Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was jogging today - on a narrow path at the park, when a German Shepherd bit me.

Not hurt - although the little rat did his best!

The set up - on Saturdays I usually see this uncoordinated 40ish guy with a beautiful West German Highline type. Deep Red and Black. Real Pretty, about 80lbs.. The dog always seemed a bit jerky, dragging his person along. But they were never on the running path which is only wide enough for two people (one in either direction).

So Today, just as I started jogging and was on the path at the part where it circles a tennis court I notice the guy and this dog- about 100 feet away.

I thought, "that's weird...he must be a better dog than I guessed when I'd seen him previously. He must be reliable when very close to people. Otherwise why would his owner run him on such a narrow path where they'd constantly pass joggers".

For a split sec I considered leaving the path but, as always, I had trouble allowing myself to alter my jogging plan. (Sort of a compulsion to stick to the plan.) And I'm not afraid of dogs.

Anyway, the dopey guy was so involved with staring at his feet, that he didn't notice me! The dog is bad, but not stupid. I had already passed them, when he pivoted, and pulling his foolish owner for about 3 feet, lunged back at me and bit my rump! Hard.
I clocked him on the head, and he backed up. I reached for my hip - my hand ran through dog spittle.

My reaction? As you might imagine - fury. I kept control and start speaking aggressively but not wildly, and the stupid guy starts to come towards me head bent while his dog tries to jump me again.

I have to shout- "Hold him! Shorten his leash and hold him away from me - NOW!"

Then I friggin' lectured the guy. His head was bowed and he kept saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
But I was SURE he wasn't processing what I was saying. Which went something like this,

"I don't care how much you might have paid for that dog - but he's worthless if bites people when totally unprovoked. Why don't you know what your dog is like? Now you know...STAY off the path- there's tons of joggers and kids and the path is narrow. WHY DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS? Don't watch your feet while you jog with him! Be alert for heaven sakes, It's your job to know when he's going to do something bad BEFORE he does it!"

The guy was nodding and kept repeating, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I gave him the thumbs up, and jogged off. (Sometimes I'm a weird guy.)

As I ran on, the people in the tennis courts (all of whom had watched my lecture) nodded and one or two called out to me- "That dog bit you?"

"Yeah," I responded, "Pretty hard actually, but didn't break skin."

"Where?" one guy called out.
Thinking it was a weird question, I nevertheless called back, "On the ass."
(He probably meant, "Where did it happen".)

I ran an hour and fifty minutes. Then I went shopping, went home, ate lunch, did yard work. When I took my shorts off to shower- I realized he HAD broken skin- through my clothes, leaving them unripped.

Oh well.

Unfortuneatly their are those who love the breed like the rest of us but don't realize controlling them is work. They pick up a puppy thinking it will train itself because it's a "German Shepherd". I urge everyone to analyze the situation and realisticly ask yourself if you can handle any dog much less a german shepherd. Don't make foolish impulsive decisions.

P.S. thats why i jog with my dog. I made sure to socialize her with people early on.

Good luck with your problem and i suggest going around nextime

Thanks.
Don't think it's much of a problem for me as much as for society as a whole - that some people are so dense.

This guy was not coordinated enough or alert enough to handle a dog that has been selectively bred to be very reactive.

The funny thing was that my dog sense said "move off the path", but my stubborness allowed me to be convinced by the thought that the guy wouldn't be stupid enough to run the dog on a popular narrow path if the dog wasn't safe. Needless to say my dog sense was correct! I'll try not to ignore it again.

But I believe that it's inevitable that the end of the story hasn't been written for that dog. Hopefully, the owner was shaken up enough to re-think his lack of vigilance.

To me, it was no big deal physically- I've had good natured dogs chomp my hands much harder while playing fetch, etc.... It's just that I was so annoyed at the owner and the dog and in reality, myself.

A German Shepherd without the ability to judge what is and what isn't a threat that justifies a reaction, lacks the most important qualities of the breed- Complex intelligence and a natural inclination to react appropriately.

You need to report this guy. Otherwise you are just as negligent as he is. You said yourself chewing on him didn't do any good, you didn't think he absobed a bit of it.

