is and either talk to her about keeping hold of her dog's leash or report her to the animal control or whomever enforces leash laws in your area? What did she say after the attack happened? |
| Glad the three of you are okay this seems to be a regular thing with GSD they have become so aggressive over the years. Misty sends Barney and Maggie a hug  |
| Hi George,
I'm so glad Barney is okay as well as you and Maggie! Thank goodness no one was seriously hurt! Marianne |
| Glad to hear all is ok on your end there George. There are places where I do let Obe off leash besides a dog park. But never in an area where there may be traffic etc. If we are in a field/park, yes my boy can run. When we go outside at my parents cabins/restaurant, off leash... unless restaurant is open.
It drives me crazy seeing how people do let their animals run loose especially where I'm at currently. Like they just don't care if the animal plays in the street, gets into others yards, etc. I could vent on this but.... |
| wow that must have been awful for you.. that happen to me and my girls aout 15 years ago but it was 2 pitts.. i never really got over it.. glad to here your baby is aok |
| What a scare, I am glad you are all ok. |
| it really annoys me when people have dogs they can't control.
I'm not saying that at all times in all situations we can 100% say we can control our dogs, however generally people must get control and have the hang od basic commands. Luckily you are all ok but things could have turned out so differently through no fault of your own. We encounter this alot walking George and I think other dogs see him as a softie but a big dog so are immediatley defensive/aggressive towards him. Glad that you are all ok hope you don't meet them again |
| After the incident I headed west in the same direction as the lady and discovered she lived in a rental house up the street from us. They appear to be of poor means. So for her sake I glad that nothing more serious happened. If this incident had happened a block south (hwy 100) the story would have read: dog killed in traffic while coming to attack us.
We all shake our heads over people who let their dogs run loose. Then the irony of it all, that evening I had let the dogs out before turning in for the evening, when I called them....no Barney. I had forgotten to close the gate when we returned from the walk being preoccupied with double checking out Barney for any damages. Sweet Maggie didn't leave the yard, but Barney was out in front of the house. I called him again and he came running. (It's hell when you get old :  ) |
| Wow, George - how scary! I'm so glad Barney wasn't hurt and that Maggie stayed still without getting into the melee. I understand how you didn't think about yourself when it happened - brought back memories of a day at the dog park in Philly when Mandy's (Maxmm) Carl was attacked by a pit bull. There were no less than 5 people trying to pull him off poor Carl. |
| George,
I am so sorry that this happened. poor you and poor Barney. Glad he was in full coat!! I have a GSD and do GSD rescue they are sometimes wierd (but in the right hands wonderful) dogs. This dog has not been properly socialized nor trained, they are not the dog for everyone and need consistant training , well duh. If this person is of poor means she probably cannot afford the proper training so I would ALWAYS be afraid of this dog and owner. Pepper spray is a good thing and probably taking a stick on your walks. Its just sad that sweet Barney had to suffer due to an owners neglect to control her dog. Please give Barney a butt scratch for me. I hope you both never meet this dog again!!!! Cindy |
| I'm sorry that happened, George. It makes me so mad that people aren't responsible for their animals and things happen like that. |
| What a frightening experience! I'm so impressed that Maggie stayed out of it. I can totally relate to you not worrying about yourself during the melee. I'd have been more concerned about Barney, too. Thank goodness there were no serious injuries. You did the right thing following up with the police, too. At least now if it does happen again, there is a "history" recorded.
Some people.  |
| Wow! I'm sorry to hear this George but glad you are all okay. I don't know if it's the full moon but yesterday Boni got attacked in the woods by a rottweiler twice!
As we were walking in the woods, Lumpi and Boni chasing each other, having a blast when two guys came with a rottie and a yorkie. The rottie is very confident, straight back, head up, etc. he straight went after Boni.  The guys said "oh, they are just playing".  I told them this was not the way my dogs play and I stood between the dogs and pushed the rottie away. 5 min. later, he did it again.
