The owner of a border terrier which was the victim of a vicious attack by two larger dogs on Therfield Heath wants to raise awareness of the dangers to prevent a similar incident happening in the future.

Robert Wilson was walking two terriers, five-year-old Bruno and six-month-old Lila, at about 10pm on Friday night when a German Shepherd and another dog ran up and attacked Bruno, biting him and shaking him like a rag doll.

Robert picked up Lila to protect her, then moved to put himself between Bruno and the other dogs to prevent them from continuing their attack.

The owner apologised, then quickly left.

Robert then carried Bruno, bleeding heavily from deep bite wounds, home before he received emergency veterinary care.

His wife Carol said: “The vet said he is very lucky to have survived the attack.

“Bruno had an operation to clean and close his numerous deep bites and also to reconstruct the muscle of his right shoulder.

“He’s now at home in severe pain with a drain in his shoulder, antibiotics and painkillers – and we need to visit the vets daily to check on his wounds.

“It has been a very traumatic experience and my children are very upset by Bruno’s injuries.”

The vet bill so far stands at £1,300 but, with more surgery needed on his injuries, this amount is likely to double.

Carol added: “We’re hoping that by sharing this the owner of the dogs will make contact and we can highlight how serious this was, discuss the incident and try to ensure that his dogs are kept under control on future walks.

“Bruno’s road to recovery will be very long and costly, but we are very lucky that he survived and we don’t want it happening to other dogs walking on the Heath.”

Sally Marchant is a dog trainer and behaviourist, and administrator of the Facebook group Royston Dog Walkers.

She said: “If your dog is aggressive, a bully, or simply overly friendly then it is important to keep them on a lead around other dogs that might be scared by them. Use a muzzle if you are worried your dog might cause harm to another dog or person. Train them at a distance to other dogs by rewarding them for looking at you rather than the other dog.

“If your dog is nervous or vulnerable it’s a good idea to train your dog to pay attention to you, stay close to you and turn their back on other dogs as it is very rare for a dog to attack a dog from behind.

“Group walks – like those attended by Royston Dog Walkers – are a great way to introduce your young dog to friendly dogs of many different ages, sizes and breeds.”

Visit Sally’s website www.naturallyhappydogs.com for more information on how to manage reactive dogs and socialise puppies. Readers can sign up for a month for free using the voucher code THECROW.