Advice - Viscious Dogs

[AKRISONER]

Hey Everyone,

 

Looking for a bit of insight from the members here as some of you may have past experience with this.

 

I own a Lab/Cocker Spaniel mix name cash, he weighs about 38 pounds and loves going to the park directly across the street from my house every morning with me at sunrise. Hes pretty low key and doesn't care much for other dogs. Generally he will not go out of his way to interact with other dogs but when dogs approach him he generally has no issues. Some times with larger dogs he will avoid them especially if they are over excited.

 

Last week while at the park a girl with 3 dogs, A german sheppard cross of some sort 60lbs, a large lab cross of some sort probably close to 100lbs and a boxer mix were at one end so i maintained my distance and stayed at the other end of the park. The German Shepphard mix then got away from her ran all the way across the park took my dogs ball and proceeded to run away. Luckily the owner noticed but being a poor owner she had no command over her dog so it took her 15 minutes to trick the dog into finally allowing her to grab it which she was then able to get the ball away. She gave me my ball back and i proceeded to walk away when her dog ran after mine and attacked him. (I still had the ball) Needless to say I wasnt too impressed but didnt think much of it as we were able to break up the fight quickly.

 

Fastforward to this morning. I just arrive at the park when the girl with her 3 dogs came to the park. She immediately let her german sheppard cross and boxer off. The Boxer never does much but stand around, but the german sheppard dogs starts sprinting around and approaches cash who remembering last week then gets close to me and starts signalling to me that hes a bit worried. I attempt to guide Cash away from the girl and her dogs but of course this dog follows and so does its owner until...The dog once again attacks my dog. I start to fend off the dog with my boot and she begins to run over with the big lab cross on a leash as she is attempting to control the german sheppard. Cash gets behind me and the lab immediately snatches onto cashes neck and starts wringing him...I tried to grab the dog but it didnt let go so ended up giving it a kick and the dog finally let its grip go.

 

I immediately told the owner that she shouldnt have her dogs off leash if they are viscious to which of course i got no reply at all.

 

What I am looking for is some advice on what avenues I have if this happens again. My girlfriend told me to call the city bylaw officers or animal control, but what help is that when the dogs are actively attacking my dog. I pretty much have to defend my family in my own hands.

 

I feel kind of helpless because clearly this owner is a complete idiot and doesnt learn her lesson as I know for a fact her dogs have attacked others as well. Really shes the one that deserves the kick in the head but what can you do?

 

Does anyone know if there is some way to stop this girl? My dog cash is tough but what if its a small child next time?

Edited September 22, 2014 by AKRISONER

[BillM]

Get her licence plate and report her.

Edited September 22, 2014 by BillM

[Sinker]

By law guy will charge her with dog off leash. No biggie, but might keep her dogs leashed at least.

 

Is your dog off leash as well?

 

A boot in the ribs will usually stop a dog from attacking.....I'm not saying to hoof it as hard as you can, just a poke in the ribs, enough to get its attention, and not injure it. Most likely they are just playing anyways.

 

 

S.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Sinker

[fisherman7]

Not that it would be much comfort but you should be able to pass on any vets bills from injuries caused by another dog.

[Joey]

That's terrible. If you can, get the dog's licence (as in the number on the tag of his collar) and get her name and address. Then I would call animal control see what they say you should do. Report her and her dog's licence number. I also suggest going to a different park for awhile.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Joey

[AKRISONER]

this is my problem, calling by law on her wont solve a thing because their response time at 6:45 AM is probably non existent.

 

Yes my dog is off leash as i typically play fetch with him in the outfield of the baseball diamond away from the playgrounds etc. when this happened though my dog was right beside me as I was walking away from her and her dogs.

 

I know where the girl lives as its a small neighborhood and I live across the street from the park. I am not sure reporting her would help at all because I couldnt prove that the incident happened.

 

Going to a different park is kind of out of the question because this park is basically in my front yard. Hence wake up and go walk the dog before work.

