# Off Leash Dog Attack



## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

For the last two years, I've taken my dogs to the local military base, where there are miles of paved trails through the woods. I always call my dogs to me and put them on leash if another person or dog approaches, but tonight, I got blindsided.

I was almost at the end of my walk, and decided to sit down for a few minutes on a tree trunk, and enjoy the sounds of nature around me. I threw a stick for my dogs, but basically, the three of us were just chilling, with my older dog chewing on a stick a few feet away from me.

Suddenly, I thought Eska had pounced playfully on Star. I quickly realized there was nothing playful about the pounce, and the dog wasn't Eska, but a strange black female wearing a halti! Star was caught totally off guard, and soon the other dog had her pinned and was fiercely worrying her neck and head. 

I jumped to my feet, grabbed a handy tree branch, and started beating the other dog over the head and back. At this point, I heard someone shout, and the owner quickly showed up, and between him yelling at his dog, and me pounding it, we got them separated.

Eska fortunately, hadn't gotten involved, and I soon got her back on leash, but Star was too scared to come to me. It didn't help that the stranger and his dog were following behind me, wanting to make sure Star was okay. I finally managed to lure her to me with some treats, and checked her over. Thanks to the recent unseasonably cold weather, she still has most of her winter coat, and all I could find were some wet spots on her fur, and a bloody tooth scratch inside one ear.

I asked him if his dog had ever done anything like this before, and he said only with small dogs. He said she's had a problem with them ever since she was attacked by one when she was younger. Well, that really doesn't explain why she would go after my 70 lb., 25" tall GSD female! I think he was not being honest or realistic about his dog's behaviour. The attack came totally out of the blue, was lightning fast and neither I nor my dogs were aware of the other dog's presence until it was right on top of us.

We went our separate ways soon after. I am going to put my feet up, watch N.C.I.S. and hope my heart rate soon returns to normal. And I'm going to be a LOT more cautious when walking my dogs at the army base in the future!


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

There is no excuse for a dangerous dog to be off leash. I am upset this happened to your dog. That is an irresponsible owner. It’s OK for his dog to go after smaller breeds?


----------



## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

Hopefully you got contact info from that owner! You may not have noticed any injuries on your dog now, but you may find some later down the road. It's very unfortunate that this happened, but it really wasn't your fault. The only advice I could give is CONSTANT VIGILANCE.


----------



## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

Dog aggressive dogs are a big hazard and most people just don't understand what is on the end of their leash....

Hope Star is ok.....so glad Eska did not get hurt....hopefully the guy will have learned something


Lee


----------



## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

That sounds awful. I'm so glad things turned out as well as they did.


----------



## Heartandsoul (Jan 5, 2012)

What a miserable experience for all especially Star. I can't imagine her fear being on the bottom while the aggressor is on top being beaten by sticks. That picture had to look like everyone was attacking her even though you were doing it to stop the attack.

I'm glad nothing worse than a grazed ear and hopefully a bit of loving will remedy any remnants of the fear she felt.

Won't comment about the other guy, his choice to allow off leash and his lame explanation. We've been attacked in the woods once by an off leash dog. The couples apology with the explanation "we didn't know, it's our sons dog that he recently got from a rescue". 

I will say I'm impressed with two full years worth of walks in the woods free of mishaps until now.

Yup a good show with the feet up snugged in a comfy couch with all three of you together does wonders.


----------



## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Neither of us had any way of taking the other person's contact info. I recently lost my cell phone, and I never bothered to ask if he had one with him. He kept wanting to get his dog (a black female GSD, just like Eska, except for a small white spot on her chest) close to my dogs, and I was having none of it and just wanted to get AWAY from there. He insisted his dog would be okay with mine now that all 3 dogs were leashed. Poor Star was so freaked out that I wasn't going to let them any closer than 6 feet. It wasn't fair to her!


----------



## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

I'm just so sorry. Hope Star is OK - and you too. Hope you enjoyed NCIS, even though it was reruns tonight. Only two more 'Abby' episodes. SIGH!


