My dog was attacked by an off leash dog :(

[Stella]

I went hiking yesterday with my two doodles. One of my doods (Chase) can be dog reactive so I only hike on trails where dogs have to be leashed, this gives me time to get off the trail if I see someone coming the other way with a dog. I have worked for a long time with Chase and as long as I can give him enough space he is fine.

My friend was holding my boys while I stepped off the trail for a bathroom break - we hadn't seen anyone on the whole hike so I figured this would be ok. While I was gone they were approached by an off leash mastiff / bulldog type dog which ended up with one of my dogs (Hartley, who is the most dog and people friendly dog ever)) being attacked. I heard the noise and ran, when I got there Hartley was curled into a ball while the other dog stood over him. The other owner pulled his dog off while I was yelling at him about not having his dog leashed.

We checked Hartley over and found a puncture on one of his legs, at this point I realised the other owner was a vet from my town (how ironic is that?). He figured that it would heal on its own and to call the clinic if I was worried. We finished our hike and when I got home and checked him again I wasn't happy with how it looked and called my vet clinic (that he owns). There a vet and I checked him more throughly and found several more punctures which they flushed out. So today he had surgery to clean everything out again and for stitches, they thought he might need a drain putting in but luckily they didn't have to do that. Now he is on painkillers for the next few days and antibiotics for two weeks.

Because of the location of the wounds we can't keep a dressing on and he has to wear the cone of shame. He can't drink with the cone on, so now I have to try and approach my boss to let me bring him to work because I need to keep an eye on him.

The vet covered all the bills, and accepted full responsibility. But then pissed me off by saying, well dogs will be dogs. He apologized for what happened to my dog, but never apologized for having his dog off leash where he wasn't supposed to. My poor friend feels terrible, she's not used to dogs and didn't know what to do.....so that is on me, I could have taken my boys with me on my 'bathroom break'.

I live in a very small town, so don't want to make trouble and take things any further. He covered the bills which I am happy about. Hopefully he won't be walking his dog off leash there again, but that is the last time I take my dogs hiking in that park.

[Stella]

Yeah I don't know, it makes me mad that he never apologized for having his dog off leash where he shouldn't have been.

[Sam&Bella]

I am so sorry! I hope he heels quickly:( I would expect more from a vet!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am very sorry for this to have happened at all. I am glad that the vet took responsibility for it - at least that treatment costs are covered is one weight off you.  I would be afraid to go back to the area also.  I wonder if you would feel a bit better if you asked - whether by note or in person as appropriate for you in your town - if the vet would consider putting a muzzle on his dog when he walks him.  Perhaps he never thought about it, and whether he puts his guy on a leash or not, at least the dog couldn't injure another dog on walks.

[Stella]

I don't know if that suggestion would work, but you are right the dog should be muzzled. He did say something about realizing he needs to do more work with the dog - it is a rescue that he has only had for about a year. The dog was wearing an e-collar, that was clearly ineffective.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

This makes me livid and it is not even my dog. What a gigantic ass that vet is and there is no excuse for this behavior. I feel so badly for you, but this is in NO WAY your fault. The blame falls entirely on this vet. Do you have animal control in your area? If so, I think I would file a report so this is on record in case it happens again. Hope Hartley feels better soon.

[Stella]

Yep, gigantic ass who owns the vet clinic I go to!! I have never seen him as a client, I have another vet at the practice that I have a great relationship with, and the vet techs there are awesome. If it wasn't for that I would leave that practice and go somewhere else.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I'm so sorry this happened to Hartley.  I too have a reactive dog, and so I try to walk where I always have an "escape route"...it makes everyone's life easier.  I dread running into unleashed dogs, because it becomes such a difficult situation to manage.  Hopefully Hartley will heal quickly.

[Stella]

Yep, while it sucks that this happened to my friendly, goofy Hartley. If that dog had targeted Chase there would have been a bloodbath because Chase would have fought back