I'm so shaken up!
 

I arrived at work in tears this morning. I can'r believe it.....on my drive in, I hit a dog!:( :(

I was in my neighbourhood, driving along (NOT speeding) when I see a large, short haired dog running without a leash along the side walk. As soon as I see this I move my foot to the brake pedal. At that moment, the dog bolts into the road. I slam on my brakes (and I'm screaming at the top of my lungs) and slide for a few feet (it's 30 degrees celcius below zero...the road is frozen over). Just as my car slides to a stop is when I hit the dog. I hit him with the driver side bumper, and I'm guessing I got him on the left hip. I did not run over him....just knocked him off his feet.

I put my car in park, ans as I'm opening the door to get out, I see the dog get up and walk across the path of my car to the sidewalk. He's walking low to the ground, tail between his legs. I look to the side walk and see ANOTHER dog running on the sidewalk, without a leash. (I'm thinking, this is nuts....this street is 60 kms per hour...and I'm sure people go faster than that...why are these dogs off leash?) The owner comes running screaming the dogs name (he was dressed for the weather...he had been outside with his dogs), scoops him up and runs inside a condo complex. I go to move my car out of the way of traffic so I could help the owner, but by then he had run up the stairs and I don't know which apartment he lives in. I waited outside for several minutes...hoping the owner would return outside. I could have given him a lift to the vet if he didn't have a car.

Eventually, I had to leave.

People at my work have been reassuring me that it was an accident and that I did all I could do. I keep thinking that it could have been a child or a person, but my friends tell me there is no way a child would have run fast enough to dart in front of my car like that.

I told them that I'd like to seek out the owner to find out if the dog is ok, but they advised against it saying if he was the type to take his dogs outside off-leash near a busy road...he might also be the type to be a jerk about the situation. They are also trying to reassure me that if the dog walked away (he wasn't limping) then he probably will have some bad bruising (I'm concerned about internal bleeding and the poor hips mnay large breed dogs suffer from) and that's about it.

I have been working in a daze.

For some reason, I feel/felt that because I'm such a dog lover, something like this couldn't possibly happen to me. And now it has happened.

I feel terrible about all of this, and I just needed to share with all of you.
I am a huge dog lover (I was even watching the Westminster Dog Show on TV last night) and this accident is just about the most awful thing.

Thanks for listening. If any one can relate to this, I'd love to hear from you.

Oh hon..take a deep breath. It wasn't your fault. It was his damn fault for having the dogs off leash. Is he nuts.

You did the best you could. Don't beat yourself up about it.

I'm so sorry this happened. You did every thing you could...it wasn't your fault. Take a deep breath and try to relax!

If the owner would have his dogs on the leash, it wouldn't have happened. It's certainly NOT NOT NOT your fault! You weren't speeding and you stopped as soon as you saw the dog, not much more you could have done. :girl_hug:

Oh no! It wasn't your fault, don't put that on yourself. You did everything you could and IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!

I am sure the dog is ok, and hopefully the owner learned a lesson. You may have saved one of his dogs lives in the future.

oh sweetie :( You did what you could :hug: and I'm just praying he learned a HUGE lesson about keeping his pets unrestrained and he's getting his dog some help.

You did all you could do so relax take a deep breath and relax. If it was a bigger dog and it wasn't limping, you can be pretty sure that it isn't seriously injured. If your bumper hit it's hip then I doubt there would be any internal bleeding and doesn't sound like you were going fast enough to do damage anyway. Bigger dogs are definitely more hardy than small ones and if the hipwas hurt, he probably would have been limping. The owner should have had them on a leash or at the very least, been keeping a close eye on them:confused:

I'm sure the owner knew it was his own fault thats why he scooped up and left w/o saying a word or even looking back. Ignorance is like karma it bites you in the ass. I think your a great person and there is no reason other then being heart broken that you did anything wrong. You did great by slowing speed anyways and already taking action in applying your brakes.. There really wasn't much more you could have done.. Take a break at work and go have a nice warm/hot cup of tea to soothe your nerves hun..

Well not sure if the dogs escaped or slipped out of the house sometimes but you certainly shouldn't beat yourself up over it...even though it is a frightening thing..you did all you could have done in the situation. Either he was just scared and wanted to get them back in the house or embarrassed...hopefully the dog is okay and is just shaken up a little.

Please relax and enjoy the rest of your day!!:)

I agree, don't blame yourself. You tried to avoid it. It is my worst fear, it can happen to anyone.

