Bitten by client dog, my fault but ....(sorry long)

[Floundering]

Experienced dog walker, But I made a bad judgement call with an old grumpy dog who then put on a turn of speed previously unseen & as I was trying to put a lead in his harness he twisted round & I fell over him , effectively trapping my hand in the strapping & he sank his gnashers in. I eventually got him to calm down & removed us both from middle of road where kind motorists were helpfully keeping out of the way.
Hands were bleeding profusely but then I'm a bleeder so wasn't bothered, washed my hands thoroughly with anti bac & dressed them & have emergency appt with practice nurse to check tetanus status & wounds shortly . I feel dreadful for the owner who was mortified when she came home. I' d sent her an upbeat message with basic facts but when she came home another neighbour ( who had witnessed it all & did nothing but flap) had collared her & given her blow by blow account.
Client now distraught & wants to see me later to apologise & discuss PTS said dog.
The poor old lad is partially deaf & blind & owner is always good at warning folks not to touch him as he's not a cuddly dog so I knew what he was like. Sadly she had been called away for work overnight & I think the change of carers rattled him & me trying to Leash him was the last straw.
I would not ask her to do the dreadful but flappy neighbour is now telling all & sundry he should be PTS & client is in a dither.
Just venting really, as I'm furious with flappy neighbour as I tried to get hold of her last night to tell her I was OK & left messages asking her not to talk to client until I'd seen her.

Eek sorry on phone which clearly hates paragraphs ! :)

Oh no! Flappy is so totally out of order!! I stopped dog walking last year after 7 years and once or twice got nipped and it was entirely my fault. Hope you manage to get hold of your client today

Poor old dog and poor you. Yes definitely get hold of flappy idiot and tell her to keep her beak out of it, no damage done as far as you're concerned! Poor dog owner, no wonder she's upset.

Horrible fucking idiot neighbour!

Of course dog should not be PTS in those circumstances.

Can you put it to the neighbour that if a carer fell on and became entangled with an old partially deaf and blind person (who might also have a sore body given the aches and pains of advancing years) it might seem to that person that they were being attacked and they would quite reasonably try to defend themselves. In which case no one would consider they were committing assault or dangerous, in fact they would feel sorry they had got such a dreadful fright and try to reassure them...
Some people just like a drama!

Ooh good one Chrisalice will use that!

Have already had a text saying client needs to think about dogs future from another friend Flappy has clearly been bending the ear off.

Told her it was between me & My client & no one else need to be worried. Old boy has NEVER bitten before & client was mortified. We had coffee & after the first 100 apologies I told her if she said it again I'd get cross

As I said to her if Oldie Dog was biting people unprovoked then yes different scenario but he was scared & missing his mum & rescues sometimes have funny reactions. Me then tripping over him & grabbing him was entirely provoking & understandable.

My hands are fine, been redressed, ab cover as a precaution, tetanus was in date so all good.

Chalking it up to occupational hazard & Oldie dog came & sniffed apologetically at me in his house & gently laid his head on my knee so we're friends again!

Poor old dog, and poor you!

People can be bloody ridiculous. Well done for being compassionate and reasonable.

I've told everyone the client is mortified & I don't want her upset by folks gossiping about her!

how would you feel about living next door to a dog who could if it got the opportunity bite you. Wouldnt that make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I live next door to such a dog.

Someone at college i know who is a dog groomer got bitten by a dog whereupon the dog's owner said, Its not the dog's fault, it was frightened.
They didn't even say sorry.

I think the owner is behaving in a very responsible way.

btw, op, you should be able to claim compensation from the dog owner's pet insurance
Inevitably, a dog's behaviour is the owners responsibility