*I hope this is as complete and as truthful of an account as I can remember.
J and I were finishing up conditioning work after a little over 2 hours of hard work. We were in our final 20 minutes of our cool down when I saw a golden retriever run directly across the street at us.
J has been ok with other dogs on leash in the past few months. We have been working EXTENSIVELY acting calm around other dogs. He is capable of walking past a barking dog without reacting. A loose dog came up to him a couple months ago and, while a little nerve-wracking, each dog went their separate ways, and J followed a down command afterward.
Today, this dog directly accosted us. Unable to physically keep the dogs separate (the golden probably had 20 pounds on J and was probably over half my size), a fight ensued. The golden crossed to my left where I was holding J and tried to nail him (or me? not sure). J, thankfully, was able to get a solid hold on the right side of the dog's face/ear and held on. The golden started snapping wildly. It repeatedly latched onto me- hands and thigh- and was relentless. When it contacted skin, it bit down hard. I remember the feeling of it biting my thigh, it was at that moment that I started screaming for help (and I mean SCREAMING, at the top of my lungs). These were not glancing blows. I had to pull my hand out of its mouth twice. A couple bystanders were able to help, one of whom was also severely bitten on his hand as soon as he approached the golden. The two men laid on top of J ($#@!uming he was the dog that was attacking me). I had both dogs in a head lock at this point (the golden in the left, J in the right) to keep J from shaking and to keep the golden from pulling- I did not want him to inflict any more damage than he had already done. With both dogs pinned, I didn't even need the breakstick. I gave J an out command (I said "let go, out, out") and he released the golden. Before this, though, the men that were laying on J were hitting him and yelling at him- I had to tell them "that's my dog, he's fine" to be quiet and stop hitting him because they were only making it worse. The one man, Scott, an off-duty Baltimore City cop, was the main person that was on J, and, without knowing which dog was dangerous, immediately jumped in to help while a dozen people stood around without knowing what to do. He was the man that was also severely bitten by the dog (we just talked to him, and he's doing well, even though he was pouring blood from his hand, needed a few loose sutures to hold his finger together, and my mom is going to send him a nice gift to thank him).
Once the golden was released, it ran back across the street. Both men were still laying on J and did not want to let him up. I had to plead with them that he was fine, that he was not going to hurt them, that he was the one that was attacked. On the count of three (I really wish I was making this part up, it's almost comical), the men released him and jumped back. J calmly stood up, not even looking in the direction of the other dog. I gave him a down command, of which he promptly followed and froggy legged it. After a long work-out and that tussle, he was happy to be relieved of any duty!
The cops showed up almost immediately and immediately everyone that was there vouched for J, going so far as to explain to the cops that J was protecting me and was dragging the dog away from me to do so. One of the cops immediately poured alcohol into all of my wounds- OUCH! My mom wasn't there yet and I was not going to go anywhere without making sure J got home safe. One of the cops offered to put J in the cruiser until my mom came (I wasn't being given the option of getting in the ambulance). J seemed fine with this, so I put him in there and I was put in an ambulance to be attended to. My mom showed up shortly after and J was a little freaked out because he was in a cop car and I wasn't there, but as soon as he recognized my mom he got all wiggly butt and got his toy and did his little happy dance.
I gave all my info to the cops, a police report was filed, bystander statements were taken (many of whom reported the dog has been seen frequently at large). One of the cops told me they checked the dog's collar and it looks like the collar for the invisible fence the dog was on had run out of battery. Everyone was concerned for J because he had blood all over him, but even with me only giving him a cursory glance, I could tell he didn't have any lacerations.
At no point in time, in any of this, did J re-direct, bite anyone, or even re-grip his hold. He held firm to the side of that dog's head and did not let go or even think about biting a person. Even after they were separated, he was very friendly with everyone and immediately complied with his down command. He stood calmly next to me as people handed me paper towels to stop the bleeding and as cops came up to me to get my information and as an EMT was pulling me away to get in an ambulance.
