Grrrr. So annoyed. I took Snowie in the car while I lifted a friend home. She lives near the beachfront and I decided while there to let Snowie have a little walk on the promenade -- just a short one given his ill health this past week. He was delighted to be out and about at one of his regular stomping grounds and delighted to see other dogs. We'd just been there about 5 minutes, and anyway I was planning to turn back, when an English Bulldog approached Snowie (it's an off-leash area). They both stood there stiffly, and in these situations where the other dog is clearly being the aggressor, Snowie is reluctant to walk away unless I come up to him and get between him and the other dog -- which I tried to do, but the other dog kept coming around and trying to get close to Snowie. I told the owner to get his dog, and when the owner started to approach, his dog went for Snowie. I shouted and tried to swipe the dog with the leash, but for a big oaf, that dog was quite fast on its feet. Snowie meanwhile did nothing, just stood really close to me. The owner put the leash on and pulled the dog away, but the dog pulled out of its collar and came running back and latched onto Snowie's ear. You can imagine that I was completely stressed and shouted at the dog while the guy pulled him off. The only thing Snowie did was let out a kind of throaty growl. I checked his ear -- it was wet with saliva but I couldn't find any tears or puncture wounds (later it did start to bleed, but not a serious wound). The guy was sorry and asked if he was okay. I was shaking because I feared the worst, looked like the dog was trying to take a chomp of Snowie's neck or head, and I expected his ear to be ripped off! I leashed up Snowie and we walked away. Meanwhile the bulldog was trying to lurch towards us, and his other dog, a very chunky Boston-Frenchie mix (I think) raced towards us. I shouted at that dog to get away -- was terrified it was coming to attack Snowie -- and the owner shouted at me and said: "The worst thing you can do is panic." Well, that made me furious! I shouted back at him and said, "The worst thing you can do is not have control over your dog. Now call your dog away." I took a few photos of him and his dogs to keep on record, and when he'd walked away, I went up to the people who were there with their dogs and asked if they knew his name. They only knew him as Johnny. And then the one said to me, "You know, if you panic, the dog picks up on your energy." This made me so annoyed given that my dog was perfectly well behaved and not going around biting other dogs. Of course I know being calm is better than being panicky, in any situation. But don't tell me this when another dog has just attacked my dog. I said, "I can bet this is not the first time this has happened." And one of the guys admitted that the bulldog had nipped his dog. But then he said, "Dogs are dogs, you need to let them work it out for themselves." To which I responded, "What utter rubbish. No dog should ever draw blood, and if your dog is prone to doing this, keep it on a leash" They agreed with me, but I sensed they were just agreeing with me to make me go away!
Poor lovely Snowie and you. Is Snowie OK? One good thing is the guy who owned the English Bulldog apologised, took action and asked if you were alright. Sounds like not a great place to go Lots of hugs to you both xx
Thank you @charlie. Yes, it is true that he asked initially if all was okay. But I just didn't like that he allowed it to happen. He saw his dog swagger up to Snowie and face him head on. He should've been onto it in a second. Instead he did nothing. And since his dog had just nipped that other guy's dog, his dog should've been leashed up already. Usually it is a wonderful place to walk your dog, so many happy dogs racing around. I really hope he won't be making a habit of coming to this spot because it is one of my favourites. Snowie is fine I presume -- he's a happy-go-lucky chap most of the time. I cleaned the wound -- it's superficial. I'm the one who is feeling a little shaky!
So sorry I hope you are all ok. You sound like you've took action rather than panic to me. its easy to say don't panic etc but wasn't their dogs being attacked . Im sure they would have felt differently if it was happening to them. And their dogs. Glad you are both safe.
It feels that way right now! I probably did overreact cos I was being protective of my sick boy. Usually I'd call him away and he'd eventually walk in slow motion away from an aggressor dog. Yes, shouldn't have panicked. But I just HATE it when someone says that as if I'm the one to blame for their dog biting mine - they give up all responsibility. Irks me.
What is wrong with some people? Why do they assume they are 'wiser' than another dog owner and think they have the right to tell you how to behave with your dog. Grrrrrrrr makes me mad for you. I completely understand your need to protect Snowie with all his problems, only natural. So sorry you and Snowie had to go through this. I had a couple of similar situations when my epileptic boy BJ in the past, and yes, I was over protective, but he wasn't able to protect himself so it was my place to look out for him and his body language showed that was what he expected.
Glad you are both ok. If he knew his dog was aggressive I don't understand why he wasn't on a lead! Irresponsible.
So sorry this happened to you and hope you and Snowie are both doing better today. I also have been told I panic too much if my dog is threatened. It has the lovely effect of making you feel even more cr**p when you already feel horribly shaken up about the attack. While I do wish I was more calm and collected, at the same time, I also think saying "It's your fault because you overreacted" and similar is a way for the person with the aggressive dog to deflect blame and make it about you instead of them. At the end of the day, if you know your dog has aggression issues, it is your responsibility to make sure your dog is controlled and doesn't pose a danger to other dogs. I've had dog-aggressive dogs, so I've been on both sides of that fence. Better to err on the side of caution and keep everyone safe!
