My dog attacked by much larger dog

[GrannyGoggles]

Will try not to piffle too much, but am v upset. This morning I was walking my JRT when I saw a group of walkers parked up about to set off, with several dogs, some on leads, some not. I set off to walk through, my dog on her lead. A daschund wanted to engage with my dog who wasn't interested. Suddenly, a much larger dog lunged away from its owner, grabbed my dog by the rear quarter, hung on, refused to let go and shook her. I yelled to the owner to get her dog off, she said 'I can't, I can't, I'm trying,' trying to pull her dog. I yelled some more, get your fucking dog off, and again she said that she couldn't. I kicked her dog hard, the owner got bitten thus releasing mine.

My dog is now with the vet, has had a GA and stitches, fortunately it seems no internal damage.

What is really infuriating me is that the owner said that her dog was on a lead and therefore under control, and that there were 'a lot of dogs about.' She's 'sorry' but absolutely no acknowledgement that her dog was out of control. It is this that makes me feel like filing a police complaint. I realise that maybe I should post this in AIBU.

i dunno, if it was on a lead it was under control, technically.

did you walk through the group of dogs? it's not clear in your op if you did or whether the dog broke away from the group as you passed. i can understand the owner not acknowledging if an unknown dog was trotting through the group.

i don't have a dog but if i did i would never approach a group of unknown dogs with it, leads or not.

Dog on dog attack is not a police matter unfortunately. Technically as dog was also on lead it's classed as in control even though it wasn't.....you have my sympathies op, I have been bitten splitting up a dog fight. Sadly there are a number of dog owners who should not own dogs full stop. I hope your dogs alright and I will not be surprised if you tell us that this dog owner has not offered to cover the vets bill, as I said some shit owners about..

I think that if her dog was on a lead and she was in the middle of nowhere and you approached her you are partially responsible.

However, if her dog bit her and wasn't under control on a lead and she was choosing to go somewhere with loads of other dogs, it all sounds very dangerous and potentially you should report - although not sure if the ins and outs of reporting a dog.

Actually on a lead does not constitute under control, legally.

It's a criminal offence to have a dog in public dangerously out of control

Out of control
Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

injures someone
makes someone worried that it might injure them
A court could also decide that your dog is dangerously out of control if:

it injures someone’s animal
the owner of the animal thinks they could be injured if they tried to stop your dog attacking their animal"

I'd say it counts on all of those points, it injured its owner, your dog and there was a reasonable fear that it could injure you as well.

Phone the non-emergency police number.

A dog on a lead isn't automatically under control, this dog obviously wasn't because it attacked another dog and bit the owner.
It should be muzzled as well as on a lead. Worth contacting local dog warden, the one in our area usually visits owners of offending dogs and seems to do a brilliant job IMHO.

Dog on dog IS a police matter.
As stated very succinctly above, dog was not under control.
Only you know whether the actions of both parties would stand up to third party scrutiny if the matter should end up at court (unlikely but a good yard stick I feel).

sanquhar and Merrymouse
The group were standing on a metalled road which is private, a continuation of a single track public road. I approached & waited on the public road, and said that I would wait for them to move on, but was cheerily beckoned through. My dog was on a short lead and close to me, walking on the grass to the side of the group. We were all aware of one another's presence. It's rural, but v popular with walkers so not in the middle of nowhere. The daschund came for a sniff and its owner called it away, but it carried on. The aggressor lunged at mine, and I think pulled the lead out of its owner's hand. Aggressor and d.h have same owner.

catpip
Unsurprisingly, no offer of meeting the vet's bill. Our vet who's a friend and neighbour is incensed but not surprised.

Sinclair
I have no desire to go to court, not overly fussed by the vet bill, it's the complete lack of acknowledgement that her dog was not under control, and a bit of implied victim blaming, 'lot of dogs', d.h was being friendly. And I know that I shouldn't have sworn, but feel a well aimed kick was not inappropriate.

Thank you for reading and responding, collecting little Fig at 5pm. She looks a bit of a patch work mess apparently.

Do consider contacting the police - not to end up in court, but so they'll go and talk to her about the consequences if she doesn't keep her dog under control (that would be the outcome that is most likely).

Because IME, people that don't take incidents like that seriously tend to end up causing worse ones.

Oh and I hope your DDog isn't too upset and gets well soon.

in that case i would be contacting the dog warden or police. if the owner was aware of you and even beckoned you past then there is no "oh, my dog wary dog had no idea you were there" excuse.

a friend of mines lovely dog suddenly lunged and bit another dogs face, she paid the vet bill, as good and responsible owners should.

I did report the incident and have learnt that dog on dog is a civil matter, unless the victim is an assistant dog. I also learnt that a dog on the lead is not deemed 'under control' if it bites or behaves with aggression. It has been filed with the local dog warden who will contact the owner, and feedback to me.

As requested I contacted the owner to update, and she has paid the vet's bill which was over £300. She asserts that it was my dog that bit her when she was trying to get her dog off. I am genuine in my belief that it was hers, as that was when it let go, but accept I could be wrong.

My dog has five wounds, including one up to her rectum, which we hope isn't going to cause ongoing issues. One needed debrading. She had 20+ stitches. The vet says we were v lucky, and that she should be fine in a couple of weeks. We are concerned about fear aggression, and if anyone has tips or recommendations about how to manage that I'd be grateful.

I've learnt a hard lesson. I will never, ever walk by a group of dogs again. I wil wait or re-route. When she's better I will be sticking to field walks and avoiding popular routes. It's horrifying how quickly this happened and I will be forever wary about what damage a dog can cause in seconds. I've always been vigilant with my dogs, and will be more so now.

Thank you for your kind support.

How awful for you and your little dog.

Just to clarify, for some pp's, it only becomes a police matter if a person is bitten in the melee. Dog on dog attacks are a civil matter.

Oops, meant to say I hope he has a good recovery and is not mentally scarred by his ordeal.

My friend's dog was grabbed by the throat. Serious injuries, multiple operations, by a dog off lead and owner not present, he had escaped from home.
Friend sustained nasty puncture wounds trying to extricate her dog. She was distraught the police weren't interested in the dogs injuries, only hers. Hasn't been to court yet but it is rumbling through the system.

Granny my little dog was attacked too yesterday he's a yorkie and was attacked by my neighbours Japanese Akita! Luckily he's only walked away with a few like scrapes round his tail and a couple of puncture wounds on his back, I've got the vet today for them to check him over!

It was my dogs fault though as he was barking and snarling at the Akita first then it lunged at him and grabbed him by the back end and shook him like a rag doll

I hope your wee dog is ok reading your post made me feel physically sick as that could easily have been my dog

Think that may be a regional anomaly - my police dog section are currently involved in many dog on dog incidents.
What an awful and cautionary tale OP, fingers crossed there is no lasting damage.

Hope your dog recovers well and with no problems , frankly it's immaterial which dog bit the owner of the other dog - it was her dogs bad behaviour in attacking that caused the problem .