Traumatic Experience

[poochiemama]

Before the finger pointing and hair pulling got underway, did anyone advise the OP to take her dog to a vet?

A bite wound can be worse internally than externally and abcesses are not uncommon as a result. I'd want my dog checked out and some antibiotics as well.

The alternative to public dog parks is private dog obedience clubs. Some have offlead areas for members. That doesn't guarantee an incident free time but it sure improves the odds of one.

Another alternative has already been suggested - use the public places at quiet times when other users aren't around.

Thanks poodlefan - I haven't taken her to the vet yet as the wound looks clean and it's on her face so i wasn't too worried about internal injury but i am thinking i should take her, maybe for some antibiotics. It's also quite close to her eye so i should get it checked out. Will take her tomorrow.

We are members of a dog obedience club; it's a great idea, i didn't think of that. We went for a long walk on lead today and they were quite happy with that.

There has been so much finger pointing and hair pulling on this thread, and someone mentioned 'the good, the bad and the ugly'...it did get pretty ugly. It's funny, i go and check out this other forum called dogsey.com (I think it's british) sometimes and i went on there yesterday - a very similar incident had happened to someone else, and there was so much support for her and 'wish you well, hope your dog is ok' kind of messages. So I got some 'second-hand' support from there.

There have been some really helpful comments on this thread though, so thank you everyone for the suggestions.

[poodlefan]

Thanks poodlefan - I haven't taken her to the vet yet as the wound looks clean and it's on her face so i wasn't too worried about internal injury but i am thinking i should take her, maybe for some antibiotics. It's also quite close to her eye so i should get it checked out. Will take her tomorrow.

We are members of a dog obedience club; it's a great idea, i didn't think of that. We went for a long walk on lead today and they were quite happy with that.

There has been so much finger pointing and hair pulling on this thread, and someone mentioned 'the good, the bad and the ugly'...it did get pretty ugly. It's funny, i go and check out this other forum called dogsey.com (I think it's british) sometimes and i went on there yesterday - a very similar incident had happened to someone else, and there was so much support for her and 'wish you well, hope your dog is ok' kind of messages. So I got some 'second-hand' support from there.

There have been some really helpful comments on this thread though, so thank you everyone for the suggestions.

You've survived your trial by fire.

I've been pretty vocal about aggression and offlead parks before but no amount of finger pointing was going to achieve anything more than you've just learned. Your recent experience has clearly given you a lot of food for thought.

No point in putting the boot in when you were down I thought People are very passionate about these issues - try not to take it personally.

Hope your girl gets the all clear from the vet. :p

Edited September 7, 2010 by poodlefan

[dee136]

While we're on this topic...

Walking my 2 on lead on the beach the other night, both no good off lead. 1 has the initial reaction of growling when first approached by other dogs. I take them to the beach to run, swim & play with each other, all on lead & I make a point of staying right away from other people & dogs. What is the general opinion then when I am approached by random dogs whose owners are paying no attention. I always call my dogs right in next to me on their long leads when another dog is approaching. I have previously called out to an owner only to be ignored, then yelled at the owner quite rudely, only to realise they weren't his dogs, they had just been following him. I realise the beach has hours when it is off lead, but I don't feel I should have to avoid a 4 suburb stretch of beach because people do believe it's a free-for-all.

Edited September 9, 2010 by dee136

[Novjan]

Thank you for your reply - I don't think I said anything about them being off lead. BUT I do like the suggestion of a long line, I will have a look for one, how long?? do they come in different lengths?

At the moment some of thier walks are on a retractable lead and we call them back often and give them a treat, one of them comes back every time, as soon as she hears her name, she puts her head up and comes straight back. The other one takes no notice what so ever and wanders back in her own sweet time. I also treat them if they come back without being called, is that a good idea??

the ignoring happens when we are walking them, practicing loose lead walking, sit, watch etc while out and about around the streets. Obviously there are lots of distractions and I know we need high quality treats BUT some times it is very hard to even get thier attention.

I would like to get to the stage where they do not react to a dog or a person walking by - how can we do this?

All helpful suggestions very gratefully received.

Have you tried working with them on a long line and calling them back and rewarding heavily? This way you're making yoruself way my fun than the other dogs and people.

Really, a dog shouldn't be off lead if it can't recall back to its' owner.

[thommomac]

Hi Poochiemama

I have only read the start of your thread (it got a bit full on for me) but I just wanted to say hope you and your pooch are going ok and offer my sympathy to you both.

