Bella Attacked By A Bull Terrier

[clairep4]

This morning we took Bella up to Oxleas wood which is a very dog friendly park - everyone lets their dogs run around off lead and we've never had any problems there.

We'd been there 30 seconds and Bella went trotting over to a woman who was sitting down holding a big, English bull terrier by its collar. As Bella approached, the woman shouted "call your dog off" so we tried to get Bella but she is ever the enthusiast, and within a split second the bull terrior had hold of her. There was this horrendous screeching and yelping from Bella and we ran over and her and the bull terrier had their jaws interlocked. There was a fair bit of blood coming from somewhere and the woman was just holding her dog by its collar while this went on!!!    We kept shouting at her to get her dog off and after what seemed like ages of Bella just screaming and us thinking she was going to be ripped apart, a man came over and somehow managed to separate them.

Bella had blood all over her chest so we were so worried, but we had a quick look and couldn't actually see any obvious wounds (I was thinking she must've had half her throat ripped open, so scary!   ). Meanwhile the bl**dy bull terrier's owner starts laying into us, "keep your bloody dog on a lead, it should have a muzzle!". I'm normally not one to get into fights but I was so furious at her trying to make it into our fault - hmmm, a not quite 6 month old cocker spaniel vs an adult bull terrier, and OURS is the dangerous dog??!!! So I laid back into her and various other people (including a woman with a greyhound in a muzzle) joined in telling the woman she should be the one with the dog in a muzzle.

Luckily there is a very nice park warden who was very diplomatic and made sure we were okay and said that actually the bull terrier had alot of cuts to its lips etc (good for Bella, I say) so may have fared worse in the fight.

We got her home and bathed her chest area, which was very tender. Rang the emergency vet who said to trim the fur to have a proper look, and if it seemed like a puncture wound, to bring her in. The area is swollen and red and looks very bruised, but we can't see any visible puncture wounds (had to sit there feeding Bella chicken and Naturediet while OH trimmed the fur as it was the only way she'd let us near it). We've been told by the emergency vet that as she's on antibiotics anyway (for her cough   ) to just bathe it a couple of times tonight and take her to the vet's in the morning.

Poor little thing - she had her bite plane fitted on Thursday, is just getting over a very long bout of bronchitis and now this happens. I'm so angry with the owner of that dog, who obviously knows that her dog attacks others because she told us to call Bella away. Just put it in a muzzle for god's sake, it is SO irresponsible.

Anyway, just wanted to vent a bit. We took Bella to the local park just now (mainly for our own benefit as we are really shaken up) and she met two lovely dogs - very apprehensive of the first one but he was lovely and gentle with her so her tail was soon wagging, and then she met a lovely big poodle who we've met before and played with him, so she's obviously not scarred for life! I think she's more resilient than we are!  

[flossysmum]

Poor bella, Hope she is ok How irresponsible of the owner to just sit there holding the coller of her dog doing nothing while Bella was in her dogs mouth!! Hope she is alright

Big cocker hugs from Flossy, sophie and Charlie xxx

[suzysu]

aww poor Bella, and poor you   that must have been so scary for you !

Thank goodness she is ok     Big hugs for her xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Bo's Dad]

aww poor bella i hope she feels betta soon   i cant believe that owner didnt have her dog on a muzzle,

[Bo's Mum]

yeah claire i hope bella is feeling betta soon i bet was awful for you to see that i cant believe the owner didnt have her dog with a muzzle on it how irresponsable  

[Annette]

Wow, Claire. That sounds so scary. I can imagine how you felt. Poor little Bella. Do hope she is ok, she's going through such a lot for a sweet little princess.

We met up with a muzzled terrier a few weeks ago who had a real go at Buddy. I think he might have managed to get hold of a good chunk of Bud's hair by the noise our little man was making. A really nasty piece of work, but at least the owner was responsible enough to use the muzzle.

[Pammy]

I'm sorry but I'm going to buck the trend here and while I'm sorry one of our members dogs got hurt - the lady with the BT was not in the wrong. She was holding her dog and was sitting down. It did what comes naturally - protecting itself from another canine flying at it. It wouldn't necessarily know it was not in danger.

She tried to warn Bella and her owners but Bella was not on a lead and not under control. Sorry but that's the fact here. It is not unusual for a restrained dog to react in this way when a non restrained dog approaches it - especially if it's a little more than an amble up - which from a 6 month old pup was quite likely the case. Had she let go of her dogs collar - then I dread to think what the result might have been.

I really do hope that Bella is OK. The BT seems to have come off quite badly as it is.

[Cob-Web]

I hope Bella gets over her fright, Claire  - and you as well, it must have been really scary


I agree with you Pammy, I was trying to compose a tactfully worded post, but you beat me to it. I have handled dogs which don't like to be approached by others - and I can relate entirely to the Bull Terrier owners reaction.

I never allow Molo to approach a strange dog - hence the long line recall training - I wouldn't allow my little girl to apprach a strange dog, so why him  

[Mary]

I have to agree with Pammy in the fact that as Bella was off her lead you didn't have her under control so unfortunately I think you were in the wrong there Claire.  BUT, by the sound of it the owner of the Bull Terrier seemed aware that there was a potential risk of an attack by giving you the verbal warning in which case perhaps this dog should have been wearing a muzzle

I'm pretty sure that if I owned a dog who I knew had a tendancy to react in this way, I would prefer it to be muzzled.

Poor Bella though   I hope she doesn't lose any self confidence.  Taking her out again today was probably the best thing, I did this after Lottie was attacked once

[Cathy]

Hi Claire,

I am so sorry to hear what you experienced earlier, It must have been very frightening, No matter what the reasons.

