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The doghouse

Dog on dog attack

20 replies

NewYoiker · 19/03/2019 00:36

Right this is horrible.

My 4 month old puppy was in the garden with our 10 year old dog. All happy and well, then a beagle/pug cross who lives 4 doors down ran out of his house up the communal path and into our garden

He knocked over the exercise pen the puppy was in and picked her up by the neck and shook her like a doll. She was screaming, I was trying to pry his mouth off her and I must have dropped the other dogs lead.

Our other dog ran over and bit the neighbours dog on the back in between his shoulders and he dropped the puppy.

Then the owner of the dog arrived and started screaming and crying that hes never bitten a dog just her husband and her and this is so out of character for him.

Both of my dogs were at this point back inside our house, she's been to the vet and will need to go back tomorrow for a second check up.

Who do I report this to? Would the police be interested? And will I be in trouble for my dog biting her dog?

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Boredgiraffes · 19/03/2019 00:47

I don’t know the laws but it must have been so upsetting for you, how are you and your dogs?

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NewYoiker · 19/03/2019 00:52

I'm so upset that I couldn't stop her being hurt. She's a really quiet and our other dog is very protective of her tonight and keeps licking her head.

I think I'm going to report it online as I think you can here. I don't want him put to sleep (the other dog) i think I'd feel awful if that happened but then again he could have killed her.

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Boredgiraffes · 19/03/2019 01:11

You need to think what could have happened if you hadn’t been there. Not just to a dog but also a child. You should report. I hope your dogs are ok, this is a case of bad humans not dogs, training is a must.

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BiteyShark · 19/03/2019 05:24

Report to the police, council dog warden and if you are insured to them as well so they can recover your vet fees.

This is so wrong on every level. That their dog escaped, came into your garden and attacked your puppy and that they are 'shocked' because it had only bitten them before.

Hope your little one is ok and thankful your big dog fought him off.

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Bookworm4 · 19/03/2019 05:34

This is upsetting yes, personally I wouldn't be reporting this, it's very unfortunate but you would be better sorting this out yourselves, talk to your neighbour and ask them to be more vigilant with the dog, reporting them could end up badly for your dog too if they choose to make a fuss. I think nowadays people overreact to dog incidents, secure your garden to stop dog coming in or yours getting out. Remember you all have to live together and the repercussions of reporting could make everything very horrible to live next to each other. 10 yrs ago nobody would consider 'oh who can I report to', dogs are not perfect and these things happen. Also why is your garden so easy to access, I would think having two dogs it would be secure.

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Bookworm4 · 19/03/2019 05:37

The 'it could be a child is ridiculous ' the dog grabbed a small pup which is not comparable to a child ffs
I've worked with dogs for years and the most dog on dog aggressive dog can be perfect with kids; they're two entirely separate behaviours. By the same thought the OP dog could bite a child that grabbed the pup: illogical line of thought.

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BiteyShark · 19/03/2019 06:08

The 'it could be a child is ridiculous ' the dog grabbed a small pup which is not comparable to a child ffs

But the neighbours dog 'has' bitten its owners before. Why is it not comparable when they openly admit it bites its owners and now it attacks a puppy.

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AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 19/03/2019 08:39

But the neighbours dog 'has' bitten its owners before. Why is it not comparable when they openly admit it bites its owners and now it attacks a puppy.

I've been bitten by my dog before, hard - when he was more reactive towards motorbikes, didn't know what to do with himself, turned around and bit my leg because it was nearby (not because it was me!). In the park (ie away from triggers) he's off lead and absolutely fine - even on those rare occasions where a toddler has thrown themselves at him (he just walks off). Most dog bites are very context specific.

I'd avoid focusing on what could happen theoretically and look at what did happen and how to prevent a repeat. I'd report to the dog warden, with a stated aim that you want the dog to be better contained - depending on how it escaped, better fences or possibly a second gate to create an airlock style system. If necessary, muzzling in public too. Best to have some clear and realistic goals.

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adaline · 19/03/2019 09:11

How is your puppy now? That must have been really frightening!

Our pup was attacked at the beach (not to this extent though) and I'm afraid to say it's caused him issues ever since. Please, please make sure you don't let this set your pup back and really make sure you work on socialisation and getting your pups confidence back up around other dogs.

It sounds like poor training. I have a beagle and they have notoriously poor recall, which is why I don't let mine off the lead unless it's somewhere secure. I would imagine they opened the door/gate and the dog did a runner. Not saying it's acceptable but they should have had their dog under control. Like PP said it's poor training on the owners part, not necessarily the dogs fault.

However I would still report it. Not because the dog is dangerous necessarily but because if it happened again it could get the owners in serious trouble. If the dog has already bitten them both, what's to say it won't run off and bite a child next time?

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Floralnomad · 19/03/2019 09:12

I wouldn’t report it I’d just make my garden more secure and be checking that the neighbour has done likewise .

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BiteyShark · 19/03/2019 09:55

Avocados it's the fact that people on this thread are minimising dog on dog attacks and that the OP shouldn't bother reporting. Clearly the dog has issues whether that's in an unstandable context or not and now it's attacked a puppy who was in a pen.

Again people (not you) are saying well the dog shouldn't have gotten into the garden as if the OP is at fault even though the puppy was in a pen and hadn't done anything wrong in its own garden.

If my dog attacked either another dog or person I would expect to be reported and suck it up as to the consequences.

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Knowivedonewrong · 19/03/2019 11:16

I would report to the local dog warden, especially as it bitten its owners.

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Villanellesproudmum · 19/03/2019 11:29

I would report it, this is due to them also stating it has bitten them. Hope they are paying your vet bills. Agree get your pup out to controlled socialisation puppy classes to build confidence back up.

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NewYoiker · 19/03/2019 12:24

Well the house is listed and in the deeds it says no fencing in garden areas above 2 foot so everyone has a garden but no way of fencing it off. However that doesn't mean I can go into my neighbours garden as that is theirs. Our house is the only one. With an actual garden as in grass and a shed, the other houses have decided to use their gardens for parking or have just paved it over it's personal preference. Doesn't make it right that their dog ran out of their house and into our garden and bit my dog. If my dog runs out of my house then it's my responsibility to make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous and comes back immediately.

Both my dogs go out into our garden on a lead and we keep the basement door shut upstairs and the door to the garden/ communal path is locked at all times to prevent an escapee!

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tinstar · 19/03/2019 12:28

Nothing useful to add, but well done your other dog for making the aggressor drop your puppy.

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BiteyShark · 19/03/2019 12:29

How is she today?

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NewYoiker · 19/03/2019 12:35

She cried a lot last night then fell asleep on my husband, she's had some pain killers this morning and wanted to play so that's a good sign. We're back at the vets at 2 and hopefully they'll say she's okay

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AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 19/03/2019 16:43

Could you approach Historic England / the council / whoever regulates these things and try to get them to allow up to put up proper fences?

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BiteyShark · 19/03/2019 16:44

How did you get on at the vets? Hoping you have the all clear?

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JaneEyre07 · 19/03/2019 16:52

Mine was horribly attacked last year, and I still have nightmares about it. The noise he made screaming will never leave me. We were just walking off our drive about to go for our evening walk and a visiting dog (that was known to us, same village and had attacked ours twice before) at our NDN's came ripping through their hedge and launched onto our dog. It was horrific. It took 4 adults (DH and I, and our 2 NDN's ) to get the dog off, he was locked onto my dogs chest. We rushed him to the vet, he was checked over thoroughly and given painkillers but a few days later a massive blood clot appeared on his chest. Cost us over £400 in bills (other owner never paid).

We rang the Police as we don't have a local dog warden but we were told that dog on dog attacks aren't reportable - we only got somewhere as my hand got bitten trying to separate the dogs. It went to court but the NDN lied to say the owner wasn't there (we saw them) so they weren't prosecuted under the dangerous dog act as we'd hoped but they were given a control order and the dog has to be on a muzzle and lead at all times in public.

It's taken our dog almost a year to be confident meeting other dogs again and we've worked with a behaviourist. I dread walking my dogs now (we have a puppy too) as I felt so utterly powerless when this happened and don't know how I'd defend my dog if I was alone. It's one of the worst things I've ever gone through so christ knows how my darling kind gentle soul of a dog felt.

I hope your dogs are on the mend soon Flowers

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