It is one of the most frustrating things that can happen to the dog owner. Your furry friend got attacked by another dog and injured.
This happened to us last last summer, day before we were going on the long awaited holidays. I was sitting with my 2 dogs on the bench in the fenced area of football stadiums, which are closed for the games during the summer and unofficially adopted by dog owners. There are 10 of them, so really a lot of to choose from. Out of blue a woman with her big dog approached us and let him run freely. Well, in such situation I assume (wrongly unfortunately) that the owner is sure of his/her dog and it is safe to be around. After a small chat with this woman, just after she told me he’s a mix of Rhodesian and Staffordshire Bull Terrier I was about to comment on how well behaving her dog is with others, he attacked one of my dogs.
It was horrible, I felt pretty powerless as 7 months pregnant I didn’t dare to jump in as I would usually do in such situation, to separate them. The other woman was completely useless and didn’t know what to do before I was screaming to her to pull her dog away. Finally she managed. Completely shocked I started to examine my dog of injuries while she walked away moaning that her dog has never done something like that before…. And then I noticed the horrible wound on his neck.
Next few hours we spent at the vet clinic. Fortunately wounds were not very deep and it looked like it was me shocked more than my poor dog.
But it made me thinking, what are the best ways to separate dogs in such situation? How to prevent such situations? Should we always keep our dogs on leash in case the other dog is aggressive? How could we educate owners to be more responsible, etc…?
I discussed this issue with some friends and got some tips on separating fighting dogs (pouring the water on them – but how to have a water with you on the all occasions?, pulling their tails, catching the back paws and pulling them up, trying to scare/distract them with the loud sound) but once it happens it’s usually easier said than done.
I guess the best is to keep the common sense and your eyes open. If you have doubts as to the dog who’s approaching, ask the owner to catch him on leash. In any case try to stay calm as your own dog would pick up on your energy and might feel like there is a danger approaching and would start to be nervous and trigger the aggressive behavior of the other dog.
I also had a chat with the vet and was told that in Amsterdam, as long as you had your own dog on the leash and got attacked by other dog (running free) you can call the police and press charges against the owner. If your dog gets injured the other owner is obliged to cover the costs of medical treatment. Not something that we usually would like to do as (at least in my case) I really prefer to leave the place as soon as possible, but maybe this way all the irresponsible owners would get a lesson they need?