German Shepherd Attack Dog!

bycosmicradio

5.9K followers

Updated 7 years ago

Speaking of dogs (As I happened to be in my last Blog, "The Prodigal Dog,"), I did have one rather unpleasant encounter with a canine many years ago...

It was on one of the various sales jobs I took on in those early years, in order to supplement my income. I had pulled up to the prospect's home, only to be confronted by a sign:

Now, such a sign will certainly give you pause, and cause you to consider your next move very carefully, if you are a prudent person, which I consider myself to be, in most instances.

But, I was there for a reason, I had an appointment, and I wished fervently to make one more sale before calling it a day!

As many of you may recall, I do not carry a cell phone, but, as a matter of fact, I believe this situation occurred in the days before cell phones existed, so that is a moot point.

So, I did what I could: I stood outside the gentleman's chain link fenced yard and waved my arms and yelled "Hello!" I got back into my car and honked the horn vigorously; I stood outside and waved and yelled some more...

No response.

So, I stood peering at the house, scanning the yard for any sign of this fierce guard dog. I clapped my hands, shouting "Here, boy!" many times. I whistled several times, and I am a loud and artful whistler!

No sign of a dog.

So, I reasoned, with all the racket I was making, if the guard dog had not made an appearance, he was probably inside the house, where his master would be keeping him handily under his control.

I cautiously opened the front gate, and started up the sidewalk to the house.

Now, this particular house sat upon about a half acre lot, and the house sat well back on the lot, causing me to have to traverse quite a ways before I would reach my destination.

Strolling confidently, yet ever watchful, I had reached approximately the halfway point, when a snarling Hound from Hell came out from underneath the house, running toward me at full speed!

He looked pretty much like this, but with no restraints of any kind! He wasn't on a rope, he wasn't on a chain, he wasn't on his owner's leash. Unleashed fury!

I could just tell he wasn't going to be an animal I could reason with, so I sprinted for the side fence, which at that point, was closer than going back through the front gate.

I know you're supposed to stand your ground in these situations, but I could tell the intent of this animal was to sink his teeth into my flesh!

I actually got to the the 4-foot metal fence at the same time the dog got to me. I put my hands on the top of the fence and started to leap over, when he bit into my right leg, just behind the knee, ripping and tearing my suit pants, and causing no small amount of blood to flow from the wound. (Not to worry about the suit: It was a leisure suit, and I am embarrassed to this day that I ever wore it in the first place!)

I somehow managed to kick the animal with my other foot, while still hanging onto the top of the fence, whose spiky top, at this point, had gone a good ways into the palm of my hand.

He backed off just enough for me to reposition my hands and swing myself into the adjacent yard.

Catching my breath, I turned around slowly, and came face-to-face with another German Shepherd, a third again larger than my original assailant!

Fortunately, this fella was a big Teddy Bear. After letting him sniff the back of my hand, and giving him a friendly rub behind the ears, I slowly made my way to the front gate, pausing briefly to glare at the still barking attack dog next door.

Finally back at home, after disposing of my ruined suit pants, taking a warm shower, and bandaging my injured leg and hand, I picked up my phone and called the dog's owner, explaining what had happened earlier.

He assured me the dog's shots were up to date.

(But, just in case, I jotted down a quick list of people I wanted to bite!)

So, no, Vera-I did not get a series of shots in my stomach, and I apparently lived to tell about it! (Back then, the standard treatment when you were unsure if a dog had rabies was a series of 21 shots in the stomach!)

I learned to take some signs very seriously, and I learned that sometimes it's OK to veer off from your appointed rounds, especially if you've got a bad feeling in your gut.

In fact, it is often in your best interests to do so!