My dog bit my dog Walker

[Jennie12345]

Hi,

I am hoping for some advice. I have a cocker spaniel who has always been super hyper and hard work, but never aggressive at all.
I have had the same dog walker for 2.5 years (he is just over 2 years old) and she called me Friday to say my dog had bit her! I was shocked and very apologetic.
she said he had become fond of a plastic container in her car and had been resource guarding it. She dropped some treats on the floor to try and get it off him and he bit her, quite badly as she ended up in hospital all night saturday having it cleaned up apparently. I haven’t seen her yet but am in constant contact and will pop over tomorrow to apologise in person.
she asked me if he’s changed at all recently and I said not at all, he’s never resourced guarded at home, we can take anything off him. She said it’s been happening a while with stuff but she has never mentioned it to me?
so we have a 5 year old at home and have had to make the VERY sad decision to rehome him. He’s gone to a lovely place with a vet who specialises in cocker spaniels.
my question to you guys is.. can she take legal action against me for damages? I am very worried. He had honesltly never done this before and she had not told me he had been acting like this with resource guarding until Friday when he bit her.
she’s being lovely to me and keeping me updated and I’m offering to help in anyway at all.
Would really appreciate anyone’s view on this? We are heartbroken and I have been in tears all weekend as he was my baby, but also very concerned we could get in legal / financial trouble ?

Yes she can but Animals Act claims are a high bar and she says its been happening a while and not told you so contributed to the risk

Do you not have insurance?

Is she having to miss work due to the injury? I’d maybe offer to pay for missed hours. But I’m sure someone will tell you not to in case it is used against you as admitting liability or something.

When you rehomed, did you tell them about the bite?

If you have pet insurance they normally have a public liability element. Or does your home insurance have legal cover? It doesn’t sound like she’s followed best practice, should I’d informed you of resource guarding and perhaps removed the container when he’s in the car? Even if she had a claim I think her contributory negligence would reduce damages substantially.

Yes the person we rehomed him to knows about the bite and specialises in fostering cocker spaniels.
I have pet insurance so will go through that if she does want to take any action against us for loss of earnings. Just wasn’t sure where I stand if we weren’t there and she didn’t tell us he had started resource guarding things around her previously.

I would give her your insurance details with the apology and then it’s up to her if she claims.

Yes our pet insurance does have public liability insurance. Do you think I should inform them now? My husband is going to go and see her tomorrow and take some flowers and have a chat.
I might be over thinking it and she may not do anything, I just want to be prepared.
but I am a bit cross she hadn’t told me any of this had been happening as i may have been able to do something so we could have avoided it. He has NEVER done anything like this in our care at home.

I think it’s great if you share your details, but surely she should have her own insurance too if she is properly licensed?

She really ought to have told you about his guarding and as a minimum removed the plastic item. Basic common sense.

Her business insurance should cover her lost earnings from the bite. She does have insurance, doesn’t she?

I don’t think you needed to rehome your dog over this by the way, she sounds quite inexperienced and as though she hasn’t been very professional with you.

I’m a dog walker myself and would always tell a client if their dog had guarded and would never ever attempt to take something off them if they had.

I only rehomed him because I have a 5 year old in the house and don’t want to risk the same thing happening to my son. It was an extremely hard decision but he’s in a better place now being cared for by professionals who will re home him with people who have experience with cockers.
I just wish she had told me before he had been showing signs of resource guarding as I could have addressed it. I am heartbroken.

@Jennie12345but if he’s never shown any issues around you, it seems like a bit of a rash decision to make in such a short period of time - I really hope you don’t come to regret it.

Many dogs will resource guard if they’re pressured, stressed or scared - it doesn’t mean they’re dangerous dogs or can’t live with children.

What would you have done to address it? If he never displayed the behaviour at home?

Do not feel guilty for the decision you have made, even if to some people, it appears to have been made quickly! You have a child and you cannot risk it (I understand that and others should too).

Your dog walker was really irresponsible by not informing you of the incidents that occurred prior to him biting them. Your dogs behaviour escalated with them as they would have felt threatened/ fearful/ stressed. They should have informed you the first time there was any signs of discomfort so you could work on it and/or get someone better suited to walk them! What would they have done had your dog escalated with your child? You would have been shocked by the behaviour, not to mention how terrifying and dangerous it could be for your child and you’d have thought it was a “bite out of nowhere” when the reality is, your dog has no doubt been showing some very clear signs of discomfort for some time!

I am so angry on your behalf!!

