Emma and I didn’t have such a good day today. We planned to enjoy the beautiful day, but things didn’t go as planned. We went to a park that was new to us that we heard had a fenced-in dog walk. It was perfect! We were alone and Emma was exploring and enjoying being off her leash.
Just a few minutes after we arrived, two more dogs arrived with their owners. Both dogs seemed older—they were at least past the crazy puppy stage. Emma ran circles around them and they just padded around and didn’t seem to care about the furball chasing them.
Then disaster struck. An Akita and an Akita mix arrived. They were immediately let loose in the dog walk and the full-blooded Akita that had to weigh at least 150 pounds took an interest in Emma. Before I knew it, the other dog was chasing Emma and she was running as fast as her little legs would take her. She was screaming because she was nearly being trampled with every step of the larger dog. All this commotion attracted the other three dogs who were there and before I could even get to Emma, all four of them were swarming Emma. She was stuck in the middle and the Akita had it’s teeth on Emma. I don’t know if it thought she was a rabbit or what. I pulled it off her and snatched Emma away from all the others. I really thought she must be dying at this point because when I was finally able to put my hands on her, she was laying motionless on the ground. Thankfully, her little heart was racing and she was for sure still alive.
Emma and I quickly made our way as far away from the other dogs as possible so I could assess her injuries. She was covered in saliva from the dog that wanted to take a bite out of her. I think it could have taken her entire body into its mouth had it been given more time. I am so grateful that Emma was seemingly unharmed. She didn’t have any puncture wounds and could walk without a limp. Physically she was ok. I can’t say the same for either of our emotional conditions. I’m afraid that she is traumatized and won’t walk off a leash or get near other dogs again. I must have been showing signs of what had just happened because another dog approached us while we were leaving the park. I must have jerked or showed some other physical sign of my discomfort because the owner apologized even though Emma was in my arms and the other dog didn’t get within 5 feet of us.
Emma and I went home and tried to recover from our experience. Emma required a bath to get rid of the “other dog” smell that permeated her fur. Just add another thing to Emma’s list of bad things that happened to her today.
We’re ok, but I don’t think we will be going to that park again. Although the conditions pre-dogs were wonderful, I can’t take the chance that she would be in that situation again. We were lucky that she wasn’t physically injured this time, but we might not be so lucky next time.
We won’t be going without my Dad at least—when I told him the events of the day, he said that he would be at the hospital having his broken foot seen to after kicking the offending dog until it stopped harassing Emma. I never thought he could like such a tiny, girly puppy, but he loves her and she loves him even more. I’ve always been his Little Buddy, but I think she’s his Littlest Buddy! :)
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