It's hard to remember stuff like this at this kind of time, but it is important to learn from stuff like this.
Accidents happen, mistakes happen. The mistake is not important, what is important is what you DO about them. You had a setback, yes. Moving foward and learning from it is all that is really important.
how's your leg?

I've been 'haunting' this thread and I'm horrified by how you were treated, Jennifer. You made a mistake, the kind many of us have made. There is no justification for letting this guy get away with assaulting you. I'm so angry FOR you. PLEASE report this guy. Not only did he beat a woman, he beat a woman with a broken leg (or did that happen after?). Guys that are this tightly wound don't care what kind of mistakes you make, they only need an excuse to be violent. I don't care how scared he was, this wasn't self-defense. Don't let him hide behind your guilt over a dog fight. You've paid the bill, you have a plan to prevent this from happening again. You did NOT deserve to be assaulted. I'm so sorry for your experience, but from where I'm sitting you've done a lot of good work with your dogs in spite of it being very difficult at times. This one instance does not negate all the good work you've done. Report this guy, heal, and then move forward on the positive path you've already established for yourself and your dogs. My thoughts are with you.

 Quote: Jennifer Mullen

....Otherwise....all the dogs are coming camping w/us at the end of the month - we'll be doing some long-distance bushwacking which should be fun - and Neb is coming on a 5.5 day canoe trip to Temagami in mid-July (my friend and I each have 2 adult dogs, and 4 adult dogs, one of which is Teagan, aren't going w/2 adult humans in a canoe, so all the big dogs stay at home, but Neb will be 11.5, 12 weeks old, so he's coming w/us). Neb already has his lifejacket! Otherwise, the only trip we're doing for sure is a 10-day backpack after the bf's half-ironman in September, which of course the dogs are coming on. And when Neb gets old enough, he'll be a runner like Luc. I'm being very careful now to keep his exercise mostly to non-structured play in the yard (though he is learning about leashes) since I don't want him over-exercised. In that sense, the fractured tibia comes in handy.

Jen, are you saying you're going to take the puppy on the long-distance trip at the end of this month? I'm sorry, I think that is way too much for a pup his age. It's going to be too strenuous for a pup that young.

The canoe trip, maybe, if you're going to be in the canoe the whole time except for camping. But in mid-July? It doesn't sound like a good idea for a pup that young. Also the 10 day backpack trip in September is too much, IMO, for a pup that young. He'll be only 5 months old. If you hike for a couple of hours and hunker down, maybe, but if you are an all day hiker, that's just too much for a pup.

Sandy makes a very good point about the long hikes at a young age, and particularly if you're planning for Neb to be running with you when he's older. That is a major amount of exercise for young, growing joints, even if you rest often and take it slow.

thanks everyone. i hadn't said anything to him, and had taken teagan off and moved her away when he hit me - i did report it to the police but said i didn't want to press charges (the police said he was lucky i didn't - but i still feel so terrible).

sandy, sarah - i should've said - i don't expect neb to do the hikes next weekend. i have a snugli from when i had a foster kitten w/mega-e (she had liquid meals, and i'd put her in it afterwards to help get the food down), and he'll be carried in that - obviously he'll get some running around, but i've already worked on getting him used to being carried in the snugli. the canoe trip is with a friend w/some medical problems, so it's far more relaxed than normal, most portages are short, and again, i've got the snugli for him. the backpack is also going to be lazy - usually i do try to push distance, but luc and i are the only experienced backpackers on the trip, and while teagan's HD is doing great, the trip is designed w/neb and teagan in mind, and also just to be a nice relaxed vacation for us. so we will be doing a few hours, maybe, and then stopping, and we're also keeping overall daily distances short.

oh - and i have no cast, so it's not obvious that my tibia is fractured.