In my opnion the woman must have known it may turn nasty, to hold her dog back, and yes in hindsight Bella shouldn't have got close to it, But I know with Jazz, calling her, when she thinks she can play is a near impossibility.  I get really nervous when i see another dog on a lead, and make every attempt to recall Jazz quickly,

I agree with you, that if she knew her dog was likely to attack, it should be muzzled, or on a extension lead.  She probally thought she wanted to give her dog a bit of a run.

I think the reaction from both people can be understood, but have to say I would have been so angry, and beside myself. I would have reacted the same way.

I think that lessons were probally learnt from both parties involved.  

Try no to let it worry you, and make sure she is socialised well, again, as shes sure to be shaken up.


Take care, and hope all is well !!

[debrand]

Claire
I have to say I can see things from both points of view. Barney is young and still overenthusiastic when he meets other dogs so I put him back on the lead if I spot a dog I think might be unfriendly. Milly, on the other hand, is very anxious around strange dogs having been attacked in three seperate occasions while on the lead. She is not at all aggressive if she is allowed to get to know other dogs in her own time (in fact she would be very submissive) but if a dog flies up to her it terrifies her and she would prepare to fight if she can't flee. I don't need to muzzle her because she does trust me completely and will obey a "don't touch" command while I try to get her out of the situation. I'm sure the other owner is upset too and let's face it which dog gets the most sympathy - cute little Cocker spaniel or big fierce looking Bull Terrier? A frightening incident for all involved.

[clairep4]

I can see this is an emotive issue but just to clear a couple of things up:

Bella did NOT go charging up to this dog. She was at a trotting pace and doing all the calming signals - approaching in a curve, turning her head away and wagging her tail between her legs. I am a firm believer in letting dogs socialise with each other and Bella has never ever got into any trouble with another dog before. She has never so much as growled at another dog, she will submit if they growl at her, she approaches them carefully and sits down quietly while they have a good sniff and will only initiate play if she feels happy. And obviously if there is a dog that I think may not be a good one for her to approach, I will call her away. I give the "close" command which means come and walk next to me and give me full attention and this works for getting her past people having picnics that she'd love to jump all over, dogs that she is friends with, joggers who she loves to follow, dogs that I don't like the look of etc etc so I do think I have quite good control of her.

The woman watched Bella coming over but only asked me to call her away when Bella was 2ft away from her, and I did call her but the BT unfortunately lurched forward at that point and had her in its jaws.

I'm afraid I stand by the opinion that if you have an dog that you KNOW is aggressive (eg gives no warning before an attack and is prepared to attack a puppy) then you should muzzle it. I am absolutely not tarring all these breeds with the same brush - I live in SE London which is full of bull terriers and pitbulls. Bella must have met 15 or so since we've had her, and either she has played with them, or they have given a warning growl and she's left them alone, or the  owners have warned us in good time so that we could keep our dogs separate.

Obviously it was scary for everyone concerned and I am sorry that the BT got hurt - Bella had part of her (£900) bite plane damaged (thankfully not a crucial part of it) and has been bitten on her chest and has a large and very tender swelling this morning so is off to the vet's. Fortunately she is a confident dog so hopefully this experience will not have upset her too much in terms of how she is with other dogs from now on.

[Penel]

I was just gonna say I hope the bite plane is ok - and funnily enough - our dental vet told us to muzzle Tilly when she was out while hers was fitted so that she didn't damage it by picking up sticks or stones - I guess Bull Terriers would be included in that too.
Seriously from the way you have told it - I think the BT's owner knew her dog was dodgy - and I agree it should have been muzzled.  BT's and other bull breeds are far far stronger at biting / fighting  than most other breeds - so a responsible owner of one of these types doesn't just sit there holding the collar.....
I remember when Saf was a tiny pup she was loose on the common and bounded towards a greyhound - the man shouted at me "get your dog or he will kill her" - now what was that greyhound doing loose without a muzzle - absolutely disgraceful.
I do hope Bella is ok - have you got some Rescue Remedy - also Arnica for her bruises.

[clairep4]

I was just gonna say I hope the bite plane is ok - and funnily enough - our dental vet told us to muzzle Tilly when she was out while hers was fitted so that she didn't damage it by picking up sticks or stones - I guess Bull Terriers would be included in that too.
Seriously from the way you have told it - I think the BT's owner knew her dog was dodgy - and I agree it should have been muzzled.  BT's and other bull breeds are far far stronger at biting / fighting  than most other breeds - so a responsible owner of one of these types doesn't just sit there holding the collar.....
I remember when Saf was a tiny pup she was loose on the common and bounded towards a greyhound - the man shouted at me "get your dog or he will kill her" - now what was that greyhound doing loose without a muzzle - absolutely disgraceful.
I do hope Bella is ok - have you got some Rescue Remedy - also Arnica for her bruises.

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Thanks, Penel. On the bite plane we're lucky in that Bella doesn't tend to pick things up when she's out and about so we are just watching her extra closely rather than going for the muzzle (although I did buy one just in case she suddenly does start picking things up, and it came in handy yesterday when we were trying to get a proper look at her chest as she was getting very growly and snappy because of the pain, poor little thing   ). She's got to go back to Bluebell hill anyway though because her tooth isn't engaging with the bite plane (hasn't been since we got her home) - slightly annoying since it cost £900!!!

We gave her rescue remedy and put Arnica onto the area - it was very swollen last night (about 2.5cm out from her chest) but has gone down slightly this morning. I haven't tried touching it, am leaving that to the vet who will no doubt need to shave her to have a proper look, so I don't envy him that job!

[sarah25]

hope bella is feeling a bit better 2day