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Old 12-26-2018, 07:13 AM
 
6,806 posts, read 4,442,898 times
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I was bitten by a leashed dog. The owner had the mutt on a very, very long retractable leash. We were walking towards each other on the narrow sidewalk outside of an apartment complex. The dog pranced ahead of her, anxious to investigate me.

I backed up, stepping off the sidewalk onto the grass, trying to give myself distance from him. I yelled "Hold your dog!". She kept giving him more slack on his leash, shouting "He's friendly. He won't hurt you!"

What the hell is wrong with people?

The dog raced over and nipped me on my ankle. Luckily it wasn't hard enough to penetrate my jeans and heavy socks, but it hurt like hell. Boy-oh-boy, did I ever have some choice words for her. That leash must have been 20-feet long.

You wanna guess what she said after he bit me? Do I even have to tell you?

She said....

"Gee, he's never done that before."

Idiot.
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Old 12-26-2018, 06:17 PM
 
Location: Northeastern U.S.
2,076 posts, read 1,594,779 times
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First of all, I think that retractable leashes, unless you have the best-trained dog in the world or a very small one, are not effective at controlling the dog - you can't get enough wrist control, so the ability to pull back the dog is not as good as with a leather (my favorite) or nylon lead. To give my dog extra room on the leash, I link two or three leather leads together; I can very quickly pull him back when needed and then extend it again. And there's less likelihood of the attached leads looping around someone else's ankle than there is with those darned flexi-leads.

Second, and this is second nature to any responsible dog owner; if you have your dog on a leash; and the dog is "prancing ahead" trying to investigate someone and that person is trying to get the heck away from the dog, for God's sake, you pull the dog back! (it's not hard to figure that out!) I'm very happy to let my leashed dog to prance up to someone who is saying "what a cute dog" and is stopping to look at him (I still have a good grip on the leash though); but normally on the sidewalk or inside my condo building, I keep my dog on a fairly tight lead; since I don't want him to mark plants that are not city-owned or to bother anyone who doesn't want to be bothered. (he's a friendly dog and a small one, but very interested in people's purses, backpacks, etc.; and not everyone might appreciate that)

I once had a dog who was nervous of/disliked children; and I could have her in a small elevator (in our building) with a child and parent with no incident - I tightened the lead (not so much as to further stress my dog, but enough so I could feel it if she made any move and could immediately stop her); and would talk to her, warning her to be a good girl and behave herself (I didn't mention anything specific because I didn't want to terrify the parent(s) and child. Sometimes I could hear her grumbling/growling very softly; but she never made a move. Also, as much as possible in the small elevator, I'd place myself between my dog and the child.

On the few occasions when a dog of mine bit a person (not my current dog, he has never done so; and the bites given by two other dogs I've had barely broke the skin); I gave my name and personal information, showed my dog's rabies tag, and offered to be responsible for the damage. I paid for a doctor's visit in one instance (no stitches needed, just a tetanus shot) . I have since become more picky about what kind of dog I will own; and more proactive in watching the dog's body language and distance from people.

A dog of mine was also falsely accused of biting a young woman; despite her having no medical records. Luckily I found a witness to the encounter who saw everything, including the lack of biting and the lack of any mark on the woman's hand (where she said my dog bit her) and my home insurance company recorded her testimony and sent a letter to the young woman's lawyer (who had contacted me); and I never heard from them again.

Sometimes a dog will bite for the first time, and it can be a surprise to the owner. I wonder how old the dog who tried to bite you was. Sometimes, as a dog comes into maturity (i.e. 1-3 years), he or she becomes more territorial and protective and even aggressive; when he/she could have appeared to be fine with people as a puppy or even over the age of a year. Then again, the woman could have just been a complete moron who knew the dog was nervous of some people or aggressive with them and just let the flexi-lead extend so the dog could assault you. Let's hope that the woman has learned from the incident; and is not only exerting more control on the dog, but perhaps taking him/her to obedience classes or a trainer. It's not the dog's fault that the owner is a nitwit.

Sorry you went through this experience. If the 'nip' "hurt like hell", I hope you examined your ankle and made absolutely certain that the skin was unbroken. Even a tiny skin-break nip necessitates cleaning (soap and water, disinfectant) as soon as possible, not to mention verification that the dog is up to date on its rabies shots.
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