 

 

 

The dogs were not playing...i wish that was the case

[Wagoneer]

It's always tough trying to explain to stupid dog owners that their dogs aren't trained well enough to be off leash. And if it's not an actual dog park (ie. public park) they shouldn't be off leash anyways exactly for that reason. If you call up your municipality they'll have a by-law officer sit on the area and hand out dog off leash tickets. That's about the best you can do until her dog actually causes bodily harm to yours.

 

If you're good with people trying talking to her and convince her to keep her dogs on a leash and try to give her some helpful hints on how to keep control of her dogs. But in many cases, dogs are like people's children and they get extremely defensive when you tell them they aren't behaving as they should.

 

We had a similar problem in the old dog park I used to go where a woman had a giant black poodle that would just pick fights the entire time it was at the dog park (not just a wound up dog playing to get other dogs to play - attacking and trying to obtain dominance). She would sit on the far side of the park and read a book while her poodle would repeatedly get into fighting matches with countless dogs. This dog would pick on my lab/collie cross and he would show every single sign of distress he could until he was forced to turn around and snarl and growl until the poodle left him alone (luckily this worked - but I have never seen my dog do this to ANY other dog to this day, he loves every single dog/person out there). She was approached by just about everyone at the park and she would either just ignore the person or get angry at them and say, "they're dogs, they'll work it out in their own way." I'm pretty good with talking to people and getting them to see it from a different viewpoint but this woman was an ignorant brick wall. Finally her dog broke the skin of a little fluff ball dog and the police were called. She denied everything, but the cop took statements from the 10 or so witnesses there who all stated her dog attacked. She ended up getting the bill for the injury, was given a trespass warning (this wasn't a public park owned by the city, it was a park owned by a private club that basically kept it up by donations and volunteers) and ban to never return (she actually did return and got arrested for trespassing).

 

So it's a pretty crappy situation where nobody will take any sort of action until harm is done to either another dog or person. Like i said you can call for a by-law officer to sit on the property for a bit and say you feel your safety is at risk. But then you won't be able to unleash your dog either.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Wagoneer

[AKRISONER]

challenge with By Law officers is that they arent "real cops" either.

 

All it would take is for her to walk away and the by law cop would have no way to stop her.

 

The second problem is that as you mentioned, they would ticket everyone, including the couple of people at the park that I do know and that have well behaved harmless dogs that come every morning early before the crowds. The last thing I would want is the by law officer to harrass these people who are doing what they should.

 

I guess I will just have to wait until one of the dogs actually visibly injures either my dog or me...sigh

[moxie]

I smell a gotcha moment here. Cell phone and a switch. If it happens again capture it on video, then turn cam off and use the switch to thrash the dogs snout until it stops. Return home and send an email including the vid to bylay enforcement. Good luck.

[Roy]

A vicious dog is just bad news. A viscous dog is just slippery. A viscious dog is probably mean AND slippery. I'm a little baffled here. The law will be your best solution...if only for the dog's sake.

[leaf4]

If that were me and my dog, the other dog wouldn't get the chance to get near enough to mine to do anything before it got a swift kick to the head, and from there I would hope the owner realizes what a dolt she is and her dog shouldn't be off leash. especially in this situation it's now "bite me once shame on you, bite me twice shame on me"

 

I was once walking my friends golden retriever with him and his dad when we were young and another dog (problem dog in the area again) came rushing at buddy, not the first time either. So my buds dad took his forearm and put it in front of his dog as it was about to be bitten, and then punched the other dog out, one big right to the side of the dogs head down it went. neighbor came out screaming and my buds dad said you're lucky that's all I did to your dog and showed him his bloody bitten arm, the dog kept on with that and a couple months later got put down for seriously injuring another dog.

[lew]

When I lived in Toronto I walked my little dog twice daily in the Don Valley. I'd heard of a woman in the area who allowed her very vicious boxer to run loose and attack every dog they came across and she refused to stop it. I'd had some surgery and was walking with a cane one day when I spotted them up on a hill and sure enough, the mutt started running towards my dog. I timed it perfectly and smashed the dog across the face with my cane.

