Dog off leash tried to attack my daughter at Sanislo

[ToddinWestwood]

Tonight after a nice Easter dinner at Grandma’s house we went across the street to play at the Sanislo Elem. playground.

After a while a small dog that looked like a cross between a corgi and a shibainu ran down the hill from the school. It ran right to my 6 y.o. and chased her barking and trying to bite her heels. Being a little girl she was terrified and screamed and ran to me where I picked her up. We watched the dog run back up to the school with the owner no where to be seen. A minute later a woman came down with the dog and another off leash and a third dog on a leash. I ran over to her yelling at her to stop, as she was trying to leash the dogs to get away. I had time to snap a pic for the dog owner hall of shame.

Sanilso Elementary is a no dog, no cat and no pot bellied pig zone. No pets means no pets. The signs are all over at every entrance.

Hope I scared the hell out of you lady. I told you I would call the police as you ran away with your dogs. I hope you are peaking out your window for police cars. I hope to never see you there again.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff268/Smokeycretin9/Mobile%20Uploads/Apr04_001.jpg

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[JoB]

Toddinwestwood..

i am so sorry this happened to your little girl.

People who take their dogs out off leash wherever they want just don’t think at all.

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[JanS]

poor Monkey..I hope she’s feeling better about it now…that can be scary to a 6 yo…heck, can be scary to me.

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[PDieter]

heelers. can be great, can be terrors. nipping at ankles/heels exists in their DNA. IMHO they require either a farm job or an incredibly devoted/diligent owner. Obviously this dog(s) has none of the above.

Aside form all the usual stuff about people behaving horribly with their dogs it can also be a moment to explain (when the tears have dried and breathing returned to normal) that running a screaming is the last thing you want to do. tough to settle on now but if it’s in the back of her head in years to come it might come in handy with any number of creatures domestic or otherwise.

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[Bonnie]

Well, it’s kind of hard to tell a 6 year old not to run from a dog. When I was around 5 a dog chased me and I was terrified of dogs. Still don’t like dogs at all because of the experience. Sorry that happened to your daughter.

What is it with people and their dogs? We ran into someone with a big dog in Schmitz Park last year. The dog ran up to my then 5 year old and tried to jump all over her. The owner of the dog started yelling at HER because she was crying. Come on, leash your damn dog!

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[Jiggers]

There’s going to be a huge incident one day that will cost the City and tax-payers hundreds of thousands or millions in court(or out) to settle a human being severly bitten and injured by a dog without its leash in an only on-leash park. The sad thing is that that dog maybe put down after the case because of its no-common sense owner by court rule. I’m just surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

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[flowerpetal]

How awful TiW. I hope someone can offer some sound advice (if you need it) on what to say to your little girl in the coming weeks to lessen the trauma for her.

Jiggers, I can’t imagine how the City would be held liable for a situation like this or worse.

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[Jiggers]

flowerpetal.. A smart shyster will find those loopholes. Count on it.

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[JoB]

lack of enforcement

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[flowerpetal]

Yep, I’m sure there are ways; and JoB, you suggest one that could be very real. I guess the more important topic is the little girl; and all children and adults traumatized by bad people and their dogs.

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[JoB]

In my opinion, the smartest thing any parent can do is teach their children dog speak..

a sharply spoken sit with a hand command will sometimes stop a dog in it’s tracks.. even when it comes from a kid.

unfortunately… the natural reaction… shrieking and running… is dogs speak for chase me… :(

i personally wish that people would simply take repsonsibility for their animals and leash them when in public.. period!

But if the comments i have heard from dog owners i have confronted or the comments on this forum are any indication… i don’t see that actually happening anytime soon…

people have become so consumed with “because i can” that they have forgotten to ask whether they should.

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[service dog academy]

ToddinWestwood – Im so sorry this happened to your little one. I want to offer you the chance free of charge to come to one of my puppy classes with your daughter. We have a gate that we can put your daughter behind so that she can interact with them at her own pace. It would be good for the puppies and a great experience for your daughter to see that every dog doesnt want to eat her. I dont know how many dogs she has been around but its important to make sure she has more positive experiences with them after this incident.

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[Irukandji]

I’m with S. D. A. here. If your daughter needs a round of Pug Therapy, I’d be happy to supply the pugs. Your daughter’s Auntie knows how to find me!

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[ToddinWestwood]

thanks folks. Our family has limited interaction with dogs. My wife is highly allergic to dogs and cats, to the point of breaking out with hives and blocked airways leading to extreme difficulty in breathing.

We have friends and family with cats and dogs. Most of the experiences have been 100 % positive.

She now has had 3 times where strange dogs have either knocked her down with excitement or her being chased by an unleashed dog. Funny thing is, they have been at city parks or city school grounds that restrict dogs or restrict them to a leash.

