lovemesideways Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 So I was at a off leash park today and I saw a dog fight :( , unfortunately I was on the other side of the massive oval at the time otherwise Im pretty sure I could have stopped it a hell of a lot quicker than what they did. (which was screaming and hitting the dogs with their leads) A Husky and a large Staffy x got into a nasty fight, the Staffy X was let into the park, very excited, ran in and bumped the husky. The husky turned around and growled at the staffy X, and the staffy x went back at the husky in a big way. Husky was screaming and trying to get away from the other dog, not fighting back just trying to run away, cowering ect. The staffy kept going at her, biting and trying to shake her. Nobody was helping and really it was just awful. Someone grabbed the Staffy X finally and stopped it. The owners of the staffy X VERY quickly clipped it on lead and hurried out of the park. I went over to see how the husky was, she wasn't in a good way. yelping and shaking, with either bruising or puncture wounds on her back in 2 different areas that where visible. She has the massive husky coat so that protected her a lot, there where chunks of the fur missing. I helped her owner who is a elderly gentleman to get a leash on her and just chatted to him, he took her off to the vet straight away so hopefully she'll be alright. SO! My question is, who is really responsible for this? The husky was the one who growled first at this dog bumping her, but the other dog did not react in a appropriate way. This wasn't a, "I'm gonna pin you down and show you whos boss!", lots of noise but no contact sort of fight. This was serious, there would have been really nasty wounds if it was a dog with less coat than a husky. Even with all her coat there was a small amount of blood visible and some marks, and lots more that wouldn't be I'm guessing. so should the staffy x owners pay for the huskys vet bills? or because the husky growled first at the dog bumping her, should they be exempt from all responsibility? I personally find their behaviour of running away to be disgusting, no matter who growled at who first I'll be getting some more info and reporting the staffy mix tomorrow. No I don't have any sort of breed prejudice BTW, love bull breeds. Any dangerous dog needs to be reported cause what if the next dog who growls at this dog is a small terrier... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 From the way you have described it, it sounds as though the Staffy was not under effective control, which, in the eyes of the law would mean that the owners of that dog are responsible (that is my understanding anyway...) It should be reported to the council anyway..... Fingers crossed the other dog is ok.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsrawesome Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 From how you described it should be reported that staffy x wasnt under control... the husky may have growled but it didnt start the actual fight. I love staffys its a shame that people like this have them hope the husky will be okay. Disgusting how the other person just left straight away, in my opinion they should pay all the vet bills... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Report it. The owner whose dog of the staffy x did not have it under effective control and also is liable to pay the vet's bills. I'm told that councils can't obtain that money but they should assist in the process. The person will be in more trouble if their dog isn't registered either but also harder to trace. Dog parks are dangerous places, hard to break up a dog fight if you don't have a clue. Putting hands in is dangerous and you really need two people. The staffy's owner should have pulled the dog away by the back legs and quickly controlled it. I went to visit a friend who goes to the local dog park recently, whilst she was there with her dog. What I saw was a real worry, I spoke to a few of the owners - some didn't appreciate particularly but they were also clueless about their own dog's body language etc. There was also two small children dragging a terrified little fluffy round on a lead, no parents, just there alone. Fluffy was petrified and on its back most of the time as the big dogs came over to investigate. I've seen these two kids around before with all kinds of dogs on a lead - they advertise they do dog walking - kid is about 9 yrs old and his sister is about 6. What can I say? A real worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) She has the massive husky coat so that protected her a lot, there where chunks of the fur missing. My guess is that they'd have shaved the dog down and the wounds were probably more severe than at first glance. Report it. The staffy x's owners would be liable for the vet bills and the dog shouldn't be in offlead parks - that sort of aggression is more than a bit of sound and fury, especially when the other dog was in escape mode. My opening gambit would have been to kick the crap out of the agressor - way safer than trying to get your hands near the biting end of a dog in fight mode. This is more than a dog "not under effective control" - this is an aggressive dog - an accident waiting to happen. You seem them in offlead areas all the time - general stance is stiff legged, often pilar erect and pretty in your face with other dogs, most of whom use tactics of submission or avoidance to de-escalate the situation. Edited May 17, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I know lots of dogs that would react like the husky did if an in your face dog run up to them like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) I know lots of dogs that would react like the husky did if an in your face dog run up to them like that. I'd call that a perfectly normal reaction to rudeness. Problem is, react like that to a dominant reactive dog and you get more than you bargained for. Any dog that behaves less than submissively to such dogs is standing into danger And you know what? The Staffy x's owners will probably be back at the dog park tomorrow.. I can hear it now "he's never done that before" :rolleyes: *Shudders* Edited May 17, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 (edited) All dogs are allowed to tell other dogs off for inappropriate behaviours i.e. a growl or air snap etc.....these are warnings and if you repremand a warning then you can end up with a dog that doesn't give a warning and that's not a positive thing! Please report the instance in-case of the owner of the Husky does not. Edited May 17, 2011 by MEH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Another good reason not to go to dog parks Article on how to break up a dog fight: http://leerburg.com/pdf/howtobreakupdogfight.