My dog got attacked (slightly gory)

My dog gets attacked all the time. I can't even remember how many times I've been out with him and he got attacked. They are all Chihuahuas or similar type dogs that attack him. Those guys are the meanest dogs and they think they're so tough. They never do any damage and I'm usually just worried trying to hold my dog and make sure he doesn't fight back. He's kind of big.
 
Glad the doogie is OK -- you might want to take him in for an antibiotic shot because bites can really turn into nasty infections.

Mastiffs, like pitbulls, can be VERY dog aggressive and can do a lot of damage.

I hate it when people get "compensation" dogs but then have no idea about their innate/genetic temperaments or how to train or control them.
 
I have kind of a reverse scenario (approx 20 yrs ago). I had found a small pit bull way back in college on campus. She was cut up, skinny and abused. I took her to the vet on campus and they cleaned her up. I got her healthy, and I was in a rural enough area for her to run around a qtr acre. She chased cats and chickens, but never caught them. I was never a pit bull fan but this dog had a great demeanor. You could play rough with her, but as soon as soon as you eased up, so did she. I bought a house in the suburb, and first thing was to be sure my yard was secure. I am a responsible pet owner. One night I was taking the trash out from the side yard and my dog ran right between my legs, and in one fell swoop, latched on to the neck of my neighbor's aussie-yes on a leash! I ran as fast as I could, dove into my dog, picked her up by her hind quarter skin flaps (I heard it worked) and picked up both dogs for about 4 seconds until she let the other dog go! It was so lightning fast and unexpected, 2 yrs. with my dog and nothing like this ever happened! Very unpredictable. I did take her to the pound and have her put down. Then I downed a 12 pack and cried myself to sleep. It is good that you gave the woman some slack. I would defend my dog just as you did, no different. If this woman cannot control her dog, she has no excuses after this.
CJ
 
As the owner of mastiffs for a few decades I'll say that is not typical of the breed. Regardless, you IMO, had the right to do whatever was needed, including shooting the mastiff.

Owners that can't control the dogs shouldn't take them out in public. Hell, they shouldn't have them.

I go out of my way to be a good neighbor with my dog. Many dogs react to the size of the dog so when an unknown dog walks by I'll insure my dog doesn't take up any aggressive body language/postures, doesn't stare, or any of the other behaviors that cause dogs to react with aggression, or panic and start to drag their owners around, barking, squealing, trying to fight etc.

Often owners will want to stop and see the "big dog", and ask questions about it, but their dogs don't. Unless the owner is in control of their dog, and both seem calm I avoid both.

Your reaction to protect your family is strong enough to make you jump on a dog that could remove your arm from your body as easily as you could bite a potato chip in half. That says a lot about the love owners have for their dogs.

I'd reccomend notifying the authorities as if the dog in question did it once, it will likely do it again to someone else.

Also, there are different breeds of mastiffs, some bigger, smaler, more aggressive, less aggressive etc.

The kind I have is the "english mastiff". The largest, and probably gentlest of the mastiff breeds.

At 35 inches at the haunches, a 36 inch around neck, and 220lbs he ( Finn, in my avatar) is nowhere near the largest male english mastiff I've seen ( or owned in fact). None of them have ever shown any inclination to be dog or human aggressive.

Bullmastiffs, Neopolitan mastiffs, French, himilayan, St. Bernard, etc. all as different temperment as to be almost a different breed.

A true English mastiff is fairly rare. Mine came from a breeder in the next state over, and a pup cost $1500, which is about average depending on bloodline & sire.

Last I checked the English mastiff had no occurences in the insurance registry iof dog attacks & deaths in this country. Joe
 
Sorry about the situation, you are lucky. Could have been a pit bull you were trying to pull off a kid.Youcould have been bit in the face. Getting in the middle of a dog attack is risky business. You acted and minimized the damage to your buddy. Some people just stand around and yell for someone to do something. Good job.
 
For what its worth I used to carry a can of Stinger brand dog repellent. I used it once on a dog that was trying to hold me at bay and he spent the next five minutes rolling around swiping his face in the grass. The reaction was instant.

One other product that I've seen firsthand is the Dazer electronic dog repeller. It uses an ultrasonic sound blast. My neighbor has one. I was talking to her one day at our front fence and she had this thing on her belt. I asked her to use it on my dogs and they backed off immediately from her. Mac
 
Glad to see that your poor pup didn't get too badly hurt. You showed an amazing amount of restraint in that situation. If it was my knee on that dog's ribs...

There's a woman in my neighborhood that has the largest labrador I've ever seen, and this thing HATES other dogs. This thing drags her all over the neighborhood, across streets to get to other dogs etc. When the thing starts making a beeline for another dog, she starts pleading with it. Not commands, begging...in sentences: "Please ignore it, please ignore it." She's pretty much been ostracized in the neighborhood. The first time it got close to my mini dachshund, I told her "If your dog touches my dog, I will kill it." Ever since then, she's found some additional strength to keep the beast away from other people's dogs.

My dog's (mini dachshund) best friend is a bull mastiff. my dog jumps around it, barking at it to try to get it to run and play, while the mastif sits down, wags its stump of a tail, and drools on my pup. It's pretty funny. The mastiff's owner has said, let's see what happens if that lab gets to his dog...

Hopefully the mastiff's owner in your story is appologetic and offered to pay any medical expenses (you might want to try some betadine on the cuts). At the very least they should send over a doggie get well basket.
 
