Advice needed - violent attack by neighbour's dog

Leif

The dog was out of control, and normal dogs do not bite people. We had dogs when I was growing up, and one of our dogs never once bit someone. Talking to the police at the local station is not over-reacting. They will have experience of these things, and may give advice.

capeverde

A lot of people are making assumptions here from the OP. Given her thread title stating it was a 'violent attack' and she was 'seriously injured', I suspect a tad of over reaction. She picked up a male dog who had the scent of a b itch in heat. According to her, the injuries were scratch marks where the poor thing was obviously trying to get away after she picked it up and a bite to her elbow. Be interesting to see a photo of that. I can imagine a lot of shouting and screaming and getting the dog over excited.

Nothing wrong with sending a kid to get their dog either, my kids not only lead our dog, but also their ponies which are a damn site bigger and more powerful than a small dog. We see all sorts in tourist season when we take our dog down to the beach. All these towny people shrieking and screaming when he goes up to say hello, whats a dog meant to think. He's a beautiful flat coat retriever as well and not some extension to some tattoed ****wits ego.

pimento

capeverde wrote: »

I think there's a few people going over board here. Firstly you weren't 'badly hurt', you had a couple of scratches on your chest and I would bet the 'open wound' was not actually that open. The moral of the story is, you shouldn't have picked the dog up. It was obviously excited and consider how huge you looked to him. He was just scrambling to get away and may just have been frightened.

Admittedly the woman across the road didn't handle the situation right either, but our kids control our dog and he's a large flattie. I would guess the neighbours dog wasn't that big if you could just pick it up, so there's no reason why her 6 year old couldn't take it home.

All this nonsense about calling the police, for heavens sake.

You sound fairly experienced around dogs. Not everybody is. I wouldn't know where to start if a dog approached me, all bark and growl.

I doubt I'd have been as polite to my neighbour as the OP if her dog had just scratched and bitten me. In fact, she'd probably have been geting a bill for a week's lost work because I reckon I'd have needed a few days off to calm down.

I would also have called the police.

Leif

capeverde wrote: »

A lot of people are making assumptions here from the OP. Given her thread title stating it was a 'violent attack' and she was 'seriously injured', I suspect a tad of over reaction. She picked up a male dog who had the scent of a b itch in heat. According to her, the injuries were scratch marks where the poor thing was obviously trying to get away after she picked it up and a bite to her elbow. Be interesting to see a photo of that. I can imagine a lot of shouting and screaming and getting the dog over excited.

Nothing wrong with sending a kid to get their dog either, my kids not only lead our dog, but also their ponies which are a damn site bigger and more powerful than a small dog. We see all sorts in tourist season when we take our dog down to the beach. All these towny people shrieking and screaming when he goes up to say hello, whats a dog meant to think. He's a beautiful flat coat retriever as well and not some extension to some tattoed ****wits ego.

You seem totally convinced that you are right and the OP and almost everyone else is wrong. And you continually interpret the OP's post as over-reaction. I wish I was as clever as you. Maybe you should pull your neck in. You might be right. You might be wrong. But you have no evidence that you are right. Had she gone to the local police station, they would have seen the injuries, and could have decided. If they were trivial, they would have said, rather than having to rely on a self proclaimed internet expert.

Having owned dogs for years, I was never scratched or bitten. And I've never been scratched or bitten by anyone else's dog. It is not acceptable for a dog to bite someone.

