I was at the schutzhund club with my dog, training.. usual day, the owners of the club brought out a dog that I had never seen before.. beautiful bi-color.. my mother asked to pet him, the owner said okay, aftera few moments of petting him, the dog started leaning into her, jumped up and gripped her throat, put a gash on her throat about an inch deep.

There were four people standing around when it happened including the trainer of the club, everyone took a step back when he attacked like my mother had a disease or something, luckily he let go on his own... they didn't even correct the dog, one person even said "oh.. it's just a scratch you don't need to go to the hospital." 

I later learned, that someone gave them the dog TWO years ago and he can't do schutzhund because he's a "free spirit" and is slightly handler aggressive.

Thoughts?

OMG, how awful.  I'm glad your mom is alright.  I'm wondering if that same dog goes and grabs a child by the throat next time if the owner will tell the police and humane agent "oh, it's just a scratch, besides he's a "free spirit"." ??? If he can't do schutzhund and they know this why was he even at the club in the first place??  And why in the world are they saying it's ok to pet him if they know he's unpredictable??  Sounds pretty irresponsible to me.

Sure would make me think about if I wanted to go back there again.  Hope your mom is ok.

glad your mom is ok that dog needs sorting out and the owner if one of mine did that unprovoked it would be a trip to the vet!!

An inch "deep"  I would think your mom would have been sending some time in the local ER.

-Calvin

When asked if they are going to put the dog down, she said she had not decided the fate of the dog, like Agar said... what if that dog gets ahold of a little kid?  That is my mother and I's major concern.  No one helped her, my mother is disabled... it was so sad to see her alone, against this dog, and I was too far away.. the trainer of all people I am most upset with, 10 years, and he didn't have the reflex to do something while he held onto her neck.

They can't stitch it, and it just missed her thyroid, xrays showed she was okay, only issue is infection.

Infection could be a BIG issue if it sets in.  I just spent a week in the hospital not too long ago with something very minor that turned into an infection that wasn't so minor.  And to boot you're mother is disabled makes the whole situation even all the more worse. 

There's no excuse for all those people to have just stood there watching it happen.  I understand sometimes things happen so fast you tend to freeze up but I can't see EVERY SINGLE person freezing up INCLUDING the owner. 

Did the owner ever at any point apologize or inquire about your mother's recovery?

They have her on two different antibiotics, and told her she needs to go to the doctors tomorrow.  (It's a married couple) the wife apologized, I'm sure she was upset she seems like a sweetheart, but the husband, who is the trainer, said nothing to us.. not a word.  It's funny too, because a few weeks ago I was having a hard time stayinh still without a harness when he was doing some bite work with my dog and he said "if I get bit, I will be pissed" and she ended up nicking his hand, and THAT was just a scratch.

Your right, four people all freezing, he was latched onto her throat long enough for someone to snap out of it, I was too far away, by the time I got there, he let go.  of course, I wouldn't have wanted the person holding the leash to have yanked back, because her throat could have very well went with him. 

We are both very grateful it wasn't worse, it could have been her face, or her hip.

The club should have insurance.  If your mom didn't sign any sort of waiver, she should at least get her medical bills paid for!  I'm so glad the injury wasn't worse and that she'll be ok.

Sounds to me like everything that should have been done, wasn't!  If the dog bite your mom that badly {a inch deep bite on the neck}, she probably should have went to the doctor immediately...... and animal control should have been called immediatly.....   They would have deemed the dog too dangerous for public, the dog would have been taken from them, and their would be a hearing to determine it's fate.  It can still be done!

Years ago at our club we had a dog that was like that.  The handler bought (cheap) a schH1 GSD  (this was after he tried to do schutzhund with offf breed).  Anyway, he asked me to hold the dog while he walked away to do a recall, dog seemed normal.  As he was about half way down field the dog just turned and attacked me.  I have a scar on my forearm, but that's OK because it saved my face.   Anyway, the guy felt really bad & it wasn't his fault. Sometimes shit happens, we are dealing with dogs in a protection sport.  In my case, holding onto a dog I didn't know well was my fault, no one else's. 

The hospital will contact the SPCA, they told us. 

I agree with you Sue, shit does happen.... I am glad that I trust my dogs, though.  The problem is, they KNEW the dog had issues, that's why they kept him locked up, I didn't know about it, until my dad told me when we got home he overheard them talking about him one day....and they told my mother she could pet him, I don't get it.  And to be the trainer, and not apologize, he is accepting his fault, in my mind. 

Do you think the dog should be put down?

How awful for your mom! She is lucky the dog didn't get the carotid artery. I thought I read on another thread recently, the one about the dog bite at Petsmart, that whenever you go to the hospitol or doctor with a dog bite it is reported. Hard call on if the dog should be PTS. I think it might depend on if his owners get a wake up call or if they are still going to be unresponsible .....sounds like they were as much at fault for saying she could pet the dog.

Why on earth would they bring a dog like that out to club and let your mother pet him! 

i think the dog needs to be assessed by a professional trainer if indeed the dog is aggressive without good cause yes it should be destroyed. and the owners need to take a look at their dog training skills

He is almost 7 years old, I'm really not sure training is an option at this point.  Because the wife said, her husband can't handle a dog like him, right there.. that says it all. 

no what i am saying is the dog needs to be temperament tested

He'll fail a temperment test with flying colors.  Nervy nervy....

if you truly think that this dog poses a risk to the general public i strongly suggest that you speak to the owners. or speak to animal control

The dog has handler aggression issues, that's not a reason to put him down.  Neither is what is what happened with your mom - In my eyes, the real tragedy here is if this dog continues to remain in the hands of an irresponsible incompetent jerk  who not only cannot handle his own dog  but also experiments with innocent bystanders to gauge the mood of his dog. 

If this dog does not get into much better hands it will happen again, and someone might be hurt even more seriously  and of course the dog will have to be destroyed.