Can you please help me decide what to do? My dog was attacked in the park today and I dont know whether to report it to the Dog Warden or not. As background, my dog has fear aggression and if scared will run up and bark at people which we are working really hard on. For the record, he is muzzled because of this for his and other people's protection. He is not allowed off lead if i think there will be any trigger to his behaviour. I am saying this to demostrate that my dog is no angel but his behaviour has nothing to do with what happened today. I can honestly say it was 100% not his fault.
What happened today is that I and my dog were at one end of a very large enclosed area in the park. It is used mainly by dog owners as it is fully enclosed. I noticed a group of dogs (maybe 4/5) with adults all off lead at the other end of the area. I am at the other end with my dog who is not bothered by the other dogs at all. I am practicing some sit and stays with treats with my dog, with my dogs back to the other dogs.
All of a sudden one of the other dogs runs from the opposite end of the area (about 250M)
He tries to play with my dog, my dog not interested and just ignores him. The other dog won't leave him alone.
I shout to the owner to call his dog off. He starts calling but dog is ignoring him. Dog is getting more wound up and start playing rough at my dog. My dog growls back and tries to indicate he is not interested. Other dog starts getting aggressive and trying to bite my dog, I have to use my foot to push him off my dog. I am holding my dog by the harness. Dog owner is walking across park but in no hurry. The other dog is getting more and more aggressive and is now full on attacking my dog. My dog is yelping and trying to get away. Dog owner starts to run but when he gets there keeps telling me to grab his dog instead of getting him himself. I try but am nervous. I am also seven moths pregnant id that makes any difference. I eventually manage to grab his dogs collar (he is full on baring teeth ans is quite scary) and pull him off. The other owner is a little defensive and says my dog is fine. I said that he should be but I'm going to get him checked at the vets anyway. I say that my dog is muzzled and away from other dogs as he is a nervous dog and that if his dog has no recall he shouldn't be off his lead. Owner said he normally has recall and just wanted to play. I said that he wasn't playing. He agreed I took his phone number.
He has called me about an hour afterwards and checked if my dog is okay which he seems to be (have spoken to vet and gone though all we need to watch for)
Now, my dog is no angel but I try to be as responsible as possible and keep him under control as well as ongoing training to change his behaviour. Part of me thinks don't report it as your dog isn't perfect and has tried to nip if he feels threatened (which is why he is muzzled) and the other part of me thinks that the other owner had no control of his dog that was at the other end of the behaviour spectrum and that it should be reported. If my dog was a small breed or I had a child with me it could have been a whole different story.
What would you do?
Sorry for short sentences, typing on phone.
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Report to dog warden or not? Long.
17 replies
TakingTheStairs · 22/09/2013 14:04
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