Jogger attacked by shepherd’s dogs on solo run in Nice backcountry

A woman has sustained several injuries after being attacked by two Anatolian shepherd dogs while running alone in the back-country near Nice. 

Nathalie Leblanc, who is five months pregnant, was on an early-morning jog in Saint-Dalmas-le-Selvage, a small village in the Tinée valley, when the attack happened last week. 

Her route was a public communal path (chemin communal) that she frequently uses. However, she told French media Le Figaro that a couple of kilometres along the path was a flock of sheep, guarded by what she thought to be a ‘patou’ sheepdog. 

Ms Leblanc could also see a shepherd’s caravan was on the path.

“I decided to turn back…dogs scare me,” she said.

However when doing so two Anatolian shepherd dogs (not the patou) ran towards Ms Leblanc and attacked her.

Injuries to arms, shoulders, and legs

One of the dogs bit her leg, causing her to fall, as the other attacked her shoulder and arm.

Protecting her head and neck, Ms Leblanc was unable to fend off the attack which she estimated lasted no more than a minute. 

The shepherd was not nearby and no one heard her calls for help. 

She managed to get up at which point one of the dogs returned to the sheep, however the other chased her for around a kilometre. 

“It needed to get me away from there. I left without ever turning my back on it,” she said, adding that the dog only left after she found a large stick to wave at it, and threw stones at it. 

Ms Leblanc’s doctor advised that her injuries were severe but not life-threatening. 

She was lucky: if the dogs had attacked her throat “it would have been over in two minutes,” the doctor is reported to have said. 

What are the rules if attacked by a dog? 

Ms Leblanc has filed a complaint with local gendarmes, although the case is set to be potentially complex. 

Her partner contacted the local mayor who is not known to have taken any action.

A lawyer representing the shepherdess who owns the dogs said his client “denies any criminal responsibility [and is] actively preparing her defence.” 

Ms Leblanc has requested the dogs are put down which the defence lawyer argues is ‘unprecedented and unlikely’. 

In general the owner of a dog which attacks someone is likely to be held responsible, particularly if their dog was not on a leash.

Penalties are much stricter if a person dies as a result of an attack – more rules can be found in our article on what to do following a dog bite. 

However in March this year (2025) several rules for farmers and shepherds were changed, including the removal of the automatic presumption of criminal liability for the owner of a dog working in the agricultural sector in the event of an incident, providing that all necessary safety steps and precautions are followed. 

Ms Leblanc claims that by attacking a person the two dogs in her case have not been taught to differentiate between humans and animals, risking further attacks on other people. 

The Ministry of Agriculture has previously recognised the need to raise awareness for walkers and hikers to know and adopt the right attitude towards dogs. 

This includes keeping your distance from both dogs and herd animals, staying off of private land, and learning the signals a dog may exhibit before becoming aggressive.