Dogs run off leash in the woods but most of them are well socialized and not dominant. This dog wasn't even fixed! So, we turned around and came home. I'm so glad Boni's coat is long too! Oh, and later the day our neighbours dogs got out of their yard! Good thing our street has no traffic. |
| George, i am so sorry that barney was attacked like that. I am glad that he is okay.
panda was attacked by a gsd about 6 months ago...we were walking on leash in our neighborhood and the dog got out of his yard and went straight for panda....i pretty much did the same as you until dawn, the gsd owner came over and pulled the dog away...i told her if she didnt get him under control, i too would call the police... since then, i have found out that this dog has attacked 3 other dogs including pandas buddy jedi, leaving large bite marks on his side. he also was kicked out of the local dog training classes.... i dont know quite how to proceed because the other neighbors dont want to rock the boat...they would rather wait till someone or their dog gets seriously hurt...sigh |
| Darcy,
How to proceed? In your case, knowing the dog has attacked before, the authorities should be notified now before it happens again. A friend cautioned me that the dog looks up to is handler as the pack leader that is his defender. If that happens again, the dog will loose respect for the pack leader. Of course not to mention the possible damage the dog may do the next time being more emboldened by his last successful attack. I felt I was a bit hard on the lady in threatening to report the dog next time, but after seeing things in that perspective, I think that when a dog attacks unprovoked in any circumstance, the dog has two choices - rehabilitation or being put down. (Oh, you say give him to someone who can handle him? Yes, only if the new owner can rehabilitate him; otherwise its a time bomb ticking until the next gate is left open.) |
I am so sorry this happened to Barney. 
Glad he is okay. Geroge, I don't think you were hard in this woman. This attack could have been much worse. She should have been holding his leash. Leash laws mean holding the leash, not just having the dog on the leash that is dragging on the ground. Maybe she will wake up after this. |
| George, how scary! I'm so glad that nothing serious happened to Barney (or you or Maggie!). |
| George,
I am a police officer and strongly encourage you to think about signing a complaint against her for "vicious dog" and or the leash law. You got lucky this time, what about the next time? If the court already has something on file then the next time there will be stiffer penalties involved, but if you do not file something now, then they will not know that there has been a previous instance. My huskie and I were chased down (I was riding my bike with my dog running on leash next to me) when a pit bull caught us and bit my dog (minor). I would have signed a complaint had I known who the owner was (it was a stray with no collar). I then saw it several weeks later and it bit my sheepie who was laying on tether in my front yard (minor again, no marks, no blood). It took me about a week to find out who the owner was. When I did find out where the dog lived, I called animal control and signed a complaint. The owner was also a renter in a nearby neighborhood who was keeping the dog for her boyfriend. She returned the dog immediately to him after it cost her. Just make sure to log the date and time of the incident and take pictures if there are any injuries. We need to hold those responsible for their actions. |
| OMG....George....Poor Barney and Poor YOU!!!!
I agree with Kim...you may want to file some kind of report. I am sure that there are other animals in your neighborhood. This GS got to Barney, who is pretty big and very hairy and thankfully didn't hurt him..BUT..what happens it he gets a hold of a smaller, less potected dog. Also, since the GS has had a confrontation with Barney...he may try again and next time he may use more force. Heart  is sending (SPAYED) sheepie kisses  and furry hugs to Barney and you of course.. |
| I'm sorry to hear this happened. I hope the woman was remorseful enough that this will never happen again.
Our first OES got bitten on the head by a Dalmation running loose. Its owners had to pull him off of our Newman. I thought he was okay since he had a full head of hair too, but when I got home I did notice that the skin was broken. I did go back and talk to the owners to let them know it was more serious and they were pretty jerky about the whole thing. |
| George how scary for you all, I hope no long term problems with barney and his wonderfull personality after what happened.
