Feel like the worst dog owner ever

[ouchyoubiteybugger]

Took Ddog for walk today she is a 40kg large mutt. She was happily chasing leaves and dodgy looking twigs when 2 labs came out of the woods directly infront of her.
Ddog is always on a lead in this case it is a long line i was approx 2 metres away. Both dogs went straight to her face and then the white lab went to her rear.
For ref ddog has been attacked by little dogs multiple times always on back legs and although is eager to meet other dogs she is very wary of them around her rear. I started to call her away when the white dog moved towards her read again and ddog just snarled and bit onto its ear, she didn't release it until she had dragged the dog to the front away from her rear. Obviously the owner then caught up and i sent ddog off with dh while i checked on her dog and apologised, the lady said it was a small cut but a lot of blood and said she didn't see ddog ahead but that i should have shouted to recall her dogs and that ddog should have a muzzle on. At which point she had to recall her black dog as it was still following ddog and dh down the road, i feel so bad my dog hurt another dog but dh is adamant we shouldn't muzzle ddog as she was protecting herself and is otherwise soft as a brush.
Sorry for the essay but i would appreciate any help
Also i am saving for a dog behaviourist who specialises in my breed

Well if your dog was mine and I was worried about any possibility of her biting another dog, I would probably keep her on a shorter lead or let her off where there is not a possibility of seeing any others. Owners should always keep an eye for other dogs (or roads, wildlife, people, anything) ahead too, if their dogs are off the lead. But this is not always the case.
A lot of dogs don't like others running up and sticking their noses in where they are not wanted. The thing is, it is usually sorted out with a bit of a growl or snap, rather than an actual bite or bite and drag in your ddog's case.
Ears do bleed a lot so the chances are it was probably not too serious. However, I would not risk anything happening again. I hope you get some good assistance from the behaviourist which will help you and your ddog.

Thank you, i should say she has never bitten before, she normally growls and snaps like you said but I'm quick enough to move her off. The lead goes to 30m but controlled by my judgment and the area was clear i just didnt expect dogs to come through the bushes (but yes i should still be alert)

Your dog has already escalated to biting another dog and has the absolute possibility of doing so again. She absolutely should be muzzled. Your DH is being a twat. She’s a big dog and she bit and dragged another dog who was just having a normal doggy sniff. It’s lucky it wasn’t worse but it might be next time.

It might help put your mind at ease if you introduce a muzzle - these things do happen so don't beat yourself up. But you do need to take responsibility and make sure it can't happen again.

Oh I meant to say, re muzzles - they are easy enough to get your dog used to wearing one - as long as you introduce it properly, rather than just stick it on and expect ddog to be happy!

I'm with your DH on this. Nobody else's dogs should be allowed to approach a dog on a lead.

It was the other dog walker's fault entirely and I am not surprised your dog reacted that way. It is not your responsibility to muzzle your dog if you keep it on a lead. I wish people would keep their own dogs under control and not let them approach dogs on leads.

It sounds like you have a reactive dog (you say she's growled and snapped in the past) who was put into a situation where she felt she had no choice but to defend herself with a bite.

My own dog was once bitten by a dog with a bite history, and I have to admit I was incredibly angry with the owner for not muzzling their dog and keeping it on a lead.

If your dog is known to bite and aggress towards others, you have a responsibility by law to keep them under control, which typically means a short lead and a muzzle to prevent them from repeating the behaviour in the future.

But, all that being said, having a reactive dog in itself doesn't make you a bad dog owner, you just need to make sure you react appropriately to make sure your dog can't aggress again.

I'm with your DH on this. Nobody else's dogs should be allowed to approach a dog on a lead.

A long-line isn't really the same as a lead, imo. Most dogs are on long-lines because they have dodgy recall, not because they're aggressive.

Polite dog greetings is to greet at the nose and then move to the rear so if your dog finds this difficult it would be best not to allow any dog interactions at all with your dog.

You will need to muzzle your dog and keep them on a short lead close to you. Not only to protect other dogs but also to make your dog feel safe. Avoid interactions with other dogs as your dog is showing stress and anxiety to the dogs.

You're not the worst dog owner ever - not even close. Your dog was leashed, the other two dogs were not under effective control.

However, I don't entirely agree with Plantstrees, dog are not robots and whilst other dogs absolutely should not approach on lead dogs (and I have a reactive on lead dog myself so I do understand), even otherwise impeccably behaved dogs with excellent recall 99% of the time, can have the occasional slip up. Plus what about puppies and adolescent dogs who are still learning and consolidating their recall? I have 4 dogs - the reactive one, two mature sensible ones and a 7 month old pup. I scan the horizon for dogs constantly and recall pup before she spots other dogs, but if I miss seeing a dog one day and she runs up to a reactive dog - does she deserve to be bitten?

Reluctantly after a biting incident I would muzzle my on lead dog. My reactive rescue snarls and lunges atm, but if she got even close to nipping another dog then it would be muzzle from then on

polite greetings are!

It’s the other persons fault for causing the situation for not having control of her dogs, or being aware of what was happening. As it is you have a large dog who was unprovoked and still attacked and injured another animal. Your dog now has a bite history/aggression issue, and it is your responsibility to at least reduce if not eliminate the chances of your dog attacking again. This means keeping your dog on a short leash and muzzled. You can be (reasonably) be of the opinion that other dogs will only be attacked if they do not approach your dog so it’s their owners fault, that’s not how it works though. There’s no law in most public areas that state that dogs have to be leashed, and leashed dogs will naturally approach other dogs behind for a sniff, it is on you that this doesn’t lead to your dog attacking them as there IS a law that aggressive dogs need to be leashed and muzzled.

