Dog attack

[sunnysideup96]

Not even sure what to title this.
Last week my dog escaped and attacked the dog next door who was walking the street alone (I wouldn't really say attacked looked more like they were play fighting at first but then got too excited and started nipping at each other)

This is very out of the blue for him to attack anyone and any animals, we've had him 4 years since a puppy.

He absolutely is the most friendly dog is forever looking to get petted and played with. The kids in our street absolute love seeing him in the front garden so they can play with him, he does have a loud bark because he's a Irishwolf hound.

The neighbours are understandably very upset and angry which I understand, we have paid for the vet bill she's very angry that we wouldn't rehome the dog or get him put down.

I'm very shocked that this even happens the weekend before this we had a birthday party at the house with some kids and a petting Zoo the whole time our dog laid in his bed came out for a wee play then back in. I've told them that is very unusual and out of character for him. She's now telling people In The street the attack was a lot worse than it was. We've have the vet bill here so know what treatment and medication they've been giving, the kids in the street are now longer playing with my daughter and she's absolutely devastated.

Not really sure how we can make this better unless we give the dog away

What was their ddog alone? Could you sighthound have thought it wasn't a ddog?

However friendly your dog is, it obviously is capable of injuring another dog. Any dog under the right/wrong circumstances can do this.
You really must make sure your dog cannot get out again. You've apologised, pain the bill, there's not much more you can do other than absolutely make sure it cannot happen again.
Is your dog well trained? Not just friendly, but reliable recall etc? If not, maybe a bit more training to make you confident in keeping the dog safe.

Obviously your dog shouldn't have been able to escape but unless I'm misunderstanding something their dog was out alone with no supervision whatsoever. In my view they're more to blame than you are, though I think the law would say both dogs were out of control. Check the laws re dogs and stand up to her. I think you should only have paid half the vets bill.

An Irish Wolfhound surely needs a 6 ft fence with absolutely no gaps, and very strict rules regarding doors being open etc.

My dog is never out the front of the house alone because of how small the fence is. It was a total accident that he managed to get out the gate, we normally keep the gate closed so this doesn't happen. my partner had only just opened the front door when our dog Blined for the door. Somebody obviously didn't shut the gate after themselves but no idea who, I was coming back from the school run, The other dog wasn't on a lead and they owners never have him on a lead unless they are taking it for a walk.

He is normally very well behaved and listens when called but for same reason this time he didn't until my partner got right up close to him. He does have a good understanding of rules about the front door and front Garden.

Equally we are both to blame but for some reason we seem to get the backlash of it all. Yes we are more in the wrong but again she is making it out so much worse than it was. This will absolutely never happen again we've agreed to take him to a few training classes. But she is 100% adamant that we either give him away or get him put down.

The other dog had a small surface wound just like my dog did she also kicked out dog a few times.

As someone familiar with the breed and size to be honest I don’t blame your neighbour being cross that your dog escaped and harmed hers, but her dog also shouldn’t have been roaming the streets. I think as others said you need to ensure it won’t happen again but I don’t think you should have to get rid of your dog in this case. It seems a bit harsh given she was in the wrong too!

@Yummymummy2020 it will honestly never happen again I don't even really understand how it happened the first time but he knows he's done wrong he won't even entertain the idea of going outside now. We'll be taking him to some training classes again. But she is 100% adamant that we need to get rid! I've told her that is absolutely not happening, if he was to do it again then he would absolutely be gone.

The 5 dogs surrounding the garden and mine constantly barking at each other so he was probably over excited to see the dog outside

Who is she telling things too? Are they joint friends?

Their dog shouldn’t be out alone.
Your dog shouldn’t be allowed to escape. Get a stairgate so even if the front door is left open it can’t get out.
Vet check. Pain can make them act strangely.
If you have an IW it didn’t attack. Or there would be more than a small surface wound.
If you choose to rehome go through the breed rescue.

If your IWH attacked her dog, she'd no longer have a dog!

You were daft to pay her entire vets bill! Her dog shouldn't have been roaming free either!

Tell her to naff off you are not rehoming your dog! And tell her to stop bad mouthing you/your dog! Unless she wants you to do the same!

@Theunamedcat she it all over Facebook and our other neighbours have told me about it all asking what happened as he's normally a really friendly dog. The front gate from now on will be closed at all time and will have a sign on asking for people to make sure it's shut when they leave, we will also be checking it before we open the front door and moving him into a different room when coming and going.

He'll be getting checked over by a vet but I know in my heart he didn't violently go at the dog otherwise the other dog would be in worse shape and our dog would have more than a surface wound, the vet only prescribed pain med if need and antibiotic for 3 days

@FWBNC we didn't really get the option to pay the bill way told we would be paying it but my self and family sat down and spoke about and thought it might help settle the dust the bill was only for 3 days of pain meds if needed and antibiotic for 3 days

Ive told her to leave us alone now as she was also at fault and that she shouldn't have kicked our dog the way she did.

I've told her unless the dog warden have the power to remove the dog from the home he won't be going anywhere. This happened last Thursday and they still haven't been out to us, which means only 1 of 2 things....she's not rang them because she knows she's also at fault or 2 the vets have told her the dog is fine and there's no need to inform them because there's nothing to report

If this dog is allowed to roam the streets offlead, especially without its owners, I would say it's more her fault than yours, at least you control your dog usually but in this instance failed.

