Dog Bite on Park!

Hi,

New member looking for some advice.

We have had out Staff (Marlon) for only 2 months. He was a rescue dog, and has shown no tendencies of aggression towards anyone (Not people or animals) in all that time. Basically he has been perfect. Although as an experienced owner of other dogs (GSD's) I am far from naive about how dogs can just go into a red zone at any time for no reason.

Today we took Marlon to the park and he was on his lead as he always is, as we walked through a crowd of dogs. He stopped at one point to exchange sniffs with another dog (big white fluffy thing).

We carried on walking for about 20 seconds and then before I knew it, this fluffy dog (not leashed) was back and in no time, Marlon was clamped on to his face for about 10 seconds until I prised him off. There was definitely puncture wounds on the other dogs face although the owners complaints of "he just pulled his face off" were a little extreme.

Obviously everyone on the park thought Marlon was the devil (as he is an SBT) , and the other dog owner (understandably distressed) was shouting at me and basically telling me my dog was a danger to society. Eventually things calmed down and we went to one side and exchanged mobile numbers. Last thing I was going to do was run away from the situation altogether.

As we left the park we had 2 witnesses who said that our dog was on his lead so had done nothing wrong. Obviously I cant deny Marlon did bite the other animal but does anyone know the legal position here?

My moral obligation is to at least contribute towards vets bills but if the other owner is prepared to allow his dog off lead then surely is he at least partially liable?

If it was car insurance I think this would end up being something like a 50/50.

Any advice would be appreciated. Just a little stressed!!

Thanks in advance.

Pastie

Hi and welcome.

Sorry to hear about this.

If it were me, I'd offer to pay half the vets bills as a gesture of goodwill. Your dog was on lead, the other was not so it isn't your fault and I suspect any court would find in your favour if the owner of the other dog pursued civil action.

I know it probably goes without saying but make sure you taker extra precautions in future

Thank you. I will probably do just that. Will see if / when I hear back from the other party and take things from there but at the time I felt dreadful but also felt persecuted just because Marlon was a Staff....

Technically you werre in control and the off lead dog owner was not . If you chose to make a stand it is his own fault as his dog was not being controlled , he should have identified that you obviously have your dog on a lead and hence possibly don't have the confidence.
If he was fair about it then pay half as goodwill , but since you say he was a bit of a lunatic in his comments I would be inclined to let him sort it out himself and he may learn for the next time

and welcome to the forum

Hiya and welcome, maybe on not such happy terms.

I agree with above, I think you dealt with it in the correct manner and I would also offer to help with vets fees although I don't think its your fault.

Horrible thing to happen for you all.

Thanks everyone. Your comments echo what I was already thinking. Its just a stressful situation for us (and of course the owners of the dog who was bitten) but I am sure dog on dog bites occur all the time.

Just annoying that after having our previous dog 13 years nothing like this ever happened but after 2 months with Marlon it did!

Willl keep you posted so you know the outcome.

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

I would just like to explain a situation I was in with Rocky last year.

We were in our local park car park going back to our car when we noticed a dog that Rocky apparently wanted to say hello to. So we went over and said hello, Rocky then suddenly grabbed hold of this dog, it was a puppy Mastiff cross something ?? Rocky did puncture the skin. All dogs were on their leads

I exchanged details with the owner and paid the vet bill in full by cheque which I took in person to them within a few days of the incident.

Later in the year my hubby and I were walking in the woods with Rocky on his lead that join the same park and came across the same owners with the same dog and their German Shepherd Dog, which were both off their leads. Rocky had a grumble at the dogs as we walked past them and the GSD then went berserk at Rocky, grabbing hold of his head and badly cut Rockys head open leaving him with quite bad cuts and bleeding. The owner muttered something about Rocky and walked away.

We took him straight to the vets where he was treated with a painkilling injection and given a course of antibiotics. I paid the vet bill in full myself.

I have never approached the owner of the GSD for any assistance with the payment of Rockys vet bill although I know where they live. This dog does have a very bad reputation around our park for attacking other dogs.

Hope this helps.

