Scary Incident Yesterday

[Kitt]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this inicident with doggy people, who will understand how scary it was.

Yesterday afternoon I was walking one of my greyhounds, Lucy. I had stopped on the side of my street waiting to cross the road. In the far lane was a ute-type car, with a big enclosed back section with a big window. The car was stopped, waiting to cross a t-intersection. There were two dogs in the back, and they were looking out the side window with their front paws on the window sill. I was thinking "Wow, the driver must really trust his dogs not to jump out the window".

Then, one of the dogs leapt out the window, growling and barking. It ran across the road and leapt onto Lucy, my dog. It wasn't a friendly visit. Ie, the dog didn't jump out, happily wagging its tail, to come and greet us. It looked like it was going to kill Lucy. It was a medium-height dog but was very muscley.

I screamed and tried to kick it to get it off Lucy. The driver heard his dog growling / barking and heard my screaming. He jumped out of the car and screamed at his dog and grabbed it, and put it back in the car. I was terrified. I was shaking and went really weak. Lucy appeared to be fine. There was not a mark on her.

But then (and for some reason I can't stop feeling bad about this?)... I absolutely lost it, because of the fear and adrenalin and relief that Lucy wasn't hurt. I started screaming at the guy "You f*cking idiot, what the f*ck are you doing driving around with your dogs unrestrained with the f*cking window open? You f*cking idiot!". The guy was very apologetic and was shocked. He offered to take his dogs somewhere and come back and get me and Lucy to drive us somewhere, and he kept saying sorry and saying that the dog had never done it before.

My boyfriend (who wasn't there) asked whether I "lost my temper", but that's definitely not the case. It was genuine fear. I was terrified that this dog would rip Lucy apart, and that the other dog would jump out too. It wasn't a thought-out response.

Ok, I just wanted to share that incident with other doggy people who would probably understand how scary it was.

That's all, thanks.

Edited May 1, 2011 by Kitt

[Tilly]

Your reaction is perfectly understandable ... and I have slightly lost the plot a couple of times in similar situations.

The most important thing now is not to let the incident affect Lucy. Keep to your normal routines and try very hard not to tense up when you are out walking her and a similiar situation arises (eg car drive by with dogs in the back) as this will transfer down the lead to Lucy. Also introduce Lucy to similar looking but friendly dogs - making it a positive experience.

Hugs to you both ...

[Kitt]

Your reaction is perfectly understandable ... and I have slightly lost the plot a couple of times in similar situations.

The most important thing now is not to let the incident affect Lucy. Keep to your normal routines and try very hard not to tense up when you are out walking her and a similiar situation arises (eg car drive by with dogs in the back) as this will transfer down the lead to Lucy. Also introduce Lucy to similar looking but friendly dogs - making it a positive experience.

Hugs to you both ...

Thanks Tilly. Yeah, we continued with our walk and Lucy was fine. I made a conscious effort to relax and be normal. I'll keep a look out for any signs of nervousness around similar dogs.

[sas]

That's a pretty scary inccident to happen and I think if you were the mother of a child and something threatened your childs safety you may also loose the plot a little.

I was pleased however to read the guy was apologetic, sometimes to add insult to injury the owner doesn't care.

Edited May 1, 2011 by MEH

[Leelaa17]

That's a pretty scary inccident to happen and I think if you were the mother of a child and something threatened your childs safety you may also loose the plot a little.

I was pleased however to read the guy was apologetic, sometimes to add insult to injury the owner doesn't care.

I agree.

Hugs to you and Lucy. i can't imagine how scary that would've been for both of you. Glad to hear you're both ok though!

[stormie]

How terrifying for you. I'm glad Lucy wasn't hurt and also that the owner was so apologetic.

I think you're reaction is pretty normal in that situation. We were startled by a dog on the back of a parked ute on our walk yesterday too, though thankfully this dog was restrained. It still scared the poo out of me though - it was under a whole lot of stuff on the ute and suddenly just lunged out aggressively barking when we went passed. After the initial shock, I was really angry and swearing to myself. I think it's just the body's way of dealing with the huge adrenaline rush.

[smooch]

Glad you both are alright and the owner appoligised. I don't blame you for being scared I would be as well.

Hopefully the owner learned a good lesson from this and in future keeps his dogs restrained so it doesn't happen to others.

[Kitt]

Yes, MEH, Leelaa and Stormie, I was very relieved that the owner was apologetic. He was really shocked. Also, he probably realised how dangerous the situation was for his dog. It had leapt from his car and ran across a lane - if there were cars driving in that lane it would've been hit.

