I suck.
Our dog just bit a man. A helpless, 95 year-old man. And I reacted like a completley brainless coward.
I went out the door with him. He was on the leash, behaving normally, and the old-man was, very slowly, walking our way. Sometimes our dog barks or tries to attack male strangers (I don't know why. We've only had him for less than a year, he's a four-year-old Australian Sheperd, the previous owner might not have treated him very responsibly.) Anyways, I didn't think the dog was going to do anything, and he didn't start barking until the old man was only a few feet away and then it all just happened very quickly, the dog shot forward, bit him in the leg, I pulled him back and dragged him a few steps away. I immediately apologized, but the old man only said, "Your dog bit me!" and went on muttering angrily and didn't react to any further apologies.
I should have tied the dog somewhere to a tree and gone back and asked whether he was okay. Clearly he was in shock and so was I. But I didn't, I just went away to walk once around the block and return home with the dog and when I did, a younger man crossed our path and asked me if I had just walked by that house - I said, "Oh my god, yes, it was my dog, is the old man okay?" and he showed me that the man's leg was bleeding where the dog had bitten him. Not badly, but there was blood. He drove the old man to the hospital, but he's gonna sue. I just went back to get the old man's telephone number, and the neighbours all stood there with their little babies and children and stared at me like I was some criminal and our dog a monster. It was horrible.
ETA: Okay. The drama has resolved itself. The old man has a scratch. A bleeding scratch, but still a scratch. It was the neighbours who made all the drama of it. He won't sue, we'll send him a bottle of good wine and the dog will wear a muzzle. End of story. Whew!
I went out the door with him. He was on the leash, behaving normally, and the old-man was, very slowly, walking our way. Sometimes our dog barks or tries to attack male strangers (I don't know why. We've only had him for less than a year, he's a four-year-old Australian Sheperd, the previous owner might not have treated him very responsibly.) Anyways, I didn't think the dog was going to do anything, and he didn't start barking until the old man was only a few feet away and then it all just happened very quickly, the dog shot forward, bit him in the leg, I pulled him back and dragged him a few steps away. I immediately apologized, but the old man only said, "Your dog bit me!" and went on muttering angrily and didn't react to any further apologies.
I should have tied the dog somewhere to a tree and gone back and asked whether he was okay. Clearly he was in shock and so was I. But I didn't, I just went away to walk once around the block and return home with the dog and when I did, a younger man crossed our path and asked me if I had just walked by that house - I said, "Oh my god, yes, it was my dog, is the old man okay?" and he showed me that the man's leg was bleeding where the dog had bitten him. Not badly, but there was blood. He drove the old man to the hospital, but he's gonna sue. I just went back to get the old man's telephone number, and the neighbours all stood there with their little babies and children and stared at me like I was some criminal and our dog a monster. It was horrible.
ETA: Okay. The drama has resolved itself. The old man has a scratch. A bleeding scratch, but still a scratch. It was the neighbours who made all the drama of it. He won't sue, we'll send him a bottle of good wine and the dog will wear a muzzle. End of story. Whew!