The dog in front of me had me wondering why I had thought of her as "less aggressive". She lunged at me and I yelled at her and she backed up about 10 feet away from me and continued barking at me with full teeth bared. Each time I reached for the car door handle, she lunged at me. I reached in my pocket found my cell phone and called 911. A cell phone emergency call takes you to the State Police. They then route you to local emergency. I had to explain my situation twice while this animal lunged and roared with anger in her eyes. "Is it a puppy?" they asked. "Are you in the house?" "Is that the dog that we hear barking?" "Is he tied up?"
"No dammit! This dog is full grown and is snapping at me in my own backyard and I am in extreme danger. That's why I am calling emergency. Send someone fast!!"
I kept wondering what would happen when the police arrived. Would they shoot her? I was told by a cop friend that they would not hesitate to shoot an aggressive dog. I was not sure that I really wanted to see that happen but at the same time, I was feeling very angry and put-out that I had to deal with this on my own property, especially when I am trying to sell my house. I also thought about escape strategies but now that the cops were called, I did not want them to arrive to anything but a very dramatic situation. I had called emergency after all.
I began trying different things to see how the dog reacted. Reaching for the car door handle, putting hands in pockets, stepping toward the dog, stepping away from the dog, yelling at her, whispering to her, "good dog". Every new thing I tried caused the the same reaction: The dog backed up a couple of steps and then lunged even closer. For some reason, I thought that I needed to maintain eye contact to show that I was the dominant dog here. (Later I read that that is exactly the opposite thing you should do. Dogs see eye contact as a sign of aggression. You should look just a little off to the side and make no moves until they get bored and walk away.)
At one point, the dog did turn around and walk a few yards away. I truly thought I could make a dash for the car. But then I thought the Police would arrive to nothing. I wanted them to see how aggressive this dog was. Plus, a quick movement was sure to attract the dog to go for my leg. I had experienced that once before when I was about 18 or 19. I was on my motorcycle and my friend's dog, a collie shepard mix had cornered me after dropping in to find my friend not home. I had started my bike and the dog had barred his teeth and looked ready to lunge. After about 10 minutes I had decided to gun the throttle and leave him in the dust. As I peeled out, the dog leaped up and sink his teeth into my thigh. I dragged him several feet by his teeth. Canine is faster than Honda 550.
Around this point, the pit bull apparently decided that she needed to notch things up a bit. Her next lunge was aimed directly at my ankle. I yelled "No" over and over at the top of my lungs and kicked her muzzle with the bottom of my shoe. She lunged again and again, each time making contact with my shoe. I was pretty resigned to getting bitten. How long could I keep this up? After about 6 lunges, she backed off a little to bark at me from 10 feet away.
It had been 13 minutes (I checked my cell phone records after the fact) and I decided to call 911 a second time figuring by the time they got there, I would be bleeding. They asked me again if I was in the house. They told me help was minutes away. Abby called me wondering why I had not yet picked her up. I told her that I was under attack but help was on the way.
Around this time, the pit bull apparently decided that waiting time was over and it was time to separate me from my ankle. Lunge after lunge was driving me back step by step toward the front of the house. Each lunge was stopped by the bottom of my shoe. I was shaking with fear and dumbfounded that:
A. No neighbors had heard this commotion and offered to help
B. The cops hadn't arrived
C. I still had zero teethmarks
Then I noticed a couple of kids walking through the alley at the end of the driveway. The pit bull noticed too. She turned and bounded towards them, barking. All of a sudden, the dog owner stuck his head out the back door of the house next door and called the dog who obediently ran back through the hole in the fence, never to be seen again.
Cue the police. A cruiser rolls up and the officer rolls down the window. He asks me a bunch of questions and hands me a card with the police report number for the complaint "Dog running loose". He said he would try to talk to the owner but he may not come to the door. I tried to explain that I had been under attack for 20 minutes but the silence and lack of a suspect seemed to drain my story from any serious consideration. I started to vent about why it had taken so long but there was no attempt to explain. The birds were singing the trees. What emergency?
The officer later called me and told me that there was good news. The dog's owner had told him he was moving to Bridge Street tomorrow and was taking his dogs. He also told me that animal control would do a follow up.
I was so frightened and now I am so angry. I'm also angry that the police took so long getting there while I was under direct attack. The dispatcher could hear the dog and hear my fear. If they had arrived minutes earlier, that dog would be shot dead, I'm sure.
I sure hope this dog owner indeed becomes someone else's problem. Hope the landlord takes care of the yard. Last night, they moved one of their 2 cars out of the backyard fenced in area. Maybe it is true they are moving.
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