Hi & welcome to the forum
I agree also with the above. Even if your dog started it, he was on a lead and the other dog wasn't.
Allowing your dog off lead is not only for dogs who are non aggressive but also for dogs who are able to be recalled. The owner of the other dog can clearly see your dog on lead and therefore should not be allowing his/her dog to approach without your permission.
People will always say its the SBT' fault but allot of the time the other dog may have threatened first with it's energy/body posture. I find people with power breeds, understand dogs body language allot more than owners of toy breeds.
Personally I wouldn't pay anything

Hi and welcome
I have been through the same with my little rescue boy he was on lead and I had said to the other owner he was nervous of dogs approaching him fast any way the owner did not put his dog on a lead and even allowed it to run towards my boy who was close to my leg any way long story short the other owner was hurling abuse at me but I asked for his number which I rang as soon as I got home. Spoke to his wife and gave my phone number for a couple of days they kept me informed of how the dog was and said the vets bill was £125 which I was willing to pay half but since then I have not seen them at the park or heard anything else.
My point was that yes buster is nervous aggressive but he allowed his dog to approach mine.
I have had lots of different dogs my last being gsds and always allowed them to be off lead around dogs we knew but always on lead if a dog was on lead which is exactly what I do with both staffs now

Hi & welcome to the forum.

My big bug-bear is people who allow their dogs to just wander up to a strange dog, especially one that's on the lead, without checking with the owner that it's ok to do so - I really, really dislike that!

Your dog was on lead & you were heading away. Imo the other owner was totally at fault for having a dog that was 'out of control in a public place', and no.........

BlueStaffBlue wrote: Personally I wouldn't pay anything

I wouldn't pay anything either.

Caryll wrote:Hi & welcome to the forum.

My big bug-bear is people who allow their dogs to just wander up to a strange dog, especially one that's on the lead, without checking with the owner that it's ok to do so - I really, really dislike that!

Your dog was on lead & you were heading away. Imo the other owner was totally at fault for having a dog that was 'out of control in a public place', and no.........

BlueStaffBlue wrote: Personally I wouldn't pay anything

I wouldn't pay anything either.

I have to agree with this and welcome from us and Suki

Hi all,

Have to say that all of your replies have set my mind at ease no end. All owners will say "my dog isn't aggressive" and to be honest, I can only speak about the 2 months we have had Marlon and say hand on heart he hasnt been aggressive at all.

Thinking about it more this morning, I am convinced he wouldnt have done much damage to the other animal (there was blood drawn though) because I was (maybe foolishly) able to get my hands in his mouth and get him to let go. I am sure that had he wanted to keep hold, I would have had no chance! It was probably more like a warning than a real attempt to do any damage.

Again - thanks from me and Marlon. We will be on here more often for sure!

Pastie

It happens. That's in the nature of the breed.

My old boy, Bandit, was very dog aggressive & he got into many scraps over the years, none of them totally his fault (although one or two were 50/50).

I always warned other people to take their dogs away, and as long as they at least attempted to, I had no problems with it. It was the ones that just couldn't be bothered that got to me, and then they'd rant because Bandit got a chunk of dogflesh!

I never had to pay a vet's bill, though, because as far as I was concerned my dog was on lead & under control & I'd warned the others to stay away - if they have no control over their dogs, I can't help it.

Sounds like you did the right thing! It's unfortunate that a lot of people have misconceptions about staffies, but I wouldn't worry about it too much as you weren't in the wrong if yours was on a lead. Still a very unpleasant and stressful experience though I would imagine...
Well on a happier note, welcome to the site from Juno, Jack & I

Hi to be fair I wouldn't pay towards Vet bills. Your boy was on his lead and it was the other dog than was running free. When Lily was younger and off her lead (she is over friendly) she ran up to a spaniel who was also off lead and it bit her head breakin the skin and causing a big lump> As Lily had ran up to the dog (her recall was not great) I didn't make a huge fuss. The owner apologised and said her dog did that sometimes. I bet if the tables were turned and Lily bit the spaniel all hell would have broken loose!

i would call their bluff and say " i will let my insurance deal with it " i am sure they wont bother u then as i think if you were to go down the third party route they would be found to be in the wrong