After speaking with Scott, the other man that was bitten, the dog is up-to-date on his rabies vaccine so I won't be needing to go through a rabies series. I did have to update my tetanus shot.
J walked away completely unscathed. The other dog, according to the cops, only has a wound on its ear/face. Luckily for the golden, it was much larger than J and had a lot of skin and hair in that area (and I held onto their head to keep them from tearing it any further).
Everyone was very pleased to find out it was a pit bull that 'protected' me, and one of the nurses told me she has a couple pit bulls. One of the nurses walked by and saw my wounds and asked me what happened, and when she heard it was a golden that attacked me she said "but they don't usually do that!" to which I told her all dogs bite. All dogs have teeth.
I'm very proud of every single witness and bystander that was there that did not immediately jump on the pit bull hate bandwagon (and this is NOT a dog-friendly community). Everyone, immediately upon being asked, vouched for J and his actions, especially because he was on leash and the golden ran across the street to get to us. The first cop to show up immediately thought the problem dog was J and the two men who only moments prior were wary to let him up corrected him and informed the cop to look for the other dog.
J was amazing today. He did everything he was supposed to do. He was the perfect specimen of not only his breed but of a dog. Not once was his focus on anything other than controlling the other dog. He was in 100% complete control. He was very calm and logical about his actions, and once disengaged, was perfect- I said down, he laid down. And that was that. A dozen people immediately surrounded us, talking really close, bending, leaning, and he just stood by my side calmly as I sat on the ground. He was amazing. I love this dog so much, I can't even put it into words. Thank you J.
Onto the pictures!
Left thigh before treatment:
Left thigh after treatment:
Left hand before treatment (would have required sutures if it was not a dog bite):
Left hand after treatment:
Right hand before treatment:
Right hand after treatment:
Right arm before treatment:
Right arm after treatment:
The bite marks on my watch that was ripped off by the dog (was on my right wrist):
J and I were finishing up conditioning work after a little over 2 hours of hard work. We were in our final 20 minutes of our cool down when I saw a golden retriever run directly across the street at us.
J has been ok with other dogs on leash in the past few months. We have been working EXTENSIVELY acting calm around other dogs. He is capable of walking past a barking dog without reacting. A loose dog came up to him a couple months ago and, while a little nerve-wracking, each dog went their separate ways, and J followed a down command afterward.
Today, this dog directly accosted us. Unable to physically keep the dogs separate (the golden probably had 20 pounds on J and was probably over half my size), a fight ensued. The golden crossed to my left where I was holding J and tried to nail him (or me? not sure). J, thankfully, was able to get a solid hold on the right side of the dog's face/ear and held on. The golden started snapping wildly. It repeatedly latched onto me- hands and thigh- and was relentless. When it contacted skin, it bit down hard. I remember the feeling of it biting my thigh, it was at that moment that I started screaming for help (and I mean SCREAMING, at the top of my lungs). These were not glancing blows. I had to pull my hand out of its mouth twice. A couple bystanders were able to help, one of whom was also severely bitten on his hand as soon as he approached the golden. The two men laid on top of J ($#@!uming he was the dog that was attacking me). I had both dogs in a head lock at this point (the golden in the left, J in the right) to keep J from shaking and to keep the golden from pulling- I did not want him to inflict any more damage than he had already done. With both dogs pinned, I didn't even need the breakstick. I gave J an out command (I said "let go, out, out") and he released the golden. Before this, though, the men that were laying on J were hitting him and yelling at him- I had to tell them "that's my dog, he's fine" to be quiet and stop hitting him because they were only making it worse. The one man, Scott, an off-duty Baltimore City cop, was the main person that was on J, and, without knowing which dog was dangerous, immediately jumped in to help while a dozen people stood around without knowing what to do. He was the man that was also severely bitten by the dog (we just talked to him, and he's doing well, even though he was pouring blood from his hand, needed a few loose sutures to hold his finger together, and my mom is going to send him a nice gift to thank him).
