To be so angry my dog was attacked this morning

[Fantasticmissfoxy]

I took my dog for a walk this morning to a woodland surrounding a local park - popular with dog walkers / runners etc.

By way of background and to avoid drop-feeding, dog is a small breed (about 8kg) and a laid back friendly sort of chap. He has recall issues if he is excited by something to chase and because of this I keep him on an (extendable) lead at all times when we are out walking in public.

Whenever anyone is approaching (another dog, a walker, a runner, a horse, cyclist whatever) I shorten the lead so he's walking right beside me and doesn't trip anyone up.

Had been walking today for about an hour and a woman comes towards us with a large Labrador / Labrador cross type dog (off lead) as they approach the dogs body language to me is getting aggressive / wary. Despite this the woman doesn't put it on the lead (which is in her hand) My dog is at heel, on a short lead. As they pass this dog launches itself at mine and starts to attack him. It took a few minutes of her screaming at him and flapping the lead before she got him back under control. Luckily my dog is physically fine but very shaky and frightened.

AIBU to be so angry that people are so bloody thoughtless when it comes to keeping their damn animals under control!!?? Poor dog is lying at my feet shaking still

I feel the same
Get your dog checked over
Do you know anyone with a friendly dog that could come over , just to reassure your dog that he doesn't have to be scared ?

YANBU. My old girl (lurcher) has been basically 'ruined' (feel terrible for saying that as she is wonderful!) as she was attacked my three out of control dogs when she was a younger bitch. The couple walking (I say walking but they were all off the lead in an area with ground resting birds where there are signs specifically asking for dogs to be on leads) the dogs were yards behind them and the dogs ran at my girl attacking her. DH let her go as she is super quick and the only chance she had was to run -she has good recall but ran the three plus miles home across the fields knackering her legs and paws. If he hadn't let go the other dogs would have killed her. Did the other owners give a shit? Not one. A shoulder shrug and "I'm sure she will come back" and they were on their way. Fucking arseholes. Now she is very wary of other dogs and can be snappy with them if they come near. Before she was great. I haven't come across these people again fortunately -they did get a massive mouthful from DH but didn't care. I can't stand irresponsible dog owners!!!

Annette I think I'm going to try and walk him with my sister in laws dog for a few days - try and get his confidence back 😔

Namechange your poor girl 😔 I really feel strongly that people should be prosecuted for being in charge of an out of control dog - whether it attacks another dog, person , horse, whatever. And I believe that all dogs should be on leads in public places unless it is a designated and fenced 'free running' area, very much like they have in the states. In fairness to the owner of the dog, she was very apologetic, but it was just so bloody avoidable! And I saw her later on and the damn thing still wasn't on a lead 😡

I feel for you, and your pooch. My dog has been attacked twice by other dogs. If you have a dog warden it may be worth ringing them and filling them in. Could be that the owner/dog have done this to others and potentially something (not sure what) could be done?

Hope pooch is OK and it doesn't affect him too badly.

Oh your poor dog (and poor you too) that must have been awful to witness.

This is one reason I keep our 7 mo Doberman on the lead as she has developed bad habits regarding recall (selective deafness more like) so while we are working hard at sorting this she stays on a lead, plus shes so big and heavy even at 7 mo that it's not fair on other people/dog walkers to have to deal with an excitable and strong dog. I can't understand why dog owners who clearly have absolutely no control over their dog's allow then to be off lead. Yes it's nice to allow their dogs to have a good run but until recall/bad behaviour is sorted out the dog shouldn't be off lead.

I hope your dog is okay, and as AnnetteCurtains said maybe it would be a good idea just to get your dog checked over, better safe than sorry.

Thanks LittleRed - I totally agree, no dog no matter how well trained is 100% reliable and especially if they are big and strong they can do so much damage! Will look up the dog warden and see if I can email a report or something. My bloody knee is agony as well as the stupid thing was bashing into me to try and get to my dog who was trying to hide behind me! Didn't realise until afterwards as the adrenaline was pumping

YANBU! People who don't keep their dogs under control really annoy me. Hope your dog is ok.

Thyme I've managed to do an online report to the dog warden - obviously without an owners name their isn't much they can do but hey ho at least I feel I've done something...

It's worth doing I think. I always have great intentions of whipping my 'phone out and taking a picture when something happens; in reality, you panic too much to think rationally. It's idiots like this that give the rest of us a bad name.

This happened to us recently and it left us very shaken. I shouted at the woman (who had three small children). "He'll go for a child next!" And she said "Oh he doesn't go for children, only dogs." Idiot. Hope your dog is okay.

Obviously not BU. I'm pretty sure it's law that dogs must be kept on a lead at all times when in public places? Someone correct me if I'm wrong?

I had a horrible experience like this when two "guard" dogs (marked on the entrance to their property) one a GSD and one a massive lab - who was surprisingly the more aggressive of the two, got out of the garden and came bounding towards me and my dog (on a lead as in an ex-racing greyhound) growling and all hackles up. Fortunately, their owner managed to get them back before anything happened but we reported it to the local council. It was utterly petrifying.

I always keep ours on a lead unless in a contained field, and if she's let of there she has a muzzle on. She's fine with other dogs but I don't know how she is with tiny dogs (given her racing background) and I would never take the risk. It's stupid.

