Dog owners please help. Need to offload after upsetting incident

[Threadworrm]

Was out today with my dog. Passing through field of sheep sp dog on lead. Two adolescent dogs ahead. I siad to the owner that my dog not friendly but his dog ran right up to mine.

My dog bit his dog on forehead. I pulled him away, looked at injury etc and was v apologetic and concerned. Injury very minor but close to eye.

I said would he like my name and address. But then I added that I wouldn't necessarily accept liability because my dog was under control and his approached out of control.

I would really appreciate it if anyone knew what the laibility situationwas here. He didn't even try to call his dog off.

The worst part was what happened next. The owner lost his temper completely and hit my dog with a heavy chainlink lead. He then raised his fist to me and said he would hit me. I threatened to go to police etc. Much swearing, called me a 'grass' and threatened to hit me again, raising his fist.

I do appreciate that my dog started the whole sequence, and I understand that the man was upset. So I'm very concenred to know what you think about a bit that happens because a dog on the lead has been pestered by an offlead dog.

Mans DP was there and said nothing either to support him or to stop him.

People always blame big dogs. My dane has been bitten several times by little dogs. LAst time the owners crowded round their little dog laughing thinking it was so cute that he was biting mine. I said they wouldnt be happy if my dane bit theirs back and I laughed.

I am sure that farmers have the right to shoot unrestrained dogs who are in their fields with their sheep. You did the right thing keeping your dog on a lead.
If this guy had dogs off a lead in a field of sheep he has more to worry about than you - que angry farmer with shot gun.
Farmers will be very wary this time of year as the sheep will be going off to the ram and may be just pregnant. I am sure they won't want them miscarrying by being bothered by a dog.

I think (could be wrong) that dogs have to be on a lead or under close control in a field with life stock.

hercules - annoying isn't it? Although small dogs usually adore our Dane, his girlfriend is a miniature Jack Russell.

That incident sounds awful, Duchess. It's funny hhow some G Retrievers have this nastyness in them. Good for your dog sticking up for himself but in a controlled way. Absolutely sensible to let him off the lead in the circs.

I adore Great Dames btw, lovely dogs. But my motto is never buy a dog whose shaken-off slobber will reach the ceiling.

Interesting to learn that sheep may be just pregnant already. My dog is good with sheep but I always put him on lead -- you never know when he might decide to chase.

Typos

They called your dc a liar! Vile people.

Anyone who spends 3k on a dog is a moron.. i really wouldnt worry about it

Hope your Dogs ok

The only worry i have is if you meet this horrible person again. 3k for a shar pei? What, did it win crufts or something? They are expensive dogs but not that expensive.

I let my little terrier off the lead most of time, although funnily enough, if i were in a field full of sheep then i might think about putting him on a lead . If he gets his head bitten off by charging up to another dog uninvited then its my fault really isn't it.

Dogs always react when they are on the lead, mine can be quite aggresive when on a lead but off lead he is just OTT and playful. I don't tend to race to put him on the lead when i see other dogs on a lead unless i see the owner put thier dog on a lead, but often times its a bit late, if their dog is aggresive they tend to "tell" bob and most times he gets the message. I can't see what else you could have done really.

Just out of interest, have you tried muzzling him? The only reason i ask this, is that he might be reacting to your tension when you see other dogs - a natural reaction to a biter. But if he has a muzzle on, you will be less worried and that might communicate down the lead to him? Im not suggesting he needs muzzling per se, but just as an experiment to see if you are inadvertantly encouraging his aggression? When we first got our rescue rottie, he had aggression issues (and not just with dogs ) but was fine out and about - i didn't want to have to keep him on the lead all the time so i muzzled him and let him off the lead. After a while, we all relaxed and he showed no sign of wanting to eat people so i did away with the muzzle and it was fine. It might have been a different story though if every time when we were out with him i had to put him on a lead and stand there holding him for all i was worth until people went past - this would only suggest to the dog that this is a worrying situation and warranted a response from him to protect himself/us. Because of the muzzle we didn't have to worry - we did put him on a lead when we saw people but were happy to let him have a sniff to say hello so long as the other people were happy.