An interesting thing happened afterwards - there was a car behind the ute. The driver of this other car was asking if I was ok etc, and then he said "You're lucky it wasn't the white dog that attacked" (referring to the other dog which hadn't jumped out). I can only think that he was suggesting it looked like a certain breed? It was an interesting demonstration of people's beliefs about their skill in identifying dog breeds and about those breeds' behaviours.

[RL1]

I had a similar incident years ago when a dog jumped out of a car and ran up towards my ute and tried to jump into the back

to get at my two Rottweilers. It didn't make it, but it made a mess of my new utes paint work.

Lucky for the dog my Rottweilers nor myself didn't got hold of the dog.

Edited May 1, 2011 by RL1

[Lindainfa]

You had every reason to scream like that, thankfully Lucy is ok!

[Guest]

i am so sorry to hear what happened. At least nobody was injured. Maybe the guy didn't realise his dogs could jump out the window.

My JRT can't jump our front fence, and occasionally if we are out the front, they are with us. One morning,I walked out the front door, Blister behind me and as I said GO (her command to leave the doorway and go out) a man walked by with his staffy and Blister jumped off the steps, cleared 2 hedges and the fence. We were horrified, another man said she was like Superman literally flew through the air and when Blister got to the staffy, she sat and looked at him like she thought What do I do now? and then rolled on her back (very submissive dog)

The staffy was OK, the man annoyed (I don't blame him) and I was horrified. There is no way Blister can jump the front fence, but she did along with the 2 hedges. We learnt such a lesson (we waited for the staffy to come back and apologised profusely - he was ok with us and could laugh about it)

I know JRTs are jumpers, but Blister isn't a jumper. our other 2 were/are, but not her.

But it was nice to hear this story from the other side.

[Lillynix]

Oh gosh! How terribly scary for both of you! I'm glad Lucy is okay and your reaction seems perfectly reasonable to e, given the circumstances

[Rebanne]

so glad you are both ok

I would have reacted exactly the same, no doubt about it. Would have screamed and yelled and sworn like a trooper, then be a little bit ashamed because the guy was so apologetic.

[Kitt]

i am so sorry to hear what happened. At least nobody was injured. Maybe the guy didn't realise his dogs could jump out the window.

... There is no way Blister can jump the front fence, but she did along with the 2 hedges. We learnt such a lesson (we waited for the staffy to come back and apologised profusely - he was ok with us and could laugh about it)

I know JRTs are jumpers, but Blister isn't a jumper. our other 2 were/are, but not her.

But it was nice to hear this story from the other side.

Hi Pumpitdog, wow that would've been a shock! It's great that your situation ended well.

I think that in my situation, this guy would have known that it was very likely his dogs could jump out. They were resting their front paws and upper bodies on the window sill, and the window was very big and low. My first thought when I saw them was that they could easily jump out. They wouldn't have had to climb up to the window or squeeze through it. But I did believe him when he said that the dog hadn't done it before.

[Keira&Phoenix]

Hi everyone, I wanted to share this inicident with doggy people, who will understand how scary it was.

Yesterday afternoon I was walking one of my greyhounds, Lucy. I had stopped on the side of my street waiting to cross the road. In the far lane was a ute-type car, with a big enclosed back section with a big window. The car was stopped, waiting to cross a t-intersection. There were two dogs in the back, and they were looking out the side window with their front paws on the window sill. I was thinking "Wow, the driver must really trust his dogs not to jump out the window".

Then, one of the dogs leapt out the window, growling and barking. It ran across the road and leapt onto Lucy, my dog. It wasn't a friendly visit. Ie, the dog didn't jump out, happily wagging its tail, to come and greet us. It looked like it was going to kill Lucy. It was a medium-height dog but was very muscley.

I screamed and tried to kick it to get it off Lucy. The driver heard his dog growling / barking and heard my screaming. He jumped out of the car and screamed at his dog and graJbbed it, and put it back in the car. I was terrified. I was shaking and went really weak. Lucy appeared to be fine. There was not a mark on her.

But then (and for some reason I can't stop feeling bad about this?)... I absolutely lost it, because of the fear and adrenalin and relief that Lucy wasn't hurt. I started screaming at the guy "You f*cking idiot, what the f*ck are you doing driving around with your dogs unrestrained with the f*cking window open? You f*cking idiot!". The guy was very apologetic and was shocked. He offered to take his dogs somewhere and come back and get me and Lucy to drive us somewhere, and he kept saying sorry and saying that the dog had never done it before.