If both dogs got a small surface wound then I can't understand why you paid her vets bill when she's as much at fault as you.
As for exaggerating the story to the neighbours and trying to insist you put your dog down, she sounds like a troublemaker and a bully, and she has no say in whether you keep your dog.

If I were you I would :
Tell her you'll report her to the dog warden for letting her dog roam the streets alone
Tell her you'll report her to the rspca for kicking your dog
Tell her she has no say in how you deal with your dog
Tell her to stop spreading lies about what happened

In other words stand up to this bully or she'll make your life a misery in future. Note this is what Id threaten to do rather than actually do and hopefully she'll think twice before stirring up trouble in future.

More sensibly I suggest you move this thread to the Doghouse where I think you'll get more responses from more knowledgeable people than me.

To be honest both dogs in this scenario should not have been out in the street. Just explain what happened to your neighbours and you need to say it was 50/50 by the sound of it.She needs to keep her dog under control too and not wandering around. Most people realise there are two sides to every story-your dog doesn’t need to be put down either and you are rectifying the gate.You could point out to her that her dog should not be outside wandering either and this would not have happened if her dog wasn’t loose in the first place.
And anyone that rants like her on fb really don’t get taken seriously

I think it is her fault just as much as yours. why was her dog just roaming around the street? no way should you get rid of your dog. sometimes dogs scrap. Probably too much excitement as they both realised they were lose together on the street.

@Mollymalone123 she absolutely refuses to hear our side of the story and seems to think we deliberately let him out when that's just not the case. She refuses to take any part of the blame for what happened even though she kicked our dog and he has a few wounds too. She 100% think we are fully to blame as it was apparently our dog that started it. Yes our dog is a bigger dog than hers and if he really wants to hurt the dog I'd say he would have but for a few small surfaces wounds I know he had no intention of hurting him. Our dog didn't get away wound free. So they are both to blame. I'm so worried that This will affect my daughter when outside playing and at school. I've already told a few of the neighbours her lies aren't true because it's not on the vets bill, her dog was meant to have 10 stitches in its neck yet she didn't take him to the vets until the next day and also the vets bill had no charge for an overnight stay or stitches like she's saying. I've seen the dog and other than the few marks on his back he looks fine

Glad to hear you're standing up to her OP. Also the neighbours probably know exactly what she's like.
I don't know much about wolfhounds but sighthounds generally aren't just fast they can also jump very high. We had a lovely whippet lurcher years ago. 17" to the shoulder and she cleared a 5 ft hedge with ease to gatecrash a kids party. I think you need to concentrate on keeping him out of the front garden as I doubt if any gate would stop him.

Dog on dog attacks are not a reason to have dogs put to sleep. Your vet will confirm that to you. That's the official stance.

Having said that, on the neighbourly thing, dogs are dogs, they are terratorial and they do fight. If you are going to keep your dog, just hold your head up high and carry on with life as normal, your neighbour will calm down and it will all blow over. Try to not let your dog get out though of course.

When I say official stance that is what the vet told me was the law. If your dog attacks a human or livestock, it can be put down.

She sounds a menace-as others have said hold your head high. I expect she lives for drama like this.this will blow over-just ignore her and it will all calm down and life will return to normal.Don’t give it any headspace.I know it’s difficult for you and I can see in your posts you are anxious about the situation but just keep going xx

Not sure I’d want my DD playing out if their dog is just roaming the street unsupervised anyway!

We had the dog warden come out yesterday and to inspect the dog and his behaviour. She has deemed in not aggressive or violent.

She has spoken to the other neighbours who is now claiming the attack happened in her house which again isn't true, she's essentially just lied to the dog warden about 90% of the event. They have received the full report from the vet as I showed her the vet bill and it doesn't match what she is saying about the dogs injuries.

She is absolutely fuming that the dog warden won't come and remove the dog from the house too

You absolutely need to stop engaging with her at all. She is spouting shit to get everyone on her side....
I bet she is skint and hoped you would be shoving a wad of cash her way..

@Brollywasntneededafterall yeah we've completely stopped now and are just carrying in with our lives. The dog warden who came out yesterday had said that is 100% looking to take it to the courts to get him removed. She said it's very unlikely to happen and 100% I be she was livid that the bill was less £70 and only for antibiotic and pain meds if needed 😂😂

I’m glad the dog warden is involved- hopefully she’ll go back to say before dog must not be left to wander on the street! We had to involve the dog warden when our dog was attacked- and they were brilliant-it was a wolfdog with previous history of an attack which should have been muzzled -as in over 90 stitches on another poor animal and then a massive dog bite through muscle down my dog’s leg.Thsrs an aggressive dog! Nothing like yours at all. The more she says and dies the more ridiculous she will seem to her ‘friends’ .

@Mollymalone123 100% I'd get she angry and we are both at fault but making up lies about the attack doesn't seem very smart when the vet report won't match her event of everything. She can leave us alone now and the few people I've spoke to in the street have said she needs to catch herself on and let it go now