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Monday, September 14, 2009

Parker was Attacked by a Bull Mastiff

Sunday started off with much promise. I went to see a movie I’ve wanted to see for some time (Julie and Julia) while Kent watched the Cowboys game at home. I LOVED Julie and Julia and would recommend it to anyone with loves to cook. After the movie I headed home with high hopes to clean and workout.

Kent left to run an errand and I jumped on the treadmill. Well, our little treadmill had other plans in mind and decided it wanted to take a little "work vacation". I wasn't going to let our broken treadmill get me down and decided to move my workout outside. My Yorkie Parker LOVES to go for walks so I put his harness on and we hit the pavement.



This is when my relaxing Sunday turned into one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. Out of nowhere a Bull Mastiff charged my little Parker. I didn’t even see it coming; I picked Parker up which did not stop the attack. The Mastiff tighten it's grip on my little guys hind leg, pulled him from my arms and began to viciously attacking Parker. I fought with all my might to free my little one but the Mastiff would not release it's grip from Parker's neck. I pulled at the dogs neck, I pulled it's legs, I tried to pull Parker away from it's mouth, I even shouted NO! NO! BAD DOG! (I know it sounds silly now but I tried everything). Nothing seemed to faze the Mastiff. I began to scream for help hoping someone from a surrounding house would come to my aid. A gentleman who was driving by pulled over and ran to help tackle the vicious dog but was not able to loosen her grip from Parker's neck. I felt so helpless and started to envision Parker being taken away from me. I continued to scream as loud as I could for help.


Picture of a Bull Mastiff.This is not a picture of the actual dog that attacked Parker; just wanted to give you an idea of what she looks like.


I may not have been strong enough to help Parker but my screams turned out to be a major aid in the attack. All the sudden a teenage boy ran from a house and tried to pry the dogs mouth open. He was shouting at the dog and calling her by name her name…..that’s when I knew that this huge dog must belong to him. After a bit more struggling he pried her mouth open and Parker was free.


Parker's neck. Sorry these pictures are not the best quality. I had a hard time getting him to be still.

There was blood and fur all over the ground. I scooped Parker up and began my walk home trembling with tears running down my face. I’ve never been more horrified in my life. I was so shaken I couldn’t even keep my hand steal long enough to search for an emergency vet. I called a friend who was kind enough to call Kent and tell him where one was


The vet could not believe that Parker survived the attack with minimal bruising and a few bite marks. We were able to take him home later that evening.


The vet gave him avangard hair cut!

These were taken Monday evening. The attack happened Sunday afternoon.....he's already looking MUCH better!
I can’t stop thinking about how lucky we both are. I have a very small bite mark on my thumb, a bruise on my arm and my back and arms are very sore from trying to pull the Mastiff off Parker. All in all, I call that extremely lucky! Parker is getting better everyday. He’s been sleeping most of the day and still limps when he walks around but I can see his little personality coming back to life. He’s started eating and drinking which make me feel a lot better. He's going to make a full recovery!


Parker's hind leg. This is where the initial bite was.

I'm having a hard time sleeping at night. I'm fine during the day but for some reason when I start to unwind for the evening I start to get flashes of the attack, my mind races with "I should have done this or what if I did that." I breaks my heart that I was not able to stop the attack on my own. If the owner did not come to my rescue.....Parker would be dead. I took some Night Quill last night to knock me out and it did the trick. I think with each day things will get better and better but I do not foresee me taking any walks around the neighbored for a LONG time.


I really wanted to share this story to make others aware. I LOVE dogs and would never imagine that I would be in the middle of situation as vicious as this one. I’m taking this as a learning lesson and want to educate myself on how to react incase I’m ever met with a situation like this again.
Disclaimer: If you are an owner of a Mastiff I'm by no means trying to be negative towards the breed. Mastiffs are usually very good natured. It just so happens that Parker and I crossed paths with one that's different from the norm.

16 comments:

  1. OH WOW! You are lucky for sure. They always say not to get involved in a dog fight. The dog will turn on you. OUCH!

    So sorry for your lil pooch.....

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  2. Oh gosh Kendra! I am so sorry that happened to you! My mom lost her beloved Dusty (a pom), when I was just a couple of years old, that way and I'm really not sure she has ever gotten over that. Our precious little doggies are like our children, absolutely no different to those of us who love them. I am so glad Parker is okay, and that you are too!!! Rest easy!
    Nicole

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  3. Oh my! So glad you and your dog are ok. Don't beat yourself up - you did what you could and it is not your fault the dog was outside without its owner and not on a leash. Do you have leash laws?