I ended up in court because nobody bothered to report a negligent owner of a Golden Retriever who after attacking multiple people, myself included, ripped a teenage girl open to the tune of 40 stitches. We all felt bad we hadn't done something to stop this sooner. I won't ever make that mistake again.

On another note. There are alot of loose and wild dogs around the little town I live in. I've been followed by peoples pets and strays that were up to no good. I make no bones about telling the owners of the loose dogs what will happen if my dogs or myself are attacked. I will shoot the dog, then sue them for damages.

I will not go home and call in a report, I will put the dog down before he has a chance to hurt me or my dogs any more then his first attack allows. I advise people to exercise their right to protect themselves. The cop and animal control officers that show up when your bleeding, your pet is dead and the offending dog is long gone aren't gonna make you feel a whole lot better.

Just a couple of things for you to think about.

Putting the dog down isn't exactly for you to decide - that's the reason they have those laws. So that someone legally qualified can make that decision. I don't know where you are but here in Ontario the dog is immediately quarantined and stays there pending court (thereby preventing another attack). The dog is thoroughly evaluated by a behaviourist to determine whether rehab is an option, and then a judge makes a decision.

Some dogs will be put down but others can be beautifully managed and even rehabbed to some degree. It's not a favour to anyone to "put the dog down" in an inhumane way (you would really shoot a dog?! It doesn't matter how good a shot you are, or how nasty the dog is, what if you missed by a little? no dog deserves that, particularly considering it's not the dog's fault to begin with).. Here no matter what that dog did if you take the law into your own hands you'll be incarcerated much longer than the dog's owner. I'm so glad I live in Ontario with somewhat respectable gun laws - no person outside the law has a right to own a gun.

Putting the dog down isn't exactly for you to decide - that's the reason they have those laws. So that someone legally qualified can make that decision. I don't know where you are but here in Ontario the dog is immediately quarantined and stays there pending court (thereby preventing another attack). The dog is thoroughly evaluated by a behaviourist to determine whether rehab is an option, and then a judge makes a decision.

Some dogs will be put down but others can be beautifully managed and even rehabbed to some degree. It's not a favour to anyone to "put the dog down" in an inhumane way (you would really shoot a dog?! It doesn't matter how good a shot you are, or how nasty the dog is, what if you missed by a little? no dog deserves that, particularly considering it's not the dog's fault to begin with).. Here no matter what that dog did if you take the law into your own hands you'll be incarcerated much longer than the dog's owner. I'm so glad I live in Ontario with somewhat respectable gun laws - no person outside the law has a right to own a gun.

_________________________________________________________________

I live in America, luckily enough I live in a state that allows me to carry a firearm to defend my family and my property from reasonable threat. This isn't a gun website so that's as far as I'll go with that.

You are right, putting a dog down is not for me to decide. On the other hand if a dog attacks myself, my family (dogs included) or another person or dog I have the right to use reasonable force to stop the attack. If the dog bights and retreats or finishes it's attack and dissapears before I shoot then it is for the authoritys to handle. I wouldn't chase it down to kill it, that would be illegal and recless.

Like you said, the dog will be quarantined and somebody else will make that call. If the dog continues the attack I will not hesitate to shoot to kill the offending dog. How humane is it for me to allow myself or another to be hurt or killed when I could very easily put and end to the threat? How right would it be to let my dog die and have them "Regab" the attacker?

It is to bad that there are negligant owners out there who would force me to do this. I would not be outside the law in doing so. I doubt my firearm would even be taken. Of course they would be fined and what ever else the law deems worthy. The owner might do time, but I never would.

It is a shame that this happens. If people would be responsable in the first place it never would. Unfortunatly there are people out there who choose to let this happen. It's not the dogs fault, but the dog will pay the dearest price.

On a final note. After being a witness in two trials for the same dog that caused harm to a 4 year old child and later to a teenage girl who took care of it from time to time. Then seeing the dog be returned to the owner, I have very little faith in the system. The owner was clearly at fault, but was never given more then a minor fine. Alot of the people that were attacked by that dog (there were more then the two) are now truely scared of all dogs and will be for life. Is that right?

