ATTENTION DOG OWNERS!!!

Missouwechanged

If the female dog has given birth recently her reaction is totally understandable. She is in protection mode for her babies and ready to attack anything or anyone who could harm her puppies. The owners have to be really carefull in those times and keep a close watch on the mommy. The owners have to be held accountable. It is a good thing you have reported them to animal control. I am sure someone will come and educate the owners about their responsibility towards their dogs and their neighblours :flowerforyou:

PureAndHealthy

Oh and incidentally, I found out that actually my county does NOT have a leash law, but does have a containment law. It's illegal for your animal to go off your property without a leash. You don't have to have a fence, but you have to be able to control your dog and keep him from leaving your yard. So they're still breaking the law... but that probably means they're going to think they can just watch the dogs better to keep them from wandering off their lawn... which is basically what the owner told me he would do. And I don't feel safe with that. Male dog was out in the street today when my husband drove by.... :embarassed:

moujie

Oh actually I meant the female dog had given birth recently. Not the owner. I didn't meet the wife owner. Just the husband owner. But yeah.. there's lots of kids around.

ahhhh - well that makes sense - getting a little shall we say "whacked out" by our hormones after birth happens to all sorts of mammals. of course she was probably aggressive or at least poorly socialized to begin with. fact is it's bad parenting on the part of the humans. even a overly protective mother dog doesn't usually go after someone unless they're picking up the puppies, etc. - but it could be the thing that makes both dogs more willing to show aggression toward humans.

don't lose faith in dogs - they are reacting to what they know - if they know fear and aggression then you throw new pups into the mix they are acting instinctively. After hurricane Katrina I was deployed to New Orleans - I took care of alot of dogs including a whole bunch of "aggressive" dogs - i put that in quotes because some of these dogs were just reacting a certain way because they were never well socialized (making them fearful which often presents as aggression) and then after going through the disaster and then being cared for by strangers, it made some of them flip out. after a few days in our care you could tell that some where not aggressive at all. dogs just mirror their world. at the very least the owners are negligent for having their dogs on the loose when there is a leash law but more than likely without intervention the behavior of these dogs will get worse. hopefully your actions in reporting it will be a wake up call to the owners - I adopted a fear-aggressive doberman (he was not used to men and he made that clear) and now he is a sweetheart. and it didn't even take as much work as you'd think - he didn't want to be fearful. he wasn't happy that way. he just needed someone to be a good pack leader. that's probably all those dogs need but it sounds like their owners are oblivious - let's hope your report will help wake them up!

PureAndHealthy

Yeah I understand the mother dog protectiveness but her pups were nowhere in sight. I don't know if they were inside or in their backyard somewhere but I didn't hear or see them at any point. If I had done ANYTHING to provoke it, I honestly probably wouldn't report it. I just don't know what I could have done differently, so I have to put the responsibility on the dogs' owners to do something different. Thank you guys so much for the support! It really helped me gain some perspective!

moujie

Yeah I understand the mother dog protectiveness but her pups were nowhere in sight. I don't know if they were inside or in their backyard somewhere but I didn't hear or see them at any point. If I had done ANYTHING to provoke it, I honestly probably wouldn't report it. I just don't know what I could have done differently, so I have to put the responsibility on the dogs' owners to do something different. Thank you guys so much for the support! It really helped me gain some perspective!

You didn't do anything to provoke it - considering the dogs sort of nipped (I think you said) at your husband and the young man with him they were already getting empowered by their own bravado...in a way it was better that you walked by when you did instead of some little kid. behavior like that builds on itself and "intimidating" your husband and the boy (which is what the dogs think they did because the people left, therefore in their minds they "chased" the threat away), then when you walked by they had to increase the intimidation factor...that kind of behavior is self-empowering. and you didn't have to see the pups, it's just the fact that they exist that increase the aggressiveness - plus dogs are funny about their territory - we see it in terms of yards, fences, things like that - they see it in terms of whatever they can see and wherever they've pee'd!

LittleSpy

Listen to me.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE dogs. More than I like most people, quite honestly. I have 6 dogs of my own and I foster dogs for rescue. You need to report them. Seriously. Now. (edit: I read that you did, good!)

They're making us responsible dog owners look very bad and I don't appreciate it for a second. They need to control their dogs. They need to obey leash laws. And they need to pay your medical bills if you have any resulting from the wounds the dogs inflicted. If they want their dogs to be able to run free, they need to put up the money for a fence like all the rest of the responsible dog owners in the world. Or take them out on a leash to potty and for exercise like the rest of the responsible dog owners who can't put up a fence.

Furthermore, carry pepper spray or mace with you on future walks and don't hesitate to use it on the dogs. You'll be able to get away and the dogs will be fine in a few minutes. Report every incident with the dogs.

iRun4wine

You need to report it to hold the owners accountable. Also, this could be the 1,000th time this has happened, but if no one ever reports it, then it may as well be the first time it happened....