My boyfriend (who wasn't there) asked whether I "lost my temper", but that's definitely not the case. It was genuine fear. I was terrified that this dog would rip Lucy apart, and that the other dog would jump out too. It wasn't a thought-out response.

Ok, I just wanted to share that incident with other doggy people who would probably understand how scary it was.

That's all, thanks.

OMG Kitt! That is horrible. I am always paranoid about my dogs jumping out windows so I only open them a little bit or if they are down enough for heads to stick out a bit i have them tethered/restrained. What an idiot! Glad he was apologetic though! Glad you are both ok! Let me know if you need anything.

[fuzzy82]

How scary:(

I lost it at a 12 and 9 year old when they were out walking a big dog they had no control over and it attacked my little poodle x. I swore at them and asked them what the f they were doing walking a dog they had no control over and various other things.

I would lose it any time someone's dog attack my dogs due to their stupidity.

[Alibi]

I have seen this happen before.

Waiting for fish and chips and a 4wd parked with a cattle dog on the front seat, the guy who owned it was sitting outside the car waiting for his order. The dog in the car saw a lady walking her dog across the 4 lane busy road, dog in car went nuts and managed to jump out and across the four lanes without getting hit and started attacking ladys dog, the guy ignored it!! He tried to pretend like it wasnt his dog untill i started yelling at him to go grap his f@#$king dog (i was shook up at it all).

He went across and got it and i couldnt resisted yelling what the hell was he doing ignoring his dog attacking another dog, he totally ignored me and when i left he did the finger behind my back.

I think i would have reacted the same way you did.

[Greytmate]

I think that in my situation, this guy would have known that it was very likely his dogs could jump out. They were resting their front paws and upper bodies on the window sill, and the window was very big and low. My first thought when I saw them was that they could easily jump out. They wouldn't have had to climb up to the window or squeeze through it. But I did believe him when he said that the dog hadn't done it before.

Many people overestimate their ability to verbally control their dog, and underestimate their dog's likelihood to follow its instincts when they come across other dogs in public.

I think the comment made about the white dog may have been made because the white dog appeared to be bigger or more powerfully built than the dog that did attack you. It doesn't take much skill to determine if a dog is big and strong or not, even if you don't know about different dog breeds. There is nothing wrong with saying that some dogs would be more dangerous than others should they decide to attack. It is a credit to the nature of the white dog, whatever breed it is, that it didn't join in the attack. Or maybe it just couldn't get through the window?

[Kitt]

[i think the comment made about the white dog may have been made because the white dog appeared to be bigger or more powerfully built than the dog that did attack you. It doesn't take much skill to determine if a dog is big and strong or not, even if you don't know about different dog breeds. There is nothing wrong with saying that some dogs would be more dangerous than others should they decide to attack. It is a credit to the nature of the white dog, whatever breed it is, that it didn't join in the attack. Or maybe it just couldn't get through the window?

Hi Greytmate , yeah, the guy in the other car could have been referring to the white dog's size or apparent strength. However, the two dogs appeared to be the same size and build. Definitely no obvious difference. That's why I was wondering if the guy was simply guessing the dog's breed on the basis of its colour. I totally agree that there's nothing wrong with acknowledging that some dogs would be more dangerous in an attack than other dogs. There just didn't seem to be any difference in these dogs except for colour, so that's the only thing I could think of as a reason for the guy's statement.

The window was very big. It wasn't like a normal car window. It was one of those big windows that normally has a sliding glass section. The white dog would have easily jumped out. Both dogs had been leaning a significant portion of their bodies out the window already. But yep I was incredibly glad that the white dog didn't jump out too! It didn't even get agitated. I was very impressed! ;)

And you're right - the owner seemed genuinely shocked that his dog would act like a dog by jumping out of a window to confront another dog.

[twodoggies2001]

How scary:(

I lost it at a 12 and 9 year old when they were out walking a big dog they had no control over and it attacked my little poodle x. I swore at them and asked them what the f they were doing walking a dog they had no control over and various other things.

I would lose it any time someone's dog attack my dogs due to their stupidity.

I would have asked the kids where their parent were and then gone and sworn at them. I wouldn't be using language around kids of that age. It's not their fault, but the fault of the ignorant adults who allowed them to be in that situation. I wonder if you have kids and if you would appreciate another adult yelling at them in that fashion.