I was confronted by a dog once and the expert advice at that time was to face the dog head on, don't turn your back on the dog until the dog backs down. That's just what I did, however when I turned my back to continue on my way, the dog also turned around and attacked me-so much for expert advice! Fortunately, I had several bites on my a$$ and nowhere else, so there was plenty of padding.
In retrospect, the head-on approach did work and maybe if I had given the situation more time, the dog wouldn't have turned to come after me. This dog was protecting what he perceived was his territory.
When a dog bites someone in my state, it must be reported to the authorities. The dog is then confined for 10 days by the humane society to watch for any signs of rabies. The owner has to take care of any Dr. bills incurred by the dog, and to my embarrassment, there were pictures taken.
I am so sorry this happened to you Patti, and I'm also glad that sweet Ozzy was oblivious to the situation. The school of thought now when approached by an aggressive dog, it to turn your body sideways (submissive), do NOT look the dog in the eyes, but glance over to see what he/she is doing and then turn your head away. I have used this approach with fear aggressive (not territory aggressive) dogs and it worked.
[ 08-08-2007, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: Garden_girl ]