----------



## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

I made do with some ST: Enterprise episodes I'd recorded. I had to stop recording them after I got up to 60 episodes! 

Dogs are settled for the night, and everyone seems fine.


----------



## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

That sounds nuts! Glad Eska stayed out it or it could have been a much bigger mess. I hope Star has no lasting effects.


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

Yikes, I hope the next few walks on those trails are peaceful. I'd hate to see your dog leery going for walks. Someone who's own dog is now freaked out from being attacked by another dog really ought to know better. Guess the head halter didn't give him as much control as he thought it would.


----------



## Shane'sDad (Jul 22, 2010)

Incredible that this jack*ss who knew his dog had attacked smaller dogs..had his dog off leash....I'm glad to hear Star is OK....the really sad thing here IMO is that many times situations like yours can cause the animal who was attacked to become "dog aggressive" themselves....hopefully not in Stars case....sorry you and your dog went through this mess


----------



## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Sunsilver said:


> For the last two years, I've taken my dogs to the local military base, where there are miles of paved trails through the woods. I always call my dogs to me and put them on leash if another person or dog approaches, but tonight, I got blindsided.
> 
> I was almost at the end of my walk, and decided to sit down for a few minutes on a tree trunk, and enjoy the sounds of nature around me. I threw a stick for my dogs, but basically, the three of us were just chilling, with my older dog chewing on a stick a few feet away from me.
> 
> ...


People suck. I am so sorry this happened to Star. It was off leash, aggressive dogs that ruined Shadow and I hate that people are so irresponsible with their dogs. 
I hope you both recover from this. And I like NCIS as well, thinking I am going to miss it while living in my temp home in the middle of nowhere.


----------



## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Same thing happened to kona. I was so mad! The owners did absolutely nothing but kept walking like nothing happened. I had to chase them down, and there excuse was that there dog didn’t like german shepherds 

Luckily it did not effect her at all


----------



## Lark (Jan 27, 2014)

That just infuriates me. My husband's dog is tiny - only around 10 pounds. If a dog like that attacked him, he would end up seriously injured (if not dead). I just don't understand people.


----------



## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

LuvShepherds said:


> There is no excuse for a dangerous dog to be off leash. I am upset this happened to your dog. That is an irresponsible owner. It’s OK for his dog to go after smaller breeds?


That was my thought, too: He has his dog off leash knowing this about said dog. So clearly he's okay with his dog attacking smaller ones? That makes no sense to me. If I had that dog, I'd be paranoid about EVER letting it off leash in case it hurt someone else's pet or started a fight it couldn't finish. No way.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

WateryTart said:


> That was my thought, too: He has his dog off leash knowing this about said dog. So clearly he's okay with his dog attacking smaller ones? That makes no sense to me. If I had that dog, I'd be paranoid about EVER letting it off leash in case it hurt someone else's pet or started a fight it couldn't finish. No way.


It’s also telling that he kept following Sunsilver. He knew he was wrong and was trying too hard to justify it.


----------



## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

He probably thought his dog had a solid recall, thinking if he did see a small dog he could leash it up before anything happened? Maybe didn't take that last step since it was a large breed dog, thinking his dog would be fine.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Now he knows his dog isn’t solid and should not be unleashed or even taken to areas like that again. There is no rrational reason to take a dangerous dog to public places.


----------



## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

GandalfTheShepherd said:


> He probably thought his dog had a solid recall, thinking if he did see a small dog he could leash it up before anything happened? Maybe didn't take that last step since it was a large breed dog, thinking his dog would be fine.


They're always solid until they're not, is the thing. If I knew my dog had an issue with other dogs, I'd be thinking about that contingency, even if I truly believed it was an outside chance. It might suck for my dog, might even be unfair to my dog, but it keeps everybody safe.


----------



## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

WateryTart said:


> They're always solid until they're not, is the thing. If I knew my dog had an issue with other dogs, I'd be thinking about that contingency, even if I truly believed it was an outside chance. It might suck for my dog, might even be unfair to my dog, but it keeps everybody safe.