While I don't carry a firearm, you can't bet I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a dog attacking myself or my dogs that was not backing off.

In the state I live, property owners, CAN defend their property, animals, livestock, humans, by whatever means necessary IF another animal is threatening..Doesn't even have to attack, if the owner feels threatened, they can do what they deem necessary to protect.

I certainly don't like the idea of "killing" another animal, it's abhorrent to me, however, my animals are more important to me, and I'd do whatever I had to, to defend them.

There is a case going on right now in CT, it will be interesting to learn the outcome..A woman's 3 standard poodles got loose from her fenced in yard,,went wandering on the adjoining property, the property owner said they "growled" and were "menacing" towards him, he shot all 3 dead..Now, whether or not the dogs WERE menacing, no one will know,,no witnesses..He was arrested and faces trial for shooting the dogs.

Diane

Do you have any links to this case or news items about it? As both a gun owner and a dog owner I'd like to know the outcome of this one.

I don't off hand, but let me snoop around,,the newspaper that carries the story is The Norwich Bulletin as it happened in the Norwich CT area. As I said, the case hasn't gone to trial yet, but I know it's soon..let me see if I can find anything in the archives of the newspaper and i'll post it..

diane

here's a "link" the one I was referring to is the poodle story. however, there's another on there about a man who shot the neighbors bassett after it peed in his yard
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_site=norwichbulletin&p_multi=NRBB|&p_product=NRBB&p_theme=gannett&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=dog shooting AND date()&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=("dog shooting"&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date&xcal_useweights=no

diane

>>You need to report this guy. Otherwise you are just as negligent as he is. You said yourself chewing on him didn't do any good, you didn't think he absobed a bit of it.
>>
>>I ended up in court because nobody bothered to report a negligent owner of a Golden Retriever who after attacking multiple people, myself included, ripped a teenage girl open to the tune of 40 stitches. We all felt bad we hadn't done something to stop this sooner. I won't ever make that mistake again.
>>
>>On another note. There are alot of loose and wild dogs around the little town I live in. I've been followed by peoples pets and strays that were up to no good. I make no bones about telling the owners of the loose dogs what will happen if my dogs or myself are attacked. I will shoot the dog, then sue them for damages.
>>
>>I will not go home and call in a report, I will put the dog down before he has a chance to hurt me or my dogs any more then his first attack allows. I advise people to exercise their right to protect themselves. The cop and animal control officers that show up when your bleeding, your pet is dead and the offending dog is long gone aren't gonna make you feel a whole lot better.
>>
>>Just a couple of things for you to think about.

>>>>>>>>>>

The last time a dog attacked one of mine on the street (my dog on leash, that dog loose) and I didn't report it, I found out later another neighbor took the law into their own hands and poisoned the dog in its own back yard. I didn't cry over it. If I'd had a gun it wouldn't have bothered me to shoot it while it was chewing on my dog's hind end. Not the dog's fault, but the owners made it a menace by failing to exercise control.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

Take my GSD to the beach every week and all those little yapping mops get in Danka's face and their owners smile and enjoy the show. UNTIL Danka drops the tennis ball which is my 5 second warning to get her attention and divert a mauling. I've been scolded for being so strict with the dog. "They're just having fun. You should calm down"....et al. She's a stand her own dog and when one freedom crazed dog at the beach gets her ready to rumble I've got my work cut out for me. I've seen a couple of fights at the beach and no one wins. If I was to fault it would be the little yappers owners that think their dog is SO CUTE running around yapping at every Rotty and Lab on the beach.
Getting bit is no fun.(I just got bit by a 10 year old cocker spaniel. Tore my ring finger from palm to tip and got me in the knee with three punctures. I was hand feeding it for crying out loud.) Doesn't bother me much but a young girl or an older lady might be devastated and if Danka really lets loose its gonna be a mauling. Point is GSD's should be treated like a loaded gun IMO. Crunch a new tennis ball first bite. Imagine your butt cheek. This is one person who keeps close rein on the GSD. She's a handful at the beach and I have to overcompensate for others apathy.
But secretly, just once, I hope she gets a hold of one of those white 15 pound yappers at the beach and shows me what she can do. (Just Kidding)