Have you ever been attacked by a dog?

[una_dogger]

I agree with much of what c' has just written.

Although, I'd add a really good dog owner wouldn't let his dog off leash at Marcy Dam or other place where regs are strickly on leash.

As a trainer, I feel any bite I take is a failure on my part to read the dog. I have never been bitten by a dog in any situation.

As an owner, its my responsibility to my dogs to never place them in a situation where they feel they must act in defense of themselves, regardless of their stress level/reaction to a changing environment--that's called leadership and its the cornerstone of the dog: human relationship.

Not everyone likes dogs or feels comfortable around dogs, and yes these attitudes can set off reactions in dogs -- reactions that one may percieve as an attack, and another may percieve as stress in the dog -- that's why I asked about definitions and variables.

Just being on the trail can bring out protective tendancies in many dogs, a warning bark at an approaching person down the trail is an example. Not uncommon or unnatural or unusual -- I wouldn't percieve this as an attack, but I'm mindful that others may become fearful or feel threatened, or just feel their quiet walk in the woods has been intuded upon.

Tone and tenor of this thread, yeah, it would bother me if it got anti-dog, so I'm glad its not going that way.

 

[dvbl]

Who was attacked worse, the man or the girl?

Define attack??

OK, since "attack" has connotations of physical contact, allow me to re-phrase:

"Who was HARMED worse by this dog, the man or the girl?"

 

[lumberzac]

A dog has bitten me twice. Once by a Miniature Schnauzer and once by a Turkish Shepard the Schnauzer was much more vicious. Both times were not in the backcountry. The only negative experience I ever had with a dog while hiking was while hiking the Northville Placid Trail. A loose dog lunged at my hiking partners dog. The owners came up the trail shortly and the dog left with them.

 

[Remix]

I was bitten in the ankle while biking on a public road. I chose to ignore the animal, and this probably made the dog become bolder.

It won't happen again...I keep a long air pump handy. The fear is that I have to use it, and the dog's owner is nearby, then there will be a human/human confrontation...which is why I take my cell phone when I bike.

 

[Dugan]

Barking dogs wagging their tails don't attack...

Dogs bite for many reasons. Their body language leading up to the bite varies across those reasons, and across dogs.

A wagging tail DOES NOT indicate that a dog will not bite or otherwise attack. It may, it may not. It depends on the situation and the dog.

Some body language to watch for:
stiff legged gait
growling, especially with the corners of the mouth pulled forward
a steady staring gaze with head lowered (think predator stance)
hackles up
If a dog is attacking out of fear, you may also see the tail tucked under.

None of this will help with a sudden, lunging attack in which the action happens so quickly that it is difficult for us as humans to "read" the dog.

Some strategies if you meet a dog that appears to be aggressive:
Take a dominant stance: make yourself look big and confident.
Hold eye contact.
Speak a few words in a loud, firm tone. Do not yell or scream, or speak soothingly.
Try not to corner the dog, or to get between the dog and its home/people/livestock.

In addition - do not automatically believe the dog's person if the person says their dog is friendly. People are not always the best judge of their own dog. During the worst attack I've ever personally been involved in the handler of the attacking dog kept saying through the entire incident how friendly her dog was. This was while her dog was literally, and I do mean literally, hanging off the neck of a much larger dog.

 

[TCD]

Good point about the owner's assessment. I've seen dogs where the owners said the dog was skittish, but the dog was friendly to me. More common is the other way around, leading to the longstanding favorite "It must be you. I've never seen him act this way." (I saw a classic example of that in the Adks many years ago.)

Of course every situation has its nuances, but I think part of it is that when a hiker gets a dog, often they really hope and plan that the dog will be a good hiking companion. In the rare case where the dog is not a good hiking companion, sometimes denial comes into play.

 

[Tuco]

Some body language to watch for:
stiff legged gait
growling, especially with the corners of the mouth pulled forward
a steady staring gaze with head lowered (think predator stance)
hackles up

There’s a joke in here somewhere about seeing this behavior in my wife when I get home late from a hike, but I’d best leave that alone..

 

[Ridgewalker]

While making a bend on the Edmand's Path there was a couple and a dog ahead. I tried to not scare the dog, until I was proven wrong when it barked at me and scared me stiff. Fortune was with me as I was not attacked or mauled by it. FWIW I have not been bitten or attacked, yet.

 

[DougPaul]

I have been threatened by dogs on the trail, but not bitten.

Doug

 

[JohnL]

Yes. Three stitches in my left crow's foot to show for it.

JohnL

 

[king tut]

I have never been attacked by a dog, but i really do not enjoy it when large dogs w/ big teeth come sprinting up the trail to me and have saliva dripping from their teeth while growling. The owner is usually 1/2 a minute behind saying "Killer, come back here". or "Don't worry, she only lunges at your groin w/ her teeth exposed because she likes you!" I am not too mad at the dog, but i want to smack the idiot owner. That said, most dogs are cool, just a few dumb dog owners.