Once the golden was released, it ran back across the street. Both men were still laying on J and did not want to let him up. I had to plead with them that he was fine, that he was not going to hurt them, that he was the one that was attacked. On the count of three (I really wish I was making this part up, it's almost comical), the men released him and jumped back. J calmly stood up, not even looking in the direction of the other dog. I gave him a down command, of which he promptly followed and froggy legged it. After a long work-out and that tussle, he was happy to be relieved of any duty!
The cops showed up almost immediately and immediately everyone that was there vouched for J, going so far as to explain to the cops that J was protecting me and was dragging the dog away from me to do so. One of the cops immediately poured alcohol into all of my wounds- OUCH! My mom wasn't there yet and I was not going to go anywhere without making sure J got home safe. One of the cops offered to put J in the cruiser until my mom came (I wasn't being given the option of getting in the ambulance). J seemed fine with this, so I put him in there and I was put in an ambulance to be attended to. My mom showed up shortly after and J was a little freaked out because he was in a cop car and I wasn't there, but as soon as he recognized my mom he got all wiggly butt and got his toy and did his little happy dance.
I gave all my info to the cops, a police report was filed, bystander statements were taken (many of whom reported the dog has been seen frequently at large). One of the cops told me they checked the dog's collar and it looks like the collar for the invisible fence the dog was on had run out of battery. Everyone was concerned for J because he had blood all over him, but even with me only giving him a cursory glance, I could tell he didn't have any lacerations.
At no point in time, in any of this, did J re-direct, bite anyone, or even re-grip his hold. He held firm to the side of that dog's head and did not let go or even think about biting a person. Even after they were separated, he was very friendly with everyone and immediately complied with his down command. He stood calmly next to me as people handed me paper towels to stop the bleeding and as cops came up to me to get my information and as an EMT was pulling me away to get in an ambulance.
After speaking with Scott, the other man that was bitten, the dog is up-to-date on his rabies vaccine so I won't be needing to go through a rabies series. I did have to update my tetanus shot.
J walked away completely unscathed. The other dog, according to the cops, only has a wound on its ear/face. Luckily for the golden, it was much larger than J and had a lot of skin and hair in that area (and I held onto their head to keep them from tearing it any further).
Everyone was very pleased to find out it was a pit bull that 'protected' me, and one of the nurses told me she has a couple pit bulls. One of the nurses walked by and saw my wounds and asked me what happened, and when she heard it was a golden that attacked me she said "but they don't usually do that!" to which I told her all dogs bite. All dogs have teeth.
I'm very proud of every single witness and bystander that was there that did not immediately jump on the pit bull hate bandwagon (and this is NOT a dog-friendly community). Everyone, immediately upon being asked, vouched for J and his actions, especially because he was on leash and the golden ran across the street to get to us. The first cop to show up immediately thought the problem dog was J and the two men who only moments prior were wary to let him up corrected him and informed the cop to look for the other dog.
J was amazing today. He did everything he was supposed to do. He was the perfect specimen of not only his breed but of a dog. Not once was his focus on anything other than controlling the other dog. He was in 100% complete control. He was very calm and logical about his actions, and once disengaged, was perfect- I said down, he laid down. And that was that. A dozen people immediately surrounded us, talking really close, bending, leaning, and he just stood by my side calmly as I sat on the ground. He was amazing. I love this dog so much, I can't even put it into words. Thank you J.
Onto the pictures!
Left thigh before treatment:
Left thigh after treatment:
Left hand before treatment (would have required sutures if it was not a dog bite):
Left hand after treatment:
Right hand before treatment:
Right hand after treatment:
Right arm before treatment:
Right arm after treatment:
The bite marks on my watch that was ripped off by the dog (was on my right wrist):
*Graphic Pictures* Attacked by a Golden Retriever Because of an Invisible Fence
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