dog attack in USA

A few years ago I was out with a friend who had her dog (an alsatian) with her. She tied it to a rail outside a shop when we popped in, and we watched through the window in stunned surprise as a passing mother encouraged her little girl (3 or 4, maybe?) to pet the dog. The girl actually ran up to it from behind, where it couldn't see her coming, and flung her arms around its neck, then shrieked "Hello doggy!" in its ear.

Luckily, this was a very friendly, well-behaved dog and despite clearly being startled it didn't really react. My friend, though, was livid, and stormed out of the shop and gave the mother a real dressing down (one of those hissed, quiet ones so as not to humiliate her in front of her daughter). No matter how well-trained and good-natured a dog is, you can't predict how it will react when it's startled, and it could have torn the girl apart in no time if if it had reacted badly. Not only would the girl have been horribly scarred, possibly killed, but the dog would almost certainly have been put down as well.

Some people just don't think.
 
I specifically didn't mention it, as there may well be owners of these dogs on the forum, who'll no doubt pipe up and tell me how wonderfully behaved their dog is - but I can't tell.

Basically, any Pit Bull type terrier, and I know that's a type, rather than a breed - and that's exactly my point - I can't tell if the dog is a friendly Staffy, or something more malevolent - and, given what these dogs were originally bred for (historically), I don't feel like offering them my hand, whether in a fist or not! It's just a personal prejudice of mine.
I know what you mean, but to be honest, you could probably guess the nature of the dog by having a look at its owner, and whether the dog is happy to stroll along minding its own business or if its continuously pulling on its lead, barking at strangers etc..

It's not an exact science obviously, but I'd say there a few visual clues as to a dogs behaviour by watching it/owner for 10 seconds or so
 
I know what you mean, but to be honest, you could probably guess the nature of the dog by having a look at its owner, and whether the dog is happy to stroll along minding its own business or if its continuously pulling on its lead, barking at strangers etc..

...or if it has a mail man's leg in it's jaws :D
 
I know what you mean, but to be honest, you could probably guess the nature of the dog by having a look at its owner, and whether the dog is happy to stroll along minding its own business or if its continuously pulling on its lead, barking at strangers etc..

It's not an exact science obviously, but I'd say there a few visual clues as to a dogs behaviour by watching it/owner for 10 seconds or so

Indeed. But I was trying to hide my prejudice against certain types of owner too!:D
 
...or if it has a mail man's leg in it's jaws :D
Well yes that too :)
But it's 100% the owner, a properly treated dog doesn't see its chance to bolt out the front door and attack the first person it sees. I do agree that any action possible should be taken to get the dog off the person, I just abhor people that raise a dog like that, because then we just end up with these incidents.
 
download.jpg
 
Indeed. But I was trying to hide my prejudice against certain types of owner too!:D
I am the proud owner of a Staffy, my second one. I've also in the past had collie, labrador, yorkie terrier and a lurcher. The staffies have been the best dog, by far.
Oh and I am a shaven headed, stocky bloke who grew up in a council estate in a single parent family. So you can picture me walking my Staffordshire bull terrier...
Prejudice away mate.
(I'm only kidding, although that is all true, I'm no chav and I'm sure that you know that so I'm just teasing you)..
 
Problem is people can be utterly stupid when it comes to dogs.... you've got Mavis down the road who's had dogs for 20 years and thinks she knows everything about them yet it never stops yapping, she never has it on a lead and lets it run riot whenever they are out... We have a rescue dog man (poor start in life) and he is very dog reactive (and people in our home but calming a lot outside of it) and despite our best efforts in trying to be clear that we need space, including but not limited to, heading in the opposite direction of anyone with a dog, walking during anti social hours, never off lead, always in a muzzle, investing in a professional who worked with our vet for any other issues etc etc we still get people who head for us and get gobby about a dangerous dog whilst there's is off lead.... breed tells you nothing about a dogs history unfortunately.... anyway i appreciate ive gone on a mini rant so i'll end it with a picture... :D

IMG_20181006_161150.jpg
 
How about today's second dog walk. Very lovely, waking by the lake with the beach on the other side of us. An elder couple with some sort of terrier breed dog, unleashed, are walking about 20ft away. Their dog comes over to my dog, who is on a leash. The man is calling the dog but it is ignoring him. My puppy wants to play, because he's a 6 month old pup.
The other dog wants to be the dominant one, my dog doesn't care he just wants to play. The man keeps calling his dog but it's just running around mine and trying to climb on top of him.
The man then jokes that he dog ignores him.
I then start to walk off pulling my dog with me, and the other dog follows and maintains the same behaviour. After about 20ft the dog stops and goes back to the owner. Who doesn't put it on a lead and just bimbles on, oblivious to the fact that he is a useless and irresponsible dog owner.

