Bloody irresponsible dog owners!!!!!!!

[Wibbli]

I have a male lab (year old) who was severely attacked a few months ago in an unprovoked attack (on his part). I’ve seen a behavioural therapist who said he suffers PTSD and to take measures to keep him safe (he wears a bright yellow “nervous” collar, I keep a ball as a distraction and I keep him away from other dogs, as he will snap at a dog if they come into his face and act aggressive towards him).

I was just walking him by a river (with a friend who has a dog) and he went into the river with a ball. Suddenly, a fucking husky runs from nowhere and straight up to his face into the river. The owners aren’t there. I can see my dogs ears go back, he’s obviously scared as this dog has gone for him before. I tried to call my dog and this dog growls at my dog, so I jumped into the river to get my dog. Queue the dogs fighting. I’m screaming trying to get this bloody husky away from my dog and then the bloody owners show up; “oh dear, is that my dog? Well he was just tied up outside the house, the 3 year old let him off the hook by mistake”. I am fuming -land saying “my dog is nervous! He was attacked and your dog has gone for him before!”. They don’t care. They start taking to the girl I was with, and she actually turned around and said “ah she’s (me) fine, just a bit wet”.

I am so mad, both at the owners (who didn’t realise the bloody dog had run off!) as they don’t care! Surely if a 3 year old can undo the hook for a huge husky, that is not keeping the animal safe and secure?! I’m angry with my “friend” for thinking I’m overreacting as she knows that my dog was severely bitten a few months ago.

AIBU to think I deserved an actual apology from these owners?! I’m so angry right now and want to go back and tell them what I think of them.

You need to tell your friend not to speak for you.I can't believe that you're in a river and she has the gall to say you're alright.

@Hairymaery
How about checking with the other dog owner before you let your dog approach?

I had an off-lead, intact male Vizla run up to my dog today. She was on the lead. I put her behind me and the dog ran off. His owners were watching their kids play football. They had no clue where their dog was or what it was doing.
And yet, if she'd reacted, that would have been my fault and I need to walk her on street only (where many people btw are distracted because they are looking in shop windows or chatting to a friend or whatever)?

If both dogs were lucky enough to have responsible owners, then they would of both been on leads, or recalled so they weren't on contact, then this event wouldn't of happened.
I have a husky and a malamute, neither go off the lead unless in a controlled off leas dog area.
My big malamute is reactive and he's on the lead when in public 100%, sadly he has endured a lot of unwanted attention and aggression, but luckily my dogs will work together

My dog is not reactive but will defend himself if he’s scared (part of the PTSD)
To be fair, most dogs will defend themselves if another dog comes charging up and scares them and (as this husky did) starts to growl. The husky's owners should have been able to call it away before it got in your dog's face.

When two cretins meet.

Owners of the Husky were irresponsible but you were equally as irresponsible. You clearly do not have any recall with your Lab (else there was no need for you to get in the river).

No recall + snappy dog with PTSD + allowed off the lead when it's 'clear' (as if you have a ten mile inbuilt radius to sense if any dogs are nearby) = problem waiting to happen.

You need to walk him in an enclosed, private dog walking field and then do lead walks around the roads where you can be 99.9% sure you won't encounter an off-lead dog.

Yes, it's shit, but you will have plenty more bad experiences if you keep walking in public areas. Do what's right for him - and you.

I would buy a lunge rein / long line for when you go in the river at least then you still have yours on a lead
I have three dog reactive dogs all rescue and book a enclosed dog bark to let them off for their hour runs , I can't trust them off the lead just in case
Hope your dog is ok

Both dogs were out of control.

Doesn’t sound like a husky to me. Huskies are smaller than labs (we have two huskies and have had others previously) and not all aggressive. But they are escape artists and need to be better secured than just tied to something that a child can undo. Our huskies are smaller than our pit bull. Huskies don’t run for other dogs either. They are not at all aggressive. They don’t even bark. They sort of talk or sing. So I don’t think it was a pure husky, or even a husky cross. Could it have been an Akita? They are bigger and kite aggressive.

But you were irresponsible to have such a nervous dog off the lead. Yes, you checked it was clear but you must know that another dog, with or without an owner, can appear at any time in a public place.

