Should I report this?
Discussion
On Friday I was out walking, and went to walk past 3 people walking a huge German Shepherd. As I went to walk to the side, the dog turned and instantly started barking at me. Before I knew it, it was ripping into me, hanging off my arm. Luckily the owner had it on a lead, and pulled the dog away, meaning only my jumper was ripped.
The owner explained that they had just got the dog from a dog's home the day before; he apologised, and offered to pay for the jumper the dog had ripped.
What concerns me is that the dog did this without provocation. I spoke with the owner today, when we met up for him to give me the money for my jumper, and he thinks there is no issue. He told me that the dog is 'placid' normally, and they've not had this problem since. This heightens my concern personally, because if a dog is placid the majority of the time, yet is capable of turning like that, it could be very dangerous.
The above said, I do feel sorry for him; but I do need to be sensible about this. If it had been a child, no doubt they wouldn't have faired so well, as I am powerfully built.
So, dog owners and non-dog owners alike, what do you think?
The owner explained that they had just got the dog from a dog's home the day before; he apologised, and offered to pay for the jumper the dog had ripped.
What concerns me is that the dog did this without provocation. I spoke with the owner today, when we met up for him to give me the money for my jumper, and he thinks there is no issue. He told me that the dog is 'placid' normally, and they've not had this problem since. This heightens my concern personally, because if a dog is placid the majority of the time, yet is capable of turning like that, it could be very dangerous.
The above said, I do feel sorry for him; but I do need to be sensible about this. If it had been a child, no doubt they wouldn't have faired so well, as I am powerfully built.
So, dog owners and non-dog owners alike, what do you think?
I have a rescue dog, so I may be overly sympathetic
The bloke is obviously reasonable, the dog is obviously nervous. One would hope that the dog will realise that he's not threatened and calm down. One would also hope that if there were other incidences then the bloke would take action
I would give him the benefit of the doubt
If it was a chav with a pitbull and his reaction was "he always does that" then it would be a different story
The bloke is obviously reasonable, the dog is obviously nervous. One would hope that the dog will realise that he's not threatened and calm down. One would also hope that if there were other incidences then the bloke would take action
I would give him the benefit of the doubt
If it was a chav with a pitbull and his reaction was "he always does that" then it would be a different story
Incorrigible said:
The bloke is obviously reasonable, the dog is obviously nervous. One would hope that the dog will realise that he's not threatened and calm down. One would also hope that if there were other incidences then the bloke would take action
I would give him the benefit of the doubt
If it was a chav with a pitbull and his reaction was "he always does that" then it would be a different story
This is the other half of the story. The bloke was perfectly reasonable, it has just come from a dog's home, and he has recognised that it was nervous. He knew it was nervous on the walk, and said it was a mistake on his part taking him out with other people.I would give him the benefit of the doubt
If it was a chav with a pitbull and his reaction was "he always does that" then it would be a different story
Pulse said:
Only my usual padding (fat)!
It's possible that the dog was abused in the past by someone who looks like you. It'll take him a while to be rid of that fear, and if the owner's being honest then this is the warning they need to start working on it.One of our dogs when we got her was absolutely terrified of small children, so if they approached her she'd immediately start backing off and growling, hackles up. Nowadays she's fine - it just took some effort on our part to make her realise she wasn't going to be tormented by them any more.
To be honest and upfront, I am not keen on dogs at all nor SOME of the owners! Big dogs that act unpredictably like this are pretty much an accident waiting to happen IMO: There have been too many incidents where people and especially small children have been seriously injured or even killed by dogs and too often, the owners still try to defend their dogs and say they've never done anything like it before.
Whether you (or anyone else reading this) agree with that or not, I think you ought to do something about this incident, even if it's only because you don't want to hear sometime in the future that this dog has attacked someone and you hadn't done anything that might have helped prevent it.
Whether you (or anyone else reading this) agree with that or not, I think you ought to do something about this incident, even if it's only because you don't want to hear sometime in the future that this dog has attacked someone and you hadn't done anything that might have helped prevent it.
- Waits for numerous dog-lovers to vexatiously dispute*
Some friends of mine have a dog that absolutely hates me and one other person they know.
Everyone else, including strangers can go un noticed.
We have no idea why as i and the other person have seen this dog growing up from a pup.
My dog, on the other hand is fine with everyone, except twice when we have been on walks.
On these occasions, he was on the lead and for some unknown reason, as we were passing he would growl at the person walking the other way. Thats all he would do though.
Everyone else, including strangers can go un noticed.
We have no idea why as i and the other person have seen this dog growing up from a pup.
My dog, on the other hand is fine with everyone, except twice when we have been on walks.
On these occasions, he was on the lead and for some unknown reason, as we were passing he would growl at the person walking the other way. Thats all he would do though.
The bloke had only got the dog from a dogs home the day before.
Give him chance, it probably came as much of a shock to the owner as to the OP.
No one was hurt and as a reponsible owner (which is sounds like the bloke is) I'm sure he'll take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
It's not easy to get a dog from a dogs home (RSPCA specifically). You don't just rock up and say "I'll have that one".
Give him chance, it probably came as much of a shock to the owner as to the OP.
No one was hurt and as a reponsible owner (which is sounds like the bloke is) I'm sure he'll take steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
It's not easy to get a dog from a dogs home (RSPCA specifically). You don't just rock up and say "I'll have that one".
This is a tough one in my opinion. The new owner has learnt a valuable lesson without any serious repercussions this time, and should have the dog muzzled. It could have been much worse for you or if it had been a child etc.
Personally I wouldn’t report it as the guy was genuine about the incident.
Personally I wouldn’t report it as the guy was genuine about the incident.
Pulse said:
On Friday I was out walking, and went to walk past 3 people walking a huge German Shepherd. As I went to walk to the side, the dog turned and instantly started barking at me. Before I knew it, it was ripping into me, hanging off my arm. Luckily the owner had it on a lead, and pulled the dog away, meaning only my jumper was ripped.
How close were you when you went past? Were you in any way afraid or concerned about a group of three etc?What you do in my view depends upon what the owner does - if he takes steps to control this then all is well. I take it you weren't injured at all?
i have a rescue lurcher, and i would like to echo the comments above about the owner being reasonable, and therefore giving him the benefit of a second chance, so to speak.
when we got our dog he was very quiet and visibly frightened of people. it wasn't until he went off on one at someone (on the lead) that we muzzled him in public. until it happens you just don't know. we still muzzle him when out on walks now, but he is good as gold. the muzzle is purely to stop him taking the local deer, they're a swine to kill if he doesn't finish the job properly......
when we got our dog he was very quiet and visibly frightened of people. it wasn't until he went off on one at someone (on the lead) that we muzzled him in public. until it happens you just don't know. we still muzzle him when out on walks now, but he is good as gold. the muzzle is purely to stop him taking the local deer, they're a swine to kill if he doesn't finish the job properly......
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