And to think, people might see me and my dog and presume I am an irresponsible owner and he is a dangerous dog...
 
Problem is people can be utterly stupid when it comes to dogs.... you've got Mavis down the road who's had dogs for 20 years and thinks she knows everything about them yet it never stops yapping, she never has it on a lead and lets it run riot whenever they are out... We have a rescue dog man (poor start in life) and he is very dog reactive (and people in our home but calming a lot outside of it) and despite our best efforts in trying to be clear that we need space, including but not limited to, heading in the opposite direction of anyone with a dog, walking during anti social hours, never off lead, always in a muzzle, investing in a professional who worked with our vet for any other issues etc etc we still get people who head for us and get gobby about a dangerous dog whilst there's is off lead.... breed tells you nothing about a dogs history unfortunately.... anyway i appreciate ive gone on a mini rant so i'll end it with a picture... :D

View attachment 1123644
I hate to see a dog muzzled. If everyone kept their dogs on leads when in public and had proper lead control and didn't approach dogs they don't know then the would be no need for dogs to be muzzled.
Just remembered another old couple who passed us on the walk and pretty much called him over to them and then the woman was patting her chest but then moaned when he jumped up at her and got her trousers muddy....
 
Just out of curiosity, what breeds?
The reason why German Shepherds are used by the police is they are generally more aggressive and the reason why Labradors are used as guide dogs is that they are generally more friendly and cooperative.

Certain breeds are more likely to have certain temperaments.

An individual dog might be different.
 
When we were in a dog show we were watching a Dobermann class. Two dogs started having a go at each other and the owners tried to separate them. As a result one of the dogs turned on the owner and started to bite her arm. The judge, a guy I later learned by talking to him, was a police dog handler, intervened.

He grabbed the dog from behind taking a handful of skin either side of the dogs neck and put his knee firmly into the dog's back. The dog, taken by surprise, stopped biting the owner and tried to turn to bite the judge. However the grip that he had on it and in such a position made it impossible for the dog to turn. Other spectators also came to his aid and covered the dogs head with a towel until it calmed down. The owner had to go to hospital. As a result of the attack the dog was banned from shows for life by the Kennel Club.

We had to photograph the judge later in the day as the wife was covering it for a well known dog food brand and I asked him about the attack. He told me that grabbing a dog where he did was very effective but only if you could approach the dog from behind.

It was the only time in over 30 years of showing and photographing dogs that I witnessed such an attack, although I have seen dogs really damaging each other. This included a Golden Retriever attacking and biting my Cocker on her face as we waited to go into the ring. We had no option but to 'Kennel Club' the Goldie as our Cocker was not the first dog it had attacked and that dog was also banned for life.

On the funny side there was a Jack Russel, Podrig, that used our country park. It was a right bugger and the owner reluctantly had to put a muzzle on it. Undeterred Podrig soon learned how to headbutt other dogs.
 
I hate to see a dog muzzled. If everyone kept their dogs on leads when in public and had proper lead control and didn't approach dogs they don't know then the would be no need for dogs to be muzzled.
Just remembered another old couple who passed us on the walk and pretty much called him over to them and then the woman was patting her chest but then moaned when he jumped up at her and got her trousers muddy....

We were initially uncomfortable with it but it's the best thing we ever did, he gets as excited for a walk when he sees it as when his lead comes out and ultimately it's about protecting him as well... If he was to bite a member of the public then the end result could be catastrophic no matter how that person was acting. When we first got the muzzle I basically made it a toy, treats in the bottom of it, played a bit of tug with it... It's now completely normal for him. Plus it puts us at ease when walking in case of other dogs or people and that relaxation transfers to him.
 
