A number of weeks ago a video circulated around the local social media. It showed a lady walking her two smaller dogs being charged by a larger off leash dog. The larger dog attacked one of the smaller dogs as neighbours and bystanders attempted to come to the rescue. It was horrifying to watch. Fortunately, I believe things turned out ok. The dog that was victim of the attack had injuries but was stabilized and the owners of the dog that did the attacking seemed to have taken responsibility. The larger dog accidentally escaped from their yard when the gate came open leading to what occured.
I was asked multiple times that day to comment on the video, and was innudated with requests for advice. I composed a post that received a couple thousand likes and shares, went onto VOCM to discuss the incident and did a presentation to a group at the local library which contained information on how to deal with this from both sides of the equation. I decided to post the write up as well as expand on it with some of the comments I made during the presentations to some of the questions and feed back I had.
First, my response to the request for comments on the video...
1. Any time an attack happens, it is unfortunate. The knee jerk reaction is to blame the owner for being , negligent. Many times this is the case but as with most situations, it may not be so cut and dry. Some things to bear in mind...perhaps the dog got out completely by accident, perhaps the leash broke. Any of a number of things could have happened to lead to this unfortunate situation. One thing I do agree with though is if you are an owner of a dog who has shown any type of aggression in the past, the onus is on you to be a responsible owner and work to provide a safe environment for others while engaging in training with your dog to address the aggression. That is never a responsibility that anybody should take lightly. Unfortunately too many owners do.
2. Stop with the "it's all about the breed" baloney. It's not. Get over it. In this case, it looks like the dog was a boxer. Admittedly the video was not the best quality. The news reports identify the dog as "a large breed".
Many extensive and quality studies including those done by the AMVA show that breed is a very poor predictor to aggression traits and that individual personality traits are so diverse within breed that the breed characteristic itself cannot be used as any means to say "x dog is aggressive”. For more on this, see my EVERYTHING PIT BULL section of this site. It contains much discussion on this issue as well as links to scientific peer reviewed research studies to back this statement.
3. On the same note, stop with "it's all in how they are raised”. The whole nature versus nature debate has been happening for 100s of years. As far as I know, nobody has come up with definitive proof regarding which side triumphs. If "it is all in how they are raised", we would have to ignore gene science entirely. Environment and how a dog is raised absolutely plays a HUGE role but so do genes. Making statements like that often make some really great owners feel like failures.
4. Any talk on this site about BSL or bashing specific breeds will be removed immediately, as will the people making those comments. This site is “For the Love of Dogs”. You support BSL, you don't belong here. The logo for the site and my business is Rigger. She was a pit bull and a fabulous dog. Yes, she had her quirks and I worked really hard with her to get her safe, happy and healthy. Remember that before you spread any BSL nonsense.
* side note: this point was made in the context of the post originally being released to my For the Love of Dogs, facebook group and the discussion that was happening there. It is an awesome group that does a lot of good work and offers dogs and owners a wealth of opportunity to engage in safe and effective socialization. Check it out and follow the contained links to the facebook page.
5. Some have asked what to do if faced with this situation. There are many different things that can be done none of which is perfect. Honestly in a situation like this, you are trying to make the best of a bad situation. Your best defence is to avoid the situation entirely. You see a dog coming, pick up your dog and remove yourself from the area. Jump on a car, run into a house, put a barrier between yourself and the approaching dog.
If that is not working, pretend you are dealing with a wild animal like a bear. Step in front of your dog, blow yourself up, holler, scream, yell, stamp your feet...create as much noise as you can. Often this will make the other animal think twice. It should also attract attention and hopefully help will come running.
Your noise hasn't done anything to deter the dog. Kick, scream, throw rocks, sticks...whatever it takes to slow down or scare away the approaching dog. Feed the offending dog something...your bag, your jacket...something to shove in his mouth before he gets to your dog.
6. Ok the worst has happened…the other dog now is attacking your dog. Ouch!!! There are a number of ways recommended to break up a fight. None of them are optimal and all are dangerous. One of the best ways is if you can get the offender by the back legs, pull back and start spinning (like a helicopter). Catching the offending dog by the back legs means he has a harder time getting at you. It should create enough of a stimulus for him to try though so be careful. Spinning him means he is now off his feet and less able to get at you. Keep spinning until you can throw the offending dog behind a barrier or as far away from the situation as you can. Again this is not ideal, it is hard to do especially in a struggle but it is the safest way to break up a fight.
Get your dog medical help immediately. Get yourself the same. Dog bites can turn nasty quick. Remember that.
7. If you are an owner whose dog just offended....you are under obligation to make this right. it means compensating the other owner...medical bills can be long term. Training bills can be just as long. Your dog did this, it is your responsibility to make it right. Realize you have a dangerous dog. Take appropriate action (see point 1). The best defence for every owner out there is to engage in EARLY PROPER AND EXTENSIVE SOCIALIZATION. This is more difficult than it sounds but it pays huge dividends in the life and safety of your dog.
I hope everything works out ok for the attacked dog and his family. I hear he is at the vet and if social media reports are to be believed, they say he is going to pull through. The owners must be horrified. My prayers are with them
Dog attacks are horrible for all involved. Worst is, in most cases, they are wasily avoided if breeders engaged in responsible breeding practices and owners engage in responsible pet ownership practices. Both breeders and owners need to live up to their responsibilities.