How about, instead of badly trained, sharp-toothed dogs roaming in perceived territory, they stay in their actual territory, a.k.a. their owner's fenced backyard.
Enough with dogs! Hopefully Niko Young got the contact info of the owner whose dog bit him, so he can call the Police and have the dog turned over and exterminated. No surprise that it happened to Nico in Scottsdale, a town full of yuppies.
The fears of every distance runner from middle school on up, dogs and cars! I have definitely had my scares with both and yes bitten once though it was a flesh wound :)
Enough with dogs! Hopefully Niko Young got the contact info of the owner whose dog bit him, so he can call the Police and have the dog turned over and exterminated. No surprise that it happened to Nico in Scottsdale, a town full of yuppies.
Much like kids, I blame this stuff mostly on owners. I would say don't put the dog or owner down, that would be extreme. But you need to punish the owner, not the dog quite as much. It's assault, aggravated if you ask me. Because regardless of how crazy your dog is, it's not an issue if dog is on leash or fenced in yard. Fine the owner 10K 3 days in the joint or 10hrs community service.
As a runner, you should assume all dogs are dangerous and that like to be run at or caught by surprise by running behind them. Always steer way clear of dogs even if on leash whole running.
Much like kids, I blame this stuff mostly on owners.
I guess you can blame owners for getting certain breeds, but you can't blame owners for being unable to "train away" hardcoded genes. That's not possible. Here's how it works: Step 1: Get bloodsport dog as "pet". Step 2 ("Good owner"): Live your life like an exiled prisoner sparing no expense in keeping your "pet" contained. Step 2 (Bad owner): Pretend like it's a normal dog and take zero precautions. Step 3 ("Good owner"): Euthanize Luna/Diesel/Cookie/Cupcake when the inevitable happens. Pretend to be sad (for the loss of the dog, not the victim), but secretly you're feeling immense relief. Step 3 (Bad owner): Go on social media to antagonize victims, police and animal control because your "sweet dog wouldn't hurt a fly unless provoked/abused". Fight any ruling and due process. If you don't have access to credit, start a GoFundMe. This ensures the victims won't see a dime when they sue for damages.
If it sounds familiar it's because it happens all the time.
When this has happened to me I kick the living s*** out of the dog. The dog owners get outraged, but with the look on my face they know that they're next if they want to escalate the situation. I'm generally happy when I'm running and I don't like having to do that, but WTF, I will not tolerate it.
How about, instead of badly trained, sharp-toothed dogs roaming in perceived territory, they stay in their actual territory, a.k.a. their owner's fenced backyard.
Agreed. That's how it is with my (well-trained) dog. Unfortunately, there are a lot of dog owners who let their dogs roam around unmonitored, unleashed, and unfenced. As runners, we need to be prepared for encountering such dogs.
A friend of my lives in a rural part of Colorado way east of Denver. He's raced Leadville 100 several times. About 10 years ago he's taking a run from home on the many dirt roads in his area. A nasty dog runs out from one the neighboring properties and attacks him. He kicks the dog until the owner comes out grabs his dog. No apology. Nothing. My friend warns the dog owner if it happens again he's going to shoot the Effing dog. The dog owner didn't like that and started arguing with my friend. My friend leaves and finishes his run, but he's pissed. He doesn't like being attacked. So on the next run he brings a small .38 cal. revolver inside a fanny pack. Sure enough, same property, same dog, different result. When the attacking dog got real close my friend shot it until it quit moving. Of course the owner was really mad. Called the cops etc. The cops came and cited the dog owner. My friend? The cops told him to try have a nice day.
Enough with dogs! Hopefully Niko Young got the contact info of the owner whose dog bit him, so he can call the Police and have the dog turned over and exterminated. No surprise that it happened to Nico in Scottsdale, a town full of yuppies.
You can get a number of infections from a dog bite if it penetrates your skin, including tetanus, rabies, cellulitis, and staph and strep infections.
This guy speaks the truth. A year and a half ago I was hospitalized on Thanksgiving Day with a cellulitis, and then a staph infection two weeks later -- both requiring antibiotics. My leg responded by swelling up with lymphoedema. Then the peripheral neuropathy hit, essentially "old peoples disease." That stays. My entire nervous system in my legs are at war with my muscles. My legs have about 20% of power making it difficult just to stand up. Occasionally, I can pop up just like normal. Weird. Random pin-pricks own me in my right leg and sometimes odd attacks on my fingers, feeling exactly like a pin has been pushed through my thumb. I've taken two bad falls in the last 20 months, just like on the commercials, "Help me, I've fallen down and I can't reach my beer!"
Liking dogs can't stop you from approaching each attack as an attack and defending yourself. You owe it to yourself to err on the side of caution by turning, standing your ground, and, often, striking first. And you should let the owner know that the risk is not just to the runner (or to a grandmother or to a child) but to their dog. Once you frame the risk as to their dog from you hurting it to defend yourself, they take it more seriously. Better to sound like a maniac than let yourself get hurt unnecessarily.
You ain't gonna win a fight with a good sized, aggressive dog. Unless you have a weapon.