Some people are so selfish!!!!

[Shirley]

Hi All

Not sure if this is the right place for this rant but it's going here for now anyway   :wink:

We're just back from a walk, same place that we usually go and I've come back both shaken and very angry  :x  

We were walking along and round a corner, came this huge GSD.  There are lots of GSDs around here, I know 3 people with pairs and they are all lovely and don't bother with Morgan.  This one, however decided to come tearing over and lunge at him, snarling and tried to grab his neck     The owner then came sauntering round the corner talking on his mobile phone      :x   :x   and said "It's okay, he won't touch him" to which I replied "He just has touched him!!!!!" and before the guy could call the dog, the b****y thing attacked again!  I had, by that point, got Morgan on the lead and asked the man if he would do the same.  Guess what?  He didn't have one - apparently he's never needed one!!!   :shock:  :x  :x

I checked Morgan over and he was fine so we went on our way.  We met a few other dogs and he was his usual friendly self so I don't think he's been affected by it, but what I wanted to know was, do you put your dog on it's lead every time you see another dog approaching?

He's only ever been snapped at a couple of times before, both times by JRTs and he was on the lead at the time.  Somehow, these incidents were nowhere near as scarey  :oops: It's the potential damage that could be done by these big dogs, when not handled properly, that is frightening.  Owners like that man do nothing for the reputation of their breed.

Okay, rant over - thanks for 'listening'   .  Going to finish this mug of coffee to calm me nerves  :?  

Shirley                      

[Hel]

Hi Shirley

What a horrible experience!  Some people really do not care - it's like their dog can't get hurt so sod everyone else's.

My two were attacked last year by an off-lead male atika.  Fletch, off-lead, needed vet treatment for bites, but at least was able to run away - with the atika following him.  Luckily, being a cocker, he could get under undergrowth that the Akita couldn't and was able to escape - home across a very busy road :x .  

Pip was on lead and was not badly hurt when the bloody dog came back and attacked him, as the owner was there to drag the dog off.  However, if Pip on-lead had been attacked first, the owner was too far away to do anything and he (and me in the process) would have been seriously hurt - this dog meant business.

So on-lead/off-lead is a difficult one to answer when the aggressive dog approaching is off-lead and out of control.  In normal circumstances, I put Fletch on a lead if the dog approaching is also on a lead or the owner looks as if they are going to put their dog on a lead.

Hope you and Morgan are feeling better.

Helen                    

[bluesmum]

I tend to always put Blue on his lead if i dont know the dog approaching or I am at all a little wary.

The border collie that attacked Blue has never been on the lead and i've had to change my walk since because he insists that his dog wont do it again, but Blue is terrified of him!

My daughter was also attacked a few years ago by a staffordshire bull terrier that wasnt on the lead, it charged round the corner were the children were playing , jumped at my daughter's head, pulled her to the ground, and after the owner pulled the dog off her he said he was usually the most placid dog in the world and has never needed a lead!!!!!!! :roll:
My daughter was left with six stitches under her eye, bald patches through her hair and bruising to her face and body by this placid dog!! (sorry about my rant but this is a bit of a sore subject for me  :roll: )

So Shirley I can quite understand you being angry, I would have been too!

I'm so glad that Mogan seems to be ok and i hope that cuppa did the trick :wink:                    

[*Jay*]

Glad Morgan is ok Shirley :shock:  Last year, a black lab charged from one end of the park over to where we were. He was just relentless with Vegas and trying to mount him etc. He was absolutely terrified and everytime I tried to catch him, he just ran away again as the lab got closer. Well, the lab ended up chasing Vegas right over the park, over the (busy) road, down a street and luckily Vegas took a left turn and ran into my aunties garden(if he'd gone right, he'd have ended up on the dual carriageway :x ). And all the while the labs owner just stood there quite the thing, didn't call on the dog once. At this stage I didn't know where they had ended up so I just had to runa fter them, screaming on vegas and when i got to the owner, managed to give her a right mouthful whist still in pursuit of these dogs. When i got over the road, I heard Vegas crying and even when i got over there and picked him up, this dog was still jumping up and trying to get to him.  He could so easily have been killed on that road and I was fuming for weeks. But the very next week, would you believe her dog was off the lead again!!!! I just saw a black thing running at us from the corner of my eye and quickly put Vegas's lead on and picked him up....walked over to the owner, and really gave her what for and I've never seen her again.  

I always try and distract mine if i see any dogs coming that i don't know. Just the other day, i saw a woman coming up the path with a dog who was on a lead and muzzled. Mine were off lead so i just called them to me and did a wide berth through the trees. I didn't quite catch what she said to me, but she took the hump anyway :roll:  You just can't win - and it was her dog i was thinking about!!! I didn't want mine running up to him and pestering him with him unable to tell them off if he wanted to. Next time I just won't bother :roll:

Might be a good idea though Shirley to let Morgan interact with the nice German Shepherds as soon as possible. Vegas is now quite wary of big black dogs and I think its partly because we didn't encounter any soon after the incident.                    

[Dessie]

Hi Shirley

I don't blame you having a rant I'd be exactly the same if it was any one of my boys.  Pleased to hear though that Morgan seems ok from this.

