Bruce got bit by 2 greyhounds :(

Hello
Ever since Bruce was a pup i have always let him play and socialise with other dogs off his lead and he has never had as much as a growl from another dog, he also himself has never show any kind of aggression towards another dog or any animal for that matter! Tonight i was taking him on his daily evening walk around the park, i always keep him on his lead around the park untill we reach the part where its overgrown and a bit wild, its permitted for dogs to run off the lead here and he loves it, lots of long grass and trees to run through, as he is very energetic and gets very excited when we get here, well tonight he was bounding along towards a hill, you cant see whats on the other side of the hill untill you reach the top, as Bruce bolted to the top of the hill a man came over the top with two greyhounds, and bruce came face to face with them, the dogs were on leads, but bruce thinking that all dogs are friends done his usual happy to see you routine and ended up being bitten by them, one bit him right on his back making him yelp, and the other on his leg, poor Bruce didnt know why this was happening as he thinks all dogs are friendly and has not yet till now met a bad tempered dog. Bruce soon scarpered when he realised they where not as happy to see him
The man started moaning, saying that Bruce should be on a lead, but i thought that if his dogs are going to attack other dogs on a field where dogs are aloud to roam free he should have a muzzle on them, what do you think?
Bruce is ok now and asleep on the sofa we keep telling him he aint aloud on but after tonights ordeal we have overlooked this lol

Cheers for reading Guys

Hiya, poor Bruce (hugs)

Thing is there is a fine line here in that situation, just because dogs are allowed to roam off lead dosent mean they should or will be.
Ideally when approaching other dogs, you would call yours off, or have him sit/wait until u can assess the situation.

The fact the other guy had his dogs on lead, there is prolly a reason for that.

It bugs the heck out of me when random off lead dogs wander over to me and my dogs, no telling what the offleader will do.

I have found it's polite to ask if it's ok for the dogs to greet/play etc. 90% of the time it's not a prob but occasionally we come across an onlead dog whose owner says no as his dog dosent like others.

Hope I haven't rambled on too much ! And plz don't take it the wrong way. Bruce just needs to learn that it's not always gonna be ok to go bounding over to other dogs unless u say he can.

yeah, i understand that, and usualy i do tell him to stay and sit until i can properly assess the situation, but on this instance i did not see the dogs coming, he just come face to face with then. but i try to let bruce run free when ever i can and there is a sign stating that they can.

cheers

I understand both sides but in your situation I probably would have put mine on leads
Skye is super friendly but is enthusiastic (luckly even after a few aggressive dogs have had ago) and buster is nervous about other dogs and can snap

It's good Bruce didn't retaliate and I'm sorry he got hurt hopefully he will have learnt a good lesson (one that my Skye hasn't lol)

Bless him I do hope he's okay!

It's brilliant that Bruce is so well socialized and dog friendly, but unfortunately I don't think you have much of a leg to stand on in this one. The law states that dogs must be kept under control in public, so if your dog was off lead he should still be under your control and really shouldn't be running up to random dogs until you've spoken to their owners and they've said they're happy to let them socialize, it's impolite and could severely damage your dogs mental health if another incident like this was to happen..

Totally understand that this was an accident and you didn't see the dogs coming etc, but if you couldn't see over the hill why were you allowing your puppy to run up over it? Really don't mean to sound harsh at all, just need to think about these things. If his dogs are known to defend themselves they probably should be muzzled, however this could have been a one off or first time occurance for him too. Probably best to just learn from your mistake and hope that this doesn't affect little Bruce too heavily in the long run! You could always invest in a long line so that he can run around but you still have control should a surprise crop up!

I hope Bruce is ok.

As someone with a nervous dog I do hate uncontrolled dogs running upto Ledger I keep him on lead 99% of the time as he is not comfortable with 'bouncy' dogs and if he feels threatened he will react. With a controlled introduction he is fine he just isnt really interested in most dogs.

It's great that Bruce is so well socialised but if he had retaliated he would have been the one 'dangerously out of control'

I don't think it's anyone's fault. You didn't see the dogs beforehand so you couldn't call him back until he was already there, and the Greyhounds could very well be friendly, but if a hyperactive dog came running right towards you then trying to play, it could be scary/annoying regardless of whether the dogs are friendly or not. Loki's been told off by a couple of dogs before for being too excited because he was probably annoying them, so I guess it's a similar thing.

I take Loki to a field where there are a few hills, but because I can't see over them, I don't let him run over them unless I'm walking over them with him. So I think it'd be best for you to do the same, if you can't see people over the hill, just shout him back before he runs over it, just to be safe. There are plenty of opportunities to meet dogs when he's on-lead, so he's not missing out.

Hope Bruce isn't feeling too sorry for himself today, sending wishes for a speedy recovery.

We could argue all day long about who is right and who is wrong here, however it has happened now and no point crying over spilled milk. Maybe an idea to just keep your dog close to you for while you cannot see whats happening ahead.

Hope all is OK now.

Hope Bruce is feeling better now. ><

I agree with both sides of the coin and people's responses, but hindsight is 20/20 vision and as Kathy said it's happened which you can't change.
I imagine it could have been much worse had Bruce not been so well socialised and retaliated, so kudos to you for teaching your dog so well.

Often we have so much faith in our dogs due to their good behaviour we don't always realise how quick things can change and you never know what might be around the corner or over the hill and then it's too late.
I'm sure you will be much more wary now following this experience.

Firstly i hope bruce is ok. x

As for the situation i would say you should have put him on lead as you couldnt see what was on the other side.
Stanlie loves all dogs would go up too any dog so when i cant see whats round the corner he goes on lead, tara and hooch can be a little iffy with some dogs they dont appreciate dogs just coming up too them they dont know. I get it alot dogs coming up too them when they are on lead and it is a little irritating as i end up with the bad look when one of them tells the dog too pee off because they are not interetsed.
Its great bruce is such a lovel tempered dog just be careful, i use too be the same with stan thinking he can be offlead hes friendly its fine but its not always your dog you have too worry about as you have found out the other dog can be the problem.
better too be safe than sorry as teh saying goes. x

Hope Bruce is well today. I agree that if you cant see whats ahead of you, be it hills, corners, its best to call your dog to wait if they are off lead, a suprise can turn into a nasty suprise. The greyhounds were under control and therefore nothing can be done. My Pixee can be nervous round some dogs, and while she never runs off to other dogs loose now (she use to when we first had her) I keep an closer eye on her when other dogs are loose, as they can come running up to her, I always make sure she is back on the lead, so I have complete control when a loose dog comes over, which does get my back up, as Pixee will sometimes let them know she does not appricate it by snapping at them, othertimes she is fine, so like humans, dogs have their moods too. And yes better safe then sorry.

can only say what has already been said really.
don't think the other owner should muzzle his dogs, he had them on lead therfore in control of them. if your dog was off lead and ran up playful the greyhound could have felt threatend especially as they were on leads and feel as if they are easy target.
if you didn't see them till it was to late it's just a mistake and these things do happen, i would just advise you check with any dog owners with dogs on lead.
hope bruce didn't get to badly injured or to badly effected by the experience.