I have a 10 month old Frenchie who was recently attacked in an off lead park. Although I'm scared to say it in here, I didn't realize the dangers of off lead parks. We had taught our boy to recall in a quiet park away from other dogs and once he had the recall down we went to a few different local off leash parks and played with other dogs regularly. We thought we were doing the right thing since so much emphasis was placed on socialisation. We met some lovely people and began meeting with them and their dogs on a regular basis. Then one morning a strange dog ran into the park off leash with the walker far behind. He attacked our pup (unprovoked - seriously) and the other dogs in. Sid had his stomach ripped open, surgery and a drain. It took almost a month to recover. One of our biggest concerns was for the psychological impact. We took him to see a dog trainer (who he did his obedience with) and practiced introducing him to new dogs etc. Luckily he was always a very confident outgoing pup and he actually has been almost fine. He has had a couple of nervous moments but we are very aware of his body language and of keeping calm ourselves. We have slowly built up to going back to the dog parks (but only in very quiet times and to meet dogs we know). We started with walks on lead and introducing him on lead to dogs he knows and then moved to letting him off lead when he was on his own in an off lead park. He is definitely a little more cautious these days but overall still very happy, bouncy, social and confident. So far we haven't seen him react fearfully to anything (though the dog trainer says we have to keep an eye on it as it's hard to know what might trigger his memories of the attack).

Anyway, I'm probably rambling on, but just wanted to let you know that I know how hard it is, how upsetting it is and how stressful. And I wanted to let you know that we have been through a similar situation and have finally (touch wood) come out the other side with a happy and well adjusted pup. I really feel for you as it's hard but try and stay calm and take things slow. In my very humble opinion the best thing you can do is be aware of your dog's body language and take things slowly and let it guide you. I'm not one of these dog gurus but I hope it gives you some comfort knowing someone else has been through similar and understands. Take care and cuddles to you and pooch.

[poochiemama]

Hi Poochiemama

I have only read the start of your thread (it got a bit full on for me) but I just wanted to say hope you and your pooch are going ok and offer my sympathy to you both.

I have a 10 month old Frenchie who was recently attacked in an off lead park. Although I'm scared to say it in here, I didn't realize the dangers of off lead parks. We had taught our boy to recall in a quiet park away from other dogs and once he had the recall down we went to a few different local off leash parks and played with other dogs regularly. We thought we were doing the right thing since so much emphasis was placed on socialisation. We met some lovely people and began meeting with them and their dogs on a regular basis. Then one morning a strange dog ran into the park off leash with the walker far behind. He attacked our pup (unprovoked - seriously) and the other dogs in. Sid had his stomach ripped open, surgery and a drain. It took almost a month to recover. One of our biggest concerns was for the psychological impact. We took him to see a dog trainer (who he did his obedience with) and practiced introducing him to new dogs etc. Luckily he was always a very confident outgoing pup and he actually has been almost fine. He has had a couple of nervous moments but we are very aware of his body language and of keeping calm ourselves. We have slowly built up to going back to the dog parks (but only in very quiet times and to meet dogs we know). We started with walks on lead and introducing him on lead to dogs he knows and then moved to letting him off lead when he was on his own in an off lead park. He is definitely a little more cautious these days but overall still very happy, bouncy, social and confident. So far we haven't seen him react fearfully to anything (though the dog trainer says we have to keep an eye on it as it's hard to know what might trigger his memories of the attack).

Anyway, I'm probably rambling on, but just wanted to let you know that I know how hard it is, how upsetting it is and how stressful. And I wanted to let you know that we have been through a similar situation and have finally (touch wood) come out the other side with a happy and well adjusted pup. I really feel for you as it's hard but try and stay calm and take things slow. In my very humble opinion the best thing you can do is be aware of your dog's body language and take things slowly and let it guide you. I'm not one of these dog gurus but I hope it gives you some comfort knowing someone else has been through similar and understands. Take care and cuddles to you and pooch.

Thank you very much thommomac, and i'm glad you got to read part of the thread it did get very full on. I'm very happy that your dog was ok after his traumatic incident. It makes me so sad that these things happen, but they do.

By the way i don't think there is any such thing as a 'dog guru', i think most of them claim to know much more than they actually do. I'm happy to take advice from responsible and caring dog owners over a 'dog guru' any day!

It's lovely to have received your words of support and Hannah is doing beautifully. Today we went to a dog park (nervously) and she had an absolutely blast, but we stayed for a short while and left while the going was good we were also there at a time when there were only a few dogs.

We also took her to the vet this morning and he was happy that everything was fine.

Did you have a thread about your frenchie recently? I remember reading something about a frenchie being attacked, and my heart absolutely went out to him. It sounds like he is fine now though...frenchies are tough little dogs ;)