Dog fights while out walking

My three dogs are all from shelters and two of them have behavioural issues. You just can’t risk having dogs off lead. Even the most placid dog is likely to respond to an attack – they are animals and have instincts to do so. The bane of my life is stray dogs or dogs off lead whose owners assure me how harmless they are – maybe, but mine might not be.

DNA – In your story your dogs never seem to start anything its always the other dog that starts things.

Why not get a muzzle

can recommend george from his ‘sitdropstay’ dog whispering company – don’t have the no. but probably googlable (if that’s a word yet?). do it soon. listen to what he says and do it.

and like all before me, keep the wee beasties on a leash and consider a muzzle, for their protection as much as anyone/thing else’s… (notwitstanding i understand about the you-know-they’re-friendly bit)

I’ll mean this more politely than it probably sounds, but… keep your dog on a leash, consider a muzzle. Consider what you’ve said about your dog being ok 90% of the time, means you feel it might not be ok 1 in 10 dogs it meets.

If it was my dog on the lead that was attacked I would expect you to approach the money situation with the understanding that you should be paying 100%, and we could negotiate from there.

If the money factor doesn’t scare you consider this, small children can look like big dogs to other dogs.

We have a lovely “placid” dog (nicknamed boof for a reason) that is normally fine around children. A child who had played with the dog before turned up one cold winter’s day in a very cute hooded jacket and the dog went for her (we think because her head was covered in a furry hood). Standing next to the dog and being able to basically fall on it straight away saved the day. The lesson is that it will always happen unexpectedly!!

-Will bark like mad if you knock on the door (this is anxiety-related behaviour, ie, not good)

-will run up to dogs/people if he can; he tends to run at stuff he see’s (this is dominant/over-excited behaviour, ie, not good)

-they’ve had a few heirachical fights…. blood (this is dominant/red-zone aggressive behaviour, ie, an urgent problem)

-When backed in a corner after being naughty (this is aggressive-assertive behaviour by the human, ie, probably making things worse)

You have described behaviours/inputs of an unbalanced dog, and while it’s likely your dogs are that way because of their past experiences, they need to have these experiences trained out of them systematically, calmly and patiently. There is no need for you and the dogs to suffer from such dangerous and worrying behaviours.

I suggest that you watch a few Dog Whisperer programs and read the Dog Whisperer books (ghost)written by Cesar Millan. It sounds like your dogs are not yet able to be in a calm-submissive state most of the time, and they need a different type of training from the type you are using.

Keep your dogs on a leash. As another poster said, you will be at fault if your dog is involved with another dog who is on a leash.

I have a staffy who has always been on a leash. He was mauled once by 2 dogs who broke out of a yard, and again by some idiot who had both his dogs off their leads. Because of those incidents my dog is now very aggressive towards other dogs. So when someone isn’t walking their dog on a lead and they come up to my dog, guess what happens?

their dog jumped cos yours stuck its head up its arse (well that seems to be what happened by what you wrote). Why aren’t you responsible for the whole cost? S*** i’d bite if someone poked me in the clacker. again it gets down to whether you were in an off leash area or not.

were you in a non-leash area when this happened? that’ll answer your question. you MUST keep your dogs on a lead at all times if you weren’t.

Just keep your dogs on a long leash.

Hi mate

Keeping Dog2 on a leash is the first step, even though 90% of the time it’s still that 10% that can get you and your dog into a lot of trouble.
Leashes don’t bother dogs and is for everyones safety.

I have two small dogs, both get walked on the lead all the time.
Bella (Bichon Frise cross) is the friendlies you will ever come across
But our other dog Cartman (Maltese cross) can be a real bully to other dogs when walking so if we come across someone else talking there dog we would often advise he can be a little grumpy but if they are ok for him to have a sniff we allow it but keep a close eye on him.
That way if he does muck up we can just pull him away quickly.

If they are off the lead it’s very hard to do and it’s not really fair on the other people walking there dog on a lead.

IMHO I don’t think any dog should be off a leash unless the owner has 100% control.

So to answer your questions…..

1: Should I be concerned about them being declared dangerous? Yes, it only takes one complaint

2: What is fair regarding covering costs? (we’re not made of money, and we’ve been saving up and are about to go overseas for 2 weeks, so if they come back demanding hundreds of dollars that would suck BIGtime)

It wouldn’t hurt to offer and keep a interest in how the other dog is doing, they may even have pet insurance.
Explain to them that money is tight, sounds like they are pretty understandable people so I doubt it will be an issue.

In the mean time look into pet insurance of your own, you may find cover for this type of thing.
Hit some of the doggy parks as the dogs there are usually friendly and won’t snap when being checked out.
Dogs can feel threaten if they are on a leash and approached by another dog off a leash.

HTH

Cheers
Chris

Keep your dog on a leash. Keep it away from other dogs.

Domestic Animal Services (DAS) is unequivocal about this… if your dog is off leash, and gets into a fight with a dog that is on leash, *you* are 100% at fault. It doesn’t matter who started what, which dog was more aggressive, etc etc… the owner who has their dog off leash is the one at fault, because if it had been on leash it could have been controlled.

And once again I repeat: This is why we have a law that says you must keep your dog on leash at all times in public places. No matter how well trained it might be, you can’t predict how other dogs, kids or adults will react to your dog, and what your dog will do in response.

And just to ease your mind a bit, in my experience DAS is very reasonable about declaring dogs dangerous, and will only do so in extreme cases. They tend to (rightly so) see these things as the owners fault rather than the dogs, and focus on fining/penalising the owner.

also, KEEP YOUR DOG ON A LEASH.

Regardless of what you think and feel, keep your dog on a leash. If your dog is not directly under your control, you are liable for what it does. Here’s the fun part. If your dog is under your control on a leash, you’re liable for anything it does.
If your dog bites anyone, regardless of if they’re breaking into your house to molest your children, you’re responsible.
Warning signs make no difference.
Your dog is judged by it’s actions NOW. Not how bad it’s life was before or the mitigating circumstances in its upbringing.
You’ve just described a history of your dog having issues with interacting with other dogs.
What do you think is likely to happen in future? It will join greenpeace and go protect whales?
Nobody cares how much you think your dog has issues. Nobody cares how much you love it.
They care about what it has done.
Keep your dog on a leash. Keep it away from other dogs.
Someone else’s dog off a leash becomes their responsibility.

A squirty bottle full of fresh lemon juice is a very effective dog dissuader.

Keep them on a lead, and warn whomever is looking after them while you are overseas.

1. Yes.
2. Cover their vet bill. Consider yourself lucky if you aren’t fined.

Good on you for leaving your contact details though.
That is one up on the slack owners of a dog who attacked ours in an off lead area, leaving puncture marks in our dog’s head from the attacking dog’s teeth.