@Plantstrees

I'm with your DH on this. Nobody else's dogs should be allowed to approach a dog on a lead.

It was the other dog walker's fault entirely and I am not surprised your dog reacted that way. It is not your responsibility to muzzle your dog if you keep it on a lead. I wish people would keep their own dogs under control and not let them approach dogs on leads.

It is ENTIRELY the op’s responsibility to have an aggressive animal with a bite history wearing a muzzle and a lead!!

Fault on both sides I think. I'd never let my dog approach a dog on a lead unless the owner indicated it was safe to do so. She is always recalled and put on a lead herself when we see dogs on any kind of lead. I usually recall her and keep her close when we see any dogs, off lead or not, unless we know them or until we get close enough that I can judge body language.

But you do also need to be an advocate and protect your own dog, so I would agree that she needs to be kept a bit closer to you in areas where you can't see far enough and you need to be assertive in shouting to people to recall their dogs and that your dog is not friendly before the situation escalates. You can also body block - I've had to do this with my old girl who was deaf and got very upset at dogs suddenly trying to sniff.

If your husband is there, one of you can even grab the other dog's collar to get them away or hold them till the owner can retrieve.

You should also get one of these here
or one of these or this one

Muzzle and keep it closer. Whilst the other owner is not entirely blame free I would imagine your insurance provider would not want to pay out again if you had not taken all reasonable measures to control your now known dangerous dog.

@Asdf12345

Muzzle and keep it closer. Whilst the other owner is not entirely blame free I would imagine your insurance provider would not want to pay out again if you had not taken all reasonable measures to control your now known dangerous dog.

I don't know about the owner being "not entirely blame free", the other dog owner was not even close to blame free and because of her laissez faire approach unfortunately an incident occured whereby the op now needs to muzzle her dog

A lot of owners with 'unproblematic' dogs are blissfully ignorant and it is hugely frustrating

I'd be extremely pissed off if someone else's dog bit one of mine in the circumstances described. It's not reasonable to expect other dog owner's to be psychic: longlines are generally used for training, and plenty of dogs are on leads because they have no recall, not because they are nervous or aggressive.

I do my best to keep my dogs away from unknown dogs until I have okayed things with the owner, but a small slip-up on my part shouldn't result in one of my dogs being bitten.

I say this as someone who used to own a reactive dog. He wasn't a biter, but he was loud and would roll another dog, so I regarded it as MY job (not the job of every other dog owner in the area) to keep him under control. Any failure of that control was MY responsibility.

OP, you are not the worst dog owner ever. You've slipped up, as we all do at times, but now you know what your dog is capable of, you need to act accordingly. You need to keep you dog under close control and work with someone who can help your dog be less anxious about other dogs.

Your dog doesn't like other dogs approaching her rear end so she bypassed freeze, swerve, growl, snap and simple nip and instead bit down hard and dragged another dog?
Of course you need a muzzle or stay at home.

The ddogs were out of their owner's sight.. Therefore she wasn't in any sort of control of them at all. Where you were.... Your ddog is prob pissed off with being set upon. In your shoes sadly a proper long lead but not long line. And don't be afraid to shout at owners to get their ddogs on a lead.... One of mine hates her back end sniffed.. She gives a sharp bark. I always advise owners she will do this and they take their ddog away..expect a particularly dumb ridgeback owner who moved with us as I moved ddog away! Her ddog nearly had a not so nice dpuppy experience with a snap at the nose!

Other owner in the wrong. You don’t need to muzzle yours. Dogs give more then enough warning before they snap. Mine hates dogs sniffing his rear and will growl if they don’t back off. I’ll always shout at the owner to get them away as I won’t take blame should he bite.

I'm with your DH on this. Nobody else's dogs should be allowed to approach a dog on a lead.
My dog doesn't approach dogs who are on their leads with their owners but she doesn't check to see if they are on a long line! If they are off the lead she will go for a sniff. That's normal dog behaviour.

My sister's dog was bitten whilst he was on the lead in the summer holidays. Now he is incredibly wary of other dogs and barks and barks at them whereas before he liked dogs. She has to keep him on a lead all of the time now. A short lead so he is right next to her as she can't rely on him to behave.

Ok i just want to clear a couple of things up, a standard lead is 1.5m i was holding the long line at approx 2m on a clear field with hedgerow/woodland edges not normally walked through bordering it so definately not expecting to have dogs come through thick bushes. Yes NOW my dog has a bite history but not prior to this and tbh her lead has yellow reflective material saying nervous as well as her collar, This is because in the last year we have had 4 dogs off lead attack my ddog with no warning prior to this she was fine with other dogs. The dog behaviourist is because she is still naturally friendly but wary of other dogs (understandably. ) i will muzzle train her which i hate because i dont understand why people think its ok for their dog to run up to other dogs "because your dog is friendly" yeap so were the 4 dogs that mauled and attacked my dog and although she was 3-4 times the size of them she didn't bite back once!
Thank you to all those who have offered advice i will take it on board.

@villainousbroodmare

Your dog doesn't like other dogs approaching her rear end so she bypassed freeze, swerve, growl, snap and simple nip and instead bit down hard and dragged another dog? Of course you need a muzzle or stay at home.

She did growl, but when 2 dogs rush you how do you expect her to swerve? Also no decent dog owner would keep their dog at home and not walk them! I have owned an actual aggressive rescue dog years ago and walked her at 5am and 11pm to avoid others but would never "stay at home" Ddog is not aggressive by nature

A muzzle is not a punishment. It's not painful, it's not restrictive. It just reduces the damage your dog can do. It also acts as a far more useful 'keep away' signal than your current yellow lead. It will instantly signal people to keep away from her - surely that's what you want?