My cat Millie is never on a lead when I walk her does that make me a bad owner? :laugh::laugh:
 
Do her teeth match this bite?
img_0677-jpeg.1123196


If not, you're probably OK :)
 
The reason why German Shepherds are used by the police is they are generally more aggressive and the reason why Labradors are used as guide dogs is that they are generally more friendly and cooperative.

Certain breeds are more likely to have certain temperaments.

An individual dog might be different.
German Shepherds are used as guide dogs too.
 
German Shepherds are used as guide dogs too.
And Labradors are used as police dogs.

One swallow doesn't make a summer. Some breeds are more disposed for certain things.

I wouldn't want a team of shih tzus to pull a dog sled even if someone on the planet had managed it.
 
We were initially uncomfortable with it but it's the best thing we ever did, he gets as excited for a walk when he sees it as when his lead comes out and ultimately it's about protecting him as well... If he was to bite a member of the public then the end result could be catastrophic no matter how that person was acting. When we first got the muzzle I basically made it a toy, treats in the bottom of it, played a bit of tug with it... It's now completely normal for him. Plus it puts us at ease when walking in case of other dogs or people and that relaxation transfers to him.
My concern is another dog approaches and attacks and the muzzled dog can't defend himself.. Is this a silly way of looking at it? Genuine question.
 
My concern is another dog approaches and attacks and the muzzled dog can't defend himself.. Is this a silly way of looking at it? Genuine question.

No i see this a lot but its a case of balancing things out..... with a dog like ours i need to consider the probability of something bad happening. So some idiot decides to approach, or a kid comes running up and despite all of our "STAY AWAY" (which ive had to shout at people before) some will still declare that they love dogs and dogs love them....barney bites and we have a genuine problem.

Dog on dog attacks.... another dog similar to ours and ends in a fight i'd imagine the police wouldnt be too interested in the most part.... 83 year old Mavis and her unleashed princess decides to approach our dog, barney kills it (worst case scenario) or at least it all ends up bloody and horrible and Mavis cries to police, local paper, facebook that we have a dangerous dog on the loose regardless of the fact that ours was on lead.... its all about protecting Barney in the best way we can... he only lashes out when he's frightened because he's learned in the past (through previous owners) that this is how he makes whatever is scaring him go away.

We went to Lincoln Animal behaviour clinic (referral from our vets) and they were really amazing in how they helped us understand Barney a lot better - if anyone does have a pet with behavioural problems i'd highly recommend them.
 
Problem is people can be utterly stupid when it comes to dogs.... you've got Mavis down the road who's had dogs for 20 years and thinks she knows everything about them yet it never stops yapping, she never has it on a lead and lets it run riot whenever they are out... We have a rescue dog man (poor start in life) and he is very dog reactive (and people in our home but calming a lot outside of it) and despite our best efforts in trying to be clear that we need space, including but not limited to, heading in the opposite direction of anyone with a dog, walking during anti social hours, never off lead, always in a muzzle, investing in a professional who worked with our vet for any other issues etc etc we still get people who head for us and get gobby about a dangerous dog whilst there's is off lead.... breed tells you nothing about a dogs history unfortunately.... anyway i appreciate ive gone on a mini rant so i'll end it with a picture... :D

View attachment 1123644

Apologies bit what breed is it?
 
No i see this a lot but its a case of balancing things out..... with a dog like ours i need to consider the probability of something bad happening. So some idiot decides to approach, or a kid comes running up and despite all of our "STAY AWAY" (which ive had to shout at people before) some will still declare that they love dogs and dogs love them....barney bites and we have a genuine problem.

Dog on dog attacks.... another dog similar to ours and ends in a fight i'd imagine the police wouldnt be too interested in the most part.... 83 year old Mavis and her unleashed princess decides to approach our dog, barney kills it (worst case scenario) or at least it all ends up bloody and horrible and Mavis cries to police, local paper, facebook that we have a dangerous dog on the loose regardless of the fact that ours was on lead.... its all about protecting Barney in the best way we can... he only lashes out when he's frightened because he's learned in the past (through previous owners) that this is how he makes whatever is scaring him go away.

