On Friday, whilst walking my dog (fairly big, intact male, 3yrs old, Bouvier, 44kg/100lbs) I spotted another big dog (intact male, 2yrs old, Rhodesian Ridgeback). I called my dog back and held him by his collar, meanwhile the other dog's owner has spotted him running towards us and is giving chase. Classic ridgeback approach technique - he circles around the back of us. Now my dog is big - usually the biggest on the block and the breed is regularly trained to Schutzhund 3, but a Ridgeback is probably the only dog around that could cause him serious damage, so I held onto him tightly, expecting the other owner to grab the Ridgeback. The other dog lunged for my dog's neck - unfortunately, my hand was still there, so I now have a deep puncture wound in my left ring finger and have of course let go of my dog. A few tussles later and the other guy has his dog by the collar and my dog returns to me.

OK, ETS mode - fortunately I have my handkerchief and use it with compression to stop the copious bleeding. Stupidly, I have left my cellphone at home, I am only half a mile from home and reasoned I wouldn't need it. That won't happen again. If the dog has punctured my wrist instead of my finger, things could have gone very badly.

I make it home, call the doc and he wants me in immediately. The wound is deep and so I'm now on penicillin. Huge ones. Plus I get a lesson in how to apply steristrips!

Today, the swelling is beginning to subside, thanks to the penicillin there doesn't appear to be infection and I can start to use the hand again.

The question that is still dominating my thoughts is: what could I have done to prevent it from happening, preferably without losing my dog?

My first thought is a leash, is that over simplistic? While on that thought, is there a leash law where you are? Obviously you were able to restrain your dog in time, but the other person was not.

Maybe the best thing to do would have been to just let your dog go. Dog's have an instict to not kill each other- just to establish dominance. By holding on to your dog's collar, you may have interfered with his ability to communicate via body language, and also removed his ability to maneuver. I wasn't there though, so I can't say for sure. Dog's almost always work it out without hurting each other. By holding on to your dog, you removed "escape" as an option, and so "aggression" was the only option left- so it probably took on an aggressive stance, that the other dog read and went into attack mode.

There are, of course, poorly socialized dogs out there that don't communicate properly, and can be quite dangerous. And the sad thing is, it's usually not safe anymore to give them the socialization they need to be able to learn proper doggy etiquette. But even then I think the best thing is to let your dog take care of itself as much as possible.

Hi Malpaso,

it would be a shame to have the dogs on a leash where we walk - it is open countryside. My dog was under control and I had his leash ready to put on him, but the other dog forced the issue and I certainly wouldn't have wanted my dog tied up in his leash if he needed to defend himself.

My question is more aimed at thinking of ways to deal with an approaching aggressive dog - techinques, tools etc. Bearing in mind we are not allowed to carry guns here!

I agree it's a shame to have dogs on leashes, but it's a law most place around where I live. My thought in your case was not to have him on the leash while walking, but only to have the leash handy, so that you could have attched it when you grabbed his collar, thereby having control without endangering your hands. Also, if there was a leash law, that would put the onus on the other person for injuries caused to you or your dog.

Does pepper spray work on dogs? I would think that it would, however, you might have ended up spraying your dog as well.

I deal with this kind of problem all the time. We have a large, trained german shepherd who is a total sweetheart with family but can be mean as hell with other dogs. We never let her off leash in the city but not everyone here with a dog is that considerate. (Leashes are required by law here.)

At least once a week, someone's dog run up to ours, presumably to play. The ensuing growling, barking, and rising hackles generally scares them off. Now and then, however, another dog doesn't back down and then all hell breaks loose. I do try to restrain my dog, but if the other dog clearly means business, I will absolutely let my dog defend herself. Unfortunately, this has generally meant the other dog will get hurt in someway unless its owner appears on the scene quickly. This is really a shame, because it's not the dog's fault that its owner is irresponsible.

All that being said, the worst place for your hands in a dog fight is anywhere near the business end and all those sharp pointy teeth. The first thing you should do once you grab your dog's collar is attach the leash, which gives you some control at a distance and gives your dog some room to maneuvere and posture. This display alone may ward off an attack, and even if it doesn't, it lets your dog protect itself and keeps you safe as well.

Last point -- one person alone cannot break up a real dog fight, so don't even try. You need both owners involved, preferably each pulling as hard a possible on a leash or whatever it takes to get their dogs to disengage. If the other owner isn't around, then I would join my dog in fighting off the stray, which is an entirely different thing than separating two combating dogs. If this were a more urgent problem for us, I would carry a large stick or pepper spray specifically formulated for canine usage, but I have no idea what's legal where you live.

carry a walking stick, or better yet, an umbrella you can open with one hand.

tro

You are very lucky. I did medical photography for many years and have seen hundreds of dog bites. Even small dogs can do permanent damage and the big dogs almost always have very serious bites.

This will annoy dog owners, but I think that dogs, of any size, should NEVER be allowed off a leash when near people. So many times the owners (who frequently were with the injured) said "my dog has never ever been agressive before". A big dog can crush a childs skull. I have seen it. A family dog got up, streached and then clamped down on the child, who died from the wounds. I have seen large men with huge arms, have their forearm bones crushed by dogs.

Just because the dog would like to run is not good enough for me. I, as a person who has been attacked by a dog, know that I will have almost no warning of the attack. The dog will run twords me, and either stop, or attack. I won't know which until it hits me.

I know you believe your dog is safe. But it is not. I feel very threatened when I see a loose dog. (and I am 6' 225 lb) I feel it is my right to protect myself, so if your dog comes running twords me in an agressive way, I will do WHATEVER I can to prevent an attack. I can not take the risk to wait to see if it will really bite or not.

Nomad
PS. The most claimed insurance item is dog bites.

I used to run 4-5 miles a day on city streets in residential neighborhoods with a lot of loose dogs around. Every now and then, one would try to get aggressive. My strategy was to run straight AT the dog, screaming yelling and waving my arms like hell. They turn tail and run. It always worked. It works on bullls, too.