My Pug
 

HI there,

I was in the park today and a large dog attacked Muffy. It was very scary. Luckily she was not hurt and the owner of the other dog was able to get his dog off Muffy.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to handle these types of situations? I do not know what I would have done if the other owner didn't react as quickly as he did

Thanks,

Sara

Where you at a park that dogs are allowed o be off their leashes? Does your dog has any bites marks on her body? I have a small dog and I only take him to parks where dogs have to be on leashes at all the time. Of course there will always be one or two dog owners that think they're about the law and let their dogs run lose. If the dog start to run toward my dog and me I will tell the owner to keep their dog away from my dog and me. I am not sure what kind of park you where at but , it would best to bring your small only to parks where the dogs have to on lease all the time. Did you get the name of person that owned the dog , you should always get the owner name and made sure the other dog is up to date on all it shots .

That must have been a scary situation but good thing Muffy was not injured. Not all owners are as quick thinking as the one you encountered so you are right to have a plan for future. Unfortunately small dogs are at risk from large dogs whether it is intentional or not. Friendly large breeds can seriously injure the small ones just by playing and of course a lot of hunting breeds have such a strong prey drive the little ones can be in serious danger. You can't predict who you will meet on your walks or at the park so being proactive is all you can do. What I do is use a harness type attachment that clips around the neck and just behind the front legs with the leash attachment located on the back for walking my small dog. When an off leash dog runs at her or even some leashed ones that are "unbalanced" approach I quickly pull her up into my arms. This has worked well for me.

How old is Muffy? Is there any chance she was rude to the other dog? When you say "attack" what do you mean, is Muffy hurt? It's normal for an older dog to tell a rude puppy off and maybe put teeth and pin the pup down but pup should not be hurt. How adept are you at reading dog body language?

Where were you and the other owner when this happened and what were you doing? I see parks where the owners and dogs walk in, let the dogs off leash and then the owners stand around and pay no attention to their dog. Big parks with walking trails where everybody keeps moving are better, most dogs go with their owner so don't spend a lot of time with a strange dog.

Some dog parks have a section for small dogs that is separate from the big dogs. Big dogs can hurt little ones in rough play without it being intentional.

Does Muffy have a small doggy friend to go to the park with? Be careful though, even two dogs can be a pack and intimidate another single dog.

Can you go in off hours when fewer people are there?

Good luck. It's nice to be able to let dogs run off leash, much better exercise for them than leashed walks. But dog parks can be bad places. Some have rules posted, does this one? Have other people had trouble with the big dog? Personally I have only gone to dog parks when visiting my sister. One she no longer goes to herself is ridiculously small, two acres, I'd never in a million years put my dog in such a tiny place with other dogs I don't know.

Oh, one last thing. I have seen people take their dog on leash into an off leash park. Very bad idea. Leashes impede body language. It should be all dogs off leash or all dogs on leash, according to the park rules.

Unfortunately I owned a dog that attacked a small dog and it was fatal. This dog went back to the breeder because I was too afraid to rehabilitate her. I will never trust dogs I don't know, no matter what breed or size. It can happen so fast. I now am the owner of little dogs and feel very vulnerable to strange dogs. Have a play date with dogs you know in a private yard that is fenced. Period!

[QUOTE=Longblades;1065451]How old is Muffy? Is there any chance she was rude to the other dog? When you say "attack" what do you mean, is Muffy hurt? It's normal for an older dog to tell a rude puppy off and maybe put teeth and pin the pup down but pup should not be hurt. How adept are you at reading dog body language?

Where were you and the other owner when this happened and what were you doing? I see parks where the owners and dogs walk in, let the dogs off leash and then the owners stand around and pay no attention to their dog. Big parks with walking trails where everybody keeps moving are better, most dogs go with their owner so don't spend a lot of time with a strange dog.

Some dog parks have a section for small dogs that is separate from the big dogs. Big dogs can hurt little ones in rough play without it being intentional.

Does Muffy have a small doggy friend to go to the park with? Be careful though, even two dogs can be a pack and intimidate another single dog.

Can you go in off hours when fewer people are there?

