My dog Has just bitten a puppy

[Houselikeashed]

Omg.
I'm mortified.
My 18month old dog has just bitten a puppy in the park.
I admit he was off the lead and running free. He is a well behaved dog until now with good recal.
Today he ran off and bit a young puppy on the nose. It bled a bit.
I stayed to check the puppy over and it didn't look bad. But there was a lot of barking and aggression from my dog.
What do I do now? Do I have to report it? I feel awful.

[Wolfiefan]

Did you speak to the owner? Did they take your details?

[Houselikeashed]

Yes I did. And I left my details.
There was a lady was with the puppy at the time who was obviously shocked, but not abusive, but a man came to find me later and had a go at me.

[Wolfiefan]

You must ensure this never happens again. Training? On lead for now? Use safe space? Would your insurance cover their vet fees or could you offer to pay too?

[Carolcool]

I had a thread on here similar to yours but I can't find it now.

My 2 year old previously very good dog was aggressive and bit a smaller, passive dog. My dog was off lead like yours. Luckily there was no mark or blood on the victim, owner was fine about it to my surprise.

I was just like you, mortified, felt sick about it for days. DH and MIL kept telling me not to worry and it happens from time to time, not a big deal! I did not agree! However about 6 months have passed and no hint of anything similar again. I just kept my dog on strict lead control for a while until started to feel
I could trust her a bit again. I still start all walks with her on a lead and call her back to the lead usually when other dogs are near.

So don't worry. It probably a one off. Just keep your dog on the lead for a while and monitor aggression. Don't be too alarmed by the puppy bleeding, probably just a nick.

[pigsDOfly]

You don't have to report it to anyone OP. Not sure who you'd actually report any dog on dog attack to tbh, even a very serious one, police don't get involved unless a human is injured.

You've done all you can and they have your details. It's possible they might want you to pay if puppy needs to be seen by a vet.

Is it possible the puppy was being annoying to your dog? Seems a bit odd for a previously well behaved dog just to run up to a puppy and bite it with no provocation.

My dog has growled at puppies before now for running around her and being annoying.

[houselikeashed]

Unfortunately I didn't see it start. The lady was behind a clump of trees doing some training so I didn't know she was there. No excuse I know, but if I'd have seen a puppy i would have put my dog on it's lead as a matter of politeness. When I got round the corner the woman was lying on the floor presumably trying to protect her dog.
Thankfully I have a session with a dog trainer tomorrow as our other dog (spaniel) has dreadful recall.
The biting dog is a border terrier.
I'm really scared the man will report us somewhere and we'll have to have him put down.

[Wolfiefan]

I would keep yours on lead for the time being. My mum has a dog reactive border. Perhaps a yellow I need space lead.
You need to be able to see and control your dog at all times. I let mine get slightly out of sight today. Only because I recognised the dog she wanted to go to and there was nobody else around. She stays close unless told she can “go on!”
Dogs shouldn’t face PTS for a dog attack. The only issue is if they threaten a person. If she reports that she was scared of your dog then that triggers the “dangerous dog” route. You need to show that you are taking this seriously (as you most clearly are). If you can ensure it can’t happen again then there really shouldn’t be an issue.
Hope all is well.

[houselikeashed]

Thanks everyone.
I'm pretty shocked by it all.
Obviously it's no off-lead play from now on.
I'll see what the trainer says tomorrow.
I'm really sure the pup will be ok though.

[Wolfiefan]

You’re doing the right thing getting advice from a professional you trust. Also have a google for safe spaces for places you can hire for safe and private off lead time.

[Honeyroar]

You've done everything right post incident. You can't change what happened. You're doing everything you can to prevent future incidents.

My old lab was superb with other dogs, but one day someone was walking past with a cute puppy on the lead and it went to sniff her. She absolutely snarled and snapped at it, out of nowhere. Luckily the leads stopped her reaching it. Turned out my placid, friendly dog absolutely hated puppies. We never let her near one ever again.

[Snappymcsnappy]

I wouldn’t let him interact with pups again and tbh I would monitor very closely with other, older dogs aswell.

I have a ‘reactive’ dog and it’s pretty rare for them to just go and bite, the worst mine has done has nip (adult dog) and she has never hurt a puppy.
Although she doesn’t like them and growls a lot.

From your posts it appears that it approached and bit, which I would find extremely worrying.
Usually they start small, posturing, stares, growls etc and it eventually progresses into biting.

[pigsDOfly]

Hope today goes well with the trainer OP.

It's a long way from one bite to a dog being pts. Try not to worry about that.

[houselikeashed]

So we're on the case with the trainer. All good and I feel a bit better about it now.

[Egg]

I have a border who went through a phase at a similar age, maybe a bit older, where I couldn’t trust her off lead with other small dogs. She never bit but twice she ran across a park to make aggressive noises towards another dog and on a few occasions was unfriendly to passing dogs.

I started keeping her on a lead or only taking her off in very empty areas, putting her back on if we spotted another dog. She was rewarded with a treat for every positive interaction she had with another dog.

A few years on she’s gone to the other extreme and lies down with her legs in the air for every dog we see. I still put her back on a lead if I see another dog on a lead that we don’t know or if more than one small dog is approaching, but she seems to be well and truly over her aggressive phase.

I’m still very cautious around puppies mind you, as they don’t know when to stop the silly play as they’re just babies still.

[pigsDOfly]

Glad it went well with the trainer and you're feeling better.

[Nesssie]

Puppies are annoying to dogs. Older dogs will react very different to puppies than to grown dogs. Its likely the puppy was a bit too 'in your face' for your dogs liking.

Apologise, pay for any vets bills (unlikely to need a vets though) and keep an eye on your dogs on future interactions.

No ones going to make you put your dog down.

[pigsDOfly]

That's the problem with puppies and older dogs some times I think Egg.

My dog can take or leave other dogs, she'll want to play with the odd one but mostly isn't interested but puppies really seem to irritate her.

My DD has a dog from the same mother as my dog and I remember running into the owner of the mother dog when DD's dog was about 4 months old. Mother dog got very growly in a sort of 'get that thing away from me' manner, and that was with her own baby.

[houselikeashed]

OMG. I've had the police round and had to sign an Adult Restorative Disposal form to say I admit to the offence of not controlling my dog.
It may show up on a DBS check which as a teacher is pretty scary stuff.

[Detoxpup]

How come what did the Police say?

[macaroniandpizza]

What did the police say?

[Namechangeforthiscancershit]

What? After all this time? Did you sign it?

[Wolfiefan]

Oh crap. Does it have conditions attached? Will it expire?

[houselikeashed]

Apparently the woman got two puncture wounds on her hand. (I'm guessing she put her hand in-between the dogs).
Policewoman wasn't very friendly tbh.

[Detoxpup]

Ok so this was not for the dog on dog attack. Did you see the injury are there any photos etc you still have to be proven guilty they can't just take her word for it.

Get a solicitor asap preferable contact doglaw and Trevor Cooper.

[XmasPostmanBos]

Sorry to hear that OP I know it was your fault but its very hard when your dog has always been friendly. Most people with friendly dogs let them run ahead and occasionally get out of sight behind a tree or whatever. It really is a shame this happened.