Dad: sorry to say there will be no Pooch Blog updates for a short while. Yesterday we were out walking in the Yorkshire Dales when Pooch was attacked by another dog. The attack was entirely unprovoked, Pooch was on a short leash and trotting happily at my side when another, much larger, dog came rushing up out of nowhere and proceeded to jump on top of Pooch, roll him over and start biting viciously at Pooch's neck and shoulder. The dog's owner was nowhere to be seen and we couldn't get the dog away from Pooch. Eventually there was a loud shout and the dog dashed away again - lucky for us it was obedient to its owner's shout.
Pooch not surprisingly was very shocked and frightened although amazingly not seriously hurt - thankfully the attacking dog missed biting anything crucial. There was one fairly deep bite in Pooch's shoulder but the vet has seen it and decided against stitches. Pooch will be resting at home over the next few days with some gentle walks locally until he has healed and got over this horrible experience.
It was so tempting to go after the dog's owner and give her a piece of my mind. She just grabbed her dog's collar and walked away as fast as she could in the opposite direction, with no apology or acknowledgement or anything. Unbelievable. Luckily my wife, although very distressed, stopped me from going after her - because of course a shouting match would not have helped the situation. Fortunately there were several witnesses to the attack and the local police will do a much better job of dealing with that irresponsible owner than I possibly could.
Here's the only shot we took yesterday, before the trouble started. We hope it won't be too long before Pooch is back where he belongs, out enjoying the hill walks again.