Hi,
I have read all the posts on this thread and my opinion is that both parties are not blameless.
A 14 yr old should have not been walking a dog,especially if he panics when another dog is approaching,at that age i don't think they can fully control a dog or any situation which may arise.
Lorna admits that she is not entirely blameless either,I think you need to put it down to experience and forget about it.
I hope Blue's going to be ok,please keep us updated.

Hope both parties sort this out amicably

If the dog has been known to be grumbly or not cope that well in the precense of other dogs, then I'd advise you maybe have a chat with a reputable behaviourist and try and sort your NI out so she is more comfortable with other dogs in future ?

i for one do not think Inca is blameless however you question why your dog shouldnt be allowed outside off her lead outside your house without getting bitten - at the end of the day it is your equaly responsiblility to make sure that your dog is under control and if Inca was on the lead then LEGALLY you have no right to go to police or anything as your dog was in fact the one not under control.

This comes from someone who owns a dog aggressive dog who constantly has loose dogs running at it and if he did bite a LOOSE dog then I stand by what I have said - I would not accept all the responsibility as my dog would have been under my control and walking beside me.

This is a difficult situation and I respect the fact that you went and spoke to the owner concerned, however you equally cannot just allow your dog to be free out of your house and not accept that something worse than a dog bite would ultimately be your responsilbity - not anyone else who was walking past. Yes accidents do happen of course i am sure you didnt purposely let your puppy out to roam BUT it could have been alot worse had your dog been hit by a car - would that then have been the drivers fault?


I am inclined to agree that a 14yr old should not be walkig a dog alone, and the fact that you suggest he cannot control the dog should be addressed by Becky, but you both have equal blame here and you both have to accept equal responsibility in as civil a manner as possible.

My concern would also have been that Becky's son did not mention the incident until asked about it - which I dont think is right.
At the end of the day we all commented on what we thought - not knowing full story but on the incident and what occured and you will not get many owners who will suggest that an ONlead dog would be the only guilty party in that situation - puppy or not - alot of dogs cant tell the difference between a puppy or anything else and just cos ur dog is submissive doesnt mean a thing with other dogs.

Hope Puppy is ok

and that Beckys son is not feeling so bad.

Having NI myself I do feel they are to strong for a 14yr old to control perhaps. Depends on the childs experience and nature / size of the dog.

If your boy likes to walk Inca, could you guys perhaps go out with him for a while now and maybe have her get used to a dogmatic headcollar or similar so that her strength is of far less issue. Then have your boy learn how to turn her away from situations. At 5ft 8 he is no baby and perhaps just both Inca and him need to learn how to work together a bit better. Inca is a female NI so isn't to heavy for someone of that size to control unless she is a real big girl. My boy NI on the other hand that is another story...lol

Also can both parties just not learn from this and live and let live?...The pups owners were in the wrong...The pup could have ran a different direction and got knocked over. Inca's owners are also not blameless as it is my belief that even having a dog onlead does not fully mean it is under control, if you can not control it not to bite it is not being controlled, lead or no lead...So it is a very sticky situation...

Which hopefully can be resolved by both parties being civil and helpful to one another. which seems to have been the case at the time, so hopefully it can continue.

Can Inca and the Dally even with prior incident not be brought together in a controlled situation?...and then at a later date perhaps the pup?...For all owners and dogs to work together would be ideal

I never once said I wouldn't take responsibility if my dog had bitten another, so if you want to quote me make sure you do it correctly. I said in this instance Beckyc was not in the wrong you were and therefore you coming to her door and implying that her dog is agressive was wrong on your part. Fair enough to state what happened but to bring up about other aggressive dogs was not on and I said if you came to my door saying things like that you would be far from greeted nicely. Your puppy was bitten because it was running free and it ran into the path of Inca, it could have easily been a car wheel that your puppy came into contact with. I have seen twice dogs getting hit by cars because they have shot out of the front door, both dogs died as a result. I think you are extremely lucky that it was Inca that your puppy bumped into and not a moving vehicle.

As for Inca having already attacked your older dog as you say. I have a few questions, why not tell Beckyc at the time? Why now bring it up as a back up for her biting your puppy? The problem with these threads is that people can sit and think about their response and so I am sure you will come up with infallible reasons for not mentioning the first instance sooner thats if the first instance occured as you say.

Now I also know of dogs who take a dislike to certain breeds, my friends rottie cannot stand staffs, we think its because of an incident which happened when the rottie was a pup. Good as gold with any other dogs but put a staff in the equation and there will be problems.

Beckyc do you think this may be the case as you said you haven't had any problems with other dogs just, sweetveronicas dalis?

Becky to be honest whatever happened I would be inclined to book your son and Inca in for some training sessions, I personnally don't think there is a specific age that it is ok to walk a dog unsupervised, it is all about ability, so in order to give your son the confidence he needs with Inca, I would definately arrange some lessons with him as the handler. You can go along and observe and see for yourself just how they interact.

Hope Blue is okay, it must have been a nasty shock. In my opinion I wouldn't let a child under 16 walk a dog alone because they haven't got the confidence to deal with the situation if anything goes wrong. I don't like seeing kids walking dogs, it scares me - they never seem to have full control and it worries me especially when they are near main roads too

I can see this turning into a slinging match .....

Do you mean a slanging match?

singing match perhaps?

seriously I hope not it would be a real shame.