I was having a great run when, for the first time ever while on a run, a dog bit me. The owners were in the process of putting their 5 boxers (they weren't the really big boxers, tho ... at least I think they were boxers) back in the yard. I thought they were all up except one, and I ran on by. The next thing I know, three of them are barking and being pretty aggressive, one of them doing a fair amount of snarling, too. I assume the snarling one is the one that bit me on the back of my right thigh. I stopped, turned to face them, and yelled "no!" at them & then shouted at the owner (the woman) that one of them had just bitten me. I was at least a half a block away by then, so I'm not sure she heard what I said. I turned around & resumed running, only to have the three of them come running back at me. I stopped and yelled "no!" again. This time the man yelled back that he'd said they wouldn't bite. Huh. Funny that. At this point, I was pissed off.
My leg ached, but not horribly so. I ran on and debated stopping by the police department since it's on the way home (at mile 5-ish on a 5.55 mile route). I decided to stop and see what the laws are because I didn't want their dogs to be taken away. Anyway, I told the officer I didn't want to file charges but that I did want the owners to get a warning so they know that at least one of their dogs does, in fact, bite people. He assured me nothing would happen to the dogs, but asked if the dog biting me broke my skin. I was wearing knee-length running tights, so I hadn't even checked yet. I hiked the tights up over my (chubby) thigh, and sure enough it had. So, the officer saw the bite mark (evidence, you know :-)).
As I left the building, he headed over to the owner's place to have a chat with them. Today was the first time I've ever seen those dogs, and I'll avoid that area at 5 p.m. from now on, but if I get bit again, I will file a formal complaint.
The bite area is still sore. It could have at least bitten me somewhere that I can see without using a mirror.
Workout
February 25, Wednesday4:21 p.m. CT
Warm up: .5 mile walk
Distance: 5.55 miles
Duration: 56:43.2
Pace ave: 10:13
HR ave 165, max 183
Cool down: .5 mile walk
@start: 51, 83%, cloudy, S@14/gusting to 19
@end: 49/44, 87%, cloudy, S@14
Shoes: Pegasus 25
Managed to knock some more time off the route ... and other PB by 28 seconds for it. I guess being angry helps :-)
1 comment:
Exact same thing happened to me this weekend on my 9 mile run. The dogs were with the owner's children out in front of their house. I imagine this may have made them more defensive when I jogged by. Anyway, I had to stop there (dead end) to turn around -- and when I did there they were. And one of them already had me in the back of my left thigh. I was more shocked than anything at the moment, and the rush of adrenaline made everything seem hyper-realistic until the kids finally called them off.
I have some bruising and a nasty looking set of teeth scrapes across the skin. Took a photo of it just in case. It looks a lot worse than it feels.
I have to say the last 5 miles of the run went lightening quick. Again, the adrenaline. I hope yours is healing ok.
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