Will Now Always Trust Instincts--Almost Lost Piper
 

I'm so upset and angry--probably more at myself than anyone, but ignoring my instincts--WHICH I WILL NEVER-EVER DO AGAIN--at neighbor's request I held Piper toward his "friendly" Akita on the other side of fence. And that damned dog grabbed her! It happened in a nano second and I'm not sure exactly what transpired, but I grabbed back, got Piper and then he went for her again. This time owner got hold of his dog.

Piper is shaken, as I can well understand, but not a scratch on her, thank God in Heaven above. I'm very shaken, as well, and so damned mad at myself that I let Pipe down. My instincts said we were close enough, but being "neighborly", I almost got her killed. It was truly horrible and Akita is big and Piper so little and he had her--just for a second, but he had her and any longer you could absolutely see that he would have killed her in, literally, a second.


I will never-ever again ignore my instincts when it comes to Piper. This is a lesson hard-learned, but ingrained, I think, in my very soul. Again, the speed in which this dog had Piper is almost beyond comprehension.

I thank God for saving Piper, and thus me; the above is yet another reason that I believe in God and His miracles. Because, to me, it is truly miraculous Piper is laying, unscathed, on the couch next to me.

Very scary! :eek: I'm glad Piper is safe and sound.

Akitas tend to have a high prey drive. Plus, it's generally not a good idea when dogs meet to hold one while the other is 'loose.' I've read this relative to dog parks too. Ideally, a leashed dog should not meet an unleashed dog. in other words, they should meet on equal footing.

I understand feeling the pressure of allowing dogs to meet. Trust your instincts for sure.

Thank heavens Piper is ok, ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS and GUT FEELINGS, I would rather have a slighted neighbor then a dead baby. Give sweet Piper girl extra cuddles and kisses, sweet little girl.

Glad Piper is ok. I've had fears/concerns of that happening when we meet dogs while we're on our walks. Sometimes I pick my boys up till we pass the other dogs, sometimes I don't. It could happen, and super fast.

Can they communicate thru the fence? Will/can this Akita grab your baby thru the fence without you holding Piper right up to the fence? I have a wooden fence, which that cow chow next door would hit the boards until they broke, then stick his vicious snarling Yorkie grabbing mouth thru the hole he had made in the fence....so then I ran another barrier...had a chain link fence installed on my side of the wooden fence so the 80lb chow could not break thru the wooden fence and end up in my yard. But then MY sassy 4-7 lb yorkies would run and try to get the chows head sticking thru the fence.....and THEY could stick their heads thru the chain link so the chow could have actually grabbed a couple of them thru the chain link.....so then I went back and TRIPLE fenced by putting a fencing fabric that has 1/2 in. tiny rectangles that NONE of them can get thru....

Make sure that Akita can not get to your baby THRU the fence if they each get close to the fence! You might do well to double fence by riunning that hog wire fencing down on your side of the chain link. As you saw, it only takes a split second for that big dog to snatch your baby thru that fence, and then it is all over but the hole digging.

All this "visiting" and making friendly with the neighborhood dogs, has never appealed to me...I dont subject my dogs to that danger....what they have never done and do not know, they do not miss.....and they are safe from THAT issue!

I am with you 100% on everything you said, Yorkiemom. Thank you. The fence is chain link, when walking out back his dog notes, but generally has no interest in Piper and on her own, Piper keeps a foot or two from fence. Plus, I go out w/Piper; she is not left unattended. As I said, it was a hard-learned lesson, but I got it...I most assuredly got it and am just very blessed to have been given the lesson and not have the loss.

Not only was this frightening for you can you imagine how scared little Piper was? I'm so glad that she did not have any damages.

I am very glad YOU and Piper are okay. You could have been hurt as well. Yeah, you gotta trust those instincts.

This type of issue is one of two big reasons I went ahead and got Mario accident insurance. He goes with us everywhere, and some places have dogs that I do not know if they are trained or not. We ran across what I think was English bulldog at Lowes the other day. Both dogs were on a leash, but both wanted to play. Mario was working, so he was not allowed to play. But, I still worry some day he will get hurt since his exposure is so much greater, and so many folks do not control their dogs.

We had an Akita mix that seemingly out of the blue attacked our sheep. He killed one and almost killed another. Looking back, the signs were there, but we ignored them out of love for the dog. He had attacked a duck previously, and had bit me once where we rationalized that he just ran into me with his mouth open and he did not mean to bite me. With a special needs child, who was very attached to that dog, we simply cannot take that risk. Akitas, Shih Tzu, etcs....are known as high prey dogs. I did not know that prior to our dog attacking. Now I check that stuff before we get any dog.

Thankfully, Mario's prey drive is very low. He does not even damage his toys while playing with them.

Yep, it always happens so very fast!!! So glad you are both OK and that you have a new respect for your "gut feeling''! Seems like we do keep learning, don't we :D

Shoot. I totally get it and how easily n quickly it can happen. Big hugs. Lesson learned but don't beat yourself up! I feel awful for you both but thank goodness all is ok.

So sorry you both had to go through this, you poor things, how scary! But please, do not beat yourself up. Honestly, I think any of us would've trusted that our neighbor knew their own dog, and trusted that the neighbor knew their dog was great w/ all other dogs -- we probably would've introduced the dogs too. I put a huge amount of responsibility upon the neighbor for not knowing their dog....not good at all.