We went to Lincoln Animal behaviour clinic (referral from our vets) and they were really amazing in how they helped us understand Barney a lot better - if anyone does have a pet with behavioural problems i'd highly recommend them.
It's the unfairness of it all that really gets to me. Because some people don't want to keep their dog safe on a lead or think they can approach and touch any dog they want, your dog has to wear a muzzle in public.
Our previous staffie (Jake) had been attacked by other dogs when he was a pup so he had a tendency towards dog aggression. So he was kept on a lead at all times when out. And I would tell people all the time to keep their dogs away but no one hardly ever listened.
And I noticed that Jake hardly ever went to attack first but I think his anxiety about the other dog would cause anxiety in that dog then Boom, we were off. But because he was a huge staffy (almost as big as a small Labrador) with that massive wide mouth full of teeth it looked like he was the aggressor. However I also noted that if another dog approached and didn't push his luck or try to show dominence (trying to sniff the butt, putting the head over Jake's shoulder, going eye to eye etc etc) then although he didn't want to play, he could just stand still and not move. But most people didn't see that because they didn't know to look for the signs.

I remember a time when I tried to let him have some off lead time in some woods in the middle of nowhere. A big spaniel came bounding over and bit straight onto his head! I never would've thought a spaniel would be like that. The owner got over at the same time so we all saw the same thing. Then Jake shook him off, I grabbed him and leashed him then the owner of the spaniel told me that his dog had better not have been bitten! (All the while still not controlling his dog) Jake had a small cut to his nose and above one eye.
I suspect even if he had been on the leash, the other dog would still have attacked him first yet he still got the blame...
I simply do not trust any dog off lead. People forget that they are animals and believe they think like humans.

Sorry for going off topic but this is something I am passionate about. The dog doesn't choose the lead or not, it is entirely down to the person.
 
It's the unfairness of it all that really gets to me. Because some people don't want to keep their dog safe on a lead or think they can approach and touch any dog they want, your dog has to wear a muzzle in public.
Our previous staffie (Jake) had been attacked by other dogs when he was a pup so he had a tendency towards dog aggression. So he was kept on a lead at all times when out. And I would tell people all the time to keep their dogs away but no one hardly ever listened.
And I noticed that Jake hardly ever went to attack first but I think his anxiety about the other dog would cause anxiety in that dog then Boom, we were off. But because he was a huge staffy (almost as big as a small Labrador) with that massive wide mouth full of teeth it looked like he was the aggressor. However I also noted that if another dog approached and didn't push his luck or try to show dominence (trying to sniff the butt, putting the head over Jake's shoulder, going eye to eye etc etc) then although he didn't want to play, he could just stand still and not move. But most people didn't see that because they didn't know to look for the signs.

I remember a time when I tried to let him have some off lead time in some woods in the middle of nowhere. A big spaniel came bounding over and bit straight onto his head! I never would've thought a spaniel would be like that. The owner got over at the same time so we all saw the same thing. Then Jake shook him off, I grabbed him and leashed him then the owner of the spaniel told me that his dog had better not have been bitten! (All the while still not controlling his dog) Jake had a small cut to his nose and above one eye.
I suspect even if he had been on the leash, the other dog would still have attacked him first yet he still got the blame...
I simply do not trust any dog off lead. People forget that they are animals and believe they think like humans.

Sorry for going off topic but this is something I am passionate about. The dog doesn't choose the lead or not, it is entirely down to the person.

i agree it is totally unfair but ultimately im doing it to keep him safe plus he's entirely comfortable wearing it. The other reason as well is that it stops him eating <insert random thing left on field> - he also has resource guarding issues (we believe he probably had to fight for food) so it gives us another measure of control on that front.

Agreed on not trusting dogs off leads as well - every dog has a trigger point. We love our Barney to bits and we dont muzzle him in house but we still set boundaries because ultimately he's an animal and even when he's pawing at me for a fuss or throwing his toy at me to play im always wary even though we have a really amazing bond with him because of all the extra training and so on.

The lady who did the consultation with us at the behaviour clinic said to us on the day "you can out train bad behaviour but you cant out train instinct" - always think about that when i see an owner screaming at his dog for not doing something.... I'd definitely be all for some kind of basic ownership training before being allowed dogs.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom