Don’t worry my dogs are friendly…

“Don’t worry my dogs are friendly…” Said the guy opening his car door, letting his 2 dogs run off leash at the trail head a week or so ago.

Both dogs ran barking and snapping, directly at me & Jesse (who I had on his leash). One caught my pups jaw with a tooth then went for his throat and legs. The other came at me snarling & trying to bite me. I dropped the leash so Jesse had free motion and I had both hands to defend myself.

Jesse is amazingly fast and agile. He got a piece of his attacker and had blood all over his mouth and face while their owner was yelling & threatening me as though somehow I or my dog were at fault.

Fortunately, there were plenty of witnesses and a sign that clearly said “NO DOGS OFF LEASH”. When the authorities arrived, the witnesses all pointed at the dudes dogs as aggressors giving statements. Jesse & I were sitting on a tall rock. He was still on guard but was a good boy while I rinsed his wounds with water from our hydration pack. I was able to clean, assess, and dress his wounds on the spot. (Put together a dog first aid kit. It pays to be prepared!)

A Ranger brought Jesse his bandanna lost in the fracas, approaching very gently and quietly. He climbed up on the rock with us & Jesse nuzzled him to put the bandanna back on.

“That guy is trying to claim your dog is aggressive and mean,” he said as he retied the bandanna.

“I’m just not seeing it, his dog is pretty chewed up though. He’s demanding you pay the vet bill. Don’t worry, he’s not got a leg to stand on, he’s getting a hefty ticket right now. How’s this fella?” He gave Jesse some ear scritches.

“He’s okay, it think. There’s a cut from a tooth on his jaw, a couple of small punctures on his leg and another puncture near his shoulder towards his neck. They’re minor. I’ve cleaned ’em & hit ’em with antibiotic ointment. I’ll watch him for the next few days. He’ll be at the vet if he’s not healing or I find anything worse when we get home.” 

“Good,” the Ranger said, “Would you like me to hold the leash while you clean up the wound on your leg?” Jesse gave the Ranger a lick, asking for more ear scritches.

I was so worried about my pup, I hadn’t noticed I’d been injured and was bleeding pretty good. I rinsed my wound, & grabbed the human first aid kit from the pack to fix myself up.

The Ranger smiled, “Nice to see someone prepared even if 99% of the time they don’t need to be. You guys walk this trail a lot. I’ve never seen a vehicle, would you like a ride home?”

Folks, there’s a darn good reason to keep your dog on a leash. It’s as much for their safety as it is for others. You have no idea how far from home someone is, or if they, or their dog is old or has bad knees/other health conditions. Keeping control of your dog is super important so everyone can have a nice walk/hike.

That being said, drop the leash if your dog is attacked. They know what to do, and a former street dog like my pup knows how to end it pretty quick. 

Neither of us will have lasting physical damage & we got a ride in a ranger’s truck home. So that’s off our bucket list.