2 of my dogs were attacked yesterday? advice

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fruity

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My yard is near a footpath,a lady who comes into my work (vets) lives nearby and i know her quite well through horses. Anyway have heard a couple of stories before about her small terrier and ex racing greyhound,apparently the man who owns my yard and the surrounding estate she walks on has blamed her before for her greyhound attacking his labrador and also heard yesterday after my dogs being attacked that it had bitten a locals jrt before.
I think the estate owner had said to her it must be kept on a lead or she is banned from walking on the estate.

Anyway the story is i was mucking out my stables with my dogs outside and it is at least 50 metres to the footpath from there and from no where her greyhound and terrier ran down and went for my 3 dogs (luckily the 15/16 wk old pup hid for cover runder my car) i witnessed the Greyhound bite one terriers bum (to which she said 'she just snaps!) but the other terrier by then was round the otherside of my car with her terrier, when mine came to me after the woman eventually getting hers on a lead she was 10/10ths lame and badly bitten and shaking. The lady who i see now and again walking in the fields around me said 'how loud and screachy my dogs are' i said yes because her dogs had just attacked them! I said 'look that one is hopping now' and she said she 'must of just trod on something'! i said it's quite clear they've been injured by her dogs to which she said 'oh just send me the vet bill' and stormed off!

I am fuming as my jrt has bruising and swelling,her neck is painful to turn to the right,her back leg is very sore and she's still off it,her left shoulder is very painful and she's on Rimadyl,she's off her food today and the vet bills are adding up. My other dog has a puncture wound to her bottom and i'm bathing that in salty water.

Now i am fuming and was very upset yesterday as she made me feel like i was making a mountain out of a mole hill but thinking back a few weeks me and a friend were walking and she saw us in the fields and her dog did try and chase one of my mine but she got it back on the lead quicker than yesterday.I remember my friend saying that one day that dog will bite something,it has a very high chase instinct and i swear it sees mine as prey,although i don't get it as she has 2 terriers herself!

Anyway i thought that surely she would have been advised by the rescue she got it off that it should be muzzled if it's a ex racer? I know there is no law that ex racers must have one but apparently she wasn't told it should wear one.

I don't want to fall out with her as she comes into my work often and i see her daily and we hae mutual friends but i do want her to wake up and realise that her dog is not 'harmless and all noise' it needs to be kept on a lead at all times our shoot is on also at the mo and i def think it chases things all the time.

Any advice on how to go about it? I was going to ring her and let her know my dogs did need vet treament etc My mum thinks i should inform the man who owns the estate to see if he could tell her it must stay on a lead and wear a muzzle maybe if walking on our land? but i know he'll ring her and she'll think i'm trying to get her in to all sorts of trouble,she knows all the doggie and horsey people i know and has already said it was on the foot path when it happened which is a complete lie.

What would you do?
 
do you know which rescue she got it from? If so it might be worth while informing them as it will still ultimately be their dog. Also you could try calling the police and see if they will go and talk to her. Also am I right in thinking that by law dogs have to be on the lead when out in public? I would certainly be charging her for vet bills, it might make her think twice then before letting it off the lead again. Could you possibly get the vets to write a report saying that the injury was more than a nip to give to her?

I know you don't want any bad feeling, but at the end of the day if it was your pup he had attacked then it might of been a very different outcome. It could also of happened to a child etc and would you want that on your conscence (sp?) if you don't report it to someone
 
Oh dear :( I hope your dog makes a full recovery.

If I were you I think I would phone this lady as you planned, and explain about the vet treatment etc. I would also tell her that you are going to have to tell the estate owner about the incident as he is your landlord and it happened on his property, and suggest to her that she uses a muzzle when her dog is off-lead. If you are calm and polite there is no reason why it should be too stressful a conversation. I would definitely avoid mentioning the other incidents that you have heard about from friends etc as you don't know the facts for sure and are likely to get her back up. Just stick to the facts as relate to your dog.

I would also be phoning the dog warden too.... but don't know whether I would have the balls to tell her I was doing this.

Just a thought, but as she is a client at your vets do you think that one of the vets there might agree to discuss muzzling, agressive behaviour etc with her when she next comes in??

Good luck!
 
I do hope you dogs are ok and it dosnt make them nervous around other dogs.

Good advice from Broodle, to be honest I dont think your vet would want to be involved in advising this woman about muzzling her dog in public.

Not all ex-racing Greyhounds are like this, we often get a friends dog staying with us and she is wonderful with our pup and Ive never known her aggressive with another dog.
 
I know you know her and it's difficult, but I would be informing the estate manager, the dog warden and the police (not that they'll do anything, but for their informations). She needs to do something. Are you prepared to take the risk that next time her dogs attack your dog so badly it may kill it? I certainly wouldn't.
 
I would suggest that they are kept on a lead to prevent this happening again and that you will report her to the relevant people if you see them off the lead again, unless she agrees that they both wear muzzles. This sort of behavior is unacceptable, it is only a matter of time before something of a more serious nature occurs. I am amazed at what folk will tolerate before they kick up a stink, it sounds as if plenty of people have given the dogs the benefit of doubt already.

Hope your dogs are fine..... and no not all retired greyhounds are like this, the one we look after for a friend is just so well behaved and gentle, an all round topper. Good luck.
 
Thanks all for your advice. The jrt is toe touching today which is great,was so worried about her. She still has a swollen shoulder and neck but hopefully with rest and pills she'll make a full recovery.I'm not 100% who bit the main one as by that time all 3 (think her 2 and the main one bitten) were round the other side of the car,i thought it was just my other one with the bad bottom that had been hurt so was seeing to her. I know greyhounds/ex racers arn't always snappy as i have walked a couple in the past and my sisters ex husband had a cracking racer for years but i assumed she would of been told to keep it muzzled as it has a very high chase drive which was confirmed to me today when i rang her,she was stand of ish at first when i rang but i explained i didn't want to fall out with her and that i know her dogs are not 'evil' but when she comes past my yard again i expect her dogs to be on a lead and i also strongly advised her to muzzle the greyhound,to which she was not impressed,i then asked her which rescue she got it from as i was shocked they apparently never mentioned muzzling it when she got it and she wouldn't tell me,she said she'd cover my vet bills but tbh it's not that i'm really interested in it's the peace of mind knowing my dogs or even a small child one day will be safe from this dog,i'm def not pinning all the blame on the greyhound as i know her small black terrier is not good with children or other dogs as i've witnessed it going mental on the lead at other dogs loads of times but as i saw the greyhound def bite one of mine and that's the one i know for a fact has had other dogs i wanted to make sure she did something about it. She has promised me she will keep all 3 on a lead until she is into the nearby field but i know i'll still be worried about it happening again,especially as she won't muzzle it,i think i'm going to have to tell the estate owner,if i hadn't of known her i would of done it straight away, It's so hard as i do like the woman but she is soooo ditsy and away with the fairies,wish she'd wake up and realise dogs can be dangerous when out of control,she thought that hers were 'playing' with mine! As a prev poster has put it could of been my young puppy and that would of been life threatening injuries had it been him,my jrt is a tough working dog and she is feeling very sorry for herself so i have decided to arm myself with the pet corrector at all times just as a little help if anything kicks off and see what the estate owner sais.
 
Well it's good that you've spoken to her and she has agreed to be more responsible, but tbh it doesn't really sound like she's got the message. And what if other dogs are in this field when she is walking hers loose in there? Sounds like a very frustrating woman...

Anyway, I think you have a responsbility to report this woman to the dog warden, and to let your estate owner know what is going on.
 
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