OK..i am not above finger pointing when it comes to other peoples screw-ups and lack of outdoor skills so i'll turn that finger around and press it right on my own nose---
over the weekend we were off for some cross country skiing at a large park by the Mississippi River. i took along a old classic camp stove to get some shots for another site i inhabit and all was going well.after a few hours we were heading back to the car when a dog who was on a leash made a leap from the side of the trail and nipped me on the leg.the owner,a old man,threw himself on the dog.as my heavy flannel lined jeans were not ripped and----here it is--i was tired and just wanted to go home.....i did not get the mans name or any other information..at home i saw it was not a pinch but a bite with broken skin..we have dogs--the wet canoeing ones,and i'm around dogs all the time at the free-run parks so i never think about dogs being a problem..next AM i call the RN line at the Vets Hospital and i'm told to go into the clinic ASAP.
i took the jeans with the idea of showing them that they were not ripped so maybe the dog did not touch me...
WRONG--the Dr..who i know from working over there, asked one question--"where is the dog"---well i don't know.....
in less that 30 seconds i was set up for the rabies shots that i'll be getting for the next four weeks...
i asked the RN what i would do if i got bit out on a canoe trip??...paddle hard--you have five days to start those shots!
moral to this story--bads things really can happen,don't assume anything.

Ouch, but I believe that the required shots are not the old beneath the muscle ones (medical professionals please correct). My wife got a similar heated lecture from our vet. DW took pity on a stray cat brought it into the house. It bit her, minor one, but broke the skin. She didn't think much of it as we've had multiple cats for 30 years and stuff like that happens all the time. When she took the cat to the vet for a checkup, shots and spaying the vet saw the bite marks and just went ballistic. He said that if the cat got loose in the next 10 days she would have to have the shots.

So far everyone is fine. But that sure left a sobering impression on the DW.

Man that is rough. I'm sorry to hear that you have to get the shots.

What are the shots like these days? We've all heard the horror stories from long ago, but are they the same now?

The shots are not so bad now.
1 shot of antibodies where you got bit, followed by 5 shots of the vaccine in the arm.
If you are around animals a lot you might want to get vaccinated against rabies.
http://vaccineinformation.com/rabies/qandavax.asp

I got the series fifteen years ago. Four shots on day one(both hips, both shoulders), and one shot again on days 3,7,14 and 28. Not too bad: like tetanus shots. I was stiff on the morning of day two, but had to walk four miles in to a campsite to notify the other victims that the animal did test positive for rabies. By the time I had walked back out, the stiffness was gone.

And never assume a dog is friendly. They do bite.

Wow. I think I would have had choice words with the owner. Choice. Words.

Everyone seems to be missing the big question: is the nurse giving you the shots cute?

With sympathy,
-Blast

Not mangled by one, but lunged at...in high school I was at a friend's house, retriever was under the kitchen island. I pulled out a chair maybe 2 feet away, and the dog lunged with teeth bared...I got the hell out of there, and a few months later they didn't have the dog anymore due to behavioral problems. No breed is totally immune.

Yep, is over-generalization. No horror story, but I've seen a number that are quite surly.

-john