Delilah Got Attacked at the Dog Park Today.

laurendoodler

Delilah's Personal Slave
Community Veteran
Feb 26, 2011
2,066
113
Iowa
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Delilah
I think a lot of you probably saw this via Facebook, but I wanted to share with my EBN family. You'll all understand what I've gone through!

Delilah and I frequent the local dog park..we go several times a week if it's not too cold or too hot. Today was an uncharacteristically beautiful day here in Iowa (55 degrees! I think we set a record actually) so I decided that Delilah and I were going to go play for an hour or longer.

We got to the park and all was fine..she was happy and playing. About twenty minutes into our stay a guy pulls up in a large white van. He has a big dog with him, looks like some sort of american bulldog or pit bull mix. He sits in the car for probably twenty minutes. I wasn't sure why, but didn't think much of it. When he finally does get out of the car, he brings his dog in on a leash. This dog easily weighs about 100 lbs.

The guy is walking this dog around on the leash and the dog is growling and snapping and just not being nice at all. And the guy isn't correcting the dog. I was wondering why he had it in there a)if it was mean and b)if he wasn't going to let him off leash in an off leash park. It's such a bad idea to bring a dog in and leave it on the leash..it just causes problems. Anyway, after a few minutes he lets the dog off leash.

Delilah of course just happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. She was the closest thing to the other dog and it just lunged at her and started attacking. It had her pinned down and was growling and attacking her face. I was at the top of the park and had to high tail it down to the bottom to pull this other dog off of her. The owner wasn't even around to pull the dog off! So I'm trying my best to pull this huge dog off of my little crying and whimpering Delilah. I finally get the damn dog off, and the owner just comes and grabs his dog and leaves. Doesn't even say anything to me. Doesn't ask if Delilah is okay, doesn't offer to help. I was just livid. How do you do that?? I would have taken a picture or gotten his license plate number, but I was more concerned with if Delilah was okay.

No one else at the park even asked if Delilah was alright. I was just dumbfounded. She's sitting there squealing and crying and obviously I was struggling to get her free and no one could help? :( ugh. She had blood gushing from her left ear and there was blood on her chest and her paws. I was pretty worried. I took her home and got her cleaned up with peroxide so I could get a better look at her wounds. I ended up taking her into the vet after I got her cleaned up because the one tear looked like it needed stitches..and I figured she needed antibiotics.

The vet ended up deciding that she didn't need stitches but has her on antibiotics..10 days worth. He says if she isn't acting completely normal after the weekend to bring her back in so that he can check up on her. I think it's all going to be okay. She's a little off but not too bad. You can tell it's bothering her.

I feel so bad. :( Today has been such a stressful day. I just don't get people. Why do you bring your dog to the park if it's mean?? I have an extremely well behaved and well trained dog. Today was supposed to be a fun, beautiful day. We only got to be at the park about 40 minutes and I wanted to kill a couple hours. We were going to have a nice day of the dog park then go home and work on some training..but nope. I'm just so glad her injuries weren't more severe. They could have been so much worse.

Here's a couple pictures of her ear..poor girl:

399414_2962774186621_1179570061_3263743_191921238_n.jpg


401572_2962812507579_1179570061_3263760_1788296769_n.jpg

this is the part that keeps bleeding off and on =/
 

JAKEISGREAT

.................
Mar 25, 2011
14,802
1,155
Southern California
Bulldog(s) Names
Jake
Oh Lauren..how awful for poor sweet Delilah and you too! I really don't care for dog parks at all. It only takes one jerk and some thing much worse than this happens. I'm so glad you are okay and Delilah is safe. Don't worry that you didn't get help or info. People can be idiots. Just be glad it worked out as well as it did.
 
OP
laurendoodler

laurendoodler

Delilah's Personal Slave
Community Veteran
Feb 26, 2011
2,066
113
Iowa
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Delilah
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
[MENTION=2092]JAKEISGREAT[/MENTION] I am glad that it wasn't worse. Still mad that I had to spend the last of my money to get her fixed up though. People are so inconsiderate and rude.

Delilah and I love going to the dog park. I'd hate to stop taking her because of this crap. I don't have anywhere else to take her to socialize and run and play.
 

luseaann

Member
Oct 3, 2011
510
16
Long Island, NY
Bulldog(s) Names
Liz and Amy
Maybe you could find other EB's in your area to set up playdates? How awful that this happened to Delilah. I am so glad that ultimately she is alright. What a horrible scare on a day that was supposed to be fun!
 

acarabias

New member
Sep 15, 2011
1,551
90
El Paso, Texas, United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Aldo Chocolate, Katara Fiona, Bruno Cannoli
WWhat an inconsiderate man. how awful! I would have been livid!! I am glad Delilah is doing ok though, it really could have been much worse.. poor baby :(
 

Fontanafox

New member
Jan 25, 2011
3,649
315
Fontana, CA
Bulldog(s) Names
Wilson & BabyGirl
It's just disgusting how inconsiderate people are. It's a beautiful thing when your dog has compatible dog friends but unfortunately you can't control who comes into the dog park. I can't single out pitbulls or pitbull mixes because I've seen super sweet ones and then I've seen the more rowdy ones and you're right about the owners keeping them leashed (just shows you they don't feel confident that their dog will behave). This could be any kind of dog really. Owners should know their dogs and not put other peoples dogs at risk. So glad Delilah will be OK and just watch for whoever is coming into the dog park. Follow your gut. If you think things seem fishy, take Delilah out of there pronto!
 

