A CONCERNED dog owner is urging others to be more cautious with their pets after her seven-month-old pup was attacked while walking on the beach.

A woman – who wished to remain anonymous – was walking her Border Collie puppy on Seascale Beach, when a large dog ran "a good 200 yards" towards them.

But the dog wasn't coming over for a relaxed greeting, and instead attacked the young collie, named Badger, lunging for it six times despite him cowering and yelping – and left him with open wounds on his side and back.

"It was very frightening," Badger's owner said. "The dog came running over and hit into [Badger] like an express train, which terrified him.

"I fell over my dog as he was trying so desperately to get away from the big dog, and was lying face down on the sand with blood pouring from my nose with him still trying to hide from the other dog, but also protect me."

She continued: "Seascale can be a very busy beach, and these things can happen sometimes, but when a dog barrels over from that far away, you just don't expect it."

And it wasn't just the attack that she and her pup didn't expect, as Badger's injuries were only discovered after they returned home.

The Seascale woman said: "I didn't see that he had been hurt at the time, so when we got home and I saw that he'd been bitten, I just wept.

"He had patches of hair ripped out on his side and his back, which caused open wounds, and he's now on antibiotics and pain medication as well, so it's been very upsetting."

While she was "furious" at the time of the encounter, Badger's owner also felt sorry for the other dog owner, as "these things can happen", no matter the breed, age or temperament of a pet.

"It's not a solution to ask people to keep dogs on a lead all the time, because that's not fair, but people really do need to be more considerate and cautious when it comes to letting them run off the lead," she said.

"I felt sorry for the other dog owner, as they looked as upset and angry as I was, but I also think if they had kept their dog on a lead, mine wouldn't have been injured."

She continued: "It's about being aware – your dog may be fine with other dogs, but there are so many rescues who are frightened of dogs running over to them.

"You never know what's going on in a dog's mind, or what they've been through in their life, so it's always better to just be cautious and aware of what could happen, and what they could do – and keep your dog on a lead if you're in a new or uncertain situation."