Is my basenji dangerous?
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If your town has a leash law, the owners of the unleashed dogs are breaking the law. Your dogs had every right to defend themselves and you. I have absolutely no tolerance for people who either walk with their dogs unleashed or let them wander. 10 years ago I was attacked by a doberman as I got out of my car one morning coming home from work. It actually lived in the next block. It never even barked, just came at me and knocked me off the curb into the street and was standing on my chest while I was flat on my back. All I could do was keep my hands in front of my face because he was trying to bite my neck. THE MAILMAN came along just then and rescued me. I had a concussion, torn cartilege in my knee, cut the palms of both hands, and broke all the bones in the top of my left foot. To make a long story short, somebody's little darling Raggs, had to put to sleep because of this. He had attacked several joggers, the mailman, and children walking to school. It doesn't matter if the dog is vicious or not because nobody thinks their dog is. A leash law is to protect all of us and our dogs and people ought to abide by it for their own safety. You were doing the right thing by leashing your dogs and you dogs were trying to protect you.
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<< It doesn't matter if the dog is vicious or not because nobody thinks their dog is. A leash law is to protect all of us and our dogs and people ought to abide by it for their own safety.>>
So well said, it needs to be repeated!
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Please don't think I was responsible for the dog being put to sleep. That was a separate matter between the owner and the city. This dog had many offenses against people which added up to a death sentence for him. I lost several months of work because of my injuries. That's why we leash our dogs, for our protection and our dogs' safety as well.
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I'm so sorry to hear this, it's troubling. As all have mentioned you and your dogs did nothing wrong and your options where limited. I like the idea of walking one dog at a time as a solution to this happening again. You are lucky that it was the small dog that got involved…....dog fights are very dangerous and be very cautious as to how you break one up.
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You poor thing and your poor babies…I am sending you lots of ((hugs)) for you to heal physically and emotionally. It's a very traumatic situation. Let us know how you are doing.
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I totally agree with all of the posts. I leave in a condo community and their are a lot of people that do not keep leashes on dogs. Cali and I have been run up on by dogs on more than one occasion that was off leash. One of the dogs has attacked at least 3 other dogs and one person. Cali is a Basenji mix, so the terrier part of her started barking viciously and alerted me that a Rottweiller was running up on us(we are not allowed to have this breed in our gated community) I stood still and did not react at all because I did not want Cali to since my nervous energy. I also did not look the dog in the eye and stood my ground. Of course Cali was going ballistic, but I stood their calmly(not really, just appeared to be) and the owner came and got her dog. She has been reported on more than one occasion. We also had an unleashed boxer sneak up on us one night when I was taking Cali out, Cali noticed the boxer before I did and before I knew it Cali and the boxer wer nose to nose. Cali is extremely protective and bit the dog in the face and drew blood before the dogs owner reached us. I have learned to stay calm in a lot of these situations because I have owned very aggressive dogs in the past, rottweiller and pitbulls. It is unfortunate that people allow their dogs to be off leash. We are constantly having this problem. 2 days ago I was walking Cali and we were rushed by A dalmation that is a very friendly dog and Cali plays with him all of the time, but I dont think Cali appreciated him surprising us and she bit him on the ear:eek: The owner of the Dalmation was apolegetic, but the owner of the boxer actually wanted me to pay for his vet bill for Cali biting his dog in the face:mad: I reported him for having his dog off leash.
Your Basenjis were being instinctive and were not in the wrong. I have started carrying pepper spray with me since this is something that constantly happens in our neighborhood.
Take Care! Your pets are not dangerous, just protective of thier space and of you.
tlbuddy -
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I grabbed my dogs and the woman kept telling me it's ok it's ok I hope they have thier shots. I yelled out my address & told them my vet's name.
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I can't believe she said something about your dogs having their shots. This irks me terribly when people have their dogs off leash.
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Thanks so much for the incredible words of encouragement and for providing a sympathetic ear to this terrible experience. I really appreciate it!!
It's really good to have a good support system of people who understand exactly how I feel. I am much better. Still a little shaken up & my right hand is a little tender & swollen. Going to see a doc just as a precaution.
I'm very relieved to hear that there's nothing wrong with MY dog and that his reaction was understandable. I will definitely heed the advice of all of you. My husband usually walks the dogs with me but yesterday I decided to take them both on my own since he had to work late. I guess we live & learn.
I also called my vet to let her know what happend & to see if I should take the dogs in to see her. She was very sympathetic & comforting. She didn't think it was necessary as they didn't have any signs of being hurt. She suggested I go to the doc. And she also explained that C3 may not have hurt the dog very badly. She doesn't think he was trying to kill the dog (even tho I thought he might have!) but just take him down into submission. This usually means grabbing the extra skin near the side of the head & yanking down until the dog is submissive. She said they usually don't draw blood while doing this. I guess the little dog was stubborn because he wasn't going down. I couldn't find any blood on C3 from the other dog just a couple of scratches on his neck was all.
The vet did tell me to report the incident to the police and city health services which I will. And she also explained that we do have a very serious leash law in our area because of MANY situations like this. Apparently people in our area think they live on farms!!…not in the crowded neighborhoods we actually live in.
Fortunately for my fur-babies they are able to live in the now & they are completely UNPHASED by the whole thing & were right back to normal at home. I will probably need years of therapy to walk around those small dogs again!! Makes me want to be a dog :)
Jennifer
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It's amazing how dogs can just live in the moment when it takes us forever to get over things:) Take Care!
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Glad to hear you are doing better!
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Some people never learn responsible dog ownership. Just this morning there was a story in our paper about a 15 year old Boy Scout bitten by dog that jumped out of an SUV when the boy was helping load a Christmas tree for the owner. He had to get several stitches. The dog could have stayed home and this would never have happened.
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My Basenji is very selective about the dogs she gets along with. She doesn't get along with any dogs that would give her attitude or tried to one up her. She was the target of some off lesh attacks in her time and once where a pitbull drew blood on her forehead and neckline when we were at the beach. It really shakes you up badly to see a member of your family hurt that way – proudly told though she held her own despite her size until we could get her out of the dogs reach!
It disgusts me how some dog owners would let their dogs off lesh if they cant be 100 certain that no incidents like that will happen.
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Basenji people are dedicated to our breed, and we all seem to be very responsible. Basenjis don't like all other dogs, so we socialize them the best we can and keep them on the leash so they can't attack other dogs or sprint off after a squirrel and get killed by a car. But there are still dog owners out there who just don't understand the principles of responsible dog ownership. You don't just worry about dogs attacking each other but people as well. I posted the story about how I was attacked by a doberman and nearly killed several years ago. If not for the mailman I wouldn't even be here to talk about it. The owner said he didn't think Raggs would ever attack anybody, so he would just open the door and let him out on his own to go potty. I'm so glad we basenji owners are more responsible than some folks out there who just don't seem to get it.
