To the man whose dog my dogs just attacked

[cq]

I am so sorry my dogs went for your dog. It was unacceptable and I wholeheartedly and unreservedly apologise for their behaviour, and will be taking measures to ensure it does not happen again.

However, they way in which you subsequently verbally abused me was not acceptable. You demanded that I 'remonstrate' with my dogs, which I had done the instant it kicked off. That was not enough for you, you clearly believed I should beat the crap out of them. I explained that would have no point after the event, and I asked if your dog was ok. You demanded over and over again that I 'do' something, and did not stop to check your dog was ok.

I held my hand up to stop the tirade and you then exploded saying 'don't flip me off, your dogs are out of control, don't you bloody flip me off'. I took a step back and asked if you were threatening me. You moved towards me again and shouted, don't flip me me off. I said 'I'm sorry if my gesture offended, is your dog ok?'

You carried on shouting about how out of control my dogs were at which point I pointed out that my dogs were on the lead, and yours wasn't.

After a few more seconds of this abuse, I turned and walked away, saying 'My dogs are on the lead.' You yelled at me ' your dogs are fucking out of control and you're a crazy bitch.' I cried for the entire hour of my walk.

I do hope your dog is ok. Had you not been so abusive I would have offered to pay any vet bills (though I don't think any physical harm was done). He deserves a nicer owner.

If your dogs were on leads, and his wasn't, then HE is at fault. NOT you and NOT your dogs.

Plenty of dogs are dog agressive when they are constrained by a lead and bothered by off lead dogs.

I have the softest, daftest dog in the world, but if an off lead dog runs up to her when she is on a lead then she goes bonkers. It is the only time EVER that she behaves like that.

He was an agressive wanker that reacted the way he did because he knows that HE is in the wrong. If there are any vets bills they are NOT up to you to pay them, YOUR dogs were controlled, his wasn't.

Add message | Report | Message poster tabulahrasa Fri 13-Dec-13 10:14:34
Ah it's horrible when your dog does something awful that you weren't expecting - I agree that there was no need for him to be so aggressive when you'd dealt with the situation and were trying to apologize and find out if his dog was ok...but he'll have been upset too.

yes. This is what I think

I think he was at fault for letting his dog run up to on-lead dogs. I'm glad his dog seemed to be OK, but he really needs to stop it doing that, or the outcome might be worse next time.

Something similar happened to me a few years ago. My terrier was on lead and bit a dog that approached him even after I warned its owner not to let that happen. The owner had no control over his dog at all. He lost his temper and tried to hit my dog with a chain lead (this wasn't during my dog's aggression, it happened afterwards as a way for him to express his anger at me).

When I objected to his behaviour he raised the chain at me as if he was going to hit me. His girlfriend stayed at a distance from him and said nothing either to support him or to stop him. I think she was frightened of him.

So I understand something of why the op feels badly treated by this guy. We feel absolutely terrible if our dogs misbehave but we are still entitled to reasonable treatment from the people involved.

'don't shout at me because I'm a woman and you're a man' - pathetic. Get out of the fifties.

your dogs ARE out of control if you couldn't stop the attack even if they were on leads. They are clearly too large for you to control.

get dogs you can control.

I bloody hate this, stupid idiots with their dogs off the lead in residential areas. I take my Mum's dog out and let him off on the dog field only. everywhere else there's clear signs saying dog on lead. It's very threatening for dogs on leads to have dogs jumping up/over enthusiastically sniffing them. If the other dogs had been on lead it would never have happened. It is really hard to train a dog out of feeling threatened when they're leashed and another dog isn't.

She did stop the attack special, did you even read the OP?

Doesn't sound like an attack either, it sounds like a good telling off with a lot of noise and a bit of snapping, if OP's dogs had wanted to attack, they'd have caused damage and would've been much harder to bring back under control.

The Doghouse topic is busy today, loads of new knowledgeable posters. I wonder if any of you could help me my issue? I want to clicker train Whippy but she is scared of the clicker. Any tips?

I don't get the 'they were on a lead so they were under control' argument. My cat was sleeping in our front garden when a on lead dog attacked her. The dog's owner was dragged across the grass by his leashed dog. My cat lost her leg. He didn't have any control over his dog but was convinced that he had done nothing wrong as the dog was on a lead and the cat shouldn't have been there, apparently.

the op hasnt actually said if the other dog approached hers, it could have been calmly walking at heel.beside its owner when her dogs attacked it

I think the posters slating the OP need to calm down a bit.

There are varying levels of dog on dog aggression and they're not all equally serious.

For example a perfectly lovely friendly dog will give a warning snarl (which can come across as quite psycho if you weren't paying attention to the build up or don't know dogs well) if approached while on the lead (and therefore constrained) by another off lead dog that's being aggressive (tail up, eye contact etc).

OP there is never a call for a dog owner to be that aggressive - he's clearly frightened you and that sort of behaviour is just not on. He was probably understandably worried about his dog, but screaming at someone isn't helpful. It's a bit like road rage - getting that wound up just leads to problems.

Daykin, in law the definition of controlled is on a lead. Obviously that is not always the case, but OP hasn't said she struggles with her dogs normally, so I'm happy to assume they were under control, like the vast majority of dogs on leads are.

Owners with untrained, loose dogs really boil my piss.

It wasn't your fault OP.

If your dogs were on the lead, and his dog was running around off lead, then he is to blame. He should ensure his dog doesn't approach strange dogs.

It is very upsetting when this happens, even when the other dog owner is understanding.

