Owning Nissan Leaf Leads to Dog Attack

No direct causes and effect, but I started parking a block away from our clinic in order to avoid having my Leaf damaged in the parking lot (which is a frequent occurrence since cars are parked 3 deep). Today I was walking to my Leaf at lunchtime and a large German Shepherd was lying on the grass next to the sidewalk. I slowed down so as not to scare it, and it saw me. I paused for a moment about 3 feet from the dog (which I have petted in the past when his owner was with him) and suddenly he leaped up, flew through the air and bit me on the forearm. He took a small chunk out of my arm. I had to go to the hospital and have the wound cleaned out well, steri-strips applied, and oral antibiotics for one week.

Moral of the story: I still love my Leaf, but plan to steer clear of any dogs along the route to my car. If I get more severely maimed in the future, I may consider parking in the lot.

I hope you reported this to Animal Control. That dog could kill a small child or someone else's dog.

Rat said:

I hope you reported this to Animal Control. That dog could kill a small child or someone else's dog.

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Yes, I reported the attack to animal control. That was exactly my concern, that the dog might attack someone else in the future and cause a much more severe injury. They said they will check into it, including the papers for rabies shots the owner said he had for the dog. The owner will be educated about how to keep his dog controlled so others aren't at risk of being bitten. If the dog already has a history of biting people, the consequences might be more severe for the dog.

A large German Sheppard can easily kill an adult also.

Glad you're in good spirits after having gotten bitten. German Shepherds are responsible for a very large number of attacks/bites - especially when not trained properly.

Stoaty said:

Rat said:

The owner will be educated about how to keep his dog controlled so others aren't at risk of being bitten. If the dog already has a history of biting people, the consequences might be more severe for the dog.

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AND you need to be educated on how to handle a strange dog....regardless of whether you petted it in the past, if the owner isn't standing right there, the dog will be acting on it's own.

Don't look the dog in the eye. Direct eye contact is considered a form of confrontation and aggression.
Walk away slowly at an angle, but don't turn your back on the dog.
You can try talking softly to the dog as if it's friendly to guage it's reaction while doing the above.

I'm not saying the dog/owner wasn't at fault, but you stopping 3 feet from the dog was probably interpreted by the dog as you getting ready to pounce on him. Perhaps just walking off the sidewalk, giving him a wide berth might have resulted in a better outcome.

Glad you're relatively ok. German Shepherds are very territorial and the owner definitely shouldn't have left his dog unrestrained.

I walk my cat on a leash every day and we have been attacked by dogs and coyotes over the years and spent many $$$ in the ER and at the Vet.
I now carry a stun cane that extends to 3 feet and charged to 800000 volts when the trigger is pulled for close range defense. This saved us from a German Shepard a couple weeks ago when attacked on my front lawn. The owner let it loose while walking by, I filed a complaint with animal control for the good that will do.
For long range, 30 feet, I have a Mace.com pistol. I've never used that yet and hope i never do.

This seems harsh, but they are non-lethal and effective. After suffering a severe bite to my hand from a pit bull, I must defend myself!

Without the cat in tow, I agree with the other advise given.

despite leash laws (which are not really enforced) i see dogs running loose all the time and most are harmless. (so the humane society is busy)

around here, 2nd bite guarantees euthanasia. i have read about one bite dogs being spared.

in your situation i would have made a path around the dog.

The owner has absolute liability for that dog. As a 40 year runner and biker if it happened to me I would consult a lawyer.

svBackstreets said:

The owner has absolute liability for that dog. As a 40 year runner and biker if it happened to me I would consult a lawyer.

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The owner is disabled and living in an RV by our clinic. He has no resources. Additional info:

--owner showed me paper verifying recent rabies vaccination for dog
--owner admitted dog had bitten someone else who was "teasing" the dog
--someone in our clinic spotted animal control officer visiting the owner today

Jimmydreams said:

AND you need to be educated on how to handle a strange dog....regardless of whether you petted it in the past, if the owner isn't standing right there, the dog will be acting on it's own.

Don't look the dog in the eye. Direct eye contact is considered a form of confrontation and aggression.
Walk away slowly at an angle, but don't turn your back on the dog.
You can try talking softly to the dog as if it's friendly to guage it's reaction while doing the above.

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I'm sorry, but are you not entirely well? If a kid had stopped next to the dog and had been attacked / killed - is that what you would have said to the parents? "Sorry, but the kid should have known better than to look into the eyes of a strange dog"?

The owner is 100% to blame. Terminate the dog and forbid the owner ever having a dog again. Next time it could be a kid.

i think the response Jimmy gave to was to the "bite-tee" to avoid receiving additional bite marks.

it does not refer to what should be done with the dog which is simply a sad situation. a disabled person who has fallen thru the cracks with that dog as his only companion.

Just because it's the owner's fault, doesn't mean it isn't useful to learn how to handle a strange dog. I'm most emphatically not a dog person...they make me nervous and uncomfortable. Just the way I am. When I was a paperboy, though, I learned what and what not to do when encountering a strange dog, and it has been very useful over the years. Jim's advice is sound.

I really don't think that was JimmyDreams' intention, however the dog needs to be taken away from the owner regardless of age/sole companion for the safety of others.

As your driver's license will be taken away if you cannot control your vehicle, so should your right to own a potentially dangerous animal.

Now lets get back to the topic at hand. If Stoaty didn't care more about door dings than German Shepherds he wouldn't be in this mess

z0ner said:

Now lets get back to the topic at hand. If Stoaty didn't care more about door dings than German Shepherds he wouldn't be in this mess

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Finally back on topic... what a Leaf owner will endure to protect his precious Leaf
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor sun, nor snow, nor biting dogs will keep him from providing protection that he thinks the Leaf deserves.

PS You would not believe how often cars are damaged in our parking lot. Another employees car was hit just last week, knocked the side mirror clean off.

DaveinOlyWA said:

i think the response Jimmy gave to was to the "bite-tee" to avoid receiving additional bite marks.

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Exactly. Just general info for everyone.

Disclaimer: I own a German Shepherd. Having said that, it never ceases to amaze me how people will walk right up to me when I'm walking my dog and without so much as asking "is your dog friendly" or letting my dog sniff their hand, they'll grab him behind the ears and rub his head. My dog is well behaved, but I've seen him snap at people who do that because he's simply afraid of what they're doing! A quick sniff of the hand will assure my dog that you mean him no harm and he'll wag his tail and lick your hand. If you walk right up and grab him, you're liable to pull back a stump. If that happened, who is more to blame, a scared dog or a person who ought to have known better?

My point: yes, this dog was off leash and was the majority of the problem. But Stoaty didn't help the situation by his actions. Nothing more.

LOL, i have no trouble believing it. with 500+ cars in our parking lot during prime work hours we get parking lot incidents at least weekly