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  4. How awful! I know you don't think so but you are very lucky the dog didn't go after you as well. We know that all too well, my youngest was attacked by a pit bull, they are the same in locking their jaws. I agree you always have to be cautious with dogs! So glad parker is ok

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  5. My goodness. I worked for a vet clinic for 4.5 years before qutting in March and we saw dog fight victims all the time. I am really surprised that your pup made it because size wasn't exactly on his side! I'm so glad that the owner came to the rescue & I hope they learned a lesson as well. They make fences for a reason! Wishing Parker a speedy recovery!

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  6. Oh Kendra, I'm so sorry this happened to you and your dog. Thank goodness he is ok!

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  7. I am so glad your pup is ok! I know how scary dog fights can be. My brother's dog was attacked when I had him out for a walk and now I can't walk around the neighborhood with him. I'm more scared than he is! I walk him down the driveway and then hurry back inside! He seems to have forgotten the entire ordeal!

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  8. How scary!! So glad he is ok.

    I liked your honesty too on my blog today. Our blogs are a greay way to vent and share and not be judged (well at least not in your face).

    I enjoy reading about "real" people!

    Jen

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  9. Poor, poor Parker! So glad you both walked away with minimal injury!

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  10. Hey girl! I left you an award on my blog!

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  11. OMG!! I am so sorry this happened to you and your baby! I have 4 little dogs, my littlest being a 4.5 lb yorkie baby girl and I am always worried about something like this happening. I am so thankful you both made it out ok (well as ok as you could have, I'm sure this was traumatizing!!)

    There is product I'm not sure you'd be interested in but it's called "Halt" I believe - it's like a pepper spray for dogs. I've considered carrying it with me when I walk my babies alone because you just never know :(.

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  12. Kendra I am so sorry that your little Parker got attacked by a bullmastiff! I actualy own a bullmastiff and I cant imagine him EVER attacking another dog. Just the other day I was at a dog park and my mastiff got attacked by a little Dachshound and "Tank" my bullmastiff ran away from it with his tail between his legs! (it was actually quit funny) I am sorry you were not so lucky. I firmly believe in leash laws. I never have my dog off leash if we are outside of our yard area or a dog park. I wish everyone else would do the same. I hope that Parker is not scared of larger dogs for life now. Good luck with his recovery and saftey.

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  13. Kendra - Sorry to hear about Parker. I have a Bull Mastiff/English Mastiff mix so it's a Bull Mastiff but he also takes after his Dad the English mastiff who weighs over 200 lbs so he's probably larger but he's really a sweetie. I'm still very cautious with him though. I take him out on walks with a muzzle on. It's the pet owners responsibility to take the proper precautions to make sure their dog isn't going to harm anyone. I appreciate the fact that you did blame the breed as the problem b/c as those of us that know dogs know, ANY breed can bite but the sheer size alone of a Mastiff should make owners a little more cautious of their behavior and actions among others. I hope little Parker is doing well and that you guys are up and hitting the streets again in no time. If you haven't already done so you should at least talk to the Mastiff's owner about keeping his dog under supervision. I've had to ask owners in my neighborhood to do it with their small dogs only b/c when they roam free and into my yard, I would not want them to find a way into my baby's backyard. You can't blame a dog for defending his family and home if they are on his property and we take every precaution to keep ours there.

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  14. omg how horrible for y'all! (going back to ur recent post again)
    did you contact the owner? they should have paid the vet bills

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  15. I came across your Blog this morning and I am glad your dog made a full recovery. We have two dogs and a cat and live in the country but that doesn't mean dangerous dogs don't just attack inside the city limits. On Friday September 10th, 2010 our Chesapeake retrevier was attacked by the neighbors vicious pit bull,the pit bull jumped out of his owners car from the road, ran across our front yard and got our dog and held her down on the garage floor severely biting her in the leg,my husband and his son who were in the garage immediately started beating the pitbull and thank god were able to get the pit off our dog. Our dog is recovering after having stitches and large vet bill. We are going to have the pitbull declared a dangerous animal.

    Sandy

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  16. my black lab was attacked by a bull mastiff while the dogs were on leads mine a short lead the mastiff an extendabe lead the owner unable to get near to his dog, the mastiff had my lab on the floor was attacking her neck made a punture wound , my dog screaming in pain i didn't know what to do so i kicked it in the tummy worked down the lead and as i kicked it i pulled mine i must of winded it as as i pulled i got mine away , very lucky as i am a petite lady then the owner of the mastiff stated it had attacked 2 other dog , got mine to vets £50 vet bill vet asked me bread of dog i started to cry and said i don't know then found out they let it have puppies , and still walked without muzzle, this has changed my dog and me from jo

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