Dog drama
Well, that was scary - I took Kiska for her evening walk, and another dog in the park attacked her. Really savagely - it looked like it was trying to tear her throat out. Luckily she wasn't hurt, except for a small graze on her ear - there was tiny smear of blood there, but nothing much.
I, on the other hand, was not quite so lucky. You know how everyone says never to get between two fighting dogs? I have never, not once in the various times Kiska has been attacked by other dogs, taken that advice. I figure I'm bigger than she is, and arguably fiercer, and I'd rather get bitten than have her get killed. So I dropped to my knees right by the two of them and tried to push them apart, tried to pull Kiska back with her leash (the other dog was off-leash), and when neither of those worked, dealt with other dog a good solid whack with the heavy plastic handle of Kiska's extensible leash (something I have had to use it for on more than one occasion). That did make the other dog stumble back for a moment, which allowed the cluster of other dog owners that had descended on us to pull it back.
As it turned out, the people that came to help were not, any of them, the other dog's owner - he was some distance away when it happened, letting his dog run all over the park on its own, and although he kind of hovered nearby while the other dog owners made sure Kiska and I were OK, and ordered his dog to stay where it was, behind him, he didn't really do anything much to help, other than at one point saying briefly "She OK?" and then walking off. Asshole.
Meanwhile, the family that had been walking their little black Scottie helped me check Kiska out, tried to make sure I was OK as well, and ended up walking us home because they could tell I was descending into the post-adrenaline-rush shakes. They petted Kiska and helped soothe her, and very carefully (since a dog who's just been attacked can be kind of touchy) let their little dog come up to her to make friends, since it seemed like their dog was hovering as if he wanted to help too. Kiska settled down and was soon wagging her tail and sniffing the Scottie happily.
My first sign that I was not quite entirely OK was when I tried to get up off my knees, and nearly didn't make it. Remember my little bike accident of two days ago? I landed on my left knee, which was left kind of bruised and scraped as a result. I hadn't felt any pain while I was in a panic trying to separate the dogs, but I certainly did as I tried to detach my already-injured knee from the rough gravel-and-asphalt path. But I didn't think too much about it - I was more concerned with Kiska, and once we got over to the edge of the park where the light was better, checked her out again, though I didn't end up seeing the bit of blood on her ear until I got her home.
But on the way home, I noticed both knees were stinging, and so once I was inside, I lifted up the long skirt I was wearing to take a look - and behold, both knees were basically ripped all to hell from, I suppose, hitting the rugged pavement with considerable force, and probably being scraped back and forth on it while I tried to separate the two dogs. Oddly, I didn't feel it at all at the time. The right one actually seemed to take the brunt this time, which I suppose is good since it was the left that got it in the bike accident. They were both fairly scraped up, but it was the right one that was missing actual chunks of skin and bleeding noticeably.
So I cleaned them up well, first with soap and water and then peroxide, which may I add stings like bloody hell when you pour it on large areas with layers of skin missing, and smeared antibiotic ointment all over them. I'm going to have to be careful with them for the next few days, especially since there's no good way to put bandaids on that much broken skin. Miraculously, my skirt was relatively undamaged - I'm not sure how, since it's made of fairly delicate Indian cotton. Apart from a bloodstain or two, you'd never know anything untoward had happened while wearing it. Guess I should be thankful for that - skin heals, fabric doesn't.
Mainly I'm just glad Kiska was OK, and seriously pissed off at the other dog's owner. Particularly because it was a dog we've seen many times before, though usually not with its actual owner, but with a pair of his neighbours who walk it for him during the day. And while that dog used to be relatively friendly toward Kiska, in the past few months it's been consistently edgy and aggressive, not just toward her but toward most other dogs in general (apparently it was attacked by another dog a few months ago, and now seems to hate all dogs as a result). The couple who walk it in the daytime are aware of that and very careful as a result, and there have never been any incidents then, but I really have to wonder how it is that the dog's actual owner could be totally oblivious to the fact that his dog has developed a major aggression problem? And still think it's appropriate to let it run all over a park with other dogs in it, without exercising any kind of caution or control. The people who walked me home commented that he didn't even seem all that concerned when the dog attacked Kiska - he didn't try to call the dog off, or run over to help or anything, just kind of sauntered over and took charge of his dog after they had pulled it away from Kiska. Grrr.
