When I got my e-newsletter from Animal Behavior Associates last week, I was sad to learn that Dr. Suzanne Hetts and Dr. Dan Estep along with their two dogs Ashley (a Dalmatian) and Coral (an Irish Setter) were attacked and injured by a loose dog while on a walk in their suburban neighborhood near Denver. Everyone should recover. Thank goodness, but it made me wonder: If two people highly trained and highly skilled in dog behavior, who did all the right things in the moment I’m sure, cannot avoid such an incident, what hope do the rest of us have?
I know Suzanne from my time at the American Animal Hospital Association, whose in-house press published her book Pet Behavior Protocols: What to Say, What to Do, When to Refer, and from my time on the board of the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy. I’ve interviewed her for articles over the years, and we also run into each other once in a while at conferences and such.
I can remember her asking me ages ago (long before I knew what I know now about dogs and dog training) to turn away from one of her Dalmatians (she had two at the time) when she jumped on me. It seemed like such a new concept those many years ago.
They’ll be writing more in the coming weeks and months about the encounter. I’m anxious to hear the details, but below is an excerpt from their newsletter:
Coral and Dan suffered minor injuries. Ashley suffered bruises and a laceration and puncture wounds to her neck. Suzanne suffered bruises, scratches, and a broken hand in her attempts to stop the attack. Without the selfless assistance of 4 neighbors, we all would have suffered much more serious injuries. The attacking dog is impounded at the local Animal Control shelter. We will have more to say in future newsletters about what we can all do to teach dog owners responsible ownership and encourage the community to take action when they observe dogs at large or see potential dangerous behavior from dogs in their neighborhoods.
If you’d like to keep up on the saga and learn other new things, you can sign up to receive their newsletter, which includes updates on courses (including telecourses and other distance learning options).
In the meantime, all of us (human and canine alike) wish them well in their recovery.
You want to touch on a pet peeve of mine? This is IT.
I’m so sorry to hear about Susan and Dan being involved in an incident like this. Just awful.
I have stopped going to Chatfield dog park for this exact reason – attacks by dogs. People, get a clue, train your dogs!
Incidents like this are preventable by socializing and controlling dogs. Yes, it’s possible that a dog gets loose or out of the yard, but a ‘normal’ dog does not randomly attack when it has the option to remove itself.
OK stopping now.
Very scary! But not all incidents are preventable… some things are just out of our control. I hope that there is no permanent damage!
Yikes. It’s scary to think of dogs so intent on attacking being wandering around unsupervised. Maybe I won’t think about it – otherwise I might just stay inside!
I hope they all recover well.