Dog pack

Life threw us another ringer this past week. Our dog was targeted by a pack of dogs. He's going to be fine, but he's got a long recovery ahead of him. It was a rainy day, and I was on my way home after picking Sophia up from school. I had pulled into the garage and came to take Sophia out of her car seat. Four dogs charged into the open garage, and started running around. My immediate thought was that they got out during the storm and needed to find their owner, so I tried to separate Ruger from the pack by putting Ruger and Sophia in the house. As I opened the door to the house, two of the dogs, the female black and gray bull terrier and the gray pitbull, ran into the house. Ruger continued to sniff around in the front of the garage with the other dogs, the rusty chow/pitbull mix and the other rusty colored bull terrier. I quickly ran to the fridge and grabbed some cheese to get the 2 dogs out of the house, where Sophia now was. They ran out and joined the pack again. I was able to get the gray pitbull into the back yard and close him off but wasn’t successful in getting all of them to the back while also keeping Ruger separated. I quickly realized the best thing to do was to get Ruger back inside and to get the other dogs off our property. At this point there was just a lot of sniffing and rubbing going on between dogs. I told Sophia to stay in the house and I called for Ruger. The other dogs were kind of blocking him. They all started making their way down the street and Ruger started to follow. I called for Ruger and he turned to come back to the house. At this point, the female gray bull terrier grabbed Ruger by the ear and pulled him to the ground. The gray pitbull was by her side but only using his weight to lean against Ruger. I started screaming at the dog and she wouldn’t let go. Then I started to kick at her right hind leg area and screaming for help. The rusty chow/pitbull mix and the other rusty terrier continued down the street, leaving the scene. My kicking wasn’t affecting anything at this point and the female dog continued to bite Ruger while he was laying there. Ruger wasn’t fighting back, but he was struggling to break free of her grasp. She was dragging him, while biting his ear, and then moved to his neck area. At that point, my neighbor came running down and yelled for me to get a hose. I ran up and saw a 2x4 and grabbed that and started hitting the female in her hind legs, still to no avail. Another neighbor ran down at this time, and he had a large rock. He began to strike the female in her head, which freed her grasp on Ruger. I was able to pull Ruger away, as she continued to try to nip at his hind leg as I dragged him. Once I got him into the house, the 2 neighbors restrained the dogs. Rick pulled up at this point, and he got some rope and they were able to tie the dogs up. I ran in and called animal control. The officer came pretty quickly. He took my report and told me to call the vet. Ruger seemed shaken, but he actually didn't look too bad at this point. Thankfully, we listened to the officer and called the vet because he quickly went downhill from there. Poor boy had deep puncture wounds and road rash all over. One bite barely missed his jugular. He was lucky he wasn't a fighter, because it could have been worse for him. I'm still really shaken, and sore from head to toe from all the commotion.
After things came back into focus, I realize how grateful I am that my neighbors risked their life by helping save Ruger. The whole situation could have been a whole lot uglier. I am also so grateful that Sophia listened to me and stayed in the house. Ava was still in her carseat with the door closed, so I am glad she was safe in the car. It seems so surreal to me that a pack of dogs came charging into the garage. I imagine they must have smelled that Ruger is old and week, and found a good opportunity to make it a teachable moment for the pack leader to show how to kill. I am thankful they have the 2 dogs off the street, and can only imagine what they have been up to until this point. Rick saw one of the other 2 strays that left during the fight. I called animal control and I believe they got that dog as well. Hopefully even if they don't find the fourth, he's lost his pack and maybe some of his bravado that the pack brings. As I've learned in the past, I have a hard time with sudden events that bring about change in routine. I was pretty overwhelmed when the vet told me all that needed to happen to care for Ruger. But as in the past, I quickly get over that feeling and spring into action. We're almost back to normal around here. I will be so happy when Ruger starts to annoy me again. Right now he's such a sad sight, I can't help but feel sorry for the guy.