That's exactly right. Or at the very least put a muzzle on it if you know your dog is a problem. Not defending the perpetrator but yes it's always a blessing if your dog happens to fail his recall in a safe environment to him and those around him but it doesn't always work out that way. Another reason I'm thankful we now use an e collar for off leash hiking, it's just another safety net in case all of our training failed. I'm with you though, last thing I want to run into on the trail is an aggressive dog that's why I socialized my dog extensively and am confident he would never hurt another animal. One mistake on anothers part though and then your own dog is ruined for life. Wouldn't life be so much simpler if everyone who let their dogs off leashed were properly trained, socialized and had a solid recall?  We love hiking in our woods but I am constantly worrying about gators, wild boar, and vicious dogs. This situation would be my worst nightmare.


----------



## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Yes this is exactly why I pick up our little chihuahua up when someone comes walking with a dog off or you bet even on leash. I could give a rats butt hole if someone even thinks their there dog is good with other dogs keep away from our little guy because dogs behave until they don’t !!!!!!!!!! Is also key!!! and I take no chances with unknown people and unknown dogs and all why I like to walk our chi with our gsds.


----------



## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

LuvShepherds said:


> There is no rrational reason to take a dangerous dog to public places.


Do not agree with this stamement. There is nothing wrong with being in public with an aggressive dog, if your dog is under control and on leash. If you are in a area where dogs are required to be on leash and your off leash dog runs up to mine then that’s on you. My cattle dog hates strange dogs running up to her and sometimes will snap, should I never take her out in public? No, people with “friendly” dogs should keep there own dogs on leash in public places....
I have a right to be there if my dog is under control on leash


----------



## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Agreed^!!!


----------



## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

That's a super crappy experience. Glad your dogs are ok.

What I think is important now, is how the dogs recover, and act around another passing dog (hopefully not off leash, out of owners control).

We were hiking last summer, short 5 mile hike in the woods. When an off leashed dog came out of no where and jumped on Rusty. My husband got them separated fast. Then the owner came on his mountain bike, said people were not usually on the trail at dusk.

Luckily, Rusty recovered and was relaxed the rest of our hike.

Just remember how you act the next time you pass another dog will be important. Be aware, but don't let your stress pass down the leash.

Who knows what sets some dogs off. How they don't care about some, then others they want to remove from the planet.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

konathegsd said:


> Do not agree with this stamement. There is nothing wrong with being in public with an aggressive dog, if your dog is under control and on leash. If you are in a area where dogs are required to be on leash and your off leash dog runs up to mine then that’s on you. My cattle dog hates strange dogs running up to her and sometimes will snap, should I never take her out in public? No, people with “friendly” dogs should keep there own dogs on leash in public places....
> I have a right to be there if my dog is under control on leash


That attitude is why Sunsilver’s dog was attacked. It is why a lot of people aren’t even safe in their own neighborhoods. I did not say “aggressive.” German Shepherds are bred to be aggressive. I said “dangerous.” Not all German Shepherds are dangerous. Dangerous dogs are out of control, likely to bite or attack another dog or person and do not have the right to harm anyone else.

Your dog snapping at another dog could very well start a dog fight. My younger dog got a bit snappy for a while and I worked with a good trainer to stop it. It is a bad behavior and makes your dogs less welcome anywhere. Why should anyone’s dog be snapped at?


----------



## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

konathegsd said:


> Do not agree with this stamement. There is nothing wrong with being in public with an aggressive dog, if your dog is under control and on leash. If you are in a area where dogs are required to be on leash and your off leash dog runs up to mine then that’s on you. My cattle dog hates strange dogs running up to her and sometimes will snap, should I never take her out in public? No, people with “friendly” dogs should keep there own dogs on leash in public places....
> I have a right to be there if my dog is under control on leash


Not sure if I agree with this. Shadow is reactive/dog aggressive. I muzzle her in public and TRY to avoid busier areas. I agree that I have a right to take my dog out, but if I know I have an aggressive/bitey dog it is on me to ensure the safety of her and everyone around us. 
In this case the owner knew his dog was aggressive and chose to allow it the opportunity to cause harm. That is not ok. This dog had an admitted history of attacking "small dogs". It had no business running loose, at all.


