advice on how to deal with a dog attack - Page 1

Hi everyone. (sorry this is long!) This evening was extremely stressful for me. I just took my 4 month old pup out to the park for the first time with my family, she'd just finished her puppy series of vaccinations. What should have been a beautiful, warm spring evening with my family and pup, ended up being a horror. We were at the playground, my younger children running around with other kids, the puppy was right in the middle of it all and loving every minute of it, when 3 teenage girls brought an unleashed dog close to the playground. I heard a dog barking and immediately picked up my pup, Athena, to keep her safe and walked over to my husband and handed her to him. The teenagers leashed the dog (with a flexi-lead) and sat on the swings. I had the feeling something was going to happen, but dismissed it as being an over protective puppy mom. The dog seemed 'ok' (he was a large mixed breed dog with some pit bull in him)but was occasionally barking and being boisterous. I was pushing my son in the swing, then walked over to get the pup from my husband to take her to where we were swining. The second I got to the swing, the dog lunged at my pup, the flexi-lead came flying out the girls hand and the only thing I could say was 'oh SH**'! The dog grabbed Athena by the throat and I thought for sure he was going to kill her. My husband jumped on top of the dog and was going to break his neck...but decided against it because the girls quickly grabbed the dog...but of course NOT quick enough! I was so mad, upset and covered in blood I just YELLED at those girls asking who was the owner..a FRIEND they said and appologized all over the place, a lot of good it does my puppy! Athena is alright, she has a couple of puncture wounds on her neck and bled for a little while, but is ok. My main concern is wondering if this traumatic incident is going to affect her for the rest of her life! I also have not called the 'owner' of the dog yet...I don't know what to say to the guy! The dog, in my opinion, should be put down, but I don't know how to say it. Should I ask him to pay the vet bill? what is the 'normal' routine for when something like this happens? Should I turn the dog into animal control? I feel this WILL happen again, either to another dog/pup or possibly a child. I always have my dogs under control and EXPECT others to do so also.. *sigh*...any ideas guys? Peggy

Did you get the names of the teenagers that had the dog? I would take pictures of the wounds, get a copy of the vet bill and what they had to say about it...I would definately tell the owner..for one he may not know, and could be a nice person-he may feel terrible and pay the bills and not let his dog out again.. OR he may be an a** and not help or care...if that is the case I would then report it to the dog control... Good luck..

Hi Yeti Yes my husband and my oldest son talked to the girls and got their phone number, plus the phone number of the guy who owns the dog. They said they would tell him as soon as they took the dog back to his home. The girls were obviously upset, but they should have had the dog under control. Thank you for the advice. I've been breeding and training GSD's for 10 years and this is the first time I've ever had anything happen like this before. I am always so careful. I know it only takes one bad experience to ruin a dog, sure hope this isn't the case this time...I have a lot of high hopes for my girl. peggy

I am glad that your puppy is okay in a manner of speaking, considering the situation. It could have been much worse. Hopefully she will forget this incident as time goes by. Now, I absolutely expect the owner of this dog to pay for the cost of the veterinary care. Even though he was not with his dog, he is still ultimately responsible for the control of his dog. And when the teenager's lost their grip on the lead that dog was out of control. If he gives you a hard time, just tell him that you will either see him again in small-claims court or perhaps make a telephone call to his homeowner's insurance agent. Now, that will get his attention. Should his dog be put down? Now that is a hard one. If the dog has a history of unwarranted attacks on other dogs then perhaps so. Or, is this an isolated incident? That may be difficult to determine. At the least, the dog should never be allowed to leave his yard again. Best of luck, Bob-O

Hi Peggy. It's very important that you don't start paniking when you're out with Athena and you meet an other dog. It won't be easy but there's no way of avoiding it. In an ideal world things like that don't happen, but as that is not the case, we'll have to learn that incidents like that can happen, and though Athena is young she'll recover from the shock quicker than us humans do. Try to find a puppy group where puppies of around the same age can get to learn to play with each other in an enviroment that is puppy compatible. I would definately inform the owner of Athenas' attacker. I would also send him a copy of the vets' bill. Bob-O is absolutely right when he said that the dog owner is responsible for his dog even if he wasn't there as the incident happened. If the dog isn't reliable, then he shouldn't be out with inexperience kids/teenagers. I wish Athena a quick and solid recovery and I hope you and your family can go out with your puppy as if nothing bad had happened. Iggeli

Absolutely the owner is responsible, whether he is nice about it or not. You certainly need to know if the other dog was properly vaccinated, mostly for rabies. Around here if something like that happened a police report would be made and the dog would be quarantined (in home most likely) for 10 days, perhaps the owner would be cited, especially if the dog was not licensed. The most important part is that your dog got the right care right away. Several yrs ago I had my dog in my yard and a dog from down the street came into our yard and my dog bit him. The owner didnt do anything and the dog died. I felt bad for the dog but he had an irresponsible owner. When you contact the owner just be matter of fact and try not to be emotional, I know it can be difficult. You do have avenues at your disposal , like Bob-o said, through the courts. I am sorry you had to go through this but it sounds like your dog will be ok, and you are ok also. For whatever it is worth I once knew a pitbull named Leroy that was the sweetest most well behaved dog you could imagine, nobody ever told him he was a pitbull. And when I worked at a kennel the meanest dogs were the cockers and dalmations, and the only one that ever bit me was a Schnauzer. Try not to let this incident overwhelm you. :) ~~C

Socialize the pup as much as possible with other dogs you KNOW will be good with her. The pup should soon forget about the incident if you continue socializing her with friendly dogs. This need not be a death sentence for the other dog (assuming he has not done this reapeatedly), and in no way indicates he will assume the same behavior on a human. Dogs will be dogs, sometimes this happens, although it is rather disturbing that it was an unprovoked attack on a puppy. The owner of the dog is 100% responsible for any vet bills.

Contact animal control as the dog should be quarantined for 10 days to be evaluated. Also make a report at the sheriffs office. This may not be the dogs first offense. The owner should pay your veterinarian costs, this should be the least he does. Best of Luck to you and your pup. Kari

How awful for you and your little puppy. When I walk Blitz I carry a wiffle ball bat and a can of pepper spray since I live in a developement where many dog owners are in lala land and pay no attention whatsoever to their dogs. I do not hesitate to use either if a dog tries to attack him; Blitz is not a fighter and I want him to stay that way. I agree with vomveiderheiss, contact animal control and the sheriff's office and the owner of that dog should pay your vet bills. I know that parks are nice places to socialize dogs, but I refuse to use them just because there are so many irresponsible people there with dogs.

I manage an Animal Shelter !!! That being said I am pretty familiar with how most states handle bite cases. Though some do vary. Here all bites are reported and all biters must be held in quarantine for 10 days for Rabies Hold observation, After that we evaluate the dog to see if the dog is truly an unpredictable dog or if this is just a weird situation that happened if we feel the dog will bite again, we testify to that feeling and the judge has always ordered the dog Euthanized. You must do the following things... 1. Report the bite to jurisdictional police, City, County or whatever where you were at the time of the bite determines Jurisdiction. 2. Notify animal control and ask them to get involved. 3. Ask the owner for proof of Rabies 4. Get a copy of the vet bill and submit it the police, animal control, and owner of the dog. 5. Get proactive and get yourself involved Quickly and efficiently. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if I can help in any way. if you need a phone number to call me just email me and I will give it to you. Best of Luck Mitch