With the girls out of town, Pippin and I have been able to take really long walks in the evening. Most have been uneventful but enjoyable. But you never know when you’re going to get blindsided. Last evening, I learned the hard way that you can never let down your guard.
Pippin and I were returning from a two-mile jaunt when a dog appeared from behind a house and dashed across the street toward us. It looked like he had gotten away from his owners. At first glance, he looked familiar.
The dog was obviously rushing toward us. When he finally stopped, he and Pippin stood nose to nose.
But the event quickly changed for the worse.
I should have recognized the different posture right away, but in a flash the other dog — what I would describe as a Pit Bull — began attacking Pippin. With Pippin on a leash, he had little chance to evade. Luckily, it was the Gentle Leader leash. I was able to swing him out of the way a couple of times as the other dog, a dark brown, husky creature, rushed after him.
Ashamed that I had to swing Pippin on the leash, I also felt that I was protecting him from the other dog latching on.
When I was able to get between the two, I kicked the other dog away twice. A teen, who I assume was the owner, rushed over. But as he approached running, the other dog darted off. The teen chased after the dog. As he did, I remember him saying said that it was good that I kicked at the larger dog to keep him off our Pippin.
I picked up Pippin and checked him for wounds. He was injury free as best as I could tell. I carried him a 20 or 30 yards when I saw the teen bringing the other dog back. Yet another boy emerged holding a leash. The boy carrying the dog apologized several times, met up with the other teen, and walked off with their dog on the leash barely able to keep him contained.
My father was a bit miffed at me when I told my parents about the incident. He thought I should have called the police. He was concerned that a loose, obviously aggressive dog, could be a danger to children, especially their grandchildren, as well as others in the neighborhood.
There are numerous stories about these dogs hurting people, but there are equally numerous reports about kind, loving pets of this breed. There’s also a balancing act in situations like this: Do you confront the boys when this could have been a simple accident? The dog did have what looked like an electronic device on his collar to keep him in his yard.
The danger is real, though. We could have lost a family member. And I could have been maimed in his defense.
How would you respond?
3 Comments
I have small dogs who are always on leashes. If a larger dog started to attack my dogs, I’d have done everything in my power to defend them; face it, they’re fairly defenseless. If I knew where that dog lived, you’d win money betting that I’d have called animal control.
Lessons can be hard but they have to be learned.
Our walk was so late in the evening that when I got home it was after 8 and Control was closed.
I did call in the morning, but without an address, there’s not much they can do.
I also drove around the neighborhood during lunch, but couldn’t see the dog in a yard. We’ve been asking around but no one has heard of a Pit Bull or something similar in the neighborhood.
We’ll continue to look, though.
I got bit by a dog a few weeks back while out on assignment. I suspect if you called the cops they would tell you to call Guilford County Animal Control. That’s what the cops did — I was out on a shooting call, and several cops saw the dog bite me.
The dog? It was a pit bull. And it was leashed to a tree when I made the mistake of looking at it. The dog lunged, broke its lead and went right for my calf.
Don’t believe the bullshit about pit bulls being all cute and cuddly. Hell, most of them might be, but I’m not taking any chances. There’s something definitely wrong with that breed. I’ve been around plenty of dogs, but that was the first that decided it would rather bite my leg and spend 10 days at the Animal Shelter rather than just sit there and be cool.
You’re a brave man to stand in there like that, Herb.