Our 30 lb. poodle mix just survived an attack on a hiking trail

[DeschutesRiver]

102. This is my concern when I go on trails now days

I am so glad your poodle and your son survived this attack.

I see so many off leash dogs while hiking with my dogs, and have had quite a few coming running towards us. If the owner is in sight, I tell them to get control of their dog or I will do it for them. Because I am no longer in the mood to be polite when this happens. So far I have not had to harm someone's dog to save my own, but I am mentally prepared to do it.

So far I have been lucky that either the owner gets my drift and the dog is brought under control, ie doesn't get close, or the unsupervised dog responds to me and saves its bacon, or we manage to get out of a bad situation in other creative ways, like where an owner who is being an ass about their nasty off leash dog doesn't believe I will stop it in its tracks if it does attempt to hurt me or my dog. If I can defuse it, I will, but these things can escalate in a heartbeat.

The more I hike, the more stupid I see out there. I have listened to horror stories from fellow campers whose dogs have almost died in off leash attacks, and seen things that are really bad and totally the fault of an asshole owner who does not give a darn about the resulting bloody expensive mess they have left behind. Of course, those people left the scene before your son had gathered his senses, let his adrenaline rush slow back down and had a chance to check out your poor poodle for injuries.

Because they didn't want to pay for the damage. It probably wasn't the first time their dog had done this, so they knew they needed to boogie before your kid realized what had happened. Again, so glad this wasn't as bad as it can get.