Good luck. It's nice to be able to let dogs run off leash, much better exercise for them than leashed walks. But dog parks can be bad places. Some have rules posted, does this one? Have other people had trouble with the big dog? Personally I have only gone to dog parks when visiting my sister. One she no longer goes to herself is ridiculously small, two acres, I'd never in a million years put my dog in such a tiny place with other dogs I don't know.

Oh, one last thing. I have seen people take their dog on leash into an off leash park. Very bad idea. Leashes impede body language. It should be all dogs off leash or all dogs on leash, according to the park rules.[/QUOTE]

My city has a park where dogs are allowed off their leashes at certain hours of the . I think it from 7Am -11 Am and 4pm -7 PM dogs can run free.
There are dog owners that refuses to follow these hours and let their dogs run at any time of the day . I brought Marty during the 'on leash' hours to afford running into dogs off their leashes for the same reason you said .
A dog walker came with 4 dogs and had them off their leashes .
Two of the dogs started to use my dog as bowling ball and kept knocking around . Do people follow the park rules where you live , they sure do not where I live.

I dunno LB, not sure about this one. I'm assuming we are talking about an offleash park but I could be wrong.

[QUOTE]It's normal for an older dog to tell a rude puppy off and maybe put teeth and pin the pup down but pup should not be hurt. How adept are you at reading dog body language?[/QUOTE]

OP didn't specify exactly what happened. But you can see how when the average person's smaller dog gets pinned down by a larger one they are understandably upset. I hate to say it....sigh. But it often depends on the dog park. Yes it's possible that a pup can inadvertently elicit/invite a bite. But we've also seen baaaaaad/negligent dog owners that let their poorly trained/untrained dogs run amok. If these types of people are at the dog park in question....best to change dog parks imo.

[QUOTE=marko;1065454]I dunno LB, not sure about this one. I'm assuming we are talking about an offleash park but I could be wrong.



OP didn't specify exactly what happened. But you can see how when the average person's smaller dog gets pinned down by a larger one they are understandably upset. I hate to say it....sigh. But it often depends on the dog park. Yes it's possible that a pup can inadvertently elicit/invite a bite. But we've also seen baaaaaad/negligent dog owners that let their poorly trained/untrained dogs run amok. If these types of people are at the dog park in question....best to change dog parks imo.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://rufflyspeaking.wordpress.com/2009/03/04/puppy-license-and-adult-behavior-stop-separating-play/[/url]

It's quite natural for an adult dog to set limits for puppy and act on them if need be. The link I provided corroborates and many more in a similar vein can be found. But you are right, we don't know the full story. That's why I asked so many questions. Some dog owners are not versed in dog body language. Maybe the bigger dog was a bully and maybe Muffy being knocked down was inappropriate. But maybe not and if not both owners prevented Muffy from learning a lesson she needs to learn. Whenever someone says their dog was "attacked" but then there are no injuries reported I have to wonder how much it was an attack and how much it was normal dog interaction misundertstood by the human component.

[QUOTE=marko;1065454]I dunno LB, not sure about this one. I'm assuming we are talking about an offleash park but I could be wrong.



OP didn't specify exactly what happened. But you can see how when the average person's smaller dog gets pinned down by a larger one they are understandably upset. I hate to say it....sigh. But it often depends on the dog park. Yes it's possible that a pup can inadvertently elicit/invite a bite. But we've also seen baaaaaad/negligent dog owners that let their poorly trained/untrained dogs run amok. If these types of people are at the dog park in question....best to change dog parks imo.[/QUOTE]

I had to end up bringing Marty to a playgroup for small dogs so he could have some fun. He was watched the first time to see how to got along with other dogs and he got a good report card.
A lot of dog owners use the dog leashes that extend and do not train their dogs to heel or stay etc. I really feel if dogs could they would be driving their owners to parks today as it looks like the dogs are taking their owners for a walk the way the dogs pull them around.

[QUOTE]...Whenever someone says their dog was "attacked" but then there are no injuries reported I have to wonder how much it was an attack and how much it was normal dog interaction misunderstood by the human component.[/QUOTE]

We are still missing the 'details' here but you make an extremely valid point LB, I 100% agree.

I think back to a few humans in my own life like my grandmother. If a can fell to the floor or a child learning to walk would fall on its bum she would shudder so loudly and freak everyone out that the shudder was worse than the can falling/walking baby falling. The shudder affected everyone else's behaviour.