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The doghouse

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Original poster

Idiot dog owner caused accident

26 replies

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:27

Why oh why do people have giant breed dogs when they can’t control them?
This isn’t a giant breed criticism thread, my lab has a couple of huge friends that are beautifully behaved.
There is a lady in our village who has a huge shaggy thing that has become a bit of a standing joke, people comment and look in askance when they see her. She’s a tiny dot of a thing wrestling an out of control monster, it has to be seen to be believed and anyone who tries to help or offer advice gets given short shift.
Today it slipped its collar, ran into the road, and caused a driver to mount the kerb and hit a bin. The poor young girl was heartbroken, she’s a relatively new driver but her reaction saved a very nasty accident. She of course is blaming herself and was dreading telling her mum whose car she was driving.
The dog owner was full of excuses as to how she was struggling to train the dog as if she was the one who deserved sympathy!!
I really don’t understand people who have dogs that they are incapable of controlling.
A few passers by have given their contact details to the driver, but I have no idea what the outcome will be.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? The car was quite badly damaged.

OP posts:

Arlanymor · 16/08/2025 14:30

Animals Act 1971 should be of use here and will put the liability on the dog owner. Poor girl, it's enough to shake anyone's confidence, let alone a new driver. She needs to report to the police and to her insurer, giving them the woman's details too. With that amount of witnesses hopefully it will be cut and dried - she was not in control of her dog, whether or not it was deliberately off the lead. As you say, lucky that no one - including the dog - was hurt.

Glitchymn1 · 16/08/2025 14:35

Aww no, poor girl and her poor mum. Dog insurance may cover if you have third party? Or the dog owner will need to be held liable?

Would you be better posting on legal?

JohnofWessex · 16/08/2025 14:37

No criticism of the poor driver, but....

I was always taught NOT to swerve for a 'small animal' ie not cows and horses.

You wont hurt yourself hitting even the biggest dog but you can kill yourself or someone else if you swerve.

LandSharksAnonymous · 16/08/2025 14:40

I really don’t understand people who have dogs that they are incapable of controlling.

The size of the dog is not the problem, and ultimately completely irrelevant to this situation. The size of the owner is not the problem, and again irrelevant to this situation.

There was literally no need to mention the dog is a giant breed when the exact same would have happened if it had been a cocker spaniel or a terrier (given the dog slipped it's collar).

So, given the size of the dog is completely irrelevant to what happened, this post seems like another very tedious anti large-dog post.

Original poster

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:41

@Glitchymn1 I’m not directly involved, I left my phone number with the driver. I think I needed to vent as I felt quite shaken up when I got home.
@JohnofWessex I was wondering that, but I would’ve done exactly the same. I do hope she doesn’t get in to trouble.

OP posts:

JohnofWessex · 16/08/2025 14:45

I suggest that the size of the dog IS relevant

Clearly restraining an out of control Chihuahua is very different to an Irish Wolfhound

Original poster

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:45

@LandSharksAnonymous Eh? That’s quite an aggressive reply? The dog slipped its collar because it was backing away from the owner and it was a tug of war with the lead. It really wouldn’t have happened with a smaller dog.

OP posts:

LandSharksAnonymous · 16/08/2025 14:47

@JohnofWessex but the dog 'slipped it's collar' which could happen to any breed. So, in this particular incident, the fact the dog was a giant breed was completely irrelevant. This was not a matter of the owner losing control so much as the collar not being fitted properly therefore breed and size is not relevant.

@ClapperHam Any dog can slip its collar in that situation. I've seen Frenchies do that when they've been scared and the owner has tried to drag them forward.
Not aggressive at all. Just factual.

It can, and does, happen all the time with smaller dogs.

Original poster

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:51

Why does MN have to be so mean? I came on because I was upset and shaken up, and wondered if the poor girl would get her car fixed.
Im a dog lover whatever their size and would’ve been devastated if the dog had been hit.

OP posts:

IceMaidenIceBear · 16/08/2025 14:52

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

IceMaidenIceBear · 16/08/2025 14:53

I don't honestly care if you are upset by this. How the hell do you think it feels to me?

intrepidpanda · 16/08/2025 15:01

I would have just hit the bloody dog.

Original poster

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 15:02

@IceMaidenIceBear What a lovely supportive female you are. It truly wasn’t a thread criticising giant breeds, but believe what you want, it seems to be you who has an issue.

OP posts:

NebulouslyContemporaneous · 16/08/2025 15:12

Since the sizes of the dog and the women are clearly irrelevant to an accident caused when the dog slipped its collar I have no idea why you mentioned them.

Yes, of course the owner of the dog is liable for the accident and I do feel very sorry for the car driver.

But for goodness sake, why the need for such uncharitable hostility to the dog's owner?

If I had seen an accident like that , I would have thought 'there but for the grace of god go I'. I work hard at training my dog and I always err on the side of caution in any situation where he might cause an issue to others. But animals are unpredictable. Things go wrong despite our best efforts.

