I got a call from my wife.....
She was walking our two 12 lb Miniature Poodles around the block, this time on a block she doesn't normally walk but still in the general neighborhood. As she was passing a house, two dogs charged the front door and it wasn't latched thoroughly and in a flash they were out. They went straight for Neo and even tho she tried she couldn't fend them both off and keep ahold of the boy's leashed - they got to Neo.
She managed to get him picked up and they were still hanging onto his leg with their teeth till she finally shook them loose - Remo had run away to the end of his leash and they didn't seem to go after him, but Neo was bleeding. The owners came rushing out and grabbed their dogs and got them back in the house and apologized - except the husband who started copping an immediate attitude.
As I pulled up and got out of the car she was standing there holding Neo and the husband was standing there smoking - like he thought I was going to come up and punch him or call the cops and have his dogs taken away and killed (in fact that's what he asked me, if I was going to call the cops and have his dogs taken away - that made me wonder if maybe they didn't have them vaccinated or tagged.....more on that in a sec.
Since it was after 5 pm on a Sat all the regular vets were closed, he wasn't bleeding badly but Rose clearly had blood on her hands from holding him - we decided to take him to the Emergency Vet and have him checked out. I hate going to this place, not because of what they do, but because any time we've been there horrible things have happened - one time someone came in carrying a dog that had just been hit by a car and was literally screaming......tonight a very distraught woman came in and they rushed out with a litter cart, but I think the dog was dead when they unloaded him.....they put a blanket over the entire dog, even his head.
So they checked Neo out and only found one puncture wound - on his front leg - and they sent him home with a course of antibiotics. The wife asked for the bill and said she would pay us tomorrow and apologized profusely for her husband's attitude and comments. She said the dogs were vaccinated and tagged, and that she would have their papers for me tomorrow when I dropped off the bills. It wasn't too bad, only $245 and $65 of that was the antibiotics.
Neo is sleeping now and seems none the worse for the experience, but I told Rose just to stay off their block while he gets his confidence back.
We don't blame the dogs for being dogs, but we sure as hell blame the owners for not controlling their dogs and allowing them to cause havoc like this. I think the whole experience was harder on Rose than Neo as she felt badly that she couldn't protect him better.
Makes you wonder if those dogs have attacked before doesn't it? That really sucks, glad to hear the pup is OK.
Mrs5543 was dropping Lucie off at the doggie day care, we had a really busy day checking out a new school for our younger son, so she thought she would let the girl go play for the morning.
While waiting to check Lucie in some lady with a Bull Terrier asked if her dog could say hello, which is against the rules there, no dogs are allowed to interact while on leash. She said he was friendly, the second he got close to Lucy he attacked her and ripped her ear. We had to cancel school tour and take Lucy to the Vet. My wife didn't get any info on the person due to be shaken up. That dog was never boarded there, the lady was just there buying food.
Vet bill was about $200 with antibiotics. Lucy now has a torn ear since they could not stitch it where it was torn.
BTW - We have a walking stick we take with us. Our first dog was attacked 3X in this hood. We have had some close calls with Lucy.
We carry this and if I see a dog out and off leash I arm it and have it ready the noise alone will stop a dog in its tracks, and scare mine, I have not had to use it and hope to never have to.
Reviewers have and say it works well.
https://www.amazon.com/Southern-Garden-Tools-Walking-Hiking/dp/B01MRJYE8R/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=zap+hiking+stick&qid=1582468061&sr=8-4
I don't think she had time to react, they were on her so quickly, and with two dogs she wouldn't have had a hand free to carry one of those, but that's a good defense against a bad dog.....
Our solution is that I will go with her and I'll walk one and she'll have the other.....she's been walking them alone lately since my knee hurts so badly. I'll put my brace on and suck it up and go with her.
BTW, that's a good point about them getting out before or attacking other dogs. We walk them along a sidewalk that runs behind they're house and the dogs always charge the fence - even tho the sidewalk is a good 30 feet or more from their back fence.
She also said today that she can't find their dog's vaccinations......if she doesn't have them tagged, then they now have a problem. I won't be turning them in to the city or anything but they are now on notice that if anything ever happens again they are wide open for a significant lawsuit.
Epilogue: We took the vet bill over and she already had a bag ready for us - again she said how embarrassed she was that her dogs even got out and for the way her husband acted.
In the bag was an envelope with $250 cash (the vet's bill was $245), a gift card to a local high end BBQ place, some pill pockets and high end treats for the boys and a large heavy Panera crumb cake.
We left on good terms but..........no vaccination records. She claims she will have them tomorrow as soon as the vet's offices open. We'll see.....the vet she claims they use is right down the block so it will be easy to get them......IF they exist.
So far they've behaved like responsible adults - at least the wife and teen aged son have. If we get the vet records in a reasonable amount of time I'll close the case once and for all.
Neo seems none the worse for it, we took them both on a long walk this afternoon and he wasn't fearful, and his leg doesn't seem to bother him. I'm sure it hurt like hell but he never let out a peep when it happened.
We watch a lot of Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer. My wife recently ordered a book from him and has been reading a lot, it is about raising a puppy.
What we learned from the show, once they are attacked like that, make sure they are immediately in social situations where the dogs are happy. Also, they feed off of you, if you are tense with fear they will sense it and act accordingly.
When Lucie was attacked, my wife actually pushed to get her in with other dogs to shake it off as fast as possible so she would not associate meeting other dogs with attacks. The grooming girls at the pet day care cauterized her ear and stopped the bleeding, then they let her play for 15 minutes before pulling her out to go to the vet.
The Vet was actually impressed with the cleaning job and cauterizing.
So remember the dogs live in the moment, they feed off of you, take some deep breathes and relax the dogs will be cool too.
Sounds like the wife is a good person and truly regretful over this incident. Good for the you!! The a-hole whose dog attacked ours never looked back never checked in with the dog store to see if they knew anything about the condition of our dog. She might be related to that husband in your story.