Leash Laws

I would like to have said our Easter was uneventful...

It was such a nice day, we decided to go to a nearby state park and start a tradition of an Easter day hike.  We were loving the outside and the dog was all smiles.  A big leashless dog, not sure of the breed came charging towards her and attacked her.  The whole thing happened within seconds.  I remember the dog charging and then I hear Gypsy screaming and then the owners grabbing their dog.  I, still not sure what just happened, checked my dog and she was freaked, but at the time, I didn't see any visible cuts or anything.  One of the owners offered her some dog treats, which Gypsy denied (I love that dog).  The BF said he had to kick the dog in the ribs to get him to let go of Gypsy.  It wasn't until then, the owners grabbed their dog.  He also mentioned the owner said, "Now we have to leave again because of you."  That pretty much tells me, this dog has attacked other dogs before.  Now, Maryland has a leash law for reasons just like this.  If your dog has attacked before, why not have him leashed at all times!? 

But anyway, we continued our walk because, like I said, I checked her and didn't notice any blood or anything, and she was acting like her normal self again all smiley.  She climbed over rocks and logs and rocks with us.  It wasn't until she got out of the river, I noticed some blood.  She had a huge hole in her back!  And she just spent the last couple of hours running around and swimming in a river full of dirt and sand.  We hurried back home so I could clean her up.  Since it was Sunday and a holiday, we decided not to take her to an emergency vet.  The BF took her the next morning.

Looking back, we should've gotten information from the owners.  I've never been in a situation like that so I didn't know what to do.  Besides, the owners didn't look the friendliest.  But if we had their information, you betcha I would've taken Gypsy to the ER vet and had them pay for it. 

Now my dog is on a 45 day quarantine because of a rabies protocol.  No walks.  No parks.  No interaction with other animals or dogs.  She's on all sorts of medications, even opiates to keep an edge off the pain.  And after the vet, I saw more bites throughout her body.  They were already scabbed over so I wasn't as worried about them.

This whole thing could've been avoided if the state leash law was being followed!  DON'T LET YOUR DOG OFF THE LEASH!  You might think they're the sweetest dog in the world.  But noone is 100% positive their dog isn't going to attack.  Before this whole thing, I was considering letting Gypsy off the leash, but this was a lesson learned.  I would never let her off leash now.

 This is a picture of the wound the next day, after the vet and after it was beginning to heal.  As you can see, the bite's pretty big for a dog her size.  There's another big bite that was already healing over at the bottom of her hind legs.  So that's a pretty big dog that attacked her.  The dog had almost her whole body in his mouth.

And this is Gypsy on drugs...

But to end on a good note, Gypsy's doing so much better.  The wound still looks bad, but it's pretty much scabbed completely over.  If you didn't see her back and just saw her face and tail nub wag, you wouldn't think anything was wrong. 

Stay classy (and keep those dogs leashed!),
Heidi