Another day, given a sufficiently unlucky set of circumstances, it might be you and your labrador causing a problem. While accepting responsibility for the incident, you would also hope that others would react with understanding.

SpanielsGalore · 16/08/2025 15:15

My six foot husband let our cocker spaniel slip out of his harness and run off into the road. It can unfortunately happen to anyone.
If you genuinely posted because you were upset and wanted to help the girl, there was no need for all of the extra details. Simply 'a dog ran out infront of a car and the girl swerved and hit a bin' would have been enough.
Your village does not sound like a very nice place to live, with all the gossiping back stabbers.

Original poster

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 15:18

If anyone is interested the young lady has rung to say that the police are involved and are going to see the owner so hopefully it will be resolved.
I won’t be returning to this thread so there is no need to waste your time attacking me.
The nastiness on Mumsnet is astounding.

OP posts:

LittlleMy · 16/08/2025 15:21

@ClapperHam She’s a tiny dot of a thing wrestling an out of control monster

I don’t think you’ve done yourself any favours using such language. You’re complaining that some of the MN responses have been mean but please check this language as you’ll lose credibility with many. It comes across as mean - the very complaint you have.

Ineedpeaceandquiet · 16/08/2025 15:23

The responses to OP are really quite ridiculous.

She was giving a description of the events, if she hadn't people would have asked for more context.

Hoppinggreen · 16/08/2025 15:28

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:51

Who has been mean to you?
Just because someone is pointing out a fact you don't agree with thats not "mean".
I agree as well that the size of dog is irrelevant in terms of it running into the road, any size dog can slip its collar BUT nobody should have a dog of any size they can't control

SpanielsGalore · 16/08/2025 15:32

Ineedpeaceandquiet · 16/08/2025 15:23

The responses to OP are really quite ridiculous.

She was giving a description of the events, if she hadn't people would have asked for more context.

A description of the events wojld have been:

A person was walking their dog when it slipped its collar and ran into the road. The young driver swerved to avoid the dog and hit a bin. Does anyone know who is responsible for paying for the repairs to the car?

No one would have asked sex, size of the person, what breed of dog, is the person the laughing stock of the village?

LandSharksAnonymous · 16/08/2025 15:32

The nastiness on Mumsnet is astounding.

'A bit of a standing joke'
'Look on in askance'
'Tiny dot of a thing wrestling an out of control monster'

Yep. The nastiness is astounding. Mind-boggling really.

MissyB1 · 16/08/2025 15:33

ClapperHam · 16/08/2025 14:45

My mini schnauzer managed to slip her collar once. I was horrified, luckily she didn’t move.

anyolddinosaur · 16/08/2025 15:48

No one should have a dog they cant train. If the dog slips its lead the owner should recall it.

A small dog might have been run over, the driver would have to swerve more to avoid hitting a larger animal.

If you get a lot of comments about being a small woman with a large dog maybe your dog is also poorly trained.

Hippymoose · 16/08/2025 22:25

I'm in similar situations a few times a month - cats, pheasants, deers. Obviously she should've done an emergency stop but easier said than done when you're a new driver.

Exhaustedonallfronts · 17/08/2025 10:03

I think that perhaps previous issues with this dog being badly trained, exacerbated by the fact it’s very large, probably coloured the language the first post.

The slipping of the collar can happen to any size, and there but for the grace of god etc…

But you do have my sympathies. There is a dog locally that I feel similarly about. Some sort of v large mastiff cross. Dog aggressive, poorly trained and handled by a slight woman who struggles to contain it. I was nearly involved in an accident caused by them a few months ago.

I was walking along the pavement with my dog (30kg show bred lab- so not a small dog, but she looked tiny in comparison, it is several inches taller than her and very stocky). We walked past their house, on a loose lead completely under control, minding our own business, with my 8 year old son with us. We didn’t initially see them until the owner gave a startled scream as her dog lunged at us. The other dog saw us and started barking aggressively and was dragging its female owner towards us. It shot forward so quickly that her female friend also grabbed its lead to try and stop it/slow it down, and it continued to drag them down the short path and onto the pavement. My dog, child and I had to lurch sideways into the middle of the road to get out of its path, the two women still attached and ‘skiing’ behind it until they managed to stop it on the public pavement.

It was really pretty scary and if there had been a car coming there would have been a nasty accident. Yes, the issue with the dog was it was not under control/poorly trained, But if it had been a cocker spaniel it wouldn’t have been able to get so close as the petite adult woman would not have been dragged over.

I was really quite shaken up after and would have probably called it a monster too. So sorry @ClapperHam , I can understand why you might have sounded anti large dog, because you were shaken up.

There are a family of dashunds that also live in the village and equally go bonkers at the sight of other dogs, aggressively barking and straining at their leads to get to any other dogs. Evidently they have the same issues as the mastiff type dog, but they are less of a public menace as even the four of them all going for it are not enough to pull their male owner over, their smaller size means that he is not at risk of being pulled over.

I hope the young driver is ok and the police sort the matter.

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