Just over two months ago a stranger’s dog attacked me and in so doing bit a chunk out of my ankle. Olga’s bite hurt and as she was ushered away blood started trickling out though my sock.

The attack happened one afternoon in late summer and when I recounted the incident I told of the dog owner’s hollow and unhelpful assurances that Olga “was a nice dog” who “never bites!” Accordingly, within days I received a cartoon from a close friend in which his comments are highlighted (see the illustration). This blog describes what happened that day and what has followed since. It was an episode I found very disturbing, and with recovery in sight, can only now start to relax.

It all began when I was delivering a letter to a new Tréguennec neighbour. The house and its back garden were full of guests and as I walked up the front path there was just me and Olga, a black Labrador retriever who was lying under a porch sheltering from the sun. On seeing me she suddenly got to her feet and walked slowly towards me growling. With her head stretched forward, her teeth bared, her front legs slightly bent and her rump high, her unprovoked approach felt very menacing. Then, despite my shouting and gesticulating she pounced and bit.

In response to my shouts and Olga’s barks several house ‘guests’ rushed towards me and as the dog was hurried away, I was offered a seat, a drink and some sterile wipes for the bite. It was only then that I looked at the damage. In her one gulp, Olga had removed a piece of skin the size of a pre-decimalisation penny piece – its diameter was just under 31 mm. I could not see the depth of the wound and for that I had to wait two hours until it was examined by a doctor at the emergency department of the local hospital.

The findings at ‘A&E’ were generally reassuring – the wound was 2-3 mm deep and I had escaped any damage to the underlying muscle. However, at that depth healing would be slow as certain of the elements needed for repair will have been destroyed. All that was now needed was to be vaccinated against tetanus, to take antibiotics for a week to prevent infection and, with the help of Rohan, to wash, treat and re-dresse the bite every day for several weeks. 

Despite following instructions, the bite showed little or no signs of ‘healing’, and I sought the advice of two doctor friends. To them the reason for the sluggish recovery was simple – because of its initial depth the base of the wound had covered itself with a hard layer of debris and this was making full healing essentially impossible. Accordingly, each day for a further three weeks or so they arranged for me to see a district nurse with whose help the blocking layer could be removed.  

On the day the layer was finally cleared, treatment changed once again. Our stay in France was over and it was to an new nurse I now turned for help. Interestingly, being treated back in England and in the NHS I felt more ‘at home’. Importantly, since my return the wound has gradually filled and its size reduced; the latest prediction is that it will have finally healed in a week or so – phew!

My feelings about Olga’s horrible intervention and what followed have been dominated by anxiety (What would happen next?), anger (The attack was so hurtful and so uncalled for), and regret (Why should I be made to suffer in this way?). But two other issues have also arisen. The first was an initial feeling of optimism when I learned of the French system of ‘assurance et responsabilité civile’. Put simply, if someone is hurt or damaged when on a property then it is an obligation of the insurance company of the owner of that property to pay recompense. Sadly, it just so happens that it is very difficult to make such payments apply to foreigners! Luckily, Emmanuel, Olga’s owner, recognised the injustice of the situation and paid me out of his own pocket the several hundred euros of medical expenses I had already incurred!

The second issue was that despite Emmanuel being very apologetic, confessing guilt, frequently contacting me to ask after my well-being and paying me compensation, I could only feel anger towards him. His dog’s behaviour was unforgivable and, by association, in this instance so was his. My antipathy might change but not yet.

In so many ways, sudden, unprovoked and unexpected hurt is horrible and I can’t see how one can easily do anything to avoid such incidents and the accompanying preoccupying responses.  

For helping write this blog, I would like to thank Annie, Marie-Vero, Chris, Al, Sarah, Rohan and Vivien.

The illustration is a ‘cartoon’ that Annie sent after she heard about my altercation. Above a gruesome picture of a dog that has drawn blood, the bubble on the left reads “My dog is very gentle” and on the right “He never bites”. 

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