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 In any case where there has been actual injury caused- the dog that caused the injury is responsible and the owner should pay vet fees for the injured dog. If both dogs are injured then I guess it would be the dog that "started" it ie. behaved inappropriately- to me this sounds like the staffy x in this situation. The husky responded normally imo, many dogs do not like being rushed and I think some kind of warning or like growling, barking, even pinning and a "tell off" is ok, so long as it doesn't cause injury to the other dog. I think it is really bad that the owner of the staffy ran away, and I hope you can track them down and report them. I am not against bull breeds either; but I think they can react to a challenge more swiftly and strongly than a lot of other dogs and they definitely don't back down and need to be managed by people who know when to and can intervene before this happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozzie Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Report it. The owner whose dog of the staffy x did not have it under effective control and also is liable to pay the vet's bills. I'm told that councils can't obtain that money but they should assist in the process. The person will be in more trouble if their dog isn't registered either but also harder to trace. Dog parks are dangerous places, hard to break up a dog fight if you don't have a clue. Putting hands in is dangerous and you really need two people. The staffy's owner should have pulled the dog away by the back legs and quickly controlled it. I went to visit a friend who goes to the local dog park recently, whilst she was there with her dog. What I saw was a real worry, I spoke to a few of the owners - some didn't appreciate particularly but they were also clueless about their own dog's body language etc. There was also two small children dragging a terrified little fluffy round on a lead, no parents, just there alone. Fluffy was petrified and on its back most of the time as the big dogs came over to investigate. I've seen these two kids around before with all kinds of dogs on a lead - they advertise they do dog walking - kid is about 9 yrs old and his sister is about 6. What can I say? A real worry. I'd be dobbing these kids into council. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WreckitWhippet Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 unfortunately I was on the other side of the massive oval at the time bit hard to tell what really went on from that distance ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillynix Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Oh gosh. I'm so sorry you had to witness something like that. I don't blame the Husky for 'telling off' the other dog, if someone barged up to me i'd probably give them a stern word or two as well. The other dog grossly overreacted though and i'm utterly appalled that the owner just ran off like that. It's disgusting I hope the Husky was okay and I hope you also get a chance to see the owner again to get an update. I'd also definitely be getting in touch with the council and at least reporting what happened and where, even if you don't have any real info on the other person/dog. Something like this happening is a fear of mine. Never had any troubles in the past with childhood dogs being at off lead areas, but now owning such a timid grey (not that she's off lead), i'm worried that we will encounter a dog like this. It seems it happens more often than I realised Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 No doubt I'll get flamed, but I have seen that many staffy type dogs fire up at other dogs telling them 100% appropriately to leave them alone.... I am bloody careful around them. That said, I've met plenty of staffy types with good bite inhibition so when something does happen no one gets hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 No doubt I'll get flamed, but I have seen that many staffy type dogs fire up at other dogs telling them 100% appropriately to leave them alone.... I am bloody careful around them. That said, I've met plenty of staffy types with good bite inhibition so when something does happen no one gets hurt. No flames from me.. its one of a few breeds I am cautious around.. they are what they are. Its their owners more than anything that provoke caution.. they are the biggest unknown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Willow Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 No flaming from me, and I own the breed The majority do seem to have a low trigger point...... My Staffy is like that with certain dogs....he will quite happily accept a telling off for rudeness with familiar dogs, He takes it on the chin without getting upset over it. But I KNOW he would fire up if he was rude to an unknown dog and they told him off.....which is why I NEVER let him play with random dogs...introductions are careful & can tae several sessions..and then I get yelled at by the owners for being a "snob" or they give me the standard answer "My dog's friendly".....Can't win Small dogs & pups he is absolutely rock solid with, but a dog larger than him & I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. I must admit, it's BECAUSE I own this type of dog that I see a Staffy coming and my heart sinks.... Some dogs need to be protected from themselves.....if an owner can't do that they shouldn't have that breed IMO.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumabaar Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 In any case where there has been actual injury caused- the dog that caused the injury is responsible and the owner should pay vet fees for the injured dog. If both dogs are injured then I guess it would be the dog that "started" it ie. behaved inappropriately- to me this sounds like the staffy x in this situation. The husky responded normally imo, many dogs do not like being rushed and I think some kind of warning or like growling, barking, even pinning and a "tell off" is ok, so long as it doesn't cause injury to the other dog. I think it is really bad that the owner of the staffy ran away, and I hope you can track them down and report them. I am not against bull breeds either; but I think they can react to a challenge more swiftly and strongly than a lot of other dogs and they definitely don't back down and need to be managed by people who know when to and can intervene before this happens. I disagree with this. I have seen plenty of dogs on lead who have been attacked. And done damage to the other dog but have not had any damage done to them. It has even happened to my own dog who was off lead in a sit stay and got jumped on by another dog. He grabbed the dog and released it resulting in some puncture wounds. I was able to grab him and put his lead on straight away, while the other dog took another 5 minutes to catch (and kept running back at my poor dog- I had to just keep kicking it away) because it thought it was all a game and the owner had no recall. I really cant see how it was my fault that the other dog got injured!! Since then I have had to be careful with him because dogs rushing up to him scares the shit out of him- so no PHYSICAL damage done but perhaps damage done to him none the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 (edited) Deleted.. I can't read Edited May 18, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lillynix Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Sorry to hijack, but I'd really like to ask a question if I may. If another dog does attack your own, what's the best thing to do to get them/the other dog to stop? Do you try and pull your dog away, kick the other one (if so, where?), scare them apart? I really have no idea but would like to have an idea in case I'm ever in the situation, my instincts would probably say kick, but it seems a but excessive maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Sorry to hijack, but I'd really like to ask a question if I may. If another dog does attack your own, what's the best thing to do to get them/the other dog to stop? Do you try and pull your dog away, kick the other one (if so, where?), scare them apart? I really have no idea but would like to have an idea in case I'm ever in the situation, my instincts would probably say kick, but it seems a but excessive maybe? So far a few swift kicks to the stomach have worked for me. Depending on where you are, I'd also drop your dog's lead - its inhibits their ability to defend themselves. I'm a lot better at stopping aggressing dogs from getting teeth on mine than I was initially. I've had more success getting in between the dog and mine and yelling at them doesn't hurt. But I'd go the boot every time. If the owner of the other dog has issues, so be it. They shouldn't let their dog get that close in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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