Well, at least she's OK, and my knees will heal. (Kind of ironic that it was the ground rather than the aggressive dog that got me!) But some people really shouldn't be allowed to own dogs...
I, on the other hand, was not quite so lucky. You know how everyone says never to get between two fighting dogs? I have never, not once in the various times Kiska has been attacked by other dogs, taken that advice. I figure I'm bigger than she is, and arguably fiercer, and I'd rather get bitten than have her get killed. So I dropped to my knees right by the two of them and tried to push them apart, tried to pull Kiska back with her leash (the other dog was off-leash), and when neither of those worked, dealt with other dog a good solid whack with the heavy plastic handle of Kiska's extensible leash (something I have had to use it for on more than one occasion). That did make the other dog stumble back for a moment, which allowed the cluster of other dog owners that had descended on us to pull it back.
As it turned out, the people that came to help were not, any of them, the other dog's owner - he was some distance away when it happened, letting his dog run all over the park on its own, and although he kind of hovered nearby while the other dog owners made sure Kiska and I were OK, and ordered his dog to stay where it was, behind him, he didn't really do anything much to help, other than at one point saying briefly "She OK?" and then walking off. Asshole.
Meanwhile, the family that had been walking their little black Scottie helped me check Kiska out, tried to make sure I was OK as well, and ended up walking us home because they could tell I was descending into the post-adrenaline-rush shakes. They petted Kiska and helped soothe her, and very carefully (since a dog who's just been attacked can be kind of touchy) let their little dog come up to her to make friends, since it seemed like their dog was hovering as if he wanted to help too. Kiska settled down and was soon wagging her tail and sniffing the Scottie happily.
My first sign that I was not quite entirely OK was when I tried to get up off my knees, and nearly didn't make it. Remember my little bike accident of two days ago? I landed on my left knee, which was left kind of bruised and scraped as a result. I hadn't felt any pain while I was in a panic trying to separate the dogs, but I certainly did as I tried to detach my already-injured knee from the rough gravel-and-asphalt path. But I didn't think too much about it - I was more concerned with Kiska, and once we got over to the edge of the park where the light was better, checked her out again, though I didn't end up seeing the bit of blood on her ear until I got her home.
But on the way home, I noticed both knees were stinging, and so once I was inside, I lifted up the long skirt I was wearing to take a look - and behold, both knees were basically ripped all to hell from, I suppose, hitting the rugged pavement with considerable force, and probably being scraped back and forth on it while I tried to separate the two dogs. Oddly, I didn't feel it at all at the time. The right one actually seemed to take the brunt this time, which I suppose is good since it was the left that got it in the bike accident. They were both fairly scraped up, but it was the right one that was missing actual chunks of skin and bleeding noticeably.
So I cleaned them up well, first with soap and water and then peroxide, which may I add stings like bloody hell when you pour it on large areas with layers of skin missing, and smeared antibiotic ointment all over them. I'm going to have to be careful with them for the next few days, especially since there's no good way to put bandaids on that much broken skin. Miraculously, my skirt was relatively undamaged - I'm not sure how, since it's made of fairly delicate Indian cotton. Apart from a bloodstain or two, you'd never know anything untoward had happened while wearing it. Guess I should be thankful for that - skin heals, fabric doesn't.
Mainly I'm just glad Kiska was OK, and seriously pissed off at the other dog's owner. Particularly because it was a dog we've seen many times before, though usually not with its actual owner, but with a pair of his neighbours who walk it for him during the day. And while that dog used to be relatively friendly toward Kiska, in the past few months it's been consistently edgy and aggressive, not just toward her but toward most other dogs in general (apparently it was attacked by another dog a few months ago, and now seems to hate all dogs as a result). The couple who walk it in the daytime are aware of that and very careful as a result, and there have never been any incidents then, but I really have to wonder how it is that the dog's actual owner could be totally oblivious to the fact that his dog has developed a major aggression problem? And still think it's appropriate to let it run all over a park with other dogs in it, without exercising any kind of caution or control. The people who walked me home commented that he didn't even seem all that concerned when the dog attacked Kiska - he didn't try to call the dog off, or run over to help or anything, just kind of sauntered over and took charge of his dog after they had pulled it away from Kiska. Grrr.
Well, at least she's OK, and my knees will heal. (Kind of ironic that it was the ground rather than the aggressive dog that got me!) But some people really shouldn't be allowed to own dogs...