No practical advice to offer as am simply not experienced enough but just sending hugs to you! xxx

I am sorry to hear this.

No need to feel foolish or ashamed. Accidents happen and hopefully no real damage was done.

I'm sorry.

She was a new dog, and you don't know her inside out yet, noone expects you to!

You've said you're going to put her on a harness and maybe a muzzle, so i won't hammer home that point!

I'd maybe suggest a few 1 one 1 training or agility classes (not cheap i know) just to get to know her and get working with her a bit more?

Thank you x

Thanks. I just know that if I hadn't been so thoughtless ('oh, I won't bother with her harness today' etc) it wouldn't have happened. Then again, if I hadn't found out what she was capable of last night I'd still be oblivious and she could have kicked off at a small dog or something and it would have been even worse...at least I know now.

Like I said I've only had her three weeks and because she had kennel cough when she first arrived I didn't start walking her til last Monday. Stuck to quiet times at first so we didn't see other dogs, and then in the last few days when we did she would react, pulling and staring and occasionally whining. However, apart from the whining, this is exactly how Gelert sometimes reacts when he sees another dog and wants to play - he's never been in a fight in his life, he's a total love. So I didn't necessarily think it was a big problem. Lesson well and truly learned.
She was a stray, so no background info, and she wasn't at the dogs' home for more than about ten days before we rehomed her, so it's not something they would have picked up on. She is such a sweetheart with people as well Then again I won't be taking any chances in that department either.

Hope you manage to get on top of it all soon.

Sadly, welcome to the ASBO dog club We will all be here for you X

Sorry, missed this as I was replying. I'm not sure if classes are a possibility at the moment but it depends how we get on.

Oh well, I'm in the best place for advice

My DA dog this morning

Looking like butter wouldn't melt. I've made up with her now anyway...she was picking up on my stress and generally glum mood.

At least you didn't find out you had a problem the same way I did. Rupert tore a puppies ear off coz it ran up to him. I knew he was worried about other dogs before this, I didn't realise he'd cause serious damage with practically no warning.

I feel for you though, it's not a nice thing to have to deal with. There's plenty that can be done to help though and lots of people have turned reactive dogs around. Don't beat yourself up over it, accidents happen and at least now you know and can do something to work on the problem and take measures to prevent it happening again.

Hugs to you, hope you're feeling a bit better now.

Oh, how horrible It must have been frightening for both you, and the other owner. Like you say though, it is good you now know and can take steps to avoid it happening again.

I think if you find/see the owner again, then it would be good to apologise and just explain the situation. I have been in similar situations with Jake, and my biggest hate is with people who let their DA dog off lead. Yet, when he was bitten by a known DA dog who had snapped his lead to get at Jake, I wasn't angry at all with the owner, because unfortunately these things can happen... we actually ended up having a number of walks together, getting the dogs used to each other and they were soon good friends! She has moved house now though, so I haven't seen her in well over a year.

Jake has quite a few GSD friends, but I know lots of other local dogs who don't like them... I think because of their size and the fact that ones we meet are very full on... Jake likes that, and has a good roll about with them, but many of the other dogs don't like it. There are also a few aggressive and gobby ones around here, and I think the gobbiness puts some dogs off too.

Eek, that must have been horrible for all concerned.
I am feeling calmer about it all now, I was all over the place last night, though a large glass of red helped. Still worried about what may happen (will the owner get the police involved?!) and how to deal with Gracie but I'll face it as it comes. Thanks for the support, it's good to know I'm not the only who's been through this.

Thanks lozzi. I will be putting my big girl boots on and doing some major grovelling, and will try to reassure the owner that it will not happen again.