I had two Neapolitan Mastiffs' for several years. I never had trouble with them being super dog aggressive. The only dog I remember them ever attacking was a bulldog that wondered into our yard from one of the neighbors. We live on a one thousand acre farm, so they had plenty of room to run and play. It is also fenced off, somehow that bulldog got in here. I never did figure out how. They both passed away about eight years ago.
I do know that, with our Neos, the dogs had to be taught early who was in control. Let them know it wasn't them!
Other than the bulldog attack they got along with my brothers dog, as well as other dogs. Glad your dog is doing ok!
Shane
 
pitdog said:
IMO people should not have dogs like that if they can't control them,
Click to expand...

That's my feeling as well. I had my now deceased whippet attacked by a rotti about ten years ago under very similar circumstances when the young lady wasn't able to physically restrain her dog.
Glad to know you're both OK.
 
I've had and been around a lot of dogs, but never Mastiffs. The other day I was walking to my deer stand and there was an- uncollared white mastiff standing there. He started growling and stampimg and growlling when he saw me. I waved and yelled and he aggressively came toward me. Nocked an arrow and drew hoping not to have to do it. Then the growling staredown began. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned and finally ran off. Haven't seen him since. Weird.
 
It's people like the lady in the original post who make it hard to own some breeds. It's cases like this that encourage breed specific legislation on animals who for the most part can be great big teddy bears. I have the pleasure of knowing several people with mastiffs and am/staffs who I wouldn't hesitate to leave alone with any of my family, be it adults or children.
Dogs live by different rules than people. There is one cardinal rule they live by: be dominant or be dominated. Even the largest dog will be happily submissive to you, but you must take the role seriously . This poor lady doesn't realize that this animal can just as easily turn on her if she doesn't assume control in the relationship. If you are not the dominant member of your 'pack', be it one dog or ten, one of the dogs will gladly take this position for you. This was obviously the case with the mastiff who took it upon himself to decide how to handle the situation, instead of taking it's cue from it's handler.
I can understand your frustration towards the situation, I can't stand to see one of my dogs in pain. Hope your pup is feeling better.Good on ya for showing restraint towards the other dog. As much as it may seem to be the dog's fault, the blame lies fullly on it's owner

Bad dog owners SUCK !!!!
 
I would make the lady pay for any vet bills incured as a result of the attack. Hope your dog has a quick and uneventful recouvery.

I used to have a Rot/Lab mix and we used to frequent a dog park on a daily basis for about a year. Fortantly attacks were very rare but my dog was bit once by a smaller dog. The owner was a daughter of a friend and they offered to pay for any bills but luckily the injuries were very minor and I was able to deal with it myself. I was also present for an atack on another friend's dog. That one was uglier. I was close enough to break up the fight. I did not want to get bit so I gave the attacking dog a solid kick to break it up. The attacking dog broke off and the owner grabbed it and took off. My friend's dog had about a dime sized chunk tore out of a pad and was bleeding pretty good. I had my first aid gear so I grabbed that, flushed the wound and wrapped it to stop the bleeding, then helped her get him to the car so they could go to the vet. He was ok and was all healed up in a couple of weeks. As far as I know no one ever saw the attacking dog or it's owner ever again. Probally a good thing to as the authoities would have been called had they ever shown up again.
 
That's terrible. I'm glad your dog is ok physically. What worries me is what this incident will do mentally to your pup when it comes to other dogs. Doesn't really help with the proper socialization of him/her.
 
I have a 95# black wolf/german shepherd and while he is not agresive to other dogs he can take care of his self in a fight but I don't want to deal with him developing overly agresive behavior I always cary pepper spray a 5" hiking stick and gun and knife I have had to use the spray and stick on diferent occasions . I take care to kep my dog in control and expect others to do the same . Some times it is just dogs being dogs but often it is dog owner apathy.
 
Its good to see your pup is OK. I'm sure you already know this but make sure the dog doesn't gnaw the scabs! I have to hand it to you for jumping on that other dog and not letting the freeze factor get to you. Too many people just stand there and watch.
 
This thread makes me cringe because I see it more and more. A few years ago we bought a house across the street from an enormous town park with acres of hills, trails, meadows and a creek running through the center of it. A perfect place to hike, picnic, ride horses, take our 2 year old...or so I thought.

The dog owners from miles around have made it into the de-facto dog park and the leash laws (which are still on the books and apply to everyone in the park) have been relaxed. Hundreds of dogs and their owners congregate every day, mostly without incident, but every month or so a kid gets knocked down, a horse gets chased, a person gets bit or a dog gets attacked. There is also a good deal of dog crap on the ground from negligent owners. The cops drive in the next couple days with a trailer of horses and give out a bunch of summons, the town makes a few bucks on the tickets and then they ignore the park until another problem occurs.

It makes my blood boil because the majority of dog owners can't effectively control their animals. Repeating "COME! COME! COME!" over and over means that your dog doesn't think of you as Alpha and you're simply at the mercy of what the animal wants to do. I love dogs, have owned several and will own one again. I'll also make sure that it is trained and also make sure to choose a dog whose temperament suits me, my family and home. I don't feel "inadequate" and don't need a big dog to prove anything (not saying that anyone here does, that but it's common). I just hope it doesn't take a tragedy to enforce the laws the way they were meant to be.

Also, the town seems willing to go along with this because the prospect of a fenced in area (that many dog owners wouldn't like, given years of freedom in the park) is much too expensive. A lawsuit can easily trump the cost of a fence, given the right circumstances.
 
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