 

He took off wimpering like a little girl and I never saw his ugly face or her again.

 

I'm an animal lover and hate to see them hurt, but a vicious dog doesn't belong around good dogs and responsible owners.

Edited September 22, 2014 by lew

[Pickeral eater]

Ah that's rough! I have two small schnauzers and love every bit of them. When i walk them I usually bring along walking stick (carved from ash) just in case. Like lew I'm an animal lover but my dogs are my dogs and I'll protect them. If you're not comfortable with that idea then id take pics of the owner and dogs and any damages to yourself and your dogs to bring to the police. Hopefully she finds another place to walk her dogs and nobody gets seriously hurt.

[BillM]

I'd still report this to animal control, you'd be surprised at what might happen.

[FloatnFly]

by-law is out 24hrs a day, i've seen them driving around at 4am while on my way to the river, report the incident. in the mean time, carry a plastic bat with you, more than enough to get the dogs attention, but not enough to do it any harm

[Terry]

plastic bat

plastic bat


the biggest aluminum




call by-law

warn her ,you will not let her animal hurt your dog at all costs

 

bat and ball and glove in hand and defend your friend

[Tim Mills]

Report her and the dog, the dog and owner will be on record and if its a pattern the city can deal with it. Like you said it could have been a kid the dog bit.

 

The fines here are steep for off leash up to $300

 

I made the mistake of putting some ear cleaning solution in my dogs ears before my kids football practice a few years ago. Some kids came up to pet the dog and grabbed his ear. The dog bit the kid lightly I forget if it broke the skin. The city animal control person was at my house the next day documenting the dog.

[Joey]

Well I'm sorry to say, but I don't believe in letting your dog off leash. I never let Ralphie off leash and he's a happy, healthy dog. He's not much of another dog friend kind of dog, likes kids and other humans more. But the point is, maybe don't let your dog off leash. There are a few shepherds in the area that are big and want to eat him, and the owners are small and have a hard time holding them back. My only solution is to pick him up and then they back off, but if he were off leash, who knows what could happen. So, no off leash for my dog, and unfortunately, I suggest the same for you at this point.

[Wagoneer]

The problem here is that he doesn't want extra attention on the mentioned park because of the people and their dogs who use it responsibly. Problem is, you're all technically breaking the by-law so you can't just call them out for one person and expect them to ignore everyone else.

 

But you should get something on record just in case something more serious happens. The whole thing will go down a lot easier if it's not a first-time problem.

 

At least give your local services a call. I'm sure if you ask their opinion on a hypothetical situation they'd be more than happen to give you a list of possible resolutions. You pay taxes, might as well get something for your money

[Headhunter]

Fill a squirt gun with vinegar, carry it with you when you are out on walkies. If the sheppard comes at you and your dog again, hit him between the eyes with the squirt gun.

HH

[BillM]

I'm guessing his dog wasn't the first to be attacked or the last. He's doing everyone else who uses that park a favour.

[Rustic-Fisher]

Dog parks equal trouble ! Be it aggression issues or health issues.

Sorry to hear about your pup, I would 100% report it to animal control.

[AKRISONER]

sounds like animal control might be the way to go. I wasn't sure if "reporting an incident was even a possibility.

 

Like some have you have mentioned, getting the attack on record might be the start of building a case. I have seen her other dog charge another bigger dog as well before, so yes Bill you are correct its not the first time. I dont think she really gets it. Its sad how empty some people's heads are.

 

I am not sure how much power I have until I can get the person's exact address. I will keep an eye out for her in the upcoming days to see if I can trail her back to her place of residence. Until then it will be challenging.

 

As mentioned before, the last thing I would want to do is have By Law enforcement crack down on the 4 other responsible pet owners that I converse with on a regular basis before sunrise at the park. Sure enough the people who are there consistently every day and never have a problem will be the ones who end up in trouble.

[BillM]

All you need is her licence plate #, they'll do the rest.

[Sinker]

I will guarantee if you report it to animal control, or the by law officer, they will patrol the park, and you'd better also have your dog on a leash. Just sayin.....

 

S.