----------



## Genalis_mom (Mar 9, 2018)

Gators. I had never considered Gators. You have my respect. I am simply not cool with lizards that could eat me for dinner. 

Everytime I take Genali out, I scan for coyotes. We live in a very rural area, and there is a pack of coyotes that den in the woods near our farm. They are usually no problem. It's been years since one was caught hunting livestock and they leave my goats alone, so I leave them alone. I think if we killed them off, then another pack would move in that had a taste for goat. 

But, several years ago, there was one that had developed a taste for dog. A an elderly neighbor was out walking his yorkie, and the coyote came out of the woods and literally snatched the dog, leash and all, and took off with it. The man could hear his dog screaming as the coyote ran off, but there was nothing he could do. I can't even IMAGINE the horror. The lease was found several months later, about two miles from where the dog was snatched.

Anyway, that makes me really paranoid, even though I have never had one in my yard. Every time I go out with Genali, I scan for coyotes. We are always armed when out and about. But, I can't even imagine how paranoid I would be if I thought there were gators in the creek! 






GandalfTheShepherd said:


> That's exactly right. Or at the very least put a muzzle on it if you know your dog is a problem. Not defending the perpetrator but yes it's always a blessing if your dog happens to fail his recall in a safe environment to him and those around him but it doesn't always work out that way. Another reason I'm thankful we now use an e collar for off leash hiking, it's just another safety net in case all of our training failed. I'm with you though, last thing I want to run into on the trail is an aggressive dog that's why I socialized my dog extensively and am confident he would never hurt another animal. One mistake on anothers part though and then your own dog is ruined for life. Wouldn't life be so much simpler if everyone who let their dogs off leashed were properly trained, socialized and had a solid recall?  We love hiking in our woods but I am constantly worrying about gators, wild boar, and vicious dogs. This situation would be my worst nightmare.


----------



## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

I was walking once unfortunately by myself and a friendly lab stampeded me ran right into my knee full crazy head on force. As The dog came charging at me I lifted my knee and the dog ran right into it. Almost took me down. I was not happy and a dog person. Can’t imagine if that happened to the wrong person. My knee hurt for weeks. The dog was friendly. Any dog should be on a leash if not controlled by their owner off leash friendly or not. In my experience the friendly dogs have seemed to cause the most chaos since their owners seem not to care to being able to control their dog and often their friendly dog is not so friendly. It’s sad to hear what happened to sunsilver’s dog I know what that feels like and is not fun. I had a neighbors aggressive dog who terrorized us kids going to the bus stop. I must of been 10 years old when the dog came in my yard and dragged my dog off the step by the leg and attacked him. I ran for my brothers plastic bat and a garbage can hitting the dog to get off him. The town picked up their dogs because the owners refused to keep the dog in the yard after many many warnings from the town.


----------



## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Sabis mom said:


> konathegsd said:
> 
> 
> > Do not agree with this stamement. There is nothing wrong with being in public with an aggressive dog, if your dog is under control and on leash. If you are in a area where dogs are required to be on leash and your off leash dog runs up to mine then that’s on you. My cattle dog hates strange dogs running up to her and sometimes will snap, should I never take her out in public? No, people with “friendly” dogs should keep there own dogs on leash in public places....
> ...


If the dog is on a leash and under control none of this would have happened. I totally agree about ensuring safety, but a loose dog running up on an aggressive dog is not your fault. If I’m walking my dog through a park or on a hiking trail I am not going to muzzle my dog. ALL dogs are suppose to be on leash where I go. She won’t bite but she will snap at a dog of it runs up on her.


