Mabel and I went out for a nice walk today. We went to the park near our house, and we ran and chased birds and romped and generally had a great time.

Until we were attacked by an unleashed dog, that is.

Mabel loves everyone and everything. Every dog is her new best friend. Every person is her buddy. She is full of life. So when this large Golden Retriever came charging toward us, I was a little trepidatious but hopeful that they'd have a sniff and maybe a little play and be done.

This Golden Retriever had other ideas. Before I could even act, his sniff turned into a pinning. He got on top of Mabel and Mabel started to yelp. She is NOT an afraid dog. Or at least she wasn't. She's been socialized and plays beautifully. This was not play. I'd never seen Mabel like this. And the yelping. It was horrible. I'm still hearing it in my head.

I grabbed the dog and got in his face. I screamed at him to "Go Home." He went back after Mabel. I pushed him. I grabbed the scruff of his neck. Nothing deterred him. I kicked him a few times. Each time I did, Mabel got up and started to run away, so I went with her. The dog pursued. We wound up in a sandy volleyball court. There were people all around. I kept yelling, "Whose damn dog is this? Someone help us." I couldn't hold on to Mabel and deter the dog by myself. There were maybe 15 people watching this.

I finally picked Mabel up high so the dog couldn't get to her. The dog went after me. It kept jumping up on me and trying to get to Mabel. I kicked, I shouted and yelled. It was relentless. The dog took down my pants. Seriously. I couldn't keep Mabel lifted and my pants up and he was biting at them.

Finally, a guy who was nearby came over, and he helped. I thanked him, and Mabel and I started to run away. The dog got loose and chased us down. I really didn't know what we were going to have to do, or if this dog was capable of more violent biting. He re-tackled Mabel and it started again. This is maybe eight minutes now.

Finally, this little girl, this fucking little six-year-old girl, comes by to get her dog. I don't know what parent sends a dog out with a six-year-old girl who is smaller than the dog for which she is caring. I'd like to find out who that parent is and fuck them up. Seriously. For taking away any little bit of spirit she may have stolen from my beloved Mabel.

Finally the dog was put on a leash and we ran off.

Mabel seemed basically fine. She didn't seem injured and she wasn't bleeding. I, on the other hand, felt attacked. It reminded me of the time when I was 21 and two guys jumped me on the streets of Manhattan, and I tried to fight them off and was screaming help. There were maybe 20 onlookers. No one helped.

Chuck says I did everything right and I did the best I could do. He thanked me for protecting our dog. Yet there's a big part of me that feels like I didn't do it right, that I could have done better or more. It hurts.

It's hard being a dad. This is my first experience of it. You want to protect your baby from harm and you want to harm anyone who is a threat to your baby. I get that now.

On the positive side, this seems to have bonded Mabel to me in a new way. She just about won't leave my side tonight. I'm glad about that. I want her to feel like she is loved and protected and that nothing will harm her.

I just wish that I could make that always the case. I don't know if I can. Especially if stupid people continue to allow their untrained dogs off leash to wander around, looking for trouble.