 

[Undershaft]

I have never been bitten by a dog on the trail. I have been charged and threatened by large dogs on the trail though. It never would have happened if the dog was on a leash and the leash was attached to the owner. In fact, the only dog I have ever seen leashed on a hiking trail is my own dog(now passed away). I think all dog issues could be prevented by a leash between dog and owner. Enough said.

P.S. I have also met many wonderful and well behaved dogs that were unleashed on hiking trails. I didn't mean to make a blanket statement regarding all hiking dogs.

 

[--M.]

Up in the hills, I've seen quite a few dogs, but have never had an unpleasant encounter. It's almost as if the dogs understood it isn't their turf to be aggressive over.

On the local trails, however, it's a totally different story. My favorite spot has become discovered, and I now only frequent the lesser-known areas. I've encountered hundreds of dogs in this environment. Ninety percent have been off leash; of those, ninety percent have been fine.

The others have usually been over-friendly dogs with knuckle-head owners who think they can control their dogs, and then rationalize when they can't. The remainder are the over-aggressive dogs with irresponsible owners who don't really care.

I recently faced down an adolescent pit-bull paired with an adolescent labrador. The lab was clearly a follower, but that pit-bull meant business. I saw them coming from a couple hundred yards, plenty of space for us all to get along. I even made extra room on the trail and stopped to let the owners get control of their dogs. They couldn't have cared less. Fortunately, I always use my trekking poles now, so I don't feel my safety is at risk. They, however, were at first reassuring ("He won't bother you!"), then justifying ("It's their park, too!"). I did my best not to say anything, but boy were they locked in. I just tried to let it go, as they represent about 2% of the sample.

That said, I don't yield my personal space to any creature, and owners who don't get this need to grow up. Knowing that they won't, I carry my sticks and keep my mouth shut. I love dogs, for they know not what they do, but owners are supposed to be sharers of the sandbox. Most do, a few don't.

We'll be getting a puppy this summer; I guess it'll be a lab.

 

[jade]

In a very civil manner I would like to state that I see absolutely no merit or positive reason for the original post....I'm biting my tongue.........

 

[Snowflea]

In ~20,000 trail miles, I have never been attacked by a dog. The only time I've been attacked was on a road run near my home about 20 years ago, when I was bitten on the leg... by a beagle of all breeds!

I have met only a handful of "scary" dogs on the trail, but...

I like dogs a lot.

 

[JimB]

2 miles from mt house is the Finger Lakes trail and I hike/run/ski a certain loop many times a year. Very few people use it so it is nice and quiet. last fall I was running up the truck trail to the trail itself when a full grown german shepherd came running full speed down the road towards me and lunged at me to bite me. I was only wearing bike shorts, sneakers and a t shirt so I felt very vulnerable as he tried to run around each side of me to bite me. I stood straight, put my hands up and told him to "stop" as I maintained eye contact and turned side to side so he couldn't get behind me which we was very intent on doing. He was barking and lunging repeatedly and I kept saying "stop". In a while his owner (a woman pushing a jogger/stroller) came along and called him and he reluctantly went to her. I walked past her and he continue to bark and lunge at me. She never said a word to me. I later talked to her neighbor about the dog to see if it acted like that around him and he said it had never attacked him, but it was sort of unstable. It really affected me and I still don't go hiking there much anymore. I really would have liked to just run over the dog with my car on the way home as angry as I felt.

 

[MadRiver]

Title XLV. Animals. Chapter 466. Dogs and Cats. Licensing of Dogs.

466:28 Killing Dogs Legalized.
Any person may kill a dog that suddenly assaults the person while such person is peaceably walking or riding without the enclosure of its owner or keeper; and any person may kill a dog that is found out of the enclosure or immediate care of its owner or keeper worrying, wounding, or killing sheep, lambs, fowl, or other domestic animals.

 

[audrey]

On that note, MadRiver, I hope this thread ends soon.

 

[jade]

THANK YOU AUDREY!! I just sent a PM to MadRiver......Sometimes I am just not proud to be a member of the human race...

 

[TenPeaks]

I've been growled at by some dogs on the trail but never bitten. The majority of dogs I've met have been either shy or friendly. In fact, a few years ago I worked for a company that made dog food and treats. I used to always carry some treats with me to give to the dogs I met on the trail. With the owners permission of course.

The only dog that ever bit me was my aunts dog. Overall it was a friendly terrier, but if it ever got down in the basement it would go balistic. There were a few times I'd be down there and the dog would get by the gate and make it into the basement. The only thing I could do was jump up on a bench or something then run like heck to get out of there. After about a half hour he'd calm down and be found laying on the top step ready to come out. I never could figure out why he was so wild down in the basement.