Is she experienced? Does she have insurance? How many dogs does she take out at a time?

X

Thanks so much. Appreciate your kind words, it wasn’t an easy decision at all. But there is no way I was risking it happening again with a young child in the house/ and he has gone to a very nice place where he will be very well looked after.
I am cross she didn’t mention it before as it might have saved so much heart break we are going through

Yes very experienced and usually 2 , no more than 3. She’s been fantastic I just think she made a big misjudgment if she knew he had be resource guarding and wish she told me she had signs of this previously. He’s always been a hyper loud and mischeivious dog but never ever resourced guarded at home, anyone at my house could take anything of him. We had no idea!!

This is really poor of your dog walker to not mention it particularly as you have a child. She’s been negligent.

i wouldn’t be chatting to her about insurance/liability or anything of the sort. Let her bring it up. I’d honestly be surprised if she does.

I agree. I had (what I thought was) a experienced dog sitter for my usually very placid but hungry dog. While looking after him, the dog sitter crawled under a table, backing my dog into a corner, to snatch a bit of food from his mouth. My dog (not unreasonably) protested with a growl. Luckily the dog sitter told me (in disgust at my dogs behaviour) so now I only use more experienced sitters and tell them that story and say if you need to get anything off him please open the fridge door and yell cheese and he'll immediately drop anything he shouldn't have. But if she hadn't told me, I'd of continued to use her (assuming she didn't blacklist me!) and the problem could've escalated.

In my opinion you've made entirely the right decision to re-home, given the age of your child, and the availability of suitable rehoming. Sorry this has happened though - must be very hard, and you have my absolute sympathy!

Re your walker, I do think you are being unfair in blaming her for not talking to you about the behaviour. (And I sincerely don't mean to be harsh, I totally understand you must be very upset at the moment, and looking for somebody to blame - that's only natural).

But in reality, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I presume she noticed certain behaviours in your dog around the container, but did not see them as especially serious given she was not bitten before, and it is only now that she is linking things up in her mind and realising that those behaviours were a precursor to the bite.

Dogs have very different minds to ours, and thus are even more unpredictable than humans. Cockers especially (I have owned and worked with a few) are more unpredictable than most. A cocker who was my beloved family pet, and under my direct supervision at the time, once bit a child also under my direct supervision - I take full responsibility and obviously, combing back through previous events, now feel I should have predicted it - but the reality is I DIDN'T (and I am experienced with dogs, reasonably risk averse, and not stupid). I am not saying I wasn't to blame - I was - and in the aftermath I spent hours combing over all the clues there were that the situation wasn't safe - but I also know with my rational mind that the dog biting was the last thing I expected. (The child was fine, luckily the dog's teeth barely connected and only grazed. Nontheless, quite rightly the event has stuck with me to this day, and is never far from my thoughts when any issue around dog safety is under discussion).

Given you have insurance, I would stop worrying about the legal aspect. Even the best dogs are unpredictable and can cause injuries in certain sets of circumstances - we know that when going in to ownership and make the calculation that the benefits outweigh the risks. That's exactly why we have insurance!

Nothing you have said makes me think your walker was especially negligent - it was just one of those things. Unfortunate, and especially sad for you to lose your beloved pet, but when you think about it the outcome could have been SO much worse.

I would strongly advise you to wait to get another dog till all the DC you plan to have are upper primary age. That's not a personal criticism at all - I just always think it's safer all round. And especially if cockers are your preferred breed, as in my opinion they are harder to read than some other breeds. Though let's be honest, no breed is 100% child-safe. And I proper love dogs!

Thanks for your comments. I don’t blame the dog walker for it happening, she just made a comment that he had been resource guarding in her car for a while and around her and her stuff, if i had known that then at least I could have got a behaviourist or assessed the risks. I do not blame her for what happened or having to rehome him, she’s been fantastic and a great walker for him. It’s just a sad situation and she hasn’t even mentioned taking it legal, I’m just jumping to conclusions and being prepared. But like you said that’s what insurance is for

It doesn’t matter whether she told you or not about the resource guarding - she can make a claim on your insurance and you should share the details as she’s been badly hurt.

I’ve never said I won’t share the details. More than happy to share the details. I was just asking advice about implications on me legally. I feel terrible she has been hurt and I have been so upset and worried about it. It’s the last thing I ever thought would happen.

When you say she’s keeping you updated, what on? Her injury? Surely as the dog is now gone, you don’t need to stay in contact? It was at least partly her fault as you had no idea he was showing problematic behaviour!