^ Excellent post

Oops!

Thanks for the heads-ups and apologies to Rosa for my unfounded assumption.

from her OP i definitely do not see how he hit her in self defence, and he hit her (or tried to) TWICE, and she hit him after he threatened her! he had also just taken a full kick at her dogs head! i know he was just trying to get rosa off his dog, and i would hit or kick a dog to get them off jake but ONLY with the amount of force needed, a 'full on' kick at her head, to me, is way too much force. i would hit someone if they did that to jake, it is just too excessive and could cause serious damage to a dog. i dont think he could ever get her done for assault after his actions. and to top it all, he followed her home!!

and she didnt say rosa has bitten another dog before!

your post doesnt sound the least bit understanding, im sure most dog owners will come across situations that are outwith our control. it was an accident, no ones fault so it can just be used as a learning experience.

That is such a sensible way to look at the situation Claire.

Ah I do apologise as i misread the context of the word 'another' as plural rather than a singular term.

TBH if I was in that man's situation where I was innocently walking my dog in a park and a loose dog came over and started attacking my dog, I would defend my dog with all the power I had in order to keep my dogs life. Kicking a dog in the head is not nice but I would do it to defend my best friend from being torn apart. The force he used effectively removed the dog, which the owner and the bystander had tried and failed to do. I would say in this case it was reasonable force, other less severe options had been tried and failed.

It is not excessive, kicking the dog over and over again, even after its released its grip would be excessive. A singular kick to the head as a last resort is not in my view. I would rather do that than watch my animal writher in pain.

Then to top it all, the owner of the attacking dog swings for me for defending my animal from serious injury. The OP crossed the line turning the conflict from verbal to physical, she but her hands on him and he defended himself.

By the way following her home is a sensible thing to do, she could have lied about her address and I would want to make sure that the contact details were correct so I could send my vet bills, the police and the dog warden.

When you see the damage dog bites do both physically and mentally to animals, trauma like that is not easily repairable. Puncture wounds are rarely clean with a high chance of infection and a high incidence of causing trauma to deep tissue.

I know this whole thing is an accident but its the OP dog that did the damage and at the end of the day she is responsible for the animal's actions.
Of course the OP has my sympathy but damage has been done and she is responsible for it. The OP is not a bad person, S**T happens but at the end of the day, the dog attacked unprovoked and was out of control, she owns the dog as so she is, legally, at fault.

I have tried looking at the situation in both parties shoes, if it was my dog that had got loose and attacked a dog unprovoked, and got kicked in the head, I would be mad at the dog and not at the owner of the victim. I would be apologising profusely and be so ashamed of myself for not being able to prevent the attack.

I'm so sorry that Rosa has been attacked herself, it seems that it is a chain reaction with dog attacks, with a victim often becoming an aggressor. I know of a few dogs that this has happened too.

To OP
Out of curosity how did you react when Rosa was bitten? It would be interesting to compare your reactions as you have been in both situations.

I do understand this is a stressful situation for you and I am so glad you are one of the sensible owners who is going to be proactive in managing the behaviour. Good luck with your training !

Just for info (I don`t want to get drawn into an arguement on it) trying to stop dogs fighting by joining in is not the best way to do it. The dogs just get more aggressive. So punching, kicking, beating a fighting dog is counter productive. All you are doing is upping the ante.
Distraction is good. Grabbing trailing leads is best. Giving the dog an excuse to stop by using your voice is good. But the safest way I know (probably best not used unless you know the dog) is to get behind the aggressor and grasp the back legs - then move backwards. Keep hold of the legs under the body untill someone comes to help or until the dog submits.

Hey all, sorry for not keeping you all updated, been a bit hectic with work and the likes.

The police never came in the end. I think everyone got home, and calmed down. We all over-reacted and we all could've handled the situation better.

Rosa has a new industrial strenth harness and lead. with 2 seperate leads hooked onto the harness. She's also getting used to the muzzle now and isn't trying to scratch it off anymore.

Whenever I see another dog while I'm walking her I keep her away (cross the road if on same side/keep walking and ignore it if it's on the other.) And she's not fazed by them at all.

When the other dog bit Rosa, well, it was all a bit confusing.
When we seperated the two, I asked the other owner if his dog was ok, as I saw blood in Rosa's mouth, I assumed she'd bitten the dog. His dog hadn't a scratch on him.
Rosa had a loose tooth anyway so I looked but there was so much blood I couldn't see. I assumed she'd knocked her tooth.

I got her home and got her to drink some water so I could get a better look, it turned out that one of her healthy tooths (? grammar? lol) had been knocked to it was sticking out almost horizontally. And she'd been bitten on her leg.

Nothing came of it, because I didn't see the man again. And Rosa's tooth and leg have healed fine.

Yes, she's getting used to the muzzle now. Still not a fan. But we're getting there.

I tried to get her off myself but before I really got a chance the man kicked her.

I'm still confused over the whole thing. I didn't see how it started because I was on the other side of the field trying to catch up. But she's never been bothered by dogs before, and she's seen dogs since the one that bit her the other week and not been fussed. Also, before we rehomed her, there was a family going to rehome her who had 2 other dogs, boh of whom she got on with.

Who knows. At least it won't happen again.

I would definitely pay the vets fees (upon production of a receipt and the vet's telephone number to check authenticity of the claim) and apologise but only do this once. if your apology is not accepted then leave it. if your offer of paying the vet's fees (ONLY fo rthe damage Rosa did) is refused then leave it. If they want to be that way then let them.

I would also defintiely report to the police exactly what happened. Tell them everything from start to finish, including when you hit his arm. And also remember that he didn't just hit you back, he tried to continue hitting you, after threatenening both you and Rosa. tell them you fear for your safety and the local Neighbourhood Team will keep an eye on your address for you.

Laura xx

good post laura, that was exactly what i was going to say in response to that post (was just trying to find the time, coz it would take a while to go through it all ).