Hope you feel better OP, although some posters clearly don't want you to feel better. God knows why.

Is he a local man, and have you seen him before?

I'm not a dog owner so can't get into any discussion about dog behaviour but on the man's reaction I have this alternative viewpoint, which doesn't paint me in a great light but anyway...

I got knocked off my bike by a car a couple of months ago, I ended up on the car's windscreen before being dumped in the middle of the road. To my (now) shame, I went absolutely ballistic at the woman who did it, called her every name under the sun with a lot of swearing thrown in for good measure. With hindsight, I am mortified as she had probably got a fright too and wish I hadn't done it, but it was the shock and the fear and the pure anger at that moment that her negligent behaviour had nearly killed me and taken my children's mother away from them. The key bit is that's how I felt at that moment. I don't run around shouting and swearing at folk normally, but unfortunately that's how I reacted at that moment, under duress. (The police who came out were just as unlucky, I had moved onto the howling my eyes out phase by the time they arrived!)

I would focus on making sure the scenario with the your dogs doesn't arise again and try to forgive him for what was possibly an understandable overreaction under a stressful situation. Hope you are feeling better OP

Hang on. I'm in no way experienced with dogs but surely if an unleashed dog goes up to a leashed dog then there's fault on both sides, but more so for the unleashed dog owner.

For all those asking why wasn't her dog muzzled, why wasn't the other dog on a lead? When we've had dogs (very dog friendly dogs) they were never off lead because you don't know how other dogs will react to be approached. If they'd both been in leads this may have only been a few barks at each and then respective owners go their own way. Why is fault all to do with OP?

Legally he wouldn't have a leg to stand on either.

Friends Rottie picked up and instantly killed a Chihuahau that ran up to it after being aggressive and the Rottie previously ignoring it.

Woman that owned the Chihuahua called the police and Dog Warden. After investigation they told her there was no case. She tried to bring a civil case (who knew that Chihuahua's cost £800 - I didn't), but that was thrown out too.

Initially my friend was devastated that her boy had become a 'killer' but the support of the Dog Warden and Police helped her to realise that wasn't the case. The other dog initiated the attack, hers responded. Chih owner had been irresponsible allowing her dog to have a go, no matter the outcome.

Chis can cost more than that, lol

Unfortunately one of the draw backs of owning a large dog like a Rottie (that's what I have) is that you become responsible for making sure your dog doesn't hurt a smaller dog when it's been attacked and is acting how any other dog would when attacked by another dog.

I've had to pin my boy down while a little terrier repeatedly bit him because if he managed to bite back he'd have at the very least really injured him.

If your dogs on a lead and you have no reason to suspect they'll be aggressive - there's nothing you could have done to prevent it, all you can do at that point is deal with it and try to behave like a decent person, which from the sound of it the OP did.

Sorry Special I disagree.

Using the fact that you are physically stronger is nothing to do with it being 2013 or 1950's. I agree, he can be pissed off and ranty as he likes, but not physically intimidating - coming forward when she asked if he was threatening her, was not ok.

I'd have been crapping myself, crazy dogs or not. Which I guess was the intended effect.

When dogs attack the one thing I find the owners have in common is that they try and blame the dog that has been attacked and or the owner of the attacked dog. Take responsibility and get a life. You are very lucky it was not my dogs you came across. His reaction was clearly out of fear and shock.

I'm sorry but all the posters blaming the OP are missing the fundamental rule of dog ownership that you should not allow your dog to approach a leashed dog.

I sympathise with both sides as I have a 1 year old excitable dog who will approach other dogs and all recall goes out the window. For that reason I am very selective where and with whom he goes off lead. I live in fear of a situation like this because I know that a moments inattentiveness on my part could lead to this. And if my dog hared over to a leashed undercontrol dog, it would be my fault.

Op this really isn't your fault. Your dog was on a lead. The other dog shouldn't have raced over.His behaviour was awful but I suspect he did react out of fright.

To br honest, in busy areas my terrier is on lead at all times or he races up to everyone. And he is usually straining at the lead in an overexcited posture that can look aggressive with that alert terrier upright stance(he isn't) but it amazes me how many people do let their dogs come to him without checking he is friendly. And a couple of times he has then (on lead) been snapped at by the loose dog when he responds in giddy pup bouncy fashion

I have no idea why anyone would think the OP was at fault. Her dogs were on lead and under control. A loose dog approached hers without its owner checking it was OK to do (it is almost never OK to approach dogs on a lead anyway!) and got attacked. Presumably the OP pulled her dogs off (as they were on the lead) and the other dog run off (as it was loose). The other owner was then rude and aggressive to the OP - there is no excuse for that.

I would report the guy to the Dog Warden for his loose dog and the police for his intimidating behaviour.

Not the OPs fault.

I had an unleashed dog run up to my (on a lead) dog the other day. My dog felt threatened and was snarling, he's only tiny so I pulled him behind me but the other dog kept following him and was within biting distance.

I warned the owner that my dog was going to bite his if he didnt control his dog and he laughed and said his dog would just run away if he wanted to.

Wanker. Never mind how scared my dog was, it was all really funny to him. I wouldn't have been paying the vet bill if mine had bitten his.

And my dog isn't normally aggressive towards other dogs. He's well socialised and walks off lead with other dogs every day so I'm not muzzling him. It was the other dog owners fault.

Funny how nothing is ever "my" dog's fault. The OP actually accepted responsibility for something that was her dogs' fault- now is being told by other mumsnetters that she shouldn't! Bizarre....,

your sex makes no difference

would it have been ok if he had been shouting at a man?