Kat12

Is truth. The only time in my life I've ever been bitten by a dog, I had no warning. I don't mess with dogs to piss them off, I know what an aggressive dog's demeanor looks like, etc. But. I was walking up the street and two dogs came out of yard/driveway. I didn't think much of it; they were just strolling, didn't seem aggressive or territorial or at all riled up, seemed they were just looking at the person walking by. Behavior I'd seen a million times before. But, suddenly one growled and rushed me, closed the few feet between us before I could react, and bit me on the calf. Immediately after, he jumped back as if almost shocked about it, hadn't bitten hard (but just enough to break the skin with one or two teeth-- and put a hole in the leg of one of my favorite pairs of pants, the tosser-- so I went for the rabies shots anyway).

Maybe he was just showing off for his friend, who knows. Lucky for me, he didn't really mean business. If he had, he would've been a lot faster and there would've been nothing I could've done (yes, I probably would have seen it in his behavior, but the house he came from was near the road and at the time he emerged, there were probably never more than 10-15 feet between us; if he'd chosen to take that at a run, or even if I'd seen him in time to try to take evasive action, I would've been toast either way; all I was carrying was a small messenger bag, not even containing anything heavy so I could swing it at him, and that as a cross-body so I wouldn't have had time to take it off to use it as a weapon or a shield). All the same, I was more wary around unrestrained dogs I didn't know after that, no longer confident that I could necessarily "read" a dog or that they would telegraph an intention to bite me ahead of time.

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ETA, as I've just recalled the time this past summer when I was at a local park, sitting at a picnic table, practicing music (I live in an apartment with thin walls; practicing at home isn't an option my neighbors would appreciate). Suddenly from behind me (my back was to most of the park, including its entrance) I heard a growl... I turned in time to see a dog running toward me from about 15 feet away. I had no time to do anything whatsoever except start to turn around in my seat... luckily, by the time I got turned the other way, this dog was next to me licking my arm rather than tearing it off and his people all the way across the park were yelling, "He won't hurt you!"

Sure, I'm sure I jumped a mile when I saw him. I love dogs and have never been afraid of them, but it's a whole new ballgame when there's an unfamiliar, growling dog charging you from behind, he's already close, and there aren't owners in sight. (If I'd been afraid of dogs, I likely would've had a heart attack!)

I noticed they disappeared pretty quickly after that... hopefully, next time they decide to let their dog off leash and out of their control at the park, they'll make sure they're alone first. My guess is that they took the leash off as soon as they entered the park, he saw a person and made a beeline before they even registered I was there, and the owners never would have had a hope of stopping him if he'd meant me harm-- nor would I have since it would've taken me time to extricate myself from the picnic table (I suppose I could have whacked him with my recorder if I'd needed to).