Aggressive dogs, what would you have done?

4faults

4faults

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I walk my 3 dogs on a footpath near my house which leads to quite a large open field so I can see if anyone else is on there with another dog which is where I then let them off the lead.

My OH and I were walking the 3 of them down the path toward the field today when 2 GSD ran up to them and starting snapping at my 2 JRT's, Holly is a total wimp and cowered behind me, Jake is really aggressive so he was at their throats. At this point the other one dived on my English Mastiff, who my OH had on the lead. He promptly threw it about 10 feet in the air!!!!!
My OH tried to put himself between our lot and the GSD's and they tried to bite him and would have if it had not been for my EM who went beserk trying to get them(he is very protective) During all this the owner came running up the path red faced and puffing swearing and screaming at ME!!

He threatened to call the police, said my dogs should be put to sleep and attempted to kick my EM!! but could he get his dogs back on a lead? It literally took him a good 10 mins of chasing them and jumping on them till he could get leads on them. I really thought my OH was going to smack him and set Sonny(the EM) on him.

At no point were my dogs off the lead, I did not attack him nor allow my dogs too. Yes I have one very large dog but he is a total softy unless provoked and he only went for the dogs who were attacking him not the man. I was screaming at him because lets face it I was going to give as good as I was getting.

What would you have done in this situation? Do you think I should report him if I can find out who he is? I am worried his dogs may kill another one if he cant control them.

Thanks for listening to my rant. Twinings tea and Digestive biscuits if you got through it (also in Dogs)
 
I would have shouted him down and sent him away with a flea or several in his ear! He was obviously scared because his dogs were not under control and was shouting at you as a defensive mechanism. I bet he won't let them off again but I would report him just in case. Poor doggles :(

Do you have chocolate digestives?
 
You could report it to the local dog warden but I'm not sure it will get anywhere - please don't think all GSDs and GSD owners are like this though!! Our girl is dog aggressive but we have made damned sure she is obedient enough for it not to cause a problem, she never goes where we can't see her and one word and she's back by our sides - she's improved 10 times from what she was and now doesn't tend to bother unless the other dog gives her a reason! :o

There wasn't really a lot else you can do - when a dog starts to attack your dog your dog is your main concern :( The only thing I would have done would have probably (not so calmly!) explained what happened and why his dogs should be on a lead, especially as he couldn't control them. Would have also told him I would be letting the dog warden know as his dogs were out of control and off the lead.
sounds like the owner was one of those ignorant owners who believe their dogs are perfect when they're really little horrors!
I hope your guys are okay
K x
 
Farrierlover- Yes chocolate digestives are on offer as well, the dogs are munching the plain ones :D:p

Kellysheroes- I love GSD's my last dog was a GSD and he was amazing. I know they are a breed that require good handling and are fantastic when well trained, I just think the owner wasnt aware of that :mad:

I think I will report him, or at least try to. Really worried that if those 2 got hold of a smaller dog it wouldnt live through it :(
 
It's very difficult because I would have really wanted to go berserk with the man but on the other hand that only wold have made the situation worse. My dog is not dog aggressive unless he is provoked. This incident would really have scared me and you were lucky that you had your OH with you who was strong enough to throw the GSD away. Having been in the middle of my dog and a psychotic chow who was trying to kill him I know how hard it can be to stop an attack. I doubt reporting him would get anywhere- they'll probably either never follow it up or won't do anything even if they do find him. I think I would have just given the guy a piece of my mind, unfortunately only aggravating him more.
 
Yes I'd definitely try to - ring your local dog warden in the morning and ask for advice, they may ask you to report to the police.
Its people like that who promote GSD "breed bashing" and give Shepherds a bad name :( something I feel very strongly about!!!! I didn't know about your last dog, so I'm sure you (and anyone else with a so-called "dangerous dog" ie, dangerous bloody owners) will agree!
K x
 
bryngelenponies said:
It's very difficult because I would have really wanted to go berserk with the man but on the other hand that only wold have made the situation worse. My dog is not dog aggressive unless he is provoked. This incident would really have scared me and you were lucky that you had your OH with you who was strong enough to throw the GSD away. Having been in the middle of my dog and a psychotic chow who was trying to kill him I know how hard it can be to stop an attack. I doubt reporting him would get anywhere- they'll probably either never follow it up or won't do anything even if they do find him. I think I would have just given the guy a piece of my mind, unfortunately only aggravating him more.
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Lol it was Mastiff who threw the other dog, should have seen the height it went. OH tried to get between them and the GSD's were trying to bite him. Im so glad he was with me I wouldnt have coped on my own. Did shout at the man a lot, called him every name I could think of but all it did was satisfy my own frustration.
 
