dog fight

[GabbyOaks]

I've never seen a dog fight so feel really shocked. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Out for usual dog walk, walking offlead along riverside trail. My dog was next to me carrying ball as we'd just finished playing. Another dog (similar breed, lurcher type a bit smaller than mine) comes towards us. Owners (a couple) a bit further away.

I wasn't worried about the dog coming closer as mine either ignores or stands still while they sniff him and then carries on walking. He's been like this for the past 9 years since I got him.

Suddenly all hell breaks loose and there's a full scale fight. Only lasted a few minutes but seemed to go on for ages.
Both dogs seemed calm after and no obvious injuries, the owners mentioned informing the police and said they expect me to pay if there are vet bills. They were furious and it wasn't possible to have a discussion. So I gave them my details and took theirs.

I'm assuming the fight was triggered by the other dog getting too close to mine's ball. Is it possible to say who's fault it is?

Don't offer to pay anything imo. Both off lead. No /both fault either side...

If both are off lead its equal fault. They would be foolish to report as both dogs could be classed as dangerously out of control. Hope your dog is okay?

Both dogs were off lead so no one owner is more to blame than the other. Most dogs avoid full on fighting if at all possible. The fact there were no injuries suggests this was a lot of barking and snarling rather than a proper fight. Dogs that are actually fighting could have ripped chunks out of each other in that time.

I don't know where you stand legally as both were offlead, but personally my feeling is that it was more their fault than yours as yours was by your side and theirs approached first.

Both dogs were off lead so you were both at fault.

I wouldn't be paying any vet bills.

If their dog was on lead you'd be at fault and liable

Because both dogs were off lead both were equally at fault. If you think it's because the other dog got too close to your dogs ball you should take steps to prevent this happening again, for example taking the ball off your dog when you have finished playing or keeping him on lead and telling other people to recall their dogs when they get too close

If there was lots of noise and no obvious injuries, then it’s more of an argument than a fight.

I know that sounds like I’m just being weird about words 😂 but I don’t mean it in that way, I mean that there’s no real fault, the police will not be interested and there’s not likely to be any vets bills - it was just two dogs having a disagreement.

Thanks for replies.
The owners insisted that my dog attacked theirs for no reason although it was impossible to see who started growling and mouthing first.
They were taking photos and texting afterwards. Probably to warn everyone about my vicious dog.
I'm torn between looking to see what they say on SM and giving my account of what happened, or just avoiding reading it altogether.

So their dog approached yours yet you are to blame? And then their priority is to take photos and text people straight after? Arseholes. Sounds like they are preparing to name and shame you on social media when they are more to blame 😡

Had this myself a few years back. My dog was with me in my front garden and other dog (neighbours) on and extending lead cane into my garden and attacked my dog.
My dog ended up with a torn ear. Didn't need vets through, dealt with it myself. The vets would of only done the same thing.
Owners shit themselves as my hand was covered in blood.
To this day they think their dog bit me and no longer walk past our house.
I should of really reported them but the fight ended up on the street so 70/30 blame.
Hope your dog is ok

Your dog was next to you. Theirs wasn’t next to them. They were not in control of their dog. You are not at fault here.

whilst you say that it’s impossible to tell who started it, you also acknowledge that it was probably because the other dog had got to close to your dogs ball, which does but the likelihood on your dog having started it.

I have rarely come across an owner who when their dog goes bananas says “oh yeah, my dogs a dickhead”, they usually say “they’ve never done that before” so my guess is that they mayve taken the photos for social media to find if anyone else has had an issue with your dog.

youre both deemed at fault because your dogs are off lead, so I doubt they’d ever get anywhere with a claim- unless someone comes up on social media and says that they can also support that your dog has form- which they can’t, so you’re ok.

That's not how the law works unfortunately.

The law states that dogs must be under control in public at all times (normally this means on a lead, but voice/whistle control is fine too). However, in this case, both dogs were off the lead and neither owner managed control their dog enough to prevent the fight (or break it up) so both dogs will been as "at fault".

Luckily for both owners, the law isn't really interested in dog fights, especially if there are no human injuries, so it's very likely that nothing will come of it.

This is one of the reasons I always put my dog on lead in public if an unknown dog approaches - so if the worst happens, mine is at least seen as being under my control.

Sometimes a disagreement breaks out between dogs and there's a bit of a scrap. It's within the normal range of dog behaviour, albeit at the undesirable end of the normal spectrum.

Sometimes two dogs just take a dislike to each other, sometimes it's rooted in resource guarding behaviour (hard to be certain from just one incident though tbh) and sometimes one is a bit of a twat.

With no injuries (as is common in these scraps) they're going to get nowhere. Mine has been in several scraps in his time (some his fault, others not, thankfully he's a reformed character now) and nothing has ever come of it.

If there wasn’t blood at the end that was not a dog fight it was a noisy skirmish , don’t worry about it as everyone else has said both dogs offlead it’s a 50/50 issue .

Some dogs don't get on with each other and that's life. If their dog approached yours then I would be inclined to say that they shouldn't let their dog approach unknown dogs! I wouldn't be paying any vet bills either.

If your dog has no history of attacking other dogs then they have no case whatsoever. I would not even have given them my name and they can bleat all they like. Sometimes this happens with dogs and if they don’t want their dog in the fight they keep it on the lead. Who is to say which dog started it?

It doesn't sound like either dog was hurt. I doubt anything would happen even if one of the dogs had been injured. When my dog is off the lead I accept that if he runs up to another unknown dog and I fail to recall him then he may get hurt.

Thanks everyone it's been so helpful reading these replies. It felt like a huge disaster yesterday, today I've got things more in proportion.

They've sent me a text with a photo of what looks like a graze behind dog's ear, and written "I'm reporting this tomorrow." I didn't ask who to, just thanked them for letting me know. From yesterday's experience anything I say will enrage them further, it's not possible to have a proper discussion.

No sign of bleeding in the picture, it looks like his ear was pushed or pulled forwards. If my dog pulled the ear with his teeth he must've been very careful not to puncture the skin.

You know your dogs history, you do not know the other dogs. The other owners sound a bit too prepared tbh and seem to have an action plan all arranged.

I would be suspicious that this is not the first offence for their dog but instantly blaming the other dog gets them off the hook.