How to Deal With a Dog Attack


A dog may be a man’s best friend and while this is generally true when the dog is around its master, it could be pretty aggressive towards an unsuspecting jogger, a mail man, or any stranger for that matter. If an unfriendly or unleashed dog has barked, growled or charged at you, your response can spell the difference between your safety and fatal injury. If you do get bitten by a dog, you may hire a personal injury attorney to help you file a claim.

  • Take extra precautions when walking around your community. Do not be too confident to think that all dog owners around fresno, ca are responsible owners as well. Bad owners tend to not think of others when they unleash their dogs or let them roam around freely even just for a few minutes. When you pass by an unleashed dog, do not smile at it nor pat it on the head. A dog may misinterpret a stranger’s smile as aggression.

  • Look for warning signs of an angry dog. Dogs are generally territorial: they get defensive when another dog or a person trespasses their territory. They bark at the trespasser as a sign of defense and when the “trespasser” retreats, the dog goes back to its business. If you catch yourself in this situation, remember that a dog who approaches you and holds its head high and low will not attack you, while a dog that approaches you with a level head will most likely bite you.
  • Remain calm when you encounter a dog. There’s truth to the adage that dogs can sense fear. If you are fearful, a dog will become more confident in its attack. Be commanding: a stern “Down!” may stop the dog from acting aggressively and gives you time to back off. Don’t run because dogs have the tendency to run after those who suddenly run away from them.  This is also a bad idea since you can never outrun a dog when you’re on foot.
  • Hold your position. Most of the time, a dog will bark for a moment and then will get disinterested and keep quiet. If it approaches you, stand your ground, don’t move, curl your fingers in a fist to avoid being bitten. The dog may just sniff and not actually bite you.
  • If the attack is inevitable and there’s no way out for you, curl in a fetal position. Using your arms and hands, protect sensitive areas of your body like your face and neck. Don’t fight the dog and don’t try to pull away from it. Exposing sensitive areas of your body will result to fatal, open wounds. Call a personal injury lawyer to file for a dog bite injury claim. Your personal injury attorney will help you seek compensation for the injuries you sustained.
  • If the dog is biting someone else, don’t try to pull away the victim from the dog as you may expose sensitive areas of his body to the dog. Instead, get a big stick and strike the dog on the back of its neck. You may also wrap your arm with a sweater or a jacket and hit the dog’s mouth. Dogs generally have thick skulls so don’t hit it on the head — you will just make it more angry.

Filed Under: Pets & Animals

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About the Author: Fred Goodson has a passion for pets and animals. He has 4 dogs and is planning to have another one. He is also a blogger who writes about pets and animals. Currently, he is living in New Jersey.

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