KellysHeroes said:
Yes I'd definitely try to - ring your local dog warden in the morning and ask for advice, they may ask you to report to the police.
Its people like that who promote GSD "breed bashing" and give Shepherds a bad name :( something I feel very strongly about!!!! I didn't know about your last dog, so I'm sure you (and anyone else with a so-called "dangerous dog" ie, dangerous bloody owners) will agree!
K x
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I agree, breed bashing really annoys me, I think it pretty much comes down to owners if their dog is aggressive. I realise their are some exceptions, I once had a black lab who was so aggressive with everyone in the end he was eventually put down, turns out on PM he had a brain tumour. I dont blame the dogs, their just being dogs, I blame the stupid ignorant owner :mad:
 
Oh my, that sounds terrifying :(
I Remember i was walking my little JRT on a lead and a rotty came running towards me and attacked my dog. when i picked my dog up the rotty attacked me, biting my arms and legs and almost got me to the floor, luckily the owner arrived just in time. i knew them and they never let the dog off a lead (the lead clip snapped and the dog ran off) but its usually a big softy :confused:
 
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh :eek::eek::eek: really pees me off. And breathe :D
I get so annoyed when things like this happen, regardless of the breed, how dare the owner have a go at you!
Im not breed bashing at all as my friend has a rescue GS with an awful past and she is now a lovely dog and my dog loves her but out of the 3 times my dog has been 'attacked', twice has been by GS and it was the owners fault NOT the dog.
Sorry rant over.
We meet a lovely couple regularly with 2 rescues, one was ok with horses, then they got the 2nd dog which wasnt. So they ended up with 2 dogs who were aggresive with horses, each time we met them, they would freak out, run after the dogs, scream at the top of there voices and make a massive issue, no wonder the dogs reacted.
I would report it, prob wont gain anything but god forbid its a child next time at least its logged.
 
Yeah our Goldie can be a little bit funny but we don't know why but its getting slowly better - when we're out walking, children always go to grab the Goldie first though and shy away from our people loving GSD!
Our GSD was attacked by a very disobedient dominant Staffy when she was 2 and has never been the same since - he locked onto her neck and tried to mate with her, went for us when we tried to grab him - needless to say my Mum went absolutely berserk at the owner when he finally came out to get the Staffy off our Tara - he paid for the injection at the vets (just in case) but hasn't forked out for any behaviourists appointments further down the line!!! :mad:
I don't think people will ever learn. Lets hope those GSDs don't get any further chances to injure any other animals or people.
K x
 
I think this is dreadful. If you know your dog then you know if it's likely to be aggressive to other dogs and you don't bloody well let it off the lead!

we have 2 dogs and our oldie (some x collie/terrier) is a very protective little sod and, although small ish he sticks up for himself and protects us and his pal (who's a wimp). We have to be on guard all the time when he's on a walk as, although 95% of the time he is fine, he sometimes just does not like some dogs and will have a go. He is old now and i worry more that he will take on something that will injure him as really my dog is just noise but it is still my responsibility to keep him under control. He's worse now as he's deaf or nearly deaf (he's always had selective hearing mind!) so he won't hear you trying to call him back and neither can he hear if a dog approaches him from behind so that can make him worse.

I always feel so embarrassed and apologetic if at any point he does have a pop at anything but then often I thin if the other person's dog isn't on a lead or under control then it's not 100% my fault.

It's sad when people have these large dogs and can't control them as that's when the dog breed gets a bad name (like now there's been this recent attack by 2 rottweilers). Personally i find terriers more aggressive and unpredictable but they don't have the power to do the damage that a bigger, more powerful dog does so they don't get labelled do they.
 
This is very much the fault of the owner. I would report the incident to the local dog warden.

I have problems with mine. They will attack bigger dogs and people they see as a threat so I have to be very careful. They do not go off the lead unless I am on private ground or I only have 2 of them with me (I have 4 in total and pack mentality sets in when they are all together). They go back on leads if anyone (dog walkers, cyclists, horse riders, children etc) comes close.

The reason why mine will get agressive? They where attacked by a woman delivering the yellow pages and a postman has also kicked one of them so hard she flew through the air about 10 feet. They have been kicked by people, without provacation on too many times. A JRT barking by a back door is not a threat when they are 20ft away and not making moves to come nearer so why go to them to kick them? Because they are little they have been knocked about a bit while playing with larger dogs, not anyones fault but... So now they go on the defensive.

I have spent alot of time retraining and finding dog savy strangers to help me. This dog owner should not have shouted at you, if he is that agressive I suspect its happened before.
 
I think I will try and report him today. I have a lovely day off and im really worried about going to walk my dogs in the sun now thanks to him. Going to have to wait for my OH to get in so he can come with me :(
 
I would also report him, at least if it happens again there is a history of bad behaviour. I sometimes wonder what would happen with mine as he would never start a fight but would most definately stand up for himself if anything went for him.

Lots of smaller dogs snap and grouch at him and he bimbles on by, but if they attacked and he turned he could do some damage but then how could I prove he wasn't in the wrong if the only witnesses are me and the other dogs owner.
 
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