Cathy T
Well-known member
Had a close call with a Rottie this morning! We went to Fiesta Island to play. A woman with 2 Rotties said she had lost her car keys. I was talking to her and she said not to approach one of the dogs that he wasn’t dog friendly (so what the he** are you doing with a non-dog friendly at an off-leash area??!!) I put Jake and Shelby is a sit-stay and stayed on the hillside talking to her. All of a sudden the male lunged at us, yanking the woman to the ground and pulling her, she couldn’t hold on to the leash and the dog attacked Shelby. Poor little baby was trying to get away and the dog just scrabbled after her. He got her by the neck and tried to shake her, I was pounding on his back screaming at him and he let go. The woman got ahold of the dog and was apologizing profusely. I took both dogs up to the hill and sat down with Shelby. I was shaking so badly I was afraid I was going to pass out. I was so overcome with emotion. Shelby was shaking but she appeared to be okay. I checked her out thoroughly, gave the woman my business card (she did call shortly after we got home to be sure we were okay and said that she will never again take the dog out like that, it wasn’t her dog it was her daughter’s) and decided it would be best not to leave immediately since I didn’t want that to be Shelby’s last impression. We went down onto the beach where there were 4 women with some labs. I asked if the labs were okay with small dogs, they said absolutely, so we went to mix a little (I wanted Shelby to immediately be with a bigger dog so the attack wouldn’t imprint on her). As soon as I started to tell them what happened I completely lost it and broke down sobbing. They were so kind to me, holding me while I cried, checking out Shelby to be sure she really was okay and just let me get it out of my system (I’m great during a crises…but afterwards….watch out!) In talking, one of the women commented that she was house/dog sitting for someone with Cavaliers….wouldn’t you know it….it’s one my board of directors!! We had a nice little talk then I packed the pups up into the car and headed home. I put Shelby in the shower and cleaned her up so I could inspect her really well. She has a couple of pink marks on her neck but thankfully the skin isn’t broken. She appears to be okay but I’ll keep a close eye on her for the rest of the day and I think we’ll take a cuddle nap together! I’m telling you….had that dog wanted to kill her, he could have. I’m just so glad we’re all okay. Although a bit shaken up.