----------



## GandalfTheShepherd (May 1, 2017)

Genalis_mom said:


> Gators. I had never considered Gators. You have my respect. I am simply not cool with lizards that could eat me for dinner.
> 
> Everytime I take Genali out, I scan for coyotes. We live in a very rural area, and there is a pack of coyotes that den in the woods near our farm. They are usually no problem. It's been years since one was caught hunting livestock and they leave my goats alone, so I leave them alone. I think if we killed them off, then another pack would move in that had a taste for goat.
> 
> ...


Gators can eat you for dinner or you can eat them here for dinner, they actually taste pretty delicious like chicken lol. We have coyotes here too but they are always solo so I don't worry much since they are so small.. I can certainty see it being a problem with little dogs. Jenny and I were talking about how Chihuahuas can be scooped up by hawks too!! Seems like the little guys you really have to watch out for yikes...


----------



## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

LuvShepherds said:


> Now he knows his dog isn’t solid and should not be unleashed *or even taken to areas like that again. There is no rrational reason to take a dangerous dog to public places*.


I have a dog that is reactive to other dogs (more so on leash). I can only work on his issues in public places. So I don't think I should avoid public places because of this. Some times I take him to parks, national forests, etc., *always on leash*, when I want to walk him away from people. I would not take him on or off leash to places that allow dogs off leash because that is not fair to other non-reactive dogs. I'm not sure what type of place the OP was walking her dog...if they allowed off leash dogs or not.

I sometimes take more offense to walking my dog on leash and having off leash dogs approach him. I had a pit bull run at us off leash (my dog was leashed), and it scared me to death. In the pit bull's defense, he was friendly. The owner was yelling this as I was telling him to control his dog. But my dog was reactive, and I didn't trust that the other dog was friendly. Even if his dog was, how friendly is his dog going to be when my dog lunges, barks, and growls. I'm sure my fear translated down the leash because I didn't know what to expect, and it was after my dog was previously attacked. This was before I saw my trainer who advised me how to deal with situations like that.

In this case, the owner had his dog-aggressive dog off leash. That's where he went wrong, and that's why this altercation happened. That wasn't fair to the OP.


----------



## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

IllinoisNative said:


> I have a dog that is reactive to other dogs (more so on leash). I can only work on his issues in public places. So I don't think I should avoid public places because of this. Some times I take him to parks, national forests, etc., *always on leash*, when I want to walk him away from people. I would not take him on or off leash to places that allow dogs off leash because that is not fair to other non-reactive dogs. I'm not sure what type of place the OP was walking her dog...if they allowed off leash dogs or not.
> 
> I sometimes take more offense to walking my dog on leash and having off leash dogs approach him. I had a pit bull run at us off leash (my dog was leashed), and it scared me to death. In the pit bull's defense, he was friendly. The owner was yelling this as I was telling him to control his dog. But my dog was reactive, and I didn't trust that the other dog was friendly. Even if his dog was, how friendly is his dog going to be when my dog lunges, barks, and growls. I'm sure my fear translated down the leash because I didn't know what to expect, and it was after my dog was previously attacked. This was before I saw my trainer who advised me how to deal with situations like that.
> 
> In this case, the owner had his dog-aggressive dog off leash. That's where he went wrong, and that's why this altercation happened. That wasn't fair to the OP.


On leash, under control is not the same thing as loose and out of control. How did your trainer tell you to handle it?


----------



## GSDchoice (Jul 26, 2016)

Yea, what a horrible experience!
It always takes me a while to calm down afterwards (longer than my dog)!

Not to hijack this thread, but Rumo has been attacked FOUR TIMES by our neighbor's dog. For some reason, this dog is reactive towards Rumo. If he passes by onleash, he is lunging hard, growling, barking high & fast. If he is inside the house when we walk by, he hurls himself against the windows and the door while barking and growling (we hear the windows rattling!). And to top things off, this neighbor sometimes (during the day, when he thinks nobody else is around) lets this dog out in his unfenced yard, offleash. So all of the attacks have been in the afternoon, when this dog hurtles out of its yard & across the street (we always walk on the other side of the street now) and attacks. 