You said "All these towny people shrieking and screaming when he goes up to say hello,"

It is quite clear from that statement that you are an irresponsible owner. As I say, we had dogs for years, and if a friendly dog approaches, I have no issues. Most people love dogs, even when they are a bit over friendly. But quite often the dog will run up to me, barking, snarling and growling, and that is quite worrying. It even happened last night. The owners show no concern, and do not apologise. Utterly disgraceful on their part. Quite how one is supposed to distinguish between a badly trained but passive dog, and a vicious one, I do not know. I've even had a large Alsatian jumping up to shoulder height and snapping its jaws at me. Eeeek.

capeverde

obviously there are exceptions to every rule, but generally a dog will bite if it feels threatened and in danger. There are also the territorial and food issues, but they dont apply here. It would seem patently obvious a male dog is over excited by a female dog on heat. Add to this some shouting and screaming by kids, neighbours etc and then all of a sudden someone scoops him off the ground. How do you think he might react. If a dog really intends to hurt you, he wont let go. A little nip is all this was, so that he could get away. In his mind do you think he may have thought he was being attacked?

capeverde

Leif wrote: »

You seem totally convinced that you are right and the OP and almost everyone else is wrong. And you continually interpret the OP's post as over-reaction. I wish I was as clever as you. Maybe you should pull your neck in. You might be right. You might be wrong. But you have no evidence that you are right. Had she gone to the local police station, they would have seen the injuries, and could have decided. If they were trivial, they would have said, rather than having to rely on a self proclaimed internet expert.

Having owned dogs for years, I was never scratched or bitten. And I've never been scratched or bitten by anyone else's dog. It is not acceptable for a dog to bite someone.

You said "All these towny people shrieking and screaming when he goes up to say hello,"

It is quite clear from that statement that you are an irresponsible owner. As I say, we had dogs for years, and if a friendly dog approaches, I have no issues. Most people love dogs, even when they are a bit over friendly. But quite often the dog will run up to me, barking, snarling and growling, and that is quite worrying. It even happened last night. The owners show no concern, and do not apologise. Utterly disgraceful on their part. Quite how one is supposed to distinguish between a badly trained but passive dog, and a vicious one, I do not know. I've even had a large Alsatian jumping up to shoulder height and snapping its jaws at me. Eeeek.

Leif, firstly by the use of her phrases 'violent attack' and 'seriously injured' in describing a scratch and a nip, I would definitely call the OPs reaction exagerated.

Secondly I'm far from irresponsible, but our dog goes for a run on the beach every day. If tourists wish to come and frequent our beach for a couple of months a year why should he have to forgo his enjoyment. He is the best natured and most placid dog you could find and I can assure you would never bite snarl or growl at anyone although he might try and beg a sausage roll even if it has a bit of sand on it!

I suggest if people are that worried about what might happen they should stay indoors, not my dog. All this keep your dog on a lead nonsense as well, I only wish I could run alongside him enough to give him the exercise he needs.

pimento

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a male dog and a b!tch at three paces. I've never owned a dog and neither has anyone in my family. I'm not scared of them but wouldn't know all the dog psychology that dog owners seem to assume everyone would know. I definitely wouldn't be able to tell if a b!tch was in heat.

pimento

capeverde wrote: »

Leif, firstly by the use of her phrases 'violent attack' and 'seriously injured' in describing a scratch and a nip, I would definitely call the OPs reaction exagerated.

Secondly I'm far from irresponsible, but our dog goes for a run on the beach every day. If tourists wish to come and frequent our beach for a couple of months a year why should he have to forgo his enjoyment. He is the best natured and most placid dog you could find and I can assure you would never bite snarl or growl at anyone although he might try and beg a sausage roll even if it has a bit of sand on it!

I suggest if people are that worried about what might happen they should stay indoors, not my dog. All this keep your dog on a lead nonsense as well, I only wish I could run alongside him enough to give him the exercise he needs.

You conjure up an image in my mind after reading this post.

capeverde

pimento wrote: »

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a male dog and a b!tch at three paces. I've never owned a dog and neither has anyone in my family. I'm not scared of them but wouldn't know all the dog psychology that dog owners seem to assume everyone would know. I definitely wouldn't be able to tell if a b!tch was in heat.

and so in this case you wouldn't have picked an excited dog up and you therefore wouldn't have got bitten and we wouldn't be having this conversation.

capeverde

pimento wrote: »

You conjure up an image in my mind after reading this post.

Nice one for that, you don't expect to come on here and get your ego boosted as well as engage in enlightening conversation!