Runner's Forum: Dog Bite Nightmare

Hi.  I'm fairly new to running.  Been running a couple months and usually go a mile or two.  Anyway, I had a little setback today and I thought I'd vent to some people who might understand.

 I was running my usual route this morning and two little dogs came running out at me, and crossed to the other side of the street where I was running.  One of the little dogs is a regular in the area and if I make some noise and wave my arms at him he usually goes away.  Today he had a little friend and the little friend teamed up on me with him.  The new dog managed to get ahold of my shin and tear my sweat pants.  A little girl called them away and I kept running until my leg started to hurt and I realized that I had been bitten.  Not real bad, but it did break the skin and it was bleeding.  So, I went home, got cleaned up, and when to the town cops to report the incident.  I asked the cops to go to the house and find out if the dog had it's shots.  Now it gets worse.  The dog owners got the dog from someone else a couple months ago.  They don't have papers.  It looks unlikely that the dog has had its rabies vacines.  The familty doesn't speak English very well which confuses things.  Now the county animal control and health department is involved.  If the family can't provide proof of vacination, the dog will either be quanantined for 10 days or euthanized and tested for rabies.  Now i'm sitting here waiting to hear if I need to get rabies shots.  This is upsetting on many levels.  I hate that I can't go for a run in my neighborhood without getting attacked by a dog.  I hate that people don't take responsibility for their animals.  And, I hate the animal, who can't really be blamed for having irresponsible owners, may be put to sleep. 

I'll probably want to start running with something to ward off dogs in the future.  I don't really like the idea of running with a stick.  Does pepper spray work on dogs?  I may not ever need to fend off another dog, but I'd like to be prepared if I do.

Quick follow up to my original post.  Animal control now has the dog and will keep it in quanantine for 10 days.  I got a call from the health department.  They say that since they have the dog under observation, I don't have to get the shots unless the dog starts to show signs of being sick.  I doubt if the dog will be coming back to the neighborhood because the owners will have to get a license, pay for shots and pay for the quantine confinement costs before they can get it back.  Somehow I doubt that these folks will be willing to pay the costs.  So, the dog will end up in the pound, and since he has a biting history, it's unlikely that the no kill spca shelter will take him.  Too bad for the dog.  I'll be changing my running route just in case.

 

 

I'm so sorry to hear your story.  I echo Lex's remarks.  Nothing pisses me off more than irresponsible dog owners.

Scrufffccat: You did the right thing. Make the owners be responsible. I have used a squirt of water from my water bottle right in the dog's face while yelling "NO!" That's worked x 2. Good luck.

Yeah, rogerbum, I wish I had scruffy's claws and quick response time, that dog would have gotten a good scratch across the face.  ;) 

one time I was out running and this nasty doberman comes out and starts chasing me. I didn't realize it until I was about 200m up this hill and then all of the sudden I have this pain in my butt. That dog bit me! I was pretty unhappy so I called animal control and they said they had several calls about this dog before and they went out there to talk to the owner.

So I ride my bike by there a couple days later and get chased by the same crazy dog. Gotta love the great animal control enforcement in addition to the dumb pet owners.

This was years ago, I wonder if its dead now? Or maybe its slowed down enough so I can outrun it up the big hill. Maybe something to investigate when I go back home for Christmas. 

Heheheheheheheheheheheheheheeeeeeeeeeeee

Hi scruffyccat, I'm a mailman and have to deal with dogs on a daily basis. The advice that I would give to you is this. One, dog spray only works on little dogs, (its hot sauce for pits and other gladiator dogs). Don't continue to run if a dog comes after you. This is the fight or flight instinct in dogs and with you already running they see you as prey. Face the dog with complete confidence seeing yourself as the biggest, meanest dog on the block and yell as loud as you can to go home. Be prepared to have to kick the dog. The last bit of advice I can give would be to avoid that run if you know that there is a dog that possess a threat to you. I can't count how many dogs have come after me and I still haven't been bitten yet.

I agree with the mail man's comments. It you keep running the dog is more  likely to attack. I was attacked by 2 alaskan husky/ chow mixes when I was 12. It wasn't on a run, but I can't count the times I have had to interrupt a run to scare off a dog. The dogs that attacked me didn't respond kindly to my prey-like running away and not fighting back.

Now I am of the mindset that if a dog is chasing me, I become the aggressor and stand my gound while yelling at it. If I am going to get bit, I have decided that It will be on my hand or foot as I punch or kick the attacking dog. I'm not going down without a fight.

Dog owners need to understand how their dogs will react to a runner and need to keep them under control. Too bad a lot of them don't.  I think your smart to avoid the are if possible but I often go for "adventure runs" where Ihaven't been before and you never know what is there.

Oh, and don't be too confident about dogs behind fences. Some of them can jump pretty high. I had one jump a fence to come after me this summer and I got mad and  yelled at the dog as I held my ground. Then, the irresponsible owner finally came and got his dog. Sheesh!!

I was at a creek crossing earlier today, crossed the creek and was just starting to run up the bank on the other side back to the trail and as I came out of the creek bed into the opening I see a good sized dog about 20 feet and closing fast. I got a sudden adrenaline surge and just put my hand down and said "Hey Pup", luckily the dog didn't get aggressive but stopped and stared. I thought I heard someone farther down the trail so as I continued on my run I yelled out "Put your damned dog on a leash!"

Recently a guy was forced into a wrestling match with a buck, he said the thing just refused to leave the trail he was hiking on and when he tried to run by it the deer just charged and drove him into a puddle where they battled it out. Ended in stalemate.

I have 2 stories. One is about a run that i had just mapped in my neighborhood, and the other is about a run mapped in my boyfriend's neighborhood.  Story #1: i was running up a hill that kind of curved, and as i'm running, i see 3 dogs (aka a pack), just hanging out in the street. One of them notices me, just as i notice them. I just turned around and walked calmly (on the outside at least) back down the hill. As i got out of sight of the dogs, i began running again. Then, as i'm running, there were 3 people in their yard with their unleashed dog. The dog came  running at me, so i stopped running, stared at it, and commanded it to stop and sit. Meanwhile, the owners were calling to it, but nobody actually got off their ass to go after the dog. I'm the one who actually controlled their dog. Well, after that, i was so freaked out, i ran in the middle of the street, wary of every open garage door i saw. And i had to take a detour that turned my 3.5 mile run into a 5 mile run-- and i can't run 5 miles yet.

Story #2: i was running at my boyfriend's house, and i see 2 dogs in the middle of the street. I turned around and went back to his house. I was really pissed because my mind and body were in sync for the run-- i was psyched to explore new running territory. Not wanting to give up on a workout, i took out the bike that i keep at his house and decided to go for a ride. I figured that if i saw the dogs again, maybe i could outride it. But get this-- as i was riding, i came across a couple who asked me if i'd seen 2 dogs running loose in the streets. Apparently, they had been on their morning walk, and had to detour because of the dogs. They were trying to get back to their house without running into the dogs again.

Irresponsible pet owners really irritate me.