Attack at a dog park

Its hard to give advice without having witnessed the events. There are always signs we may miss in the heat of the incident that we remember once we cool down. Is she sure the dog just went after her little dog out of the blue or did the little dog bring it upon itself? I feel it was wise to pick up her obviously outmatched dog, but foolish to turn away from the aggressing dog. Turning sideways to a threatening dog can calm the situation, but often times turning fully away willl incite a bite, as will squaring off with the aggressor. If she never saw this dog before, then it was foolish to allow her and other little dogs to remain unleashed in an area with a new and "unknown" much larger dog and new "unknown" owner. What kind of 90lb mutt would also be helpful to know. I've physically stopped attacks on smaller dogs or old and hurt dogs, but I'm also quite a bit larger than most people and most dogs are fearful of me at first. I know women who are much better around dogs to be able to do the same by being more knowledgable than I. I also don't let my dogs to dog parks, and don't let the little ones out without atleast 1 big one because we have stray dogs and coyotes always running through the neighborhood. The best thing she can do is keep socializing her dog, not coddling it and making it "face its fears" while she faces her own. Seeing your dog get injured can be traumatic and can be hard to come back from, but the only way to get over it is to keep living your life and going out of your way to get over it. Maybe not dog parking it, but "play date" and training classes would be smart.

Replies (5)

S
· Shar-mama

· 2011-12-28T02:51:09+0000
Hi all, So, I was talking to a co-worker the other day and she told me the story about her little dog getting attacked at a dog park. She has a 13 pound chiweenie (I guess that is the correct spelling), not yet two years old, cute little thing. She used to take her dog to the apartment dog park all the time, knew all the neighbors and their little dogs, and the dogs played together and just had a grand time. One day one neighbor brought her big dog and let it loose in the dog park. All she could tell me about the big dog was that it was a 90 pound mutt. This dog attacked her dog and bit him on the leg. When my friend saw blood and a chunk of fur missing, she picked up her dog and tried to shield him from the attacking dog. The big dog jumped up and bit her dog on the butt. When she turned around, the big dog jumped on her and scratched her back. As I was hearing her story I couldn't help but think that she could have been seriously injured herself since she is petite and probably doesn't weigh 110 pounds soaking wet. She said she panicked and didn't know what else to do to protect her puppy. I was wondering what is one to do in a situation like this? What could, or should, she have done differently? My co-worker grew up with great pyrs in east Texas where her dogs quite frequently encountered coyotes and would show up at the house with injuries, but she said she never saw injuries like this. Her puppy healed well, and the owners of the big dog paid her vet bill, but now her little dog is afraid of other dogs. What kind of training should she do with her little one to help him feel less stressed around other dogs? Thank you, Sue
· unknown

· 2011-12-28T03:04:19+0000
Its hard to give advice without having witnessed the events. There are always signs we may miss in the heat of the incident that we remember once we cool down. Is she sure the dog just went after her little dog out of the blue or did the little dog bring it upon itself? I feel it was wise to pick up her obviously outmatched dog, but foolish to turn away from the aggressing dog. Turning sideways to a threatening dog can calm the situation, but often times turning fully away willl incite a bite, as will squaring off with the aggressor. If she never saw this dog before, then it was foolish to allow her and other little dogs to remain unleashed in an area with a new and "unknown" much larger dog and new "unknown" owner. What kind of 90lb mutt would also be helpful to know. I've physically stopped attacks on smaller dogs or old and hurt dogs, but I'm also quite a bit larger than most people and most dogs are fearful of me at first. I know women who are much better around dogs to be able to do the same by being more knowledgable than I. I also don't let my dogs to dog parks, and don't let the little ones out without atleast 1 big one because we have stray dogs and coyotes always running through the neighborhood. The best thing she can do is keep socializing her dog, not coddling it and making it "face its fears" while she faces her own. Seeing your dog get injured can be traumatic and can be hard to come back from, but the only way to get over it is to keep living your life and going out of your way to get over it. Maybe not dog parking it, but "play date" and training classes would be smart.
· unknown

· 2011-12-28T03:17:55+0000
I apologize, I somehow got it in my mind that this dog and owner were new to the group
T
· tiger12490

· 2011-12-28T03:28:21+0000
Keep socializing i'm sure there were signs which means she also needs some training, id definitely consider some training classes. but also dog parks where both small and large dogs can play together is 99.9% a no-no even if that dog didn't attack the dog can u imagine 90 pounds of dog trampling over a little chiweene(sp) even if just trying to get a ball... im pretty anti dog parks and pro play dates as Crnosrce brought up
C
· cawkazn

· 2011-12-28T03:46:33+0000
if u have a small dog and its getting attacked..pick it up and raise it high above yur head....i think thats the best thing to do

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