Dog Attacks Puppy

Clodagh

Clodagh

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A friend has a staffie x patterdale rescue, shes only had him a month.
He goes to the park every day and has a high old time running around with the other dogs. Today something flipped and he got a lhaso apso puppy and ran around ragging it, its not dead but is in a bad way at the vets. She couldn't get him to come to her or drop it and a lady that did eventually get him off was bitten in the process.
Now this friend is a lovely person and very distressed but is talking about going to a behaviourist and to further dog training. He came from a resuce organisation that had assessed him as being fine for rehoming. He was sexually abused as a puppy so has had a pretty pants life.
I said have the dog PTS. What do you think?
 
Might this decision ultimately be taken out of her hands? Will the owner of the puppy of the lady bitten when separating this dog from the puppy be pursuing the incident?

It's hard when it's a pet you've had for years, trust at home, to believe they can warrant destruction, but this is new dog the owner has only had for a month. I am not sure I could trust this dog again, given what has happened.

I have owned a patterdale...never again. Can't imagine the combination with a Staffie would make for the best pet.
 
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We had patterdales when OH was hunt terrierman, as working dogs they were great, albeit with not much sense of self preservation. I don't think anyone should have them as pets tbh, and like you say crossed with a staffy is not likely to improve either breed.

She is in such a state, but my sympathies lie with the man and his children that had to watch their puppy get mauled.
 
Doesn't look good unfortunatly as not only has he had a dog he's had a person. This is my reason against rescue dogs (not all of them obviously) but you just don't know the full history of the dog, what it's been through etc. If one of my dogs did that to another person/dog then I'd have to be honest and say that I'd be up the vet no hesitation, what if they turned on a small child??

Do you mean physically abused as a puppy not sexually?
 
I personally think I would want the dog PTS. Whether that will happen though is another story. As you know, my friends terrier was killed by a pack of greyhounds a couple of weeks ago. Both the police and the local dog warden said there was nothing they could do as it was a dog on dog attack, even though my friend was hurt trying to get them off. The dog warden did say he would write a letter to the owners of the greyhounds though.
 
Firstly my sympathies go out to the puppy's owner I hope it pulls through but also to the owner of the dog that did it, it must have been a horrible experience!


Clodagh said:
We had patterdales when OH was hunt terrierman, as working dogs they were great, albeit with not much sense of self preservation. I don't think anyone should have them as pets tbh, and like you say crossed with a staffy is not likely to improve either breed.
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But I must say what unfair sweeping statement to say about the breed...

Patterdales are absolutely fantastic pets, yes they are a working breed and yes they are feisty and need a lot of exercise, but they are also the most loving little dogs around. Whenever we sit down with ours its like a competition to see who can be the first on our laps and they are all really good natured with other dogs!!

We have 4 of our own and we breed them too. All ours are bred for temperament and conformation and I over the last 3 years we've been breeding all our new owners have been very pleased with what friendly and loving dogs they are! Some have gone to proper working homes too and are very good at that, so we know we haven't bred out that instinct either!

Brian Nuttall bred staffy into his patterdales in the past to increase the strength of their jaw for working and although the Nuttall stain aren't my cup of tea as I find them too bully looking, our stud dog is half nutall and is the softest nicest dog you would ever wish to meet! Don't tar all patterdales with the same brush, you can get nasty ones in any breed, sometimes they are just born with that temperament trait same as humans!!!
 
Having had a pup attacked by another dog (which ultimately led to us having to have our pup PTS) , I'm sorry but I'd say PTS.

Also, sorry, but what on earth was the owner thinking letting a dog which a) was a rescue b) was an ABUSED rescue and c) they'd only had a month, off the lead in public?
What if that had been a child? God forbid....

For what it's worth, I don't think this is the dog's fault, more the rescue's for not homing it with someone who has enough experience and (dare I say), common sense.
Sorry.
 
I only have very limited Patterdale experience. We (ex hubby) had one, his mother had her sister and his brother another sister.

None of them, in spite of being well socialised, would tolerate other dogs. All of them would bare their teeth if they needed to be reprimanded, standing their ground in your face. Very dominant.

The breeder in Scotland later said he had shot one of their brothers (he was a keen shooter....as was my ex hubby and his family) as it had gone down a fox hole, killed the fox and came back up and killed another of his dogs in a frenzy.

He shot it there and then. :eek:

ETA: The thought of a strain like the one they all owned, combined with a stronger locking jaw of a Staffie is what frightens me. My ex hubby and family were all VERY experienced dog people.
 
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Our patterdales were pretty good tempered, the dog had been raised in kennels with hounds so was good with other dogs but did have slight personal space issues, you just had to be careful how you handled him. He was a 'bully' type one. The little bitch was fantastic with people but terrible with other dogs, she had to be walked alone at all times.
Then we had 4 others who were good tempered but very active, strong minded dogs. To be fair to the breed people tend to donate their dog to the hunt terrierman when they have failed with it at home so they haven't had the best start.

Itsme - I think you are right, but he had been off the lead playing at this park for a couple of weeks now and it was the first time he had done anything nasty. Its awful for everyone concerned.
 
Firstly, what an awful thing to happen but I think that poor dog has to be treated as an individual not a breed type and I think the only sensible decision is pts for him.

Please don't knock Patterdales! We have one who is boisterous and energetic but as long as he has sufficient exercise (i.e. nose in our business all day on the farm) he is the most adorable dog and is never aggressive to either people or other dogs - even when my JRT tries to savage him for no good reason he just shakes her off and ignores her.

On the other hand he used to be in a situation where he only got out for a 1-2 hours walk per day and he was pretty vile then, but still never agressive, just irritating and in-your-face all the time.
 
I personally don't think that is the right thing to do either - they've had the dog a month, they have a duty to either have it rehabilitated at their expense, to pass it on to a KNOWLEDGEABLE home where it's issues can be dealt with or have it PTS.

What will they think if it goes on to be rehomed and then does the same thing, with more serious consequences?

Horrible situation all round, not knocking you.
 
Wouldn't this "new history" now make it more difficult for the rescue centre to re-home the god in question?
 
When she took the dog she signed a contract saying she would return it to them if at any point she couldn't keep him. She is now worried about him around her elderly and grumpy JRT and just deels that she can't cope, hence the returning.
I think shes doing the right thing, she isn't experienced enough to cope and can never trust him.
Its a horrible situation, I hope the pup survives, she will find out how it is tomorrow.
 
What a difficult decision for your friend to have to make. Do hope the pup pulls through.
Never had experience of these breeds but from what people have posted that have, seems a pretty high octane dog. That, coupled with his history makes for a unpredicable dog.

A friend of mine has a rescued Airdale who through vet reports several months after getting him, showed he had been seriously sexually abused as a pup/young dog.
As a result she always muzzzles him when out as certain "triggers" cause him to snap in defense i.e: a hand or muzzle suddenly on him. Although he is a very affectionate boy, he is also unpredictable.

Hope this dog can be helped if not PTS sounds sensible. Best wishes to your friend.
 
CaveCanem said:
I personally don't think that is the right thing to do either - they've had the dog a month, they have a duty to either have it rehabilitated at their expense, to pass it on to a KNOWLEDGEABLE home where it's issues can be dealt with or have it PTS.

What will they think if it goes on to be rehomed and then does the same thing, with more serious consequences?

Horrible situation all round, not knocking you.
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Actually I think it's the only thing they can do. When you take on a rescue you never actually own it - it remains the 'property' of the rescue I believe? Any decision to be made over whether or not it is pts or rehomed again should be made by the rescue centre surely? Yes - I would think that this will make the dog very hard to rehome, and then may have to be pts. Maybe the OP's frirend could make a donation to cover the cost of pts?

I wouldn't want to tar any individual dog with breed generalisation, but these are feisty little things. I have a lakeland terrier who is hugely dominant and can't be let off the lead on walks - he'd just attack other dogs. He's lovely with people, but I'd never have another one.......I'm sticking with gundogs in the future!
 
Sorry for all concerned. Without knowing the whole facts/being there, it may well have been that a small fluffy dog was too much like a rabbit for the terrier. I am not excusing it - just maybe offering an explanation. Terriers be it Patterdale/JRT/staffie etc are very high energy dogs which is often the issue and people tend to overlook that when looking for a dog. When I have had staffies from puppies I have been able to socialise them properly and they have been fine, albeit I am always aware that you never let a staffie "sort itself out" in a scrap with another dog as once bitten, staffies will never forget and then can go on the offensive. I have chosen to have rescues to give them another chance and with staffie rescue, it was always clear that I might have to review what I wanted to do with my dogs.

Conversly my younger staffie was badly mauled as a 4 month old pup which nearly cost him his eye and his tear duct is permanantly damaged as a result so I am not automatically on the side of the rescue, just trying to offer a balanced POV.
 
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