Staff Dogs and Muzzles

[Deleted User]

We have an 8 weeks German Shepherd pup. He's about 10 inches tall. Well trained already, he walks to heel etc, fully vaccinated etc. We are doing our best for him.

We socialise him with other dogs, have quite a good community of dogs and dog owners at the local park, we all have a good chinwag etc.

Yesterday we went to the park and were chatting to a dog owner we knew with his dog when a young lady we didn't know came up with a large staff dog. Our dog touched noses with the staffy, who then lunged at our pup. He grabbed him by the neck and wouldn't let go. It took my OH a minute to get him off Bear.

Rushed our poor screaming Bear (his breathing didn't sound right) to the local vets at 12 noon. Fortunately they were open. They xrayed him, no damage to spine, shaved his neck, five puncture wounds, kept him nil by mouth and dripped up for 24 hours. Said he had concussion and was highly stressed but nothing more serious, he'd been very lucky. She said something needed to be done about the attacking dog as the type of attack was more than a quick nip.

Went to collect him today. The nurse said she'd just noticed he had some leakage from one of the tooth wounds but keep an eye on him and bring him back tomorrow. They did say there was a chance that one of the staff's teeth had penetrated his oesophagus. Unfortunately, this was just one remark amongst many on discharge. We assumed they'd have checked it out more seriously if there was a real risk of this happening.

So we took him home, gave him a drink and a little food (he was starving) and it came out of his neck, poor thing. Had him back at the vets within minutes. They operated, were able to sew up the opening, but warned that as its classed as a dirty wound, it could get infected and costs were going to mount. I'd had to borrow money to pay the vet fees so far so have had to transfer him to the PDSA. It'll be two days or more before we know if he's got an infection (which could stop the wound healing), he's nil by mouth again while they assess how he's doing. And of course, he will need resocialising when he's better otherwise he could be an aggressive dog himself. Its going to be a fairly long while before he's fully fit and well.

So because of the lack of a muzzle on this dog.., and it being unleashed.., we have had a weekend from hell, spent money we can't afford - my OH has just lost his job and our money isn't sorted out yet (we may get it back from the owner but that's going to take time). We have had police round because my OH was injured trying to get the staff dogs jaws from around our poor pup's neck so it all comes under the Dangerous Dogs Act (it happened in a park where lots of children of all ages play).

We've had the owner who, to her credit, has kept in contact to find out how our Bear is, asking why we have done this (we don't want the dog destroyed but we do want a guarantee that the dog will be muzzled whenever he leaves their home and is always on leash).

Of course she says this has never happened before. It may not have done. But shouldn't someone keep a big dog that's bred for aggression on a leash when in public places? I'm not biased against staff's.., but u have to know a breed when u take it on and make sure u are aware of the pro's and con's of each breed's traits? I wouldn't dream of having our dog off lead when around people he and we don't know. He only comes off lead when there's absolutely no one around.

I was in heaven before yesterday.., our Bear has brought so much to our lives and now.., I don't know if we'll ever get our Bear back. All because some owner didn't know what they were doing.

Oh and my OH can't sleep because he's in so much pain with his hand. Went to the local injuries place but he still has to have an xray (xray wasn't open) to see if he's got a fractured thumb as well as teeth penetration wounds on his hand. The nurse, after being told how the injuries occurred asked him why he stuck his hand in a dog's mouth (felt like saying cause he was bored and the dog looked hungry).., and asked why he'd taken 3 hours to get to the unit (if she'd ever heard a pup scream she wouldn't have asked).

junkmayle

The staff should be destroyed. Your pup could have been a child. ALL dogs should be muzzled in public.

~Chameleon~

Fully vaccinated at just 8 weeks old?? Are you sure?? We don't usually start vaccinations until at least 9weeks old and complete at 12 weeks.

liam8282

The dog being a "staff" is irrelevant.

Any dog can suddenly attack, if you want a certain breed muzzling, all breeds should be muzzled.

As always, it is not the dog, but the owner at fault.

ALL dogs should be on a lead in public places, at ALL times. Also dog owners should be able to control their dogs.

tango

liam8282 wrote: »

The dog being a "staff" is irrelevant.

Any dog can suddenly attack, if you want a certain breed muzzling, all breeds should be muzzled.

As always, it is not the dog, but the owner at fault.

ALL dogs should be on a lead in public places, at ALL times. Also dog owners should be able to control their dogs.

