My dog attacked another dog in our garden

[Thesummeriscoming08]

My dog has never had any issues before regarding dogs or anything really. She is 4 years old.
where we live our front gated garden leads out on to a shared community garden / play ground, daughter often plays out in the communal area ( nearly 11 )
whilst son in the front garden.
its like a private estate - never any behaviour issues and no crime.
as you walk out of the gate of the estate, around a 5 minute walk away their is a little own run local restaurant.
they have a dog that walks around outside the restaurant alone which is next to a busy road. he often walks as far as ours does a poo and walks back- which has caused many complaints with neighbours etc
today DD was in the communal garden area and DS was in front garden with my aunt and our dog.
I was in the kitchen when all of a sudden I heard a commotion I ran outside to find my dog and this dog in a fight and I pulled them apart but the other dogs ear was bleeding by the time I managed to split them up.
my daughter was at this point also in the garden and crying.
my aunt had explained that daughter was running towards our front garden because she was being chased by the dog, crying saying it was trying to get her.
my aunt went to run towards her and daughter managed to swing the gate open and get in to our front garden as she did the dog followed and grabbed her trouser leg which then my dog pounced on the other dog which was when I had entered the garden and they were both fighting
I had never seen my dog like it towards another dog- when I managed to get the other dog off I noticed it’s ear was bleeding and my neighbour had ran to the get the owner who then came full blazing.
my dog was unharmed - I have checked her over a few times now.

I don’t let her off the lead when we are outside but it is a gated front garden and so I do allow her free roam.
He has now taken the dog and is phoning to report the incident of my dog causing injury.
my daughter is in pieces because she thinks our dog will be removed.

looks a cross between a German shepherd and husky like.

Where I live everyone with a German shepherd has it properly trained and isn't allowed to roam free. They stay but their owner as they are a territorial breed. They never react when another dog, which is normally a small breed, attempts to go for them.

The only husky is muzzled and on a tight leash. According to one of its owners "it was friendly" before it was muzzled. Oddly my instincts knew it bloody wasn't and I gave it a wide berth unlike the pure breed German shepherds, rottweilers, etc in the area.

The other person's dog is clearly out of control and should not have come on to your private property let alone chase a child.

Btw my DD got bitten by a dog about 18 months ago. It was a German Shepherd cross. She needed antibiotics. The owner tried to blame my DD for using her scooter to right next to my DP. While she was talking her dog was trying to attack another dog that was on its lead. The other dog was clearly under it's owners control...

Your daughter didn’t get anything wrong.

If the owner was in control of his dog, then it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d dropped the biscuits.

There is no need to teach her to act defensively in anticipation of a strange dog attacking her. Thats not a good outcome for her.

Tell her that the man is a very irresponsible dog owner. He should have his dog with him any time it’s outside and it should be under control. It should never be chasing anyone.

The dog has entered your property while in the process of attacking your child. It was loose and unaccompanied by its owners by their choice. It wasn't lost while on a walk or let out unintentionally.
Other neighbours will back you up that it is regularly wandering around alone and shitting (something that can cause fines to be issued by the council). The owner hasn't got a leg to stand on. They were not there to witness the situation so can't "report" anything. Their dog could really have received a bite from any other animal it encountered. It could have been injured in another way while wandering around. Yes, it obviously did receive the bite by your dog but how would they ever prove it.
You've got absolutely nothing to worry about. Report the attack on your child (which should be the main thing any decent dog owner would he worried about!). Sounds like the community will be fully on your side.

Update - I have reported the incident
thank you for the advice.

Report the other dog attached your dd in your garden

Scary situation but you did nothing wrong. Your dog was in its own garden. The other dog was chasing your daughter and grabbed her trouser leg. It doesn’t matter if it was playing or not, it was chasing her and she didn’t want it to. Your dog (in its own garden) defended your daughter. It’s good you have reported because the owner absolutely needs to be held to account. Can’t believe they were so arsey with you when their dog chased your daughter and ran into your garden. Some dog owners are unbelievable.

I had similar when someone let their off lead dog bound over to my anxious and on lead dog. It ran right into my dogs face and my dog was terrified and barked and tried to pin the other dog down. The owner screamed at me that she was reporting me but as my dog was on a lead and hers was off lead with poor recall, she was only getting herself in trouble.

Hope you and your daughter are ok

@RicePuddingWithCinnamon that's all I have been thinking as reading. A true hero

Well done to your dog ❤️

Give your dog a big cuddle, a snuggly bed and a huge bone for attacking the unsupervised dog that attacked your daughter. Good doggy

The other dogs owners haven't a leg to stand on here.

