Dogwalker/dog attack

[cucumberandcarrot]

Hi all,
Wondering what is your opinion on this?
I'm a dog walker, and one of my clients dog is rather aggressive, untrained and just quiet difficult to walk, really.

Today, (as he is very quick and always pulling) he escaped off of the lead, and attached an another dog. The other dog was walked by his owner, who is in his 90s, he is known around the area, as he can hardly walk and constantly shouting at his dog, kicking him, etc.
He is clearly to old, to have a dog, but still, he was really frightened, at one point I thought he will have a heart attack.
Luckily I've managed to separate the dogs and no one was harmed, but I'm still so upset about it, I was shaking for at least 20mjns after the incident.

I'm thinking about having a word with my client tomorrow, what shall I say?
Can't make my mind up.

The age and training of the other dog and owner is irrelevant in this situation.

A dog in your care attacked another dog.

You need to refuse to walk the dog.

Refer the owner to a dog walker trained to handle reactive dogs.

I don't know any respectable dog walkers who would accept an aggressive dog, other than perhaps solo walks and muzzled, even then it sounds like you lost control of him. I'd be telling the client you can no longer walk her dog. Presuming these are group walks you risk losing your other clients if they find out.

How on earth did he escape off the lead? I’d be furious if a dog walker allowed one of their charges to attack my dog and equally furious if my reactive dog was walked by someone who would let them ‘escape ‘ their lead.

You need to stop walking this dog immediately if you can’t handle it properly.

I didn't let him escape the lead, it was a genuine error, I guess. I've been having a really bad day and my mind wasn't 100 % on it.
It all happened in 5 seconds.
I've been walking him for almost two years now, never been easy, but was ok until now.
I walk my other dogs in a group walk, and walk him individually.

You have to tell the client - would you honestly consider not telling them?

You knew the dog in your care was potentially aggressive - he should have been a secure harness, double lead, and probably muzzled.

Of course I will tell the owner!
I was just thinking whether I should tell them, that I can't walk the dog anymore or try to find another alternative.

Of course you need to tell them. How could you avoid it? What does your insurance say about liability?
How on earth did you not let him escape? He escaped. You were walking him. You were at fault.
You can’t walk him any more clearly.
Not sure why you felt the need to be so nasty about this other dog’s owner.

I wasn't thinking of not telling them,sorry if it wasn't clear.
I have £5m public liability cover,but it was never the question, I'm covered in that sense.

I didn't mean to sound nasty about the other dogs owner, just wanted to paint a picture of the situation.

If I were the dogs owner it wouldn’t be a question of whether you wanted to walk him again , you would be not getting the oppurtunity , what if he had run under a bus .

I would give a clear account of what happened, telling her that her dog approached the other dog and was the aggressor. It's sad that the other owner is too old to have a dog but from your point of view and your professional responsibility that isn't really the issue.

I would be saying that from now on you can only walk her dog on a lead. If you use a long retractable lead he will still have a degree of freedom to roam sniff ext but you will be in control. If the dog damages another dog while in your care you could be held responsible. I wouldn't risk that but so long as on a lead no real need to give up walking the dog unless this has destroyed your confidence with him.

You are entirely liable for this incident.

Where's the risk assessment in walking him? Leads and collars can snap, break or be dropped...why was this aggressive dog out in public unmuzzled??

You had the knowledge he was aggressive and the moment his lead slipped or whatever happened you had no back up.

Whoever's walking that dog from now on must ensure the public and their pets are safe, get it muzzled.

I think you need to think about how you're going to manage the risk if you walk him again in the future. Saying you don't know what happened isn't a defence, the dog got away from you and was out of control.

Muzzle it for a start and if the owner refuses then you don't walk the dog.

I'm a horse rider and if that dog had bounded over to me it would be a dead dog with a hoof to its head. Horses reaction not mine.

I started out as a dog walker (now run a doggie daycare), please stop walking this dog, OP. Your reputation will be trashed if you have a serious incident with this dog and one dog isn’t worth it. You must be working for peanuts walking that dog by itself. Just explain that you can no longer justify walking it by itself, but it can’t be walked with your other dogs.

You should know if this is your profession that aggressive dogs should always be on the lead and muzzled to protect other dogs, people and yourself. You were told the dog was aggressive so should have been extra vigilant. If the dog had killed the other one it would be entirely your fault. You may be covered by insurance but it dosnt stop you from doing your job carefully.
You were incharge of an out of control dog, He could have been run over or anything.
I would not allow you to walk my dog again after this if I were the dogs owner
I am speaking as an ex dog trainer and behaviorist

Thank you for all the responses.
Just to clarify, the dog was on the lead, and it's slipped out of my hand.
I know, that I'm responsible for what happened.
I came here for advise, please don't be nasty.