We are tired of it. This holier than thou attitude of dog owners is insane. Yes he may be your little precious, but to the eyes of a 6 y.o. he wants to eat her. You people need to see beyond your own little life and think about others. Even think about other dog owners and how your dog might hurt or kill another dog.

I urge everyone who reads this, to not interact with the person at the park who is letting their pup off leash, I want you to call animal control or the West Precinct non Emergency line to report the off leash offender.

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[aunteesocial]

http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/ServiceRequest/ServiceRequest.asp

Here is a form you can use to report the incident. I’ve used this before and you should be contacted and an animal control officer will likely visit the site.

Unfortunately if you search for off leash on the WS Blog, you will find many posts with 100’s of replies on this subject.

Welcome to the Land of Entitlement.

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[me on 28th Ave SW]

I am sorry this happened to your daughter.

I find myself getting very discouraged about the attitudes of the obnoxious dog owners in West Seattle. I love dogs. I own dogs. I never walk my dogs off-leash. When I am walking my dogs I am not looking to have my dog visit other dogs, but instead, spending time with them getting exercise.

A month or so ago my husband and I were walking back from the library. We were on 29th, right behind Westwood Village. I was holding a tethered leash with my super-mellow 90# dog and my Shiba-tute 20# puppy attached. Typically they walk beautifully in sync.

All of a sudden, an unleased dog came running towards us anxious to sniff my dogs. The young man jogging 1/2 block behind his dog yelled “Don’t worry, he’s a puppy” and kept jogging. I was struggling trying to keep my 2 female dogs from tangling me up in their competition to check out the “new canine guy”. The jogger/owner kept on jogging, now screaming at his dog to come. As you can imagine, the dog was ignoring him preferring to continue sniffing.

Meanwhile, my puppy and old dog DID get tangled and began to “argue” with each other. This is not unusual for them, but they sound horrible-I don’t know how many of you have heard the term “Shiba-scream” but it is accurate. Ding-dong jogger (now at least 1/2 block past his dog) screams at US “you better not be hurting my dog or I’ll kick your *ss!”

Yeah. Your dog won’t leave us alone due to your incompetance as an owner and now you’re threatening us? Times like this make me want to get up at about 4:30 in the morning just to avoid other humans. Sigh.

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[JoB]

i wish getting up at 4:30 in the morning would do it.. but the same people who walk or jog with their “puppies” off leash give the dog access to an unfenced yard because they are too lazy to get up and let the dog out:(

my two shiba-tudes sound like they are in a real catfight when another dog gets close…

I have taken to smiling insanely and shouting at the owner that if they don’t come get their dog i will let mine loose…

i wouldn’t.. but the sound of those two “fighting” and the fangs flying really gets their attention:)

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[Stealthy Chihuahua]

I understand that when your child is being attacked by a pint size runt you have two options.If the dog is small as this one was and you saw it running down the hill you could kick the little D-bag in the face Todd! You are a grown man and have the right to defend your daughter.Or you can pull out your digital camera and record the event and call the police who will send out detectives to find the owner and arrest them for breaking the leash law! The cops have things way better to do then find this person!So man up dude!

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[JanS]

I suppose I have a hard time with teaching a child that the way to deal with a “violent” dog is through violence. It wasn’t the dogs fault..it was the fault of the guilty dog owner…she was irresponsible at best. If people would just play by the rules, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen. Kicking, hurting the dog may turn that dog into a worse offender. Just an opinion here.

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[flowerpetal]

Seems to me that scooping up his terrified daughter was “manning up” just fine. I expect either gender parent would do what was necessary to protect their child or themselves.

However, there are times (I imagine) when a dog; whether it is the fault of the dog or not, needs a good swift kick, or a hard whack with whatever you can put your hands on. Children are smart and an explanation from a parent saying that he regretted that he had to kick a dog but sometimes steps have to be taken to protect ourselves, can be understood by a child.

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[JanS]

flowerpetal…and then sometimes you just want to b*tchslap the owner ;-)

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[flowerpetal]

Absolutely! That might be a different explanation to the small child who is standing by; but it too can be done.

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[BBGuest]

Kick the dog and the owner through the goal post of life ;-) Not really. Unfortunately I am only able to change my own behavior, I carry pepper spray to protect my dogs. For anyone who encounters their dog in a jaw grip from another dog, insert your finger into the anus. They will let go (but be sure you have a plan to get you and your dog the heck out of there fast)! I heard it ages ago from some trivia source and had the misfortune to find that it works.

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[FullTilt]

For anyone who encounters their dog in a jaw grip from another dog, insert your finger into the anus.

Ew. Just ew.

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[JoB]

that’s why it works

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