Here comes Sprite!

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by Elina

So today I took Sprite for a walk somewhere with other dogs for the first time and she got attacked...
I am so mad, angry, peeved, sad and words I do not even use right now!
The person whose dog it was that attacked her blamed me!!! Yes it's my fault that my dog is the size of a rabbit apparently.....She was on her lead (the other dog was not and came out of nowhere running at her full pelt) I have no idea how he could decide that that makes it okay PLUS how many wild rabbits do you know that wear pink body warmers with 'Princess' written on the back?!
She was bitten in the throat but 'only' two of the dogs teeth penetrated the skin. There was blood everywhere Sprite was screaming and as I was too busy caring for her then to get into an argument apparently I am a 'pussy'?!
Sprite is okay. She has had two stitches in each puncture and now she thinks everyone is out to kill her....brilliant day! (headbang)
Sorry had to vent....I am just so...grrr!!!!
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Elina

And you reported it to the police as a dog attack and the dog owner is going to be made to pay the vet bill yes?
I tend to be very defensive when walking my tinies and pick them up if I see another dog in a public place. Better safe than sorry.
Hope she recovers ok.
I must admit I am so glad that I don't live in a city and be forced to walk my dogs where other people walk theirs.

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by excession

Thats a nightmare

Poor dog. Should call the police now and give a discription, tho I dont know if it will help.

Should need a license to have a dog i think in this country the ways its going...

Playing devil's advocate here. What use would a licence have been? Do you think the chav would bother to buy one? How will it have prevented the attack? How would it help to make the owner pay for Sprite's vet treatment?

[Elina]

Yes I called the Police when I was at the vet's, and gave a description.

I too live in the country but I wanted to try walking her somewhere with other dogs as the training book I have been reading advises that dogs meet non family dogs in a public place from an early age. (Think I will stick to walking her in our grounds for a while.)

I would have picked her up but the other dog came from nowhere very quickly, I had no idea they could move so fast!

Why would anyone choose to train a dog to be so aggressive?! It's insane.
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Elina

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by Elina

Yes I called the Police when I was at the vet's, and gave a description.

I too live in the country but I wanted to try walking her somewhere with other dogs as the training book I have been reading advises that dogs meet non family dogs in a public place from an early age. (Think I will stick to walking her in our grounds for a while.)

I would have picked her up but the other dog came from nowhere very quickly, I had no idea they could move so fast!

Why would anyone choose to train a dog to be so aggressive?! It's insane.
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Elina

The trouble with books is that they aren't always right. I would not walk her in a public place but take her to puppy socilaisation classes to meet other dogs in a controlled environment especially if you aren't yet 'dog savvy' and looking out for possible problems in the public places.. The dog may not have been trained to be aggressive. But being owned by an aggressive human with less IQ than his dog and no idea or inclination to train it to be well behaved, it won't know any difference. To be honest, given the size of Sprite, had this been a staffy or similar who was 'aggressive', she'd not have escaped with merely 2 puncture wounds in her neck, she'd have been dead.Could you ask the police if there is CCTV in the area which might have caught the incident?
I am so lucky having big Ursa to protect 'his' little dogs against possible bigger attackers. Nobody messes with big Urs'

[Elina]

Could you ask the police if there is CCTV in the area which might have caught the incident?

I can ask but I am not hopeful for that as it is a forest just with a coffee shop, swings and all that park 'stuff'.

When I walk my collie x Alsatian I have never had any problems but he is pretty big, I guess I just did not take into account that Sprite may be attacked due to her size...

Going to take Mangrel (big dog) everywhere with us in future. I just did not take him today as he had been entertaining Sprite all morning and was falling to sleep. I think untill she is fully grown though she will be going for walks on my family's land to keep her safe and me sane.
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Elina

[sophs87]

That is just awfull
I have a small breed myself, although never been attacked thank god, I have heard so many horror storys and do unfortunatly very rarely take her to parks now with other dog walkers, Its such a shame as most of the dogs we meet are fine and she will play for ages but i always think what if...
If sprite (shes gorgeous by the way ) is nervous now i would consider puppy classes in wich she will learn not all dogs are bad, and get back a bit of her confidence.

