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.

His offload dog attacked a child, chased a child where your dog defended your child.

It's the other dog owners fault.

Offlead

The stupid prick doesn't have a leg to stand on. I'm glad you reported his dog that he is suppose to be in control of, not chasing and snapping at children. Your dog was defending her!

You're in the right, OP and your dog's a star.

Trying to play with the kids. Pfft.

Sometimes dog owners try a doggy version of this with my dog, who is not playful with other dogs for the most part, being very much ball- and me focussed. Such dogs are invariably ball thieves and the owners have no recall of the animal. And they stand a long way off smiling vaguely.

Same here, inept owner covering up for complete lack of control of their dogs.

Your dog is a very good dog and should get extra treats and cuddles tonight. She was defending your child from a dog attack in their own garden.

@enchantedsquirrelwood unfortunately the current legislation doesn’t really allow for action in dog on dog attacks unless the dog being attacked is a service dog. If another dog injures your dog you can push for it to be treated as criminal damage by the owner but other than that it’s difficult to get anything done. The law really needs updating in relation to this as a dog that is allowed to savage another dog isn’t a safe dog and doesn’t have a responsible owner.

@Thesummeriscoming08 people in the wrong often double down. My dog was attacked by an off lead dog whilst he was on the lead and the other owner had the temerity to tell me I had pulled my dog’s lead too tight and his front paws had come off the ground which is why his dog had then pinned him to the floor by his throat. The guy was so scared of his own dog that my husband had to wrestle it off and was lucky it didn’t turn on him.

To counteract the ridiculous point made by the irresponsible dog owner in your post, my dog is possibly the friendliest dog I have ever met and if he thought a child was playing he would probably chase them. He wouldn’t grab their clothing but he would likely run after them if they ran away, which is the exact reason I wouldn’t let him roam out of my sight and always call him back when there are excitable children around and he’s not on his lead. The most they’re in danger of is a sloppy kiss but they don’t know that so of course they might be scared if they see a big dog running towards them. It doesn’t matter if the dog is friendly or not, it needs to be under the owner’s control at all times.

Trevor Cooper and his team at DogLaw might be a good contact to have for some advice.

Akita maybe?

"This will have been a simple situation that escalated really quickly.
Child has biscuits
Dog jumps
Child screams and drops biscuits
Dog gets excited and goes for biscuits
Dog gets defensive over the biscuits.
Child runs and dog chases

My dog is well behaved but can be excitable. I go out in the morning, he's off the lead no problem. There's only dogwalkers there. If i go back to the park in the afternoon when it's busy he's kept on lead. He's not aggressive but a screaming child in his language means play and therefore he's better off on the lead"

@Itloggedmeoutagain I could have written this-exactly my interpretation of the incident, especially if the dogs are both young/one is young. It doesn't sound like the dog chasing the child was being aggressive to me, just young and over excited. It would be really interesting to know the breed of the OP's dog.

The dog had a collar with a tag but there was no owner in sight. Someone called the police, who took the dog away. I have no idea what happened to it. We tried to follow it up at the local station the following day, but we were abroad and couldn’t really make ourselves understood as we didn’t speak the local language.

Good dog! Get your dog a lovely bone.

Please report it and don’t down play it as a dog on human attack.

The fact that she was so in your garden is a bonus, private land and your dog defended its owner and territory.

Dont downplay the other dogs attack - don’t get worried any angry!!

Oh please.
Any dog that chases children should not be off lead.
Especially if he bites to punch holes in trousers. It could have been full on bite with skin puncture if it was an inch away!

I have collie mix and once in his lifetime he tried to heard children just getting close to their feet I made sure he remembered that situation and never left him in next seven year further than an arm strech from unknown kids.

You sound like one of those idiots that will have aggressive dogs amd claim "he just wants to play/sniff your dog".

The other owner is blaming your child for reacting like a child and running away from a dog that threatened her. 100% of the responsibility lies with an owner who was not supervising their dog. There should actually be a special place in hell reserved for anyone who has ever uttered the phrase “he just wants to play” to excuse a dog’s behavior.

My dog that was involved is a golden retriever named sparkly - if that helps you 😂

Please do. I agree with the other posters that your dog was protecting your daughter, if his dog didn't attack your daughter first there would be no dog fight so report it as a dog attack against your daughter.

My understanding was the fight was in your garden, so the question is why was his dog off leash and on your property?

Well done for reporting OP. Your dog is a very good dog who was acting to protect your child from being attacked by another dog. Please give them a pat and a biscuit

So sorry to hear about this. Your daughter must be so upset.

The dangerous dog act basically says that if a person fears for their safety, that is enough reason for a dog to be seized. Not only did your daughter fear for her safety, but the dog actually got hold of her trouser leg.

dogs should also be under control of their owners at all times, which clearly wasn’t the case of the owners were not even around to witness or call the dog back.

100% you were right to report. your dd was chased and bitten. We live on an estate where there is an ego that goes for people and has grabbed toddlers clothes etc and people don’t report trying to be nice to the owner. When each report would have helped to build a case with teh police.

This. The one in danger of losing their dog is not you. Yours sounds like yours was a furry hero. Give him a nice treat.

Yes definitely report this. This dog should not have been on your property and it's owner needs to keep it on a lead not let it roam around unsupervised. It sounds like it wanted the biscuits. My dog would have just sat down and held her paw in the air. That's how she gets a dog biscuit at home. On your own property it's expected that dogs will protect their territory and your dog was just protecting your DD. It was being a good dog.

Report the dog attacking your child it should not be let roam free also ask neighbours if they have any cctv of it. Your dog was defending your daughter the other dog entered your garden. The owner should of been very concerned about what could have happened to your daughter. I would also report it on your local next-door app or local facebook group this dog might have shown aggression to other neighbours also.

However you missed the crucial part where this dog was unsupervised, allowed to roam with noone to even attempt to recall it.

I haven't read all the posts just yours OP

I thought a dog should be under its owners control at all times, if so clearly it isn't the case here if the dog is left to wander off so I'm not sure what the owner thinks they're playing at by reporting you.

Yes, definitely. Fear of harm is enough, regardless of if the dog is “playing”. - section 10 of the dangerous dog act. The fact that there is a hole in her trouser leg from the dog is proof of reason to fear the dog.