I've had 2-3 long conversations with them, in which I threaten to report their dog to Animal Control, and they apologize profusely and promise to keep their dog contained...They mean well, but I think they are crazy to let this dog out offleash, and without a fence. It's not like the dog is not well-trained...they scream its name, and it ignores them.

Now Rumo's back fur stands up sometimes when we walk by their house. We are both on high alert. I feel my heartrate speed up. I have altered all of our walking loops to avoid their house as much as possible. 

There's nothing like letting your reactive untrained dog offleash...to make other people's lives miserable.


----------



## GSDchoice (Jul 26, 2016)

And I wanted to add...sigh...
our nature trails around town all have big signs at the trailhead that say,"Dogs should be on a maximum 6' leash".

Yet we meet many many offleash dogs that come running up to us. 
Thank god that Rumo is friendly and they exchange sniffs and then the dog runs off again.
If I had a dog that was not comfortable with this, 
I'd basically be unable to go on those trails at all, unless I went super-early, or while it was raining...


----------



## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

The reason I like walking on the military base is it's one of the few places I can walk my dogs off leash, and not worry about off leash dogs or encountering a lot of people. Most people on the base WORK during the day, so that's when I go. 

Of course my dogs both have excellent recall, and I leash them up as soon as I see someone else coming towards me. The few times I haven't bothered to do this, they just give a friendly 'hello' and a few sniffs, then follow after me.

It's a great place to walk them, and there are also a number of open fields where we can track. The parade ground is great for practicing obedience: the lines on the asphalt help keep ME on the straight and narrow - I tend to wander when I'm supposed to do a straight line!


----------



## Shane'sDad (Jul 22, 2010)

Sunsilver said:


> The reason I like walking on the military base is it's one of the few places I can walk my dogs off leash, and not worry about off leash dogs or encountering a lot of people. Most people on the base WORK during the day, so that's when I go.
> 
> Of course my dogs both have excellent recall, and I leash them up as soon as I see someone else coming towards me. The few times I haven't bothered to do this, they just give a friendly 'hello' and a few sniffs, then follow after me.
> 
> It's a great place to walk them, and there are also a number of open fields where we can track. The parade ground is great for practicing obedience: the lines on the asphalt help keep ME on the straight and narrow - I tend to wander when I'm supposed to do a straight line!


Ohhh.... I guess because of where I live......where most counties/localities in my area have leash laws... I assumed incorrectly..obviously... that the other dog (by law) should have been on a leash---still doesn't excuse an owner-any owner knowingly letting a dog off leash that has attacked another previously.. sounds like you'll need to be Constantly on guard while walking your dogs on the base in the future. Makes me glad we're out in the country now and when I walk it's on my property.


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

Sunsilver said:


> The reason I like walking on the military base is it's one of the few places I can walk my dogs off leash, and not worry about off leash dogs or encountering a lot of people. Most people on the base WORK during the day, so that's when I go.
> 
> Of course my dogs both have excellent recall, and I leash them up as soon as I see someone else coming towards me. The few times I haven't bothered to do this, they just give a friendly 'hello' and a few sniffs, then follow after me.
> 
> It's a great place to walk them, and there are also a number of open fields where we can track. The parade ground is great for practicing obedience: the lines on the asphalt help keep ME on the straight and narrow - I tend to wander when I'm supposed to do a straight line!


I used to love going to the military rec center for walks, off leash work in the tennis courts and oh, the space for making tracking trails...woot. But I always kept a long line on my pup.


----------



## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

So, gorgeous day today, went back to the base for a walk. My friend, Helen, came along with her Airedale terrier. It's the first time we've walked the dogs together since some time in December. Star was fine with him - only thing I noticed different was she didn't bully him quite as much as she usually does! 

Poor girl -getting old! 11 years and counting... 

Did some tracking with Eska. Her article indication definitely needs some work! The ground is still frozen, as I found when I tried to plant my flags, and that probably affected the tracking, as the scent wouldn't be as strong. She still did pretty well, though.


----------

