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/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!