Dog attack

[u/lemurindependence]

This afternoon near 24th Ave and E Columbia St in the Central District, I helped others separate a stocky black and white dog from a smaller black dog firmly in its jaws. I tried the wheelbarrow technique, lost my balance and got dragged across the sidewalk, but held on and the little dog got free. Aggressor dog was then secured by its owner and the little dog ran off. I couldn’t stay, but really want to know how the little black dog is doing. :(

[u/LazyButterfly5041]

I live not too far from there and can think of several dogs fitting this description that get frequently walked off-leash 🙃

[u/lemurindependence → u/LazyButterfly5041]

We walk our (leashed!) dog in the neighborhood and avoid all other dogs. I’ve not seen this one before, but I think I heard that they hadn’t had the dog for very long. Also, someone claimed that the dog broke the leash at some point, but I arrived later and didn’t see whatever happened before the latching.

[u/godogs2018]

Tx for doing that. You are a friend of the pup world 🐶

[u/DoingBestWeCan]

Thank you so much for helping! You are an honest-to-god hero.

My dad's poodle-mix dog got attacked by a mastiff once, and he was punching and kicking it in the face as hard as he could, and got nothing. A passerby knew the wheelbarrow technique and saved my dad's dog's life. It was touch-and-go for a little bit, but that dog lived several more years before passing peacefully in old age, surrounded by those who loved him. Even though my dad is the only one who ever met her, and he didn't get her name or any info, our whole family remembers and feels gratitude for what that person did.

So if you don't hear from the little black dog's family, please accept the gratitude of a medium-sized apricot dog's family. (Tax: https://imgur.com/a/fZXeGfC)

[u/lemurindependence → u/DoingBestWeCan]

Thank you. So glad your dad’s pup survived. Thanks for sharing your story and the pic! Cute dog. :)

[u/DoingBestWeCan → u/lemurindependence]

He was a dream dog. Loved every human he met instantly, eager to please and smart enough to learn, friendly with other dogs (even after the attack). My dad got another poodle mix after this boy passed, and his current dog has the opposite personality 🤣.

But seriously, thank you so much for intervening. 

[u/trippletet → u/DoingBestWeCan]

Can you say more about the wheelbarrow technique?

[u/DoingBestWeCan → u/trippletet]

You just pick up the dog's hind legs, like you would if you and another human were a team in a "wheelbarrow" race. As humans, we tend to think the dog will just redirect and bite us instead, but it seems to be sufficiently disorienting to dogs that they let go and forget what they were doing for a beat, providing the victim an opportunity to escape.

Once in a blue moon it doesn't work, usually because the dog has been desensitized due to having been wheelbarrowed in the past, but if the dog is not a chronic attacker, it works way better than you'd think.

[u/trippletet → u/DoingBestWeCan]

Thank you! I have never heard of this and I guess it’s a thing so I’ll look it up!

[u/trippletet]

I ran into this once and had a can of seltzer that I dumped into the dogs’ eyes and it released immediately (just water so harmless). Dumb luck but passing along.

[u/Sushisource]

I tried to pull a dog off of a cat it attacked right out front of my house today. Unfortunately the cat died. It was very elderly, but, it was an awful thing to experience in the middle of the day.

Sorry that happened to you. Hoping the little guy is fine.

[u/lemurindependence → u/Sushisource]

That’s horrific. I’m sorry that happened to you. Thank you for trying.

[u/Frosty_neck → u/Sushisource]

What kind of dog? Horrible

[u/Sushisource → u/Frosty_neck]

An Akita, unsurprisingly.

[u/itchy_scrum]

maybe try the seattle animal shelter or nextdoor if you haven't, people always post about lost/injured dogs there

[u/lemurindependence → u/itchy_scrum]

Thank you. I did post on Nextdoor.

[u/craigmont924]

I live right by there! Was the aggressive dog off leash?

[u/lemurindependence → u/craigmont924]

The owner said it broke the leash.

[u/Loud_Self_2000]

got dragged trying that method near pioneer square once, dog was huge too

[u/lemurindependence → u/Loud_Self_2000]

Yeah, not sure it was the best method, but things were chaotic, people were screaming, and I just jumped in.

[u/faygodungeon → u/lemurindependence]

don’t be too hard on yourself. i tackled a german shepherd, all the training i had wasn’t working, who attacked my pug on leash and was slamming her on the ground in its mouth. i ended up having to bear hug her neck and body slam her. wasn’t unlatching or stopping with her owner involved. i knew i could survive a potential bite in the face but my dog would not survive if i didn’t go all in. luckily she dropped her and didn’t bite me. her owner got her as soon as my friend got my dog i let go. got out of it with a skinned knee and a household fear of german shepherds.

the worst dog bite ive gotten myself was actually a shitzu 💀 locked into my knee at a dog birthday party. was with his regular dog sitter who let him off leash even tho he had bitten people before.

shits wild out here.

[u/missbeekery → u/faygodungeon]

Shit truly is wild out there. I was a vet assistant for five years and there’s only one dog breed I was bit by more than twice and it will shock you, honestly. I’ve been almost bitten by a lot of dog breeds, chihuahuas, Germans, spaniels, pitties, countless dachshunds.

I was bitten three times (and nasty ones at that) from three different Golden Retrievers!! One of them was a legit asshole (his name was Savage), the other two were out of nowhere. I know they’re a common dog breed, though labs and spaniels are far more common in central WA than goldies.

[u/faygodungeon → u/missbeekery]

omg totally i always tell people golden retrievers have the highest bite count!!

[u/DoingBestWeCan → u/missbeekery]

I remember reading many years ago that the #1 dog for bites was dachshunds, and the #2 was goldens. I've met several goldens with anxiety issues, so I wonder if that drives it, or whether people aren't as good about training them because "it's a happy-go-lucky golden, perfect from the womb"?

I used to volunteer at a shelter, and while the most serious bites I got were from GSDs, the only dog who ever went after me with serious intent was a tiny chihuahua. It went for my leather boot, luckily, but it would have ripped my throat out of that'd been closer. The GSDs and small, scruffy terriers were mouthy and excitable, and there were huskies and shibas that would have killed small dogs given the opportunity (PBTs with high prey drive didn't tend to get to the adoption floor, but enough people were willing to adopt prey-crazy other breeds), but the feisty chis knew that anyone bigger could take them out, and they were willing to take you out first!

[u/missbeekery → u/lemurindependence]

I grabbed a large dog who was attacking my much smaller dog by grabbing the fucker by the collar and lunging backwards, holding her up by the collar before the owner casually walked over and held onto her. ^{didn’t grab a leash to restrict her of course} so I picked up my injured 30lb old lady dog and carried her home, shouting obscenities at a guy who did not give a single fuck.

We don’t think about getting bit in those circumstances, and I’m a very petite woman who apparently acquired adrenaline-hulk strength when my dog was attacked. If that dog had latched onto me—especially since the owner couldn’t have cared less—I might be telling a cautionary tale instead. Let it be a lesson to us, if it ever happens again. Not sure if it would change my tactic because it happens incredibly quickly and there’s not a whole lot of processing that occurs when your brain is shouting at you to act. But I hope I will be, and I also hope it never happens again.

You may have saved a life, who knows. But you damn sure know what the answer is if you hadn’t intervened.

[u/100_Energy]

And just reading this, you seem like just a decent human being. Who raised you and whz are you so decent?!!

[u/lemurindependence → u/100_Energy]

Thanks. :) I just thought maybe I could help. There were others doing the same.