owie

Quarter for scale

So today this happened to me. Every career path has it's occupational hazards, and this one is mine. Here's the story behind it. The picture is of my right inner thigh. The dog who bit me (Dwayne) was not being aggressive so much as very mouthy. He just happens to be a big dog. Lucky for me he bit over my shorts and never punctured them and ultimately me. The incident took place as I was attempting to enter the kennel to return one of the pups that lives there. I did everything I was supposed to. I waited outside the gate until the dogs inside calmed down. It was when I opened the gate to walk in that Dwayne tried to barge his way out. I stopped with half of me inside and half out. That's when he got mouthy with me. I shouted "OW OW OW" which is when he let go and ran to place himself on his bed. I backed out, closed the gate, and waited outside until the primary caregiver returned. It doesn't hurt anywhere near as bad as it might look. It's really only a little sore. And yes, I know my leg is dirty. That's what a day in the hot sun and sand of Dogtown will do to you.

I was supposed to walk him after returning the other dog I had brought back (Jojo). I did almost walk him an hour after the incident, but he was still in a state of high arousal. I felt iffy about him so we canceled the walk. Later that afternoon I, and the primary caregiver, went into the kennel together to work with him. He was leashed and watched by her. We worked on some clicker sit & down training to patch things up. His energy then was much calmer. I wasn't scared at any time before or after so much as I really only wanted to avoid a repeat incident.

I view this as kind of like getting a scratch on a new car. I knew it was bound to happen and am just glad that I've gotten it out of the way. I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon, but again, this kind of thing comes with the territory. When I asked my trainer how I did, she said I did good despite today's challenges and recommended some dog body language classes. I'm definitely gonna take her up on that advice. I'm generally decent at reading dogs, but the classes won't hurt given that some of the dogs here came from some pretty extreme situations. Ultimately this is why I came here, to learn and help as many of these pup as I can.

You can just call me Bruised Lee for the next few days!