Your dog was in your garden.
Their dog was out of their control.
Their dog chased and frightened your DD.
Their dog invaded your garden.

If they can't understand why they are totally at fault there is something wrong with them.

In future I would report to police every time that dog is out off lead with no owner.

I hope the Police prosecute them under the DDA.

My dog was almost killed by an off lead dog in a public place and neither the police or the dog warden gave any fucks about it at all. Your dog is not going to get into any trouble with anyone.

The owner is a loon if he thinks reporting your dog is the right way forwards.

His dog was completely out of control, chased and attacked a child - who has a hole in clothing to show for it and then it went into your private garden because it was so hell bent on chasing your child. Your dog protected it's pack and did minimal damage to the dog that attacked your dog and invaded your property. Your dog wasn't even "in public".

He is going to get a shock when he realises that it was his dog in the wrong, especially as it's bitten a child's clothing.

Biting clothes is still biting. If it wasn't the trouser leg it would have been the leg. This dog needs to be reported

It takes a lot of nerve and experience of being around dogs to not run or flinch when one comes at you aggressively. a dog leapt at me a few weeks ago on a long lead and I just stood very still. Others around me were frightened though.
A friendly dog that plays chase ( we had a lab growing up that played a great game of tag) runs up to you nudges you and runs off.

Definitely report!!

This might be your opportunity to get the stupid owner to control his dog! Twat! Your dog was protecting your DD - he's a little star!

I work for the police. We don't take reports of dog on dog attacks because sadly that's nature. And in your defence your dog was in its own garden protecting your daughter, that's a natural reaction. Police would however record a dog bite to a human. There is a thing called the dog bite register that it would be logged on and potentially the dog owner get into trouble for having their dog dangerously out of control.

If your dog is an XL bully then police would need to check the paperwork but if all in order should be the same advice as above. I hope your daughter is OK x

It is a legal requirement to have your dog under control in public spaces. He cannot have his dog under control when he is leaving it to roam unsupervised.

This exactly.

Yes, you were right to report it @Thesummeriscoming08

I don’t say this to blame you (the owners are clearly at fault) but it would’ve have wise for you and your neighbours to have reported the dog before this incident.

An off leash unsupervised dog was an accident waiting to happen, let alone the dog fouling which is illegally and insanitary.

If your dog is out of control and reasonably causing someone to be fearful the dangerous dogs legislation can be used against you.

My neighbour unleashed dog would jump up on me despite me asking her to keep her dog off me and its claws would hurt my thighs. She refused to leash her dog in our flat building as it was just being “friendly”. I told her if it happened again I’d report her even there was no visible injury her dog was clearly out of control.

It’s sad it happened to your poor daughter, but hopefully this has shined a light on the owners negligence and from now on action will be taken to make sure the dog is not unsupervised in public again.

the owner states she is not injured and it was likely he was just trying to play with the kids

AAAGH what is it with dog owners? NO, you make sure your dog is under control at all times. It is not ok for them to try to play with the kids. Owner should be fined. But they won't be.

It is a legal requirement to have your dog under control in public spaces

Ha ha. If only.

I mean, I know it's a legal requirement, but I wish all owners complied!

And they should care about it, because next time that off lead dog might attack a human and injure them, possibly seriously.

This is bullshit. His dog was off the lead in public, chased a child into her own garden and grabbed her trousers with its teeth. He knows full well that his dog is in trouble because of his lack of control and is trying to get his side of the story in first.

Your dog is a very good dog.

Well done. Hang onto the trousers with the hole in them!

Report to the police immediately. It doesn't matter what the owner thinks the dog was doing, it was chasing a child and grabbed her trousers. Your dog was protecting the child on your property, your dogs territory. If anyone should be contacted it should be the owner who let's their dog walk around freely, and makes excuses when kids are terrified.

My son was 6 when a husky seemed to want to join in his football game at the park, but instead knocked my son down and ripped a huge hole in his arm. You could see the bone. He has a massive scar 8 years later. I learned subsequently that huskies are often aggressive as they need a lot of exercise (bred to pull sledges!) and not many of them get enough.

That’s awful. This is why I ignore owners who claim their dog just wants to play. They’re not mind readers. I have absolutely no desire to interact with strange dogs and the risk isn’t worth it to me.

Did anything happen to the dog? @MumblesParty

tbh I’m surprised after reading all the updates and hearing it was a husky /German Shepherd mix breed that the neighbours hadn’t reported it before. No dog should should be unsupervised but let’s face it some breeds are more likely to cause harm than others.

I was a 90s kid and you’d see the odd mongrel walking around itself in my neighbourhood but the German Sheperd owners were very diligent in walking their dogs on leashes and not letting strange kids pet them etc because they were aware of the risk.