My family just got a Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy (shes now 5 months old) and being enthusiastic pet owners my mother and I have been taking her out for daily walks at different state parks in my area. Until now we haven't had a single problem.
The other night we were walking a popular trail used by bikers with iron groins (seriously, sharp corners, drop offs, rocks, tree limbs, sand traps abound). Just walking it requires concentration (I have pain and nerve issues with my leg too so sometimes it takes me longer to catch up to my mom) and every 2 min bikers come riding by, often with little warning because we are deep into woods on a narrow path about 1.5 miles from the closest civilized area.
Mom is about 15 to 20 feet ahead in the dip between two hills when I hear her call out "Dog coming!". I see the dog, a medium sized terrier mix come over the crest of the hill and I can immediately tell something is off. We watch the dog and wait for it to come to the end of the lead, before realizing there is no lead. Then hell broke loose. The dog charged my mom, snarling and snapping at our puppy, who was circling behind my mom in an attempt to get away. My mom had a walking stick, but on the narrow path there was no way to use it and with our puppy in imminent danger she did the only thing she could and used the lead to jerk the puppy into her arms (she was wearing her harness and not just a collar thank gods).
The terrier broke off when he saw me cripple-hustle my ass up to the group since the puppy was out of reach he apparently didn't like his odds against my mom and me as a group.
I cannot describe what I felt in the moment I saw the second dog crest the hill. A larger lab mix, also unleashed, came running ahead of the owner who at this point was still not coming to get her dogs, or even calling for them. The lab approached slower than the terrier but still aggressive. I yelled for her to put her dogs on leashes and she started to argue with me about how her dogs were not aggressive.
As she is trying to argue with me, and not controlling her dogs the lab, who has not taken his eyes off our puppy circles my mom. His body language was aggressive so when he lunged towards mom and the puppy I cut him off bodily and used my walking sticks to drive him back. Sensing her dog was about to have the pointed end of a walking stick driven into her dog's skull she finally comes up and grabs him.
There are so many things I wish I had said at that point, but truthfully I couldn't speak. The adrenaline was surging, I wasn't sure if my mom and our puppy were hurt or not, and I don't take pleasure in hurting animals so when the woman hustled off with her dogs I made no further attempt to communicate with her. If i would have had the number I would have called park rangers to report the attack, but I didn't have it and I wasn't thinking clear enough to call 411.
We all escaped with no bites, although my mom did get scratched by our puppy when she jerked her up and the windmilling paws caught her in the face. Our puppy was scared but otherwise unharmed.
I still don't know what that stupid #$#@ was thinking having her dogs untethered on that path. There was nowhere for the dogs to run with thick woods on either side of the narrow path, and the path itself was being used by people on bikes, kids, and other hikers. There is also no doubt in my mind that she knew that her dogs (especially the terrier as it was the alpha) are vicious. Throughout the ordeal she showed no shock, no surprise. My theory as to why she didn't come in to grab her dog was fear of being bitten by her own dog.
Argh. I'm still pissed, and I can;t help but wish our Shepard was still alive and with us. You see before the corgi we had a German Shepard, who while a great dog was extremely aggressive. She would have eaten those dogs. Of course, I suspect that woman still wouldn't have learned to keep her dogs tethered.
If you guys want I'll post pics of our puppy. Luckily shes not scared of new dogs, even after all that. 8)
The other night we were walking a popular trail used by bikers with iron groins (seriously, sharp corners, drop offs, rocks, tree limbs, sand traps abound). Just walking it requires concentration (I have pain and nerve issues with my leg too so sometimes it takes me longer to catch up to my mom) and every 2 min bikers come riding by, often with little warning because we are deep into woods on a narrow path about 1.5 miles from the closest civilized area.
Mom is about 15 to 20 feet ahead in the dip between two hills when I hear her call out "Dog coming!". I see the dog, a medium sized terrier mix come over the crest of the hill and I can immediately tell something is off. We watch the dog and wait for it to come to the end of the lead, before realizing there is no lead. Then hell broke loose. The dog charged my mom, snarling and snapping at our puppy, who was circling behind my mom in an attempt to get away. My mom had a walking stick, but on the narrow path there was no way to use it and with our puppy in imminent danger she did the only thing she could and used the lead to jerk the puppy into her arms (she was wearing her harness and not just a collar thank gods).
The terrier broke off when he saw me cripple-hustle my ass up to the group since the puppy was out of reach he apparently didn't like his odds against my mom and me as a group.
I cannot describe what I felt in the moment I saw the second dog crest the hill. A larger lab mix, also unleashed, came running ahead of the owner who at this point was still not coming to get her dogs, or even calling for them. The lab approached slower than the terrier but still aggressive. I yelled for her to put her dogs on leashes and she started to argue with me about how her dogs were not aggressive.
As she is trying to argue with me, and not controlling her dogs the lab, who has not taken his eyes off our puppy circles my mom. His body language was aggressive so when he lunged towards mom and the puppy I cut him off bodily and used my walking sticks to drive him back. Sensing her dog was about to have the pointed end of a walking stick driven into her dog's skull she finally comes up and grabs him.
There are so many things I wish I had said at that point, but truthfully I couldn't speak. The adrenaline was surging, I wasn't sure if my mom and our puppy were hurt or not, and I don't take pleasure in hurting animals so when the woman hustled off with her dogs I made no further attempt to communicate with her. If i would have had the number I would have called park rangers to report the attack, but I didn't have it and I wasn't thinking clear enough to call 411.
We all escaped with no bites, although my mom did get scratched by our puppy when she jerked her up and the windmilling paws caught her in the face. Our puppy was scared but otherwise unharmed.
I still don't know what that stupid #$#@ was thinking having her dogs untethered on that path. There was nowhere for the dogs to run with thick woods on either side of the narrow path, and the path itself was being used by people on bikes, kids, and other hikers. There is also no doubt in my mind that she knew that her dogs (especially the terrier as it was the alpha) are vicious. Throughout the ordeal she showed no shock, no surprise. My theory as to why she didn't come in to grab her dog was fear of being bitten by her own dog.
Argh. I'm still pissed, and I can;t help but wish our Shepard was still alive and with us. You see before the corgi we had a German Shepard, who while a great dog was extremely aggressive. She would have eaten those dogs. Of course, I suspect that woman still wouldn't have learned to keep her dogs tethered.
If you guys want I'll post pics of our puppy. Luckily shes not scared of new dogs, even after all that. 8)
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