*kirty*

I'm so sorry Jules. He is a lucky boy to have such devoted owners. You are all in my thoughts xx

I got my dog Maisie at 5 weeks old and she was terrified of men and other dogs. Pretty safe to say nothing terrible happened to her in her short life to make her so fearful. She came good with lots of help from a good trainer. Another example was my Dane Phoebe (RIP). She was not abused but she was very neglected. She lived her whole life in a shed from birth to 5 months before I got her. She had learned helplessness but it was from her extremely sheltered life, not abuse. She also improved with work but never fully recovered.

I was at a popular pet chain the other day where they do grooming. Happened to see in the grooming area and saw a dog tied on the table unattended while the groomer served another client. I told the manager and told him about Buddy. Hope they do something.

Went for my first walk tonight since posting this and took a big stick with me. Got rushed by two dogs. Both were friendly but my dogs went crazy at them so now my dogs look like the bad ones. F*cking over it! The first one ran across a road yo get to us while the useless owner yelled at it and chased it. The second was playing at the park and bolted towards us and jumped on my dogs, while its owner yelled at it to come back.

I think I sent something - we'll see. :)

I can't seem to click on anything on that page using my phone.

Thanks, it didn't seem to work from my phone.

I have come across a 10yo boy needing a home. Any Basenji rescues?

He will come right up to me, he even jumps up against my legs. He follows me around and he will take food from my hands no worries. But he doesn't like to be touched at all. He is now sleeping at my feet but he is keeping an eye on me.

Hmm works for me? The seller is an american one called littleredmoss - cool stuff. :)

I stumbled across these just now - I want one!! The IG and the Bull Terrier especially as so cool!! http://m.ebay.com/search?cmd=SREF&kw=seller%253Alittleredmoss&pgn=1&sellerId=littleredmoss

Thank you so much for the advice and ideas. He is coming along slowly. He has now come inside on his own 3 times. :) He just jumped up on my bed and wagged his tail at me, but then ran away when I reached out to him. He makes me sad because useless people have made him this way.

To be fair, you obviously have inside info melz as none of that information is in the story.

I read about that Stan's Mum - the Grey was muzzled so had no chance of defending itself.

Can you see an internal medicine or gastro specialist?

This is so true. As I said earlier, I think my fears are compounded by the fact that the attacks on my dogs were by dogs that were leashed but got away from their owners. The intensity of each attack would have killed the IGs if it had been them and not my bigger dogs. I haven't seen too many roaming dogs around here but even dogs being walked on leash frighten me.

My dogs love their walks and some are too active and outgoing to simply entertain at home. The IGs don't really need to be walked but the others definitely do.

Thank you all for the suggestions and nice places to try. I wish we had a place like Kepala on this side of town! I want to enjoy walking my dogs and I will definitely try the places suggested. I do like Lillydale Lake (except for all the dog poo!) but even there, so many people have their dogs offlead on the path. ETA I couldn't report any of the attacks on my dogs to council because they happened in a public place and I had no way to get details. Actually staff'n'toller, one attack was at Cardinia Reserviour! Its a nice place to walk though, dogs are allowed in most parts.

Thank you all for your comments. :) I do try to take them out to more quiet places or places I feel safe, but I think my fears stem from the randomness of each attack. As I said, each time the attacking dog broke free of its owner to attack mine. And each time there was so warning or chance to intervene. When I saw the big dog stalking mine yesterday, the anxiety was overwhelming. It is sad that so many people have the same fears. Kirislin, thank you for your offer. I'd live to take you up on it one day. :)

I have too many dogs to walk one at a time lol. I don't go to dog parks, too risky! My dogs have each other to play with, and offlead runs (for the big dogs) are at quiet areas. The littlies don't go offlead. Has anyone been able to get their anxiety under control?

Each attack has been at a park. Each time the attacking dog was on lead but got free.

I realised today that I am becoming increasingly afraid to take my dogs out for walks. I am constantly scanning the area for other dogs and when I see other dogs, my heart starts to race and I tense up. I'm sure this is transferring to my dogs but I just can't help it. My dogs have been attacked three times now and each time we were minding our own business when the attacks happened. I think my fear has been made worse because I now own small dogs. Today we were out and a lady was walking towards us with a huge crossbreed. The minute the dog saw mine, it went into prey drive. Its eyes locked onto mine, it dropped its head and was completely fixated on my dogs. It was wearing a shock collar and when the handler realised what was happening, she gave it a correction and moved further away. I was hoping like hell she held on tight to its lead. My heart was pounding and I was already thinking about what to do if it got free - I was actually thinking I'd have to throw the dogs in the lake lol. Anyway, what do I do? Has anyone else been through this? I really feel that it is becoming an issue and I want to get on top of it.

They are soooooo cute!!!

Good idea. :) Mind you he has no trouble peeing in front of me inside!!

Thanks everyone. :) He is so sweet and he is breaking my heart. You can see that he wants to be friends and wants to try, but everything in his experiences so far tells him to stay away. He's much worse outside. He is inside most of the time but when I put him out to pee he then wont come back inside. He runs to the door and looks inside but then runs off again. I suspect he was punished for coming inside at his previous home. I will try keeping him on lead more but so far he won't toilet in front of me. He will take treats but has no idea about toys.