While I don’t agree all huskies are dangerous, I think the people saying they’ve never heard of/met a husky who would attack don’t know that many. I know three people with huskies, and there’s a husky on our road too, and they definitely come with a lot more caveats than most pet dogs and I’ve seen a few instances where they were definitely ready to go for other dogs/people. Even my friend who will defend huskies to the ends of the earth and has gone through years of training with her dog and has him impeccably trained (am so jealous!!) as she helps out with the ispca says huskies are one of the more difficult dogs to train as they are so strong willed and she wouldn’t recommend them as a pet in a house with children and they can be difficult to match with other dogs too as they want to be the alpha. Put that with most normal people and you’re not going to have an easy dog which will translate over to people meeting them out in the park

@My3bigdogs are you sure you've got a husky? Every single one I've seen/met have been much bigger than labs

They sound like malamutes?

Much bigger than huskies and with a greater tendancy towards dog reactivity.

Nonsense. How many huskies have you owned? We have had many over the years. We currently have a pit bull and he’s louder and faster than our two huskies but also not aggressive. Huskies by nature are not aggressive. If you’ve come across aggressive ones then it’s because of how the owners have mistreated them, not because of their breed.

We have had malamutes too. I can assure you I know the difference. We foster retired sled dogs and have had many, many huskies and malamutes come live with us over the years. Malamutes are bigger than huskies. But that’s not the only difference. Our current huskies are pure bred huskies with full paperwork. Retired champion team dogs.

Our old lab was similar after being attacked by 2 huge lab/staff/lurcher x at 4 months. We tried and tried to rebuild her confidence but she never got past it. She would always ignore other dogs but if they hassled her she would snap at them, she was NEVER off lead in public. When it became apparent the only safe way to deal with idiots letting their off lead dogs hassle her was to muzzle her, we rarely took her out in public.. we hired secure fields or only went to 'on lead' places and she ran at home.... sad but safe. Now we have an incredibly friendly but over enthusiastic whippet with dubious recall when she chooses, so she is on lead too with LOTS of safe off lead running with equally mental dogs where she won't hassle reactive dogs who won't like it 🤷‍♀️ ... it works 2 ways.

And I don't believe you can't on a lead walk a reactive dog in the "open " in case you see a off lead dog ! You can walk your dog responsibly on the lead anywhere you want too without having to cater for other peoples "off lead dogs "
Not everyone wants your off lead dogs running over just because they like to say hello

The husky owners are completely irresponsible. Their dog should never be allowed to escape. Shouldn’t be tied up and left where a three year old can get to it. Much less let it loose.
You say you check the coast is clear. But it doesn’t stay that way. Dogs can come racing up. So it’s not a safe place to let your dog off lead.

Correct. Malamutes are much bigger than huskies. A husky shouldn't weigh more than 60 pounds. Labs can be 75 pounds easily. Malamutes are over 100 pounds.

Keep your mutt on a lead too then.

I agree but unfortunately it others don't

I would like every dog removed from the UK.

Hmm, I don't think you're covering yourself in glory here, and I say that as the owner of a selectively reactive dog. And you're kidding yourself if you don't think your dog is reactive - he is.

Yes, the husky should have been under control but so should your Labrador. You know he reacts when frightened and still chose to have him off the lead in a public place. That's not fair and puts him in a very vulnerable position.

I appreciate having him on the lead wouldn't necessarily have stopped the husky approaching, but a lead would have given you much more control over the situation and, if your dog had ended up hurt, you would have a valid argument that the other dog was out of control and approached your under control dog.

As it stands both dogs were off lead and "out of control" in the eyes of the law as neither were responding to their owners' recall/command.

If you know your dog can react then it's your responsibility as the owner to have him on a lead unless you're 100% sure it's safe. My own dog only goes off lead on the beach for precisely this reason - as I can see for miles and call him back well before another dog can reach us. Is it sad that he can't run free in other places? Yes, but it's also 100% not worth the risk of him reacting and causing a fight or hurting another dog in his panic.

This

This. Your dog was off lead. Regardless of the backstory, that is a signal to other dogs owners that it is socialised and safe. Collar colours and your personal history are irrelevant. You are unable to control your own dog, so you are not in a position to complain about other people.

For those who think that it is ok for the OP's dog to be off lead when there are no other dogs around, no it isn't. You cannot bet on there being no dogs around. It is your own responsibility to keep them on lead if you know they are nervous or reactive.