Nich0le

You should report this immediately before a small child gets hurt or anyone else. Dogs are animals that must be dominated and if their owner isn't doing that properly by "leading the pack" then maybe he shouldn't be the leader!

Better to know you tried to do something than to see a news report and think back that you should have done something!

AwMyLoLo

When my husband got bit we went to the police the next day. They file the report, go to the owner's house and order them to quarantine the dog for 3 days, meaning, the dog cannot leave the property, cannot be around humans other than the owner or any other animals. During that time, the health department will make sure the dog is up to date on its shots and not carrying any disease. I really hope you file a report with the police. And you shouldnt feel bad. Hopefully it will open the owner's eyes that they need to be responsible for their pets. I also really hope you do go to the doctor. My hubby went and got a Tenanus shot and strong antibiotics. Dog bite infections can be really nasty.

Sorry this happened to you, :flowerforyou: I can't imagine if it were me, I wouldnt have handled it as well as my husband.

j_g4ever

I went to a friends house last week I walked in the door and her new dog came at me and bit me on the leg. She said she was sorry and put the dog away right away and I showed her the bruise today and she again said she was sorry and she will never let the dog out when I'm around. I don't think that dog likes me because she runs a daycare and the dog loves everyone else. I was also raised around dogs and never had a problem with them. However, if I ever had a dog that bit someone that would be the end of it and I would have to put them down.

bettersusan

I read the other responses and I really DO think ou need to actually see a doctor. The bacteria in the dogs mouth might cause a terruble infection. PLEASE go get checked out. ...And send the bill to the owners. I am SO GLAD you reported it! IT is scary to think what that dog could have done to a child!!

Susan

LittleSpy

However, if I ever had a dog that bit someone that would be the end of it and I would have to put them down.

I volunteer with an adoption organization and we sometimes work with dogs that have bitten previous owners. The MAJORITY of the time, the dog is provoked into biting and the entire situation could have easily been avoided if the owners had been knowledgeable about dog behavior.

Sure, some dogs are overly dominant. Some dogs are even aggressive. Those dogs can be rehabilitated in the right hands. So maybe instead of ignorantly putting your dog down, you could find a nice breed-specific rescue to relinquish the dog to if you don't want to put in the time and effort to work with the dog yourself.

PureAndHealthy

UPDATE: Going to Animal Court (a hearing before the animal control board) today because the dog owner is fighting the classification of his dog as "potentially dangerous". So I have my pictures of the bite printed off and a couple witnesses coming with me today. I hate that it's such a big deal. The owner should have just accepted the animal control worker's classification in my opinion. Ugh.... :grumble: Wish me luck!

AwMyLoLo

UPDATE: Going to Animal Court (a hearing before the animal control board) today because the dog owner is fighting the classification of his dog as "potentially dangerous". So I have my pictures of the bite printed off and a couple witnesses coming with me today. I hate that it's such a big deal. The owner should have just accepted the animal control worker's classification in my opinion. Ugh.... :grumble: Wish me luck!

wow, really? So, what steps were taken? We reported my husband's bite to the local police and all they did was go to the owner's house and require them to quarantine the dog while the health department made sure the dog was up to date and carrying any disease. We never heard anything else about it... Was this the second time this dog had been reported?

Good luck today!

PureAndHealthy

UPDATE: Going to Animal Court (a hearing before the animal control board) today because the dog owner is fighting the classification of his dog as "potentially dangerous". So I have my pictures of the bite printed off and a couple witnesses coming with me today. I hate that it's such a big deal. The owner should have just accepted the animal control worker's classification in my opinion. Ugh.... :grumble: Wish me luck!

wow, really? So, what steps were taken? We reported my husband's bite to the local police and all they did was go to the owner's house and require them to quarantine the dog while the health department made sure the dog was up to date and carrying any disease. We never heard anything else about it... Was this the second time this dog had been reported?

Good luck today!

Thanks! This was the first time the dog was reported... it's just that the owner is fighting the board's decision to classify the animal as "potentially dangerous" and have to have it registered with the animal control board. He actually accused my husband of coming by a week before this incident and beating the dogs with a golf club. He said a week before my bite, his wife saw a man that looked like my husband come by their house wearing a trench coat and having a golf club in his trench coat that beat the dogs leaving chunks out of their backs. 1.) My husband would NEVER do something like that. 2.) We don't even have golf clubs.. or trench coats. 3.) My husband had never seen the dogs before that day. 4.) What does that have to do with me walking down the street by myself and being attacked?! He's trying to say that's the reason I was attacked, so it WAS provoked. This whole this just makes me very sad.