I also got attacked while out horse riding -I was alone with DHorse and was passing a drive on a country lane when a loose collie dog charged out onto the lane and went for the horse. Luckily he is a dude and apart from a bit of swerving and mini rears behaved beautifully. I yelled for the owner/s numerous times but nobody appeared so I'm not ashamed to say I walloped it as hard as I could with my schooling whip and it ran away tail between legs. Luckily only a small scratch on horse hind where the dog jumped up. I've never hit an animal like that but it was either going to really bite horse or get its head kicked off.

My poor boy has been attacked on a number of occasions. He's not a small dog either, he's a Collie/GSD cross. It's unfortunately made him quite wary of other dogs, especially out of control lively ones which come bounding up to him. Unless we know the dog, if I see another approaching I put him on his lead and hope that the other owner will do the same to their dog. Quite often you get the "it's okay, he's friendly" response when they don't but they don't understand that their dog's actions are making mine nervous and uncomfortable.

Namechange there was a horrible incident like this recently local to me where a dog attacked a horse in the forest and it bolted onto a main road where it was hit by a lorry - the owner had fallen off just before it reached the road or she would have been killed too 😥 Its far too common

I always have great intentions of whipping my 'phone out and taking a picture when something happens

I would like to see the owners of offlead dogs prosecuted if that dog approaches and attacks a dog who is on a lead.

If your dog is aggressive, put it on a leadwhen around other dogs

Oh, and People should definitely take photos.
Name and Shame.

Might be worth registering it with the dog warden: it's unlikely anything will be done, but it may be that a picture is emerging/will emerge if this has happened more than once.

I have a fear aggressive dog. I've had to become used to stares and comments when the whole reason this began was because she was attacked by an out of control dog. It can be tiring. I have a yellow 'nervous' lead and she only runs free in fields where I've a good view of what's coming. I will also ask people to recall their dogs if one starts zooming towards us (sometimes, that's met with verbal aggression but I don't care - my priority is my dog, followed by your dogs safety). I don't (intentionally) go into areas populated by dogs, though sometimes it's unavoidable.

I'd be mortified if she ever really attacked (barking/lunging looks unpleasant, but it really is hot air) and would immediately offer to pay for any vet treatment. I'd also be considering if there was anything different I could have done in the situation (unless mine is on lead and being harassed) and then put it into practice.

There is always one irresponsible owner that has to make life difficult for all.

Your poor dog my little BT has been attacked a few times by labs/lab types. So many idiots buy them and don't train them and they're so BIG

I have a very large dog who is a total wuss. She's 40kgs but was attacked while she was on the lead by a pit bull which wasn't. The owner had no interest in getting involved and we are very lucky our son (who was holding the lead) wasn't bitten. Now my dog is terrified of other dogs and has potential to be aggressive towards other dogs, and we are spending a fortune re-training her. It's slowly paying off, but I am firmly of the belief that all dogs should be on a lead unless they are on their own property.

Godstopper I think we have the same dog!

I spend my life looking around corners as I clip on her lead, and go out of my way to avoid other dogs. Once she has met a dog and gets on with it - she is fine. If she was off lead and met another dog 9 times out of 10 she would be fine, but she has been known to start scrapping! She has never bitten another dog, but she isn't going to get chance. Unless she knows the dog, then she is on the lead around other dogs, and when out walking past other dogs, I give them lots of room ( with herself lungeing like mad... )

Yet still, the other day going across a path,I put her on the lead as I saw 4 off lead dogs with owners all chatting. The dogs approached mine and started sniffing round her whilst she was trying to escape and growling! The owners were just chatting and watching! We were surrounded and I couldn't move, whilst trying to keep mine calm. I did get them to call off their dogs eventually...

It is tricky. I have a scrappy dog who was attacked by a mastiff as he was being walked out of a pub adding to scrappy dog's concerns. SD is now muzzled, but often has to address dogwalkers with 3 or more dogs off lead working as a pack and little .

1. You have a friendly dog - why shouldn't it be off the lead if you have good recall?
2. You have a nervy dog and friendly dog approaches - muzzle helps on nervy dog and a warning.
3. You are part of a large walking group with dogs or dog walkers with all dogs off lead. Nervy dog comes up on lead with muzzle. Your dogs start trying to be friendly but dog on lead v pack of dogs is a problem. What would you do if owner of dogs or owner of nervy dog?

Yes Apocalyptic - walks can sometimes feel like a military operation! Get a fear aggressive dog and you too can become a ninja, learning how to duck behind cars and dive into hedges with ease.

Just now, we've returned from one where a woman with five dogs was on her mobile oblivious to the fact that one had ran off and was bothering mine. When she noticed she just kept walking and eventually tried to call it (didn't work). Meanwhile, mine is becoming more and more bothered, and you can bet had she responded (it's 50/50 whether she does but I can't risk it) it would be me that is told off. It's f**g ridiculous, and sometimes I want to let Scrabble off the lead to teach people like this a much needed lesson (except I never would, purely because I care more about their dog than them).

No problem with friendly dogs off-lead if it has good recall. If it has minimal recall, it really needs to be on-lead. 99.9% of issues that occur are because another dog has approached us, the owner does nothing, and my dog responds. And in fact, I no longer see Scrabble's response in these situations as a problem - I'd kick off if someone backed me into a corner and wouldn't leave me alone too.

I hope your little dog is ok. Really think small dog breeding should be halted as I feel sorry for them.

Op I hope your dog is ok poor baby.

Threads like this petrify me. We have a little yorkie and she's mega friendly. We don't let her off the lead though as she's too precious and tiny so she roams our big garden and we just take her to the pub garden etc not woods or where too many off lead dogs are.

People should train their dogs!