Sheilagh

It's not your fault dear. And yes a child could dart fast enough to be hit like that too. My mother hit a little boy once who darted out in front of her from between parked cars. Broke is leg, but the dad knew it wasn't her fault, he was following daddy. But of course she felt awful, only going about 22 MPH in a 25 zone. And saying it could have been a child or a person, like it is not the same thing to hit a dog! :mad: In my opinion, there would be no difference. Try to keep it in mind, it is not your fault, and of course you would never hit a dog if it was in your power not to...
~Melody

Everyone is right. No way was it your fault however being an animal lover
I know how you must feel. To relieve your guilt just think that this dog
did have an owner and IF the dog is hurt or sore he will take him to the vet.
He'll be looked after, it's not like he ran off and you will never know.
He could have escaped out of the door or the owner was walking them off
leash. Whatever the case, it's not your fault. You did all anyone could do.
I am sure the dog is ok. Try and get it out of your mind.

This was not your fault:( You did what you could:(

Try not to be upset this is not your fault. It is the dog owners fault for the dog being off leash. You did everything you could

how scary! i can only imagine how shaken up you feel :(

it sounds like the dog is okay and you really did all you can do! it is probably not safe for you to try and track down the owner .. as others have said, he might be a real jerk about the situation and it is not your fault!!

hugssss to you!

Thanks for your kind words. I'm feeling better now, but still can't believe that it happened. I'm praying for the dog that he's ok. I feel badly for the owner, even though it was his responsibility to have his dogs on a leash. I don't think the dogs escaped from his homes as he had been dressed for the cold weather and had come running from an inside street near his condo complex. Unless his dogs got out, and he had been out there a while trying to get them.

Regardless of whether he is at fault or not, it must be absolutely horrible for him to see his dog get hit. The expression on his face said it all. His decision to not come back outside may or may not have been because of embarassment...who know how any of us could react in a situation like that.

Now that some hours have passed, I am more accepting of the fact that I did all I could do, and that it was truly an accident.

I's just a crazy scary experience that I hope no one else has to live through....


PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE train your dogs as best you can not to run out your front door...and if you are out with them, keep them leashed at all times unless you are in an enclosed area designated for that purpose! The dog isn't the only one in pain as a result of this accident...The owner is hurting, and I am hurting.

Please don't wait to learn lessons the hard way!

Thanks again for your support...it feels good to let it out, I'll be able to carry on with my day, although the dog's well being will be on my mind.

Oh honey, it was an accident. I know you are really shaken up...anyone would be...but it wasn't your fault. You did everything you could do. The person at fault is the owner who had his dogs out without a leash!

It's O.K, it was an accident. Please don't beat yourself up over this! The impact could've seemed worse to you than what it really was.

The exact same thing happened to my son about 2 weeks ago. The dog he hit never even stopped, just ran off. My son said he stood in the middle of the road for about 10 minutes but never saw a single person. The dog he hit was with another dog. Of course the first person he called was moi. I told him that after 10 minutes there isn't much you can do if there are no people around and no sign of the dog. So he left, but he was shaken up (he's a dog lover like me) and it nagged at him for days. I never hit a dog, but I ran over a little squirrel once. I saw it run under my car and I stopped and then slowly proceeded forward. When I looked in my rear view mirror the little squirrel was just lying there dead and the little nut or piece of fruit he had in his mouth just rolled out of his mouth. I was traumatized for a month. It's a horrible feeling. :(

oh, so sorry - I know the feeling. I tried to get a dog out of the road - and it got hit by another car right in front of me -

I just keep reliving the moment and wondering what I could have done differently....

its oki dont blame urself u didnt do it on purpose it was an accident...the owner should keep the dogs on a leash...the dog is ok and so are u..u tried ur best to stop the car..dont beat urself over it trust me u did nothing wrong if anything the owner is at fault

It's not your fault ,i see here in my neighborhood so many people walking there dogs with out a leash ,and it pisses me off ,if a dog saw another dog or rabbit or squirrel whats to say they wont bolt after it .

I am sorry for what happen.
And it is not your fault.
I agree that we should train our dog to obey "Stop" or "Stay" command in case of run away situation.
I also agree with your friends (co-worker) not to contact the owner.
With what you describe the situation, he is not concern of the dog's welfare and I suspect he will take an advantage of you and the situation to get money from you.
But I pray for the dog that he/she is O.K. :aimeeyork

OH my what a terrible thing for you. I worry about something like this happening to me everytime I get in my car. I live in a very rural area and there are always dogs running loose. It drives me insane.

And fbmom - I can only imagine how you felt after seeing a dog hit right in front of you. I would be the type to not be able to push images like that out of my mind very easily.

On a different note, now that the OP has mentioned it does anyone have any tips for training a Yorkie not to dart as fast as possible out the door everytime it's opened up?