Just awfull and really annoying that people have dogs that are not well trained and things like this happen to others. I had a situation with Brie when she was little a roaming Rottie when we were out walking, thank goodness she was small enough to pick up, which I did and turned my back on the rottie as it lunged towards both of us. Walked away slowly and did not even look back at the rottie and got home and called the ranger as the dog was also loose around a prep school. He was picked up by two rangers about 1/2 hour later and taken to the pound just before the prep school was ready to finish for the day. Frightened the hell out of me and so glad brie was small enough to pick up and carry home. Worst thing besides the attack is hopefully it does not change there personalities and confidence. People who let there dogs roam or have a dog they can't controll properly annoys the hell out of me. Sometimes I think maybe people should be licensed and trained for ownership of dogs rather then the dogs.
Hugs to you and barney |
| George I am so sorry that you and your babies had to go through this...
It is really odd with everyone's tales of the dog attacks. The other day, I had all three dogs out on a walk...the usual path...and I saw a Chihuahua in a neighbors front yard. I could not tell if he was on a leash, but we safely made it by there with no problem. We kept walking and I saw China keep looking back. When we got to about the third house past I hear this snarling and barking coming up behind us. At this point China/Violet where on alert. They turned around and pulled so hard...I let go of the leads. That little ankle bitter came right at them...Violet saw the owner and went running over to her to get petted. Anyway, this small brave soul was finally rounded up by China and the owner was able to pick him up. The Chihuahua did make a bite for Violet's behind but I keep her long so she was saved by the hair. The owner told me that her dog attacked a pit bull the night before as it's owner was walking it. She said it jumped right on his back. I told her she should not have he dog off a leash in the front yard...that she was just lucky this time and last. |
| Again, thanks to all for your concern. I mentioned to the lady that delivers my mail that the police recommended I get some pepper spray in case he tries that again. The next day there was a canister of it in my mailbox.
How to walk a dog: need collar, leash, cell phone, pepper spray, plastic bag...geez - life is getting complicated.  |
| I wanted to mention a couple of tips that have worked for me when a strange dog approaches or charges me and my sheepie.
We have actually been chased several times by other dogs. The small ones I don't worry about as I can kick them. A few months ago, there were two German Shepards loose. I had never seen them in our neighborhood before. I have found that if it is a big dog that I am worried about and I know we can't outrun them, I will stop and YELL "NO" as many times as it takes. I have had really good luck with this. I don't stare the dog down (deamed too aggressive), but I will keep an eye on it. I also solicite help from my neighbors if anyone is outside. It seems if you run sometime (though we are fast on bike) it only makes it a predator-prey situation. We have also been ambushed by a Mastiff who was much bigger than my 85 lb. sheepie, fortunantly, he only chased my sheepie around my bicycle and did not bite. The owner came promptly. |
| George, sorry that happened to Barney. We had a similar experience with Chauncey when he was about a year old. He was also in full coat. It was about 3 days later & I noticed him licking at his flank area. I found a wound that was infected from the attack. He did well on antibiotic's but I felt horrible.
We persued this attack throught the local authorities and the dog still lives across the street, but they have strict rules to abide by and they are resposible enough to do so. This was not this dog's 1st attack ( more like his 4th ). We were the 1st to go through the necessary steps. This may be something you need to persue........Kathy |
George wrote: How to walk a dog: need collar, leash, cell phone, pepper spray, plastic bag...geez - life is getting complicated.
Don't forget the dog(s)!  |
| I knew I forgot something! |
| Sorry you had to go through this. Glad to hear you are all doing well. Miley had a run in with another dog last winter and it took as a couple of days to find the the puctures. So keep checking on Barney. Hope nothing shows up. It is so scary. |
| Hi George,
I'm sure glad that things didn't escalate between Barney and the other dog. I hate to hear that you, Barney, and Maggie had to go through such a terrible incident. Take care. |
| George so glad you and the dogs are ok. Barney and Maggie are such sweeties giving kisses and are so well trained. Give them each a kiss from the Mafia and me. |
| My gosh George. How aweful! I am so glad you guys are all OK! |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|