Don't worry about his dog - the guy sounds like a twunt.

Farmers absolutely have the right to shoot a dog "out of control" in a field of sheep - and that generally = off the lead.

Thanks v much em.

I am now thinking about a muzzle, and your reasons for considering it are good ones -- the tensions involved in being on lead, and my possible tension worsening the situation.

He never wants to do serious harm to another dog -- just one snap to assert himself. But I absolutely believe this isn't acceptable, of course, so I put him on the lead when a dog is around that I'm not familiar with. (He has many friend dogs that he socialises happily with.)

I will see how practical a muzzle is. He is very active when offlead, charging through woodland etc, so muzzle might be problematic. I could just keep it to hand for situations where other dogs are about.

I took him to classes, etc and socialised him as well as I could.

Three thousand does seem an incredible amount doesn't it.

Glad that your rescue rottie worked out so well.

Just out of interest I searched for Shar-pei pups on Epupz and the most expensive one was £900. So that confirms he is a bullying fuckwit, really.
Hope you and your dog are feeling calmer now.

That's interesting info. Thanks.

Threadworrm, what an awful thing to happen. Very sensible to report it I think. Hope you and your dog are both OK.

I think if you are going to use the muzzle, you must use it for the whole walk, otherwise there will be negative associations with it. You can either go for the cage type muzzle that they can pant through or the cloth type, which might be more suitable for him to go tearing around with.

Most dog scraps are just a lot of noise and snapping, but if your little one bites he might feel he has to protect you. If that is so, it could be because he feels he is the alpha male and you are his underling, so you need to be in charge - says she who's JRT runs rings round her

I don't think your dog can be blamed at all - he felt threatened and was defending himself and you.

threadworm - see my post above, i would really recommend a halti, its not a muzzle therefore it doesn't make people defensive when they see it but it does the job of a muzzle when on the lead.

some info here

And you are right about farmers shooting loose dogs in a field of sheep; my grandfather has done so.

Some dog owners really have no brains Im constantly amazed by the amount of people who positively encourage their dogs to bother with our dog,Buddy- why would anyone with a tiny little dog encourage their dog to yap on at buddy and laugh and say go on tell him (like its funny I think the fact buddy is a beautiful (if very gentle) pit bull cross they think that by him not wanting to bark back makes their dog more 'butch'- whereas in reality Buddy is v well trained and has a placid temperament - my dh has had to say to people you wont think its quite so funny if he gets annoyed back.
But then of course itd be our fault for having that breed of dog.

we use a halti and i definetly reccomend them- its so much easier we got ours cos Buddy pulled my shoulder out hes so strong.

Anyway, does it really matter about the Cost of the dog? surely the value of the dog to the family is more important?

Aw you poor thing Thready. I really hope you don't meet them again.

During the first half of your post I thought "Hmm, Threadworms dog should be muzzled"

There is a lady who brings her dogs to the local dogwalking place and is always saying "keep them away, my dog's not friendly". My dogs give them a wide berth, but I do think that unfriendly dogs should be muzzled.

HOWEVER, I was blown away by the second part of your post - How awful! I agree that him threatening violence toward you completely overshadows the biting thing.

Glad you reported him, and I hope you don't come accross him again.

whew!

Yes, purple. I will seriously think of the muzzle. Just seems a shame to muzzle him every day for the sake of v rare incidents. I normally walk him in lovely underused beauty spots where we usually don't even meet another dog. But still, no bites are acceptable.

Thanks everyone.

I am absolutely fuming!!!
The fucking nerve of him, hitting your dog, who the hell does he think he is???

Right, my dog was attacked a few weeks ago.
Both dogs off lead.
Other dogs owner paid the full bill (my dog needed stitches).

I can honestly say that had his dog been on the lead and mine had gone over, and the same thing had happened, It would have been my responsibility.

For the future, I would maybe muzzle your dog and make sure you shout to owners to keep their dogs on a lead.And if they ignore you, keep on shouting.

BTW I would report him to the police for hitting your dog. Bastard.