Austin discovers the dangers of the wilderness

Austin was attacked today.

Before anyone panics, he is fine. He only sustained a couple of small cuts and some deep bruises. But he has been through a positively frightening ordeal, one we'll all likely be recovering from for a while.

Long story short: After a week of paranoia about letting Austin off his leash, we FINALLY loosened up and let him run. For the past couple of days I've let him run up the hill adjacent to our house and pick his own ... spots.

But today, Austin took off into our back yard the moment the door opened. He approached two neighborhood dogs and apparently began his domination/greeting ritual. It was not well received.

Neither Bethany nor I saw the actual confrontation, but everyone within a couple of miles heard it. From the bruises and cuts, it appears that one dog grabbed Austin around the throat and threw him, and another (or possibly the same one) grabbed him across the chest and gave him a thrashing.

One of the temporary neighbors from across the street came running after he saw his dog involved. He was most apologetic.

Austin appears to be ok. He shakes when he gets near the outdoors and he yelps when anyone touches his chest or neck.

I think we're going to be going back on the leash for the time being. Sometimes paranoia doesn't mean unnecessary fear.