Maximo gave great advice about introducing dogs too. At the shelter where I volunteer, I'm approved to do dog-to-dog intros and we not only require a class to do it, but also 5 supervised intros before being approved -- and we have a very specific process for intros. Before doing intros at the shelter, I was way more lax about introducing my own dogs to other dogs, but not any more. So believe me, it is a learning process for sure....so again, don't beat yourself up so harshly; you don't deserve that :).

So glad everything turned out okay in the end! :)

I am super cautious of all dogs after my neighbor's Shih Tzu bit my Maltese's face through our fence. My dog was attacked by a Great Dane before I rescued him, in his foster home, so I was nervous about big dogs. He doesn't like big dogs at all, which is understandable after what happened, but then this medium sized female shih Tzu goes after his face.:mad:

After that, I am weary of every dog in the neighborhood. He has made some friends, all little dogs, but my new Yorkie Jake has not made any friends in the neighborhood yet. Even a little female poodle puppy scared him. She is really hyper. Oddly Jake gets much more anxious around other small dogs and seems to keep steady when we pass a lab or German Shepherd on the street walking, but I would never, NEVER try and make friends with any of them and I actually try and give off a vibe like 'don't talk to me' since I got him and he's been sick, just want to get him used to his trail and schedule.

But I swear, if I had to offer any advice to anyone, not just about dogs, but about life, it would be: Always trust your instincts. ALWAYS.

Glad your baby is ok.

SO happy for you both! Thank you for sharing that note because as I watched the finale of Downton Abbey and Sprat said that term, I meant to google it lol! What a relief she is back on track and you are both feeling great!

Oh my, Downton Abbey; I'm in good company, for sure! Thank you for your encouragement and for caring, Lovestiny!

So glad you and Piper are okay. My tiny boy thinks every dog is his friend, and it scares the heck out of me to the point that I don't like taking him anywhere there are other dogs. He's such a sweet, trusting boy.

I hope he always retains that wonderful characteristic; and I totally get your fears about it! How can these tiny little creatures be so complex?! Give both your little men a couple of little hugs from us!

Oh!! My heart did a boing boing boing pogo kind of bounce in my chest reading your story and all the posts following. How utterly terrifying for you! And of course for Piper! I am so very sorry that happened to you.

I have been super aware lately of how often we humans gain personal esteem by the way our animals behave. I was at Trout Lake in East Vancouver with my daughter and her lab and Monty was on leash running around. A mid sized dog came running up to say hi and I just bent over and picked up Monty. There was something about him ... an interest. Not sure but I didn't like it. The owner was confused because Monty had been playing with the other big dogs. He sort of challenged me on it ... like because I was nervous of his dog it meant that he was a bad pet owner. it took a few sentences of me explaining my own nervousness ... it didn't have anything to do with his dog. That because he had been attacked ... I just go with what I am feeling in the moment. He seemed to accept that.

Please try not to be too hard on yourself although I do know the horror of that responsibility of not listening to your gut which is why I use the "try" word.

I flip the negative shame/damning kind of feelings I put on myself in these situations into gratitude to the Universe for helping me learn such a powerful lesson and Monty didn't die.

Thank you for sharing your story so bravely. I have learned from you and from Piper ... and the message I have taken to heart is reinforcing that if I feel hinky ... then don't. Don't try and make sense of it inside. Just don't. Don't worry about offending the human owner. Just don't. They will either understand or they won't and if they don't ... shrug... oh f*ckin well right? Smile. "My" people understand. And in spite of all my desire to keep him safe, it is still an unsafe world we live in so don't live in fear and uncertainty, just do my best and explore and enjoy life and all the beauty it offers.

Very glad Piper is okay! That sounds so scary!

I too pick up Scottie and Casey during walks if there's a larger dog approaching on the sidewalk. Mostly because they start barking and it's a gong-show trying to walk by otherwise. But if I don't and they start barking, I'm afraid the other dog might not take it well and snap.

Jellymint, I'm glad you brought up the bit about the larger dog owner's reaction to your hesitation with your smaller dog.

Ive encountered this many times. Im in college and live in an apartment complex that's gated so many owners let their pit bulls and other large dog breeds run around the complex freely. (Ive talked to the apartment management and police about the matter, nothing has been done though) my poor capone has been attacked so im extremely hesitant when i walk him, like i carry pepperspray, a taiser, and pick up capone if i so much as hear a dogs collar around the corner. These larger dog owners dont understand why i basically pick my dog up and run from them.. They usually have no idea why i am so cautious because they are only concerned with their dog. I dont care how many times you tell me your dog it nice, that doesnt mean you can let your dog run up to me unrestrained. It makes me pretty mad because they are being selfish by not considering my feelings as a small dog owner and the fact i dont want my dog to play with your dog doesnt mean im trying to be rude to you or that im insulting you as a person.

You were extremely lucky - How is Piper doing now?

Just saw this ....... so sorry you both went through this. I'm sure your puppy will get over this before you. Hugs to you both.

For me the best fence is a block wall. I put one in between us and our neighbors that have boxers.