I've search through other threads and online but I can't quite see what I'm looking for so posting for advice. It would be great to hear from a police officer or professional dog handler.
Yesterday we were walking on a dog friendly beach. Within a 50m section there would be at least 1 or 2 dogs so it's busy. Most dogs are off lead running into the sea, digging, chasing balls etc. and it's fantastic for them. I was chatting to a couple as my dog was playing with theirs when we saw an attack. 2 large but sleek dogs (not sure of bread) were tossing a little fluffy dog between them and biting. All dogs were off lead so the owners were struggling to get in to separate them. The two didn't give up easily but after a couple of minutes the owner did manage to prise the attackers off and the little dog got away. It was walking away so there is a chance the attack looked a lot worse than it was but it did look very bad with the little one being tossed around.
I had grabbed my dog and the couple I was talking to had done the same, then the man went to help separate the attackers. He came back with a cut on his hand but thought it was from a lead slicing into him in the chaos rather than a bite. One of the attacking dogs was muzzled, but honestly I'm not sure that it was during the attack as I don't see how the attacking dogs could have been pulling the little one between them if one was muzzled, so the owner might have slipped it on in the confusion or to bring the dog under control.
I was shaken, not as much as the owners or the dog, but it got me thinking how I would react if this happened to my dog. My questions are; what should you do to stop an attack like this? Is there such a thing as a 'playful' attack where the dog doesn't mean harm? Are there legal things to consider like contact details, witnesses and photos? Is it any different getting involved if it's not your own dog being hurt?
I was thinking about getting a walking stick to help my balance, now I'm thinking it might be protection too, but could I get into trouble, or would it make a dog more angry if it got a solid whack if it was attacking? There's a bit of whataboutery but the beach is not exclusively for dogs so I couldn't help think what would have happened if it was a child the dogs went after, made me feel sick. I want the beach to be a great place for everyone and the off lead opportunity for exercise is doggy heaven, I just want to know what to do if things go wrong.
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The doghouse
What to do when a dog attacks
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NotAllIndividuals · 21/10/2018 07:29
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