Rottweiler Attack Survivor
While I was on a peaceful Sunday morning run around the lake this morning, two Rottweilers came out of a yard and went right at me. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the first one heading in my direction. As he lunged at me, I stepped aside and he brushed my shorts with his head and scratched my calf with his leg. When the second one came into the street, the owner started running and screaming after them. At the time she arrived in the street, I was surrounded on both sides by growling, teeth-wielding dogs who had assumed the “attack stance”. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to see my life flash before my eyes or say a prayer. Fortunately at this point the owner was able to call off the attack and then I continued on my run, not even realizing until a few miles later that my calf was bleeding from the scratch (I guess it could have been much worse!).
This is not the first time that I have been attacked by a dog while running (I have been bitten twice), but I don’t ever recall having two dogs - let alone Rottweilers - gang up on me at the same time. Thankfully I don’t run this route very often and when I do, it’s usually much earlier in the morning when Killer and Kujo are probably in a deep sleep, dreaming about their next victim.
Workout:
- Type: Run
- Date: 08/24/2008
- Time: 06:00:00
- Total Time: 1:41:20.00
- Distance: 12 miles
- Average Pace: 8:26.33/mile
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Posted by Chris on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Run.
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3 Comments: :
Rottweiler Attack Survivor
August 24th, 2008 7:05 pm
Brad Hefta-Gaub says:
WOW! That’s scary. I am not sure if I know what to do if I’m attacked like that.
Did you freeze? Is that the right thing to do?
August 26th, 2008 11:43 am
andreabona says:
chris,
wow, what a scare! it’s tricky to know what to do in that situation unless you’ve got pepper spray. good thing it didn’t escalate into something worse.
i know that most often dogs aren’t being as agressive as they look, but unless you know the dog you don’t want to be the test case!
thanks for your note! i took about 6 weeks off from running and rowing which did nothing to improve my achilles. during that time i barely did anything else - biked a couple of times and swam a couple of times so it was frustrating. after that i decided to screw it and go ahead and get back into training for NYC. then i finally got my wits about me and realized i need to get this under control and think about the long term. i might be looking at a year of not running so i better get the clock started now. so, i’ve got an appointment next week with my dr. the next step is supposed to be a boot to immobilize it, so we’ll see. i’ve been rowing and doing stuff that i know i shouldn’t be but i’ll “be good” after i see him and he gives me the low down.
looks like your running is going really well! keep doing your calf exercises and listen closely to your body and i’m sure you will be o.k.
do you have any races planned?
August 28th, 2008 11:45 am
Chris says:
Brad and Andrea, thanks for the concern. I have always been told to stop dead in your tracks when a dog comes after you. The one time I didn’t, I was bitten while running away.
Andrea, take care of that achilles; I know how frustrating that can be. I think I got lucky with that one in that I was able to get back to full training after 8 weeks. Keep me posted on your progress.
I am trying to get into peak shape for a bunch of big fall races. I have cut back on my racing this summer so I can be ready for the fall.