If I see somebody putting their dog(s) on leads I will always put my three on just to be on the safe side.  Sebastian was attacked by a JRT when he was 6 months old so I am always on the look out for them when we are on our walks.

I would air on the side of caution with GSD's for a while with Morgan just to reassure him more than anything.  Sebastian doesn't hate all JRT's but he does some.                    

[Nat]

Hi Shirley

How awul for you and Morgan, but glad to hear he's ok.,

I never let mine off the lead, so dont have the worry of getting them back, I let Starr off the lead once on the beach and she chased a seagull and went miles away from us.  Ive never had the bottle to do it again  :shock:                    

[KellyP]

Oh Shirley! Poor Morgan and poor you!!  :shock:

I'm glad you're both ok and recovering rom your ordeal.

Luckily Millie's never been attacked like this, but as most of the others have said, if another dog is approaching and on the lead, or the owner makes a move to put it on the lead Mil gets the distraction technique to keep her focused on me (usually terats a stupid voice and a squeaky ball), and we either diert around them, or sometimes I loop her lead around her head.

I hope I never encounter anything like this ... I wouldn't know whether to cry first or scream with rage at the owner/s of the other dog!!   :oops:  :evil:                    

[Hel]

Might be a good idea though Shirley to let Morgan interact with the nice German Shepherds as soon as possible. Vegas is now quite wary of big black dogs and I think its partly because we didn't encounter any soon after the incident.

Agree completely with Gill - get Morgan out meeting other GSDs and big dogs.

Pip (aged 7 ish) has real problems with dogs bigger than him, months after the incident - he was fine before.   In fact he is a nightmare to walk - he barks at people and dogs to warn them off.  I've got some control of him with treats, but .....if only I had not walked that day then and there to met that bloody Akita.                    

[Colin]

Hi Shirley,

Glad to hear you and Morgan both survived your ordeal.

I try and avoid putting the dogs back on lead if possible for fear of sending them the wrong signals.  If I see a potential problem ahead I try and get their attention and head in a different direction away from the other dog. Usually if I shout "this way" they tend to follow. If they don't, I start running off in a playful manner, calling their names and it tends to distract them enough to check out why I'm acting daft all of a sudden and they come a running.                    

[picklesmum]

Hi Shirley and Morgan - hope you are feeling better after that horrible experience.
Pickle has also been attacked - he was only 14 wks at the time. Won't go in to the details, as it gets me v v angry, but he survived, and seems no worse for the ordeal. Pickle was on his lead at the time, but his attacker - a boxer - was not. The viscious dog's owner's retort to my hubbie was 'you shouldn't have your effing dog on that stupid lead anyway - dogs are meant to run free'. Eh, yes, well maybe if they know how to behave themselves, and don't throw there big ugly slobbery gobs around at wee puppies a third of their size, then fine.....'
Grrrrrr.......these people make me mad - I wish we could have done something about it.  
Hope your rant made you feel better - mine did!
Emma and Pickle xx                    

[Hel]

I did report the attack on my dogs to the local dog warden.  Speaking to  
a neighbour with a dog, I learnt that the Akita had attacked at least five other dogs - none had reported it.

If you don't report an attack, nothing will be done.  The dog warden was interested enough to ring me back for more details.  Whatever happened, the Atika and owner don't walk there anymore.                    

[picklesmum]

I wish we'd known about the dog warden at the time - we'd definitely have reported Pickle's attack. Where do you find the number for this - is it the local council or something?
Luckily we've never seen the horrid boxer since - judging by his owner's colourful language, he was not a local St Andrian  
E and P xx                    

[bluesmum]

I hang my head in shame and tell you that I reported neither of the two attacks to Blue to anyone! :oops: Reason being that i reported the attack on my daughter to the police, who told me that usually a dog has to attack twice before action can be taken, but because of the severity of this attack they were recomending it to be pts, and i still feel to this day that the owner who i felt was at fault and not the dog was never punished.

The poor dog was given a death sentence, the owner a warning - is this justice?                    

[Mary P]

Hi Shirley,
What an awful story. I have no advice to offer as thankfully this has not happened to Tia, but I do let her run free.
As Colin said above, I tend to try to anticipate trouble - always on the look out and always ready with the treats.
My daughter was also chased by a pack of 3 or 4 short haired, thick set dogs when she was 4. Thankfully we were close and she took my instruction to stop running and they just got her coat. That owner didn't even say a word to us, not even to ask if Lizzie was OK. Talk about spitting nails!                    

[Maria]

Poor Morgan - what a shock! And what an idiot!(the other owner that is). Bring back public flogging!
We had a minor experience with a GSD last year, who tried to nip Boysie when he went to say hello. The owner was most concerned , and helped us to check him over. I told him I didn't think he should let a dog off the lead without a muzzle if it tries to bite other dogs. His response was that it was a one off. We went off in different directions. A couple of minutes later we heard a commotion behind us - the same dog was trying to attack 2 other GSD's! No doubt that owner also got the 'one off' explanation!
Now , we usually only put Boysie back on his lead if we see approaching owners do so with their's,although I can sometimes get a bit wary (if other dogs look big and fierce), and will put him on his lead and go another way.