bubbaisapig

New member
Apr 30, 2011
571
59
Littleton, CO
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
bubba
Aww. Poor girl! I know how you feel. That really pisses me off too when I take Bubbba and my other 2 to the dog park here. Bubba has been jumped on a couple of times and I have had to be the one to pull the other dog off! They just stood there...afraid to do anything! I grab the other dog's colar and hand it to the owner. It drives me crazy also! Glad she's ok.
 

LucysMum

New member
Mar 26, 2011
375
37
S. New Jersey
Bulldog(s) Names
Lucy
I am sorry Delilah had this " incident" and I'm sorry you had to go through this.

I have to say I have never taken Lucy to a dog park because I fear something like this could happen. Just because we follow the rules doesn't mean everyone else does. I also worry about owners that don't pick up after their dogs ( poop). Who knows if these dogs are sick or utd on shots. Too many unknown factors for me. I work too hard to keep Lucy safe and healthy to have some idiot and their dog put her in jeopardy.

Maybe you can explore Bulldog meetups and schedule playmates with other owners or other breeds that you trust.

Glad your baby is ok. Hugs.
 

Vicaroo1000

"Slug Assassin" and PBS Gardening Dweeb
Jun 23, 2011
5,775
389
Mukilteo, Washington State
Bulldog(s) Names
Beefeater's Buxom Beatrice and Lord Harrington's Bodacious Beauregaard
Delilah and I love going to the dog park. I'd hate to stop taking her because of this crap. I don't have anywhere else to take her to socialize and run and play.

Don't let one idiot ruin your good time and Delilah's attitude about other dogs. Hopefully, she's let this little incident go. Dogs do - humans do not. So if you're anxious every time a strange dog comes up to yours, she's going to pick up on that and you'll have the fearful/anxious dog that attacks.

When Bea was a wee pup, she would sometimes try to dominate others in the dog park. Besides being embarrassing, this made me very nervous - I didn't want her to hurt another dog - and that compounded her behavior for a short time. It was only when I STOPPED be anxious and asserted my leadership at the dog park that things improved. Bea figured out that I was in control and that she didn't have to - and wasn't going to be allowed to - be a jerk at the park.

Practice makes perfect too. Your dog can't be corrected if they don't mess up. Mistakes are an opportunity for learning. Now, I'm going thru the same thing with Bo - and he's getting better. Bo tends to use his eyes - and not his nose - like a normal dog and that gets him into trouble.
 

wfd38383

Active member
Community Veteran
Jul 26, 2010
788
51
Southeast, Ma
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Guinness
poor little delilah..I fully engforce my second amendment rights to carry and there would be one less dog in this world if that were Guinness on the bottom..but thankfully Delilah is not seriously hurt; heres to a speedy recovery for her and for you
 
Last edited:

Biogirl71

Moderator
Nov 5, 2010
3,500
242
Cedar Rapids, IA
Bulldog(s) Names
Frank
[MENTION=1909]laurendoodler[/MENTION] Poor Delilah...she is such a sweetie. It is horrible that this happened to her. I just don't understand dog owners like that. He had to have known his dog was like that. He could have muzzled his dog if he wanted more social interaction. And then just to leave and not ask about Delilah or apologize??? And you having to pull his dog off? You could have been hurt too. Dog parks can be so fun for our babies, but I know if that happened to me, that guy would have been hurt severely and then I or hubby would be in jail. So we just stay away. Let me know if you want to arrange a playdate for Delilah and Frank. We could drive out to your stomping grounds on a weekend. :)
 

pdac1975

New member
Mar 24, 2011
70
5
Bulldog(s) Names
Lord Wallace (Wally)
Unfortunately I've heard so many horror stories like these that I won't take Wally to the dog park which is a shame. Around here dog parks are more like a social gathering for the owners. They all stand around either chatting with one another or just talking on their phones. No one really seems to be watching their dogs. We are lucky that we have a doggie day care across the street where Wally goes twice a week and plays with other dogs in a supervised setting.
 

pdac1975

New member
Mar 24, 2011
70
5
Bulldog(s) Names
Lord Wallace (Wally)
poor little delilah..I fully engforce my second amendment rights to carry and there would be one less dog in this world if that were Guinness on the bottom..but thankfully Delilah is not seriously hurt; heres to a speedy recovery for her and for you

That's great and all and I'm all for the second amendment but imagine if everyone at the dog park did this? Every time there was a dog fight both dogs would be shot.
 

Gold bullies

New member
Nov 27, 2011
207
17
Dayton Ohio
Bulldog(s) Names
Bonez, Bitzie, Brook and Bumble....not forgetting our ff Mr Burger
That is messed up.... He was more than likely training his dog for fighting! ...... When we go Dana is with us... I would not go by myself now !!!!
 

Most Reactions

📰 Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Top