Although still when shes fully grown, she will still be no match for a larger breed so you will always have to be on your guard, bloody horrible isnt it
Give her puppy cuddles from me and Emmy xxx

[selina20]

Awwwww poor pup. Some people dont deserve dogs. Luckily no one dares mess with my uncles chihuahua as he acts a lot bigger than his size lol.

[pippainnit]

I definitely agree with taking her to socialisation classes as soon as possible to get her confidence back. I think the longer it's left the worse it can be.

I don't have a small breed, but when Willit was only 12 weeks old I was walking him on his lead around the local reservoir. There was (what looked to be a lab cross staff) in front off its lead with its two owners. One looked worried and said to the other to put it back on its lead but rather than doing that they decided to take this dog up the hillside alongside where we were walking and simply hold it around its chest. Of course it escaped the stupid man's grip and came hurtling down this hill and dived straight on top of Willit. He got him by the throat but I managed to kick him off. Willit hurt his leg from trying to twist on his lead out of the way but thankfully his neck was okay. I received absolutely no apology from these people but was also fearful of getting into an altercation as I was alone walking him around a pretty deserted reservoir and these two 'people' were pretty well built and clearly not going to take kindly to anything I had to say. After vet checks and everything I reported the people and also warned the HQ bit at the reservoir about a dangerous dog being off lead, but nothing came of it.

I made sure I took Willit to classes straight away though as he was badly shaken up for the following week. He's absolutely great with other dogs now. Thankfully because of his size few ever try to 'start' on him but I know from when he was a wee pup how terrifying it can be when a bigger dog looks like it wants to kill them, so can only imagine how horrible that must be all the time with a small breed.

Hope Sprite is okay and gets over her ordeal, but pup classes will definitely help

[fenwoman]

Originally Posted by Elina

I can ask but I am not hopeful for that as it is a forest just with a coffee shop, swings and all that park 'stuff'.

When I walk my collie x Alsatian I have never had any problems but he is pretty big, I guess I just did not take into account that Sprite may be attacked due to her size...

Going to take Mangrel (big dog) everywhere with us in future. I just did not take him today as he had been entertaining Sprite all morning and was falling to sleep. I think untill she is fully grown though she will be going for walks on my family's land to keep her safe and me sane.
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Elina

I think there are a lot of bullies about. Chavs who want to allow their larger dogs to intimidate and bully smaller dogs and their owners. Perhaps it's a power trip of some kind because they realise that in the grand scheme of things, they themselves are uneducated under achievers and pretty low down on the social scale and this is the only way they can make themselves feel powerful. Such low intellect dog owners, have just enough intelligence to realise that if they let their dog go at a bigger dog, their dog might get a pasting and they end up with not only embarrassment because their dog got it's arse kicked by another dog, but also a vet bill, and by the time they've bought their fags, booze and dope, there isn't enough left of their dole money to pay a hefty vet bill.
I have noticed this bully dog phenomena on the rare occasions I take my dogs out in town where there are a number of chavs who are allowed to come outside the immediate area of their scummy council estates with their staff crosses etc. If I have my teeny chihuahuas with me, chav-thug lets his dog loose. But when chav-thug sees my large 65kg 'Ursa' come thundering up to play with 'his' chihuahuas, they hurridly put bully-dog (and I'm not referring to ther type of cross, but the desire to intimidate) on a lead and start telling me worriedly to to the same with the big lad.So take your bigger dog out as her bodyguard and do the socialisation at puppy classes.

Originally Posted by selina20

Awwwww poor pup. Some people dont deserve dogs. Luckily no one dares mess with my uncles chihuahua as he acts a lot bigger than his size lol.

He may act bigger and he may be fierce, but realistically, he isn't going to be able to defend himself against a chav-thug and his bully-dog. In fact, going immediately into the offensive might get himself killed.

[Elina]

Thanks for the kind words and advice.
I had planned to take her to puppy classes. I am looking for a good one around Northamptonshire at the moment.
Last night she would not sleep in her crate when I left it in 'her' room she yapped and wined so I put it in my room and she stopped crying.

This morning all she wanted to do was cuddle which was sweet and I did a little clicker training with her...And then she ran off with the clicker but anyway she seems a little more like herself.

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Elina