I am so sorry you had to experience this, on top of everything you are going through...it's not fair. People can be so ignorant, and I wish I could find a magic cure that enables us to just brush of these encounters, it really is tough though. I feel helpless when these things happen. I am thinking of taking along on a walk a tiny, collapsible umbrella, the ones you press a button and the whole thing opens? Train my dogs they are fun things, then use in an emergency...or invent some sort of collapsible barrier with an image of a REALLY angry wolf on it when it opens...ha there's a thought!
So sorry to hear that, you must have been so frightened! It's not always easy to stay calm in situations like those!
I don't think you overreacted at all, and it's a really flippant thing to say "oh well you panicked, that makes things worse". Rather like victim blaming to me. The fault lies 100% with the owner of an aggressive dog, who has had a previous history of biting other dogs, so it's not like this was a one-off fluke or the first time. It doesn't matter how you reacted afterwards (which wasn't an issue regardless). Really sorry you've had such a stressful encounter, especially after all of the stress you've been through with Snowie's illness
Glad Snowie and you are OK. Not nice I know and really annoying when it does happen. Never helps if the other person is a bit off a tool, even after an apology. We have had a few like these encounters in the past, not nice but I can also be very mouthy and say/do what I think to the owners. Snowie will have forgotten this quicker than you have and will be all happy going back again for a walk...
It's definitely horrid when people behave like that, selfish and bad mannered. On Sunday at the coast I had 2 very different experiences with dog owners. Firstly, a delightful family parked next to us with 2 sweet small children and a simply adorable springer spaniel puppy. Of course we got talking and they said nice things about Cassie and we had a great discussion about +R training and harnesses etc. We went each went off to enjoy our day out and I felt really heartened and encouraged by having met them. A bit later in comes a vehicle that parks next to us while we are picnicking , out jumps a lively springer which proceeds to do several laps of the parked cars and at least 2 long jumps over our picnic area . I suppose we should be grateful it wasn't a Lab, who would have eaten the food. Not a word from it's owners in any ones direction. Off they go for their walk. We went up to the visitor centre, and I could hear a dog barking as I returned to my vehicle -- it was Cassie racqueting around in the back. The people with the spaniel were sitting within 6 ft of my car throwing a ball for their dog from there ! Completely oblivious it seems of a large black lab barking her head of and throwing herself around next door. No one was at any risk of being hurt I know, but why would you do that when there is literally miles of sand to park on? Some people. It did upset me, but we were leaving any way, I didn't want it to spoil a lovely day, so just drove off.
Sending you big hugs, what a horrible experience for you both. It makes my blood boil that there are so many irresponsible dog owners in the world.
Flippin heck @MF, you and Snowie are having such a time of it. It's so unhelpful to be told what not to do when you are fearful that your dog is under threat. How about "I'm so sorry that my dog frightened you, I'll try to keep it under better control."
I've been thinking about it ever since it happened! The proof really was that the bulldog pulled out of its collar, after his owner had leashed him up and tried to pull him away, and came back to bite Snowie. He really did have it in for Snowie, and I could sense that when I went to "save" Snowie and tried to get between them. Okay, so if I'd not intervened, would both dogs have stiffly walked away from each other? I am curious to know, but I would never let this play out to see if this were the case, which is what another guy said I should've done: Let the dogs work it out for themselves. He also said the bulldog was aggressive to Snowie cos Snowie is a male. Unfortunately I am not one to think on my feet, but I remember reading a study that showed that out of a group of dogs, the spayed females bit more dogs, strangers, and their owners than any other group (unspayed female, neutered male, intact male). I suppose the study didn't say that an intact male is more likely to be bitten. But this is not my experience -- I don't think Snowie is picked on more than any other dog cos he's an intact male. And even though not all dogs like him, they don't bite him -- they just posture and make a show of it and then walk away.
Agreed. I kind of think all that intact/castrated/male/female stuff is white noise to a certain extent. In Germany, I used to hear all the time that Brogan got picked on because he was castrated (not common in Germany). Back in California, people would ostracise intact dogs (not common in CA) as the ones who caused all the problems. I've also heard, "my male doesn't like males", "my female doesn't like males", "my dog doesn't like black dogs", my dog doesn't like big dogs", and even "your dog looked at mine funny". After a while it's all just "blah, blah, blah" - white noise. If your dog is aggressive to other dogs, trust me - you darn well know it and you need to admit it to yourself and step up to the plate to protect other dogs as well as your own.
I so agree ! People often use the castrated/entire/ spayed/entire as a damned excuse , I don't buy it for a moment , its lack of socialisation and/or training in most cases x Poor Snowie is going through the wringer , hope he is alright x