I disagree that it is always the owners fault. Dogs can be unpredictable and certain breeds have less bite inhibition than others

If the dog has caused this much damage then it should be destroyed. Most dogs when they fight will not want to bite , just scrap. The bites this dog have inflicted are severe

Meadows

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Fully vaccinated at just 8 weeks old?? Are you sure?? We don't usually start vaccinations until at least 9weeks old and complete at 12 weeks.

I was wondering this as I am sure my dogs were 3 months old when they were fully vaccinated and safe to be walked!

Sagz_2

I don't believe there is a vaccination licensed for use in the UK that give full protection at 8 weeks.

I'm very sorry this happened to your pup but think you need to re- think your socialization training. It's important he mixes with well balanced dogs first, and a public park is not the place for that.

Should the other dog be muzzled? As a responsible owner, after such an incident, my dog would be; but not because of the breed, because of the deed.

Fosterdog

Wow, firstly if this story is true I'm sorry about your pup and hope Bear is better soon.

But....

Why was an 8 week old pup out in public, he is not old enough to have had his vaccinations and you were putting his and other dogs health at risk.

You say money is tight and your OH lost his job, you should have thought about that before getting a dog not get upset about the money now.

Don't you have insurance for your pup? I know illnesses are not usually covered straight away but accidents are covered from day one and he's young enough that you could be covered by a month free.

If you think a staff is a big dog then maybe you should take your german shepherd back, the dog you have there is another of the breeds that is known to quite often be iffy around other dogs and is much bigger and stronger than a staff (trust me I've fostered staffs and own two GSs).

It may well be true that it was the first time the other dog has ever done anything, and I'm not excusing that in any way and the owner should have control of their dog at all times but it's hard to predict that a usually happy placid dog will suddenly turn. Do you know how to read doggy body language? Could your pup have done something to provoke him? Did the other dog give off signs of being uncomfortable?

It's very unusual for a dog to attack a pup, even aggressive dogs are usually nice to pups so it may be worth getting blood tests done on your pup as sometimes an adult dog can tell there is something wrong and can cause this sort of reaction.

pulliptears

I'm sorry but this type of thing annoys me so much. Please stop painting all Staffordshire Bull Terriers with the same brush. Members of my extended family have bred and raised Staffordshire Bulls for the last 20 years, long before the chav culture deemed them to be the 'in dog'. In those 20 years I've seen dog after dog grow into happy, healthy, well trained animals that most certainly didn't need muzzling in public because the worst they could do was probably lick you to death.

Lets then compare this with my Aunt, who had the cutest, fluffiest little spoilt poodles who would have your face off as soon as look at you.

There is no such thing as a bad dog or a bad breed. There are bad owners aplenty.

You are much more likely to be savaged by the cutesy little toy breeds than you ever are by a staffordshire bull terrier.

pawsies

Tbh you should have had insurance for him.

With regards to staffies, you do know what they were bred for?

To protect children of the house. They were secondary bred to fight other animals. So the whole 'think of the children!!' argument is overdramatic (aimed at another poster).

I hope your gsd recovers quickly but muzzles are not the answer. Muzzles would not let the staffie defend himself- what if he got attacked? It would also affect the perception of the breed, and we don't know WHY he attacked. It may be the first time he's seen a GSD pup, and hasn't been socialised well.

Good luck with your pup though

Welshwoofs

Deanna - if your pup is only 8 weeks old you must have literally just got him from the breeder and if it was a decent breeder you should have got a 'puppy pack' from them that included a month's free insurance. At 8 weeks your pup would almost certainly still be in the freebie period. Also, as others have said, there's just no way that your pup has had all his vaccinations at 8 weeks.

So, the first thing you should do is dig out the paperwork you got with your pup to check to see whether he's insured....and incidentally you should be looking to have him insured because, as you're finding out, vets' bills mount up very quickly and can easily run into the thousands.

On the other dog; if the owner was honest about him never having attacked before (my dog has been attacked a few times by owners who've said this....and then I've heard from other people that they've attacked before, so I'm cynical), then she needs to keep him muzzled in public from now on. If he has attacked a dog before then obviously she's being irresponsible. If you are not insured then you should ask this woman to cover the cost of the vet's bills under the third party element of her pet insurance.

Oh...and to the person on this thread who said that all dogs should be muzzled in public; your pronouncement is a) bloody daft and b) of absolutely no material use to the thread so it'd probably be better if you took your canine hatred somewhere else as it's certainly no help to the Ops.