Dakota and I survived a pitbull attack - heartbreaking story.

A

Amy & Evan

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One month ago, Dakota (who was only 5 months old at the time) and I (Amy) were on the walking trail behind our place, which is an 'on-leash' area with signs everywhere along the trail. I have walked Dakota on this trail every single day and it is a very high traffic and popular walking path with a lot of people and dogs, and I have always felt very safe on it - as I have never encountered someone who let their dog off leash before on the trail. We were just walking when I turned around a blind corner, and I noticed a couple of people had a dog swimming down by the lake, which is just about fifty feet away down a hill from the path. I did not realize that it was a pitbull at this time, or that they had the pitbull off leash. Either way, I only had mere seconds to react. Out of nowhere, the pitbull came charging towards us up the hill. I reacted very fast and my first instinct was to pick up Dakota. The pitbull ripped Dakota from my arms, while I was holding him. This happened several times. I kept picking Dakota up everytime the pitbull let go of him, in my efforts to save his life, because I knew what pitbulls were capable of doing - that they are bred to be fight and kill other dogs. I did everything I could to protect Dakota.. Near the end of the attack when I picked up Dakota again, the pitbull trampled me to the the ground from behind, knocking Dakota out of my arms. It was a horrible and violent attack, I was kicking and hitting the pitbull while screaming for help, while also trying to get in its way, which is how I got injured with multiple bites on my hands and a deep scrape on my knee. Dakota suffered three puncture wounds on his back. His skin and muscle got torn and separated from when the pitbull shook him while biting him. I believe that Dakota went into shock during the attack, as he became completely limp. Eventually the people walking the dog slowly came up the hill and shortly after the pitbull stopped - however I do not remember how the pitbull was stopped. I ran home as fast as I could and drove Dakota to the animal hospital immediately.

Words cannot even describe the violence of this attack, there is no way to understand how horrific this was without being there to witness it. I thought my puppy was going to be killed in front of me. We are extremely lucky that we were both able to walk away from this incident with no loss of life.

They had to to emergency surgery to make sure his organs were not punctured - which thankfully they were not. They also had to put drains on both sides of him to help drain the excess fluid and to promote healing of the skin and muscle tissue. Less than a week later the holes from the drains healed up and he was bandage free - as puppies heal very fast. He did have stitches in for two weeks, and was on multiple medications as well. Within three weeks he was fully recovered from the punctures and drain holes.

My injuries are healed now, I waited in the emergency room for 7 hours on the day of the attack while Dakota had his surgery. The doctor that saw me at the hospital did not give me any antibiotics, because at the time the bites did not look too severe. It was a couple days later that they became severely infected and I had to have a tetanus shot as well as antibiotics. The psychological trauma of this experience is what I am suffering from the most still... This has affected my daily life so much because I am terrified to even leave my yard because there are several pitbulls that live on my street.

I am just so thankful that we are both okay and Dakota has fully recovered. He is back to his normal self, playing with our cat and playing with toys, being very happy and running around. He still loves dogs, even big dogs. He also is still friendly to strangers. I think that maybe he doesn't even remember what happened..

I hope this post will be helpful at least to raise awareness of how dangerous pitbulls are. This was an unprovoked attack by a pitbull that never attacked anyone or any dog before. I am not saying that all pitbulls are bad. However, there is no denying what this breed is capable of doing.




Here are some pictures of Dakota's injuries and the healing process.
http://imgur.com/a/B4EY6
http://imgur.com/a/QDemX
http://imgur.com/a/Vg9RB
 
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Oh no what heartbreaking experience, I completely get the palpitations from reading your post.
Thank God, for both of you survived.

Really understand that pitbull is forbidden here in Denmark - can you not report it to the police?

Wonder me that your bite wounds were sewn, as dog bites are "dirty" - and the wound must cleanse from the inside, not to cause infections - - did not you get a tetanus vaccine?

Glad that Little Dakota has not had any trauma.

I'm sorry to read that this has affected your daily life - but I really understand that you're terrified to go beyond the ground when you may even meet pitbull - poor, poor you :hugs
 
I am just mortified reading your post! I cannot even imagine how traumatic it must have been!

I am so glad you guys are safe and healing! Although the emotional scars may never heal completely!

I can't believe the doctors sent you away from the first time! How inept!

I am shocked and totally concerned that the people who owned the pit did not help you! They caused this because their dog was off lead!

I hope you filed a police report so they can be procecuted to the full extent of the law!!!

Thank you for your post to alert us... However, I wish you and Dakota would have never had to experience the attack in the first place!

Hugs to you both!
 
Amy & Evan said:
One month ago, Dakota (who was only 5 months old at the time) and I were on the walking trail behind our place, which is an 'on-leash' area with signs everywhere along the trail. I have walked Dakota on this trail every single day and it is a very high traffic and popular walking path with a lot of people and dogs, and I have always felt very safe on it - as I have never encountered someone who let their dog off leash before on the trail. We were just walking when I turned around a blind corner, and I noticed a couple of people had a dog swimming down by the lake, which is just about fifty feet away down a hill from the path. I did not realize that it was a pitbull at this time, or that they had the pitbull off leash. Either way, I only had mere seconds to react. Out of nowhere, the pitbull came charging towards us up the hill. I reacted very fast and my first instinct was to pick up Dakota. The pitbull ripped Dakota from my arms, while I was holding him. This happened several times. I kept picking Dakota up everytime the pitbull let go of him, in my efforts to save his life, because I knew what pitbulls were capable of doing - that they are bred to be fight and kill other dogs. I did everything I could to protect Dakota.. Near the end of the attack when I picked up Dakota again, the pitbull trampled me to the the ground from behind, knocking Dakota out of my arms. It was a horrible and violent attack, I was kicking and hitting the pitbull while screaming for help, while also trying to get in its way, which is how I got injured with multiple bites on my hands and a deep scrape on my knee. Dakota suffered three puncture wounds on his back. His skin and muscle got torn and separated from when the pitbull shook him while biting him. I believe that Dakota went into shock during the attack, as he became completely limp. Eventually the people walking the dog slowly came up the hill and shortly after the pitbull stopped - however I do not remember how the pitbull was stopped. I ran home as fast as I could and drove Dakota to the animal hospital immediately.

Words cannot even describe the violence of this attack, there is no way to understand how horrific this was without being there to witness it. I thought my puppy was going to be killed in front of me. We are extremely lucky that we were both able to walk away from this incident with no loss of life.

They had to to emergency surgery to make sure his organs were not punctured - which thankfully they were not. They also had to put drains on both sides of him to help drain the excess fluid and to promote healing of the skin and muscle tissue. Less than a week later the holes from the drains healed up and he was bandage free - as puppies heal very fast. He did have stitches in for two weeks, and was on multiple medications as well. Within three weeks he was fully recovered from the punctures and drain holes.

My injuries are healed now, I waited in the emergency room for 7 hours on the day of the attack while Dakota had his surgery. The doctor that saw me at the hospital did not give me any antibiotics, because at the time the bites did not look too severe. It was a couple days later that they became severely infected and I had to have a tetanus shot as well as antibiotics. The psychological trauma of this experience is what I am suffering from the most still... This has affected my daily life so much because I am terrified to even leave my yard because there are several pitbulls that live on my street.

I am just so thankful that we are both okay and Dakota has fully recovered. He is back to his normal self, playing with our cat and playing with toys, being very happy and running around. He still loves dogs, even big dogs. He also is still friendly to strangers. I think that maybe he doesn't even remember what happened..

I hope this post will be helpful at least to raise awareness of how dangerous pitbulls are. This was an unprovoked attack by a pitbull that never attacked anyone or any dog before. I am not saying that all pitbulls are bad. However, there is no denying what this breed is capable of doing.




Here are some pictures of Dakota's injuries and the healing process.
http://imgur.com/a/B4EY6
http://imgur.com/a/QDemX
http://imgur.com/a/Vg9RB
Click to expand...
 
I am crying as I read this, because I have seen what pitbulls DO and I HATE the breed, absolutely HATE them and those that own them, because most are overdogged and it is just a matter of time before they do damage. :X3:
Yesterday a gal I see on our walks at times, got attacked by a pit bull, she was limping home. He went after her husky who is this gentle sweet natured dog. She told me he was loose and to be careful. She said the one day she didn't have her mace spray. I walked my girls armed. Kaleigh got attacked here in a neighborhood and the dog, a boxer type, overpowered the owner, bit her kid to get to us. The kid had to be taken to the ER, and I did hear that the same dog was put down. It got on the nearby school yard and bit another kid. Ever since then I never leave the house without being properly prepared, and I will not show ANY mercy to any dog that goes after my dog and tries to harm it.

Pit bulls are triggered by shelties, and I get very nervous because there are many around us. I can only offer my sincere sympathies for what happened. It is tragic. Don't allow fear to rob your joy, just arm yourself and know how to be protective of yourself and Dakota. Be grateful y'all are ok. Working in insurance I can tell you, many that have a run in with a pit-they don't fare as well.

If you haven't already, let the authorities know, give them as much info as possible, because if a pit does this once, it ONLY escalates, that is the cycle and the next incident probably will be WORSE for someone else.
 
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ghggp said:
I am just mortified reading your post! I cannot even imagine how traumatic it must have been!

I am so glad you guys are safe and healing! Although the emotional scars may never heal completely!

I can't believe the doctors sent you away from the first time! How inept!

I am shocked and totally concerned that the people who owned the pit did not help you! They caused this because their dog was off lead!

I hope you filed a police report so they can be procecuted to the full extent of the law!!!

Thank you for your post to alert us... However, I wish you and Dakota would have never had to experience the attack in the first place!

Hugs to you both!
Click to expand...


Most pit owners are overdogged, and they know it, and they refuse to admit it. Pits need very alpha people to control them in these type of situations. I NEVER feel safe when a pit is unleashed, and leery when it is leashed but the handler is obviously outmatched by the dog. I have seen too much evidence that they are not managed well by most. I contend the breed is messed up psychologically, and a time bomb, because there are so many cases where they just "go off"-history or no history. It is why insurance companies will NOT take on the risk. They are like land mines, harmless until stepped on.
 
Tesslynn, that brings to mind a question...
What do people use to protect their dogs on walks?
Now, with this post, it makes me wonder and want to be prepared!

When I was little I was attacked by a German Shephard that hated my collie. Once he attacked me, I got up from the ground with my white shirt completely covered in blood on the arm where he bit me. The owner ran out of the house saying, you just fell on a stick! When I went to the hospital, the police and doctors could tell it WAS, in fact, a dog bite as both his top and bottom canine teeth punctured my upper arm.

The odd thing was, I was not even walking my collie at the time! I was just crossing the street coming home from my friend's house. The dog saw me and pushed open the screen door to get to me! My mom said, Duke, my collie had heard the attack as it happened in front of my house. She said she never saw him look and act so ferocious! She said he looked like a lion with his main was standing straight up! I have no doubt he would have come to my rescue had he been able to get out!

Our poor shelties are no match for any large dog wanting to do them harm!
 
Glad you and Dakota are recovered. I kind of doubt the story you were told about this being the first time for the Pitbull. I have been around them before and they do not go from zero to insane. I suspect he was already an issue and the owner was trying to avoid the liability (or criminality) of the event by lying.

A good example is Bull dogs at flyball. I have seen most that are just great dogs. There was one that was flaky and they got warned. Next time it was banned for life. No dog was hurt but it was aggressive on chasing and that is never allowed (in contrast Sca did a few power laps around the entire ring when he first started and everyone was laughing, probably even the other dogs)
 
Thank you everyone for the support <3 :)

I reported it to the police and animal control on the day of the attack.
This situation got messy because the people that were walking the pitbull were NOT the owners of it. They were 'friends' with the owner, and were told by her to never let it off leash. However, I am pretty sure these people were intoxicated because they were extremely slow to react to what happened, and they did not show any concern for us. They didn't even apologize or give me their names/number. We only found out who they were because my dad and uncle drove out to the area when I called them and told them what happened and they searched the neighborhood and asked everyone if they know who they are. They got fined with having an off leash dog in an on leash area, and negligence causing harm. The owner got multiple fines - for having an unregistered dog, and then paying for a registration of a 'dangerous dog'. The final conclusion of the investigation was a permanent muzzle order whenever the dog is not in the house. They are also required to have a secure enclosure outside their house. Thankfully the owner was actually really cooperative with us and payed us for the vet bills two days after the attack.
 
ghggp said:
Tesslynn, that brings to mind a question...
What do people use to protect their dogs on walks?
Now, with this post, it makes me wonder and want to be prepared!

When I was little I was attacked by a German Shephard that hated my collie. Once he attacked me, I got up from the ground with my white shirt completely covered in blood on the arm where he bit me. The owner ran out of the house saying, you just fell on a stick! When I went to the hospital, the police and doctors could tell it WAS, in fact, a dog bite as both his top and bottom canine teeth punctured my upper arm.

The odd thing was, I was not even walking my collie at the time! I was just crossing the street coming home from my friend's house. The dog saw me and pushed open the screen door to get to me! My mom said, Duke, my collie had heard the attack as it happened in front of my house. She said she never saw him look and act so ferocious! She said he looked like a lion with his main was standing straight up! I have no doubt he would have come to my rescue had he been able to get out!

Our poor shelties are no match for any large dog wanting to do them harm!
Click to expand...


oh no! I am so sorry to hear that. It's such a horrible thing, being attacked by a dog.. When I was attacked by the pitbull it was trying to go after my puppy so my injuries weren't too bad, but I can't imagine what it would be like if the dog was purely attacking you. What happened to the german shepherd? was it put down or muzzled at least?


As for protecting my dog and myself outside, I carry a pocket knife with me at all times. What does everyone else use? I have thought about buying bear mace or a walking stick maybe as well. When we were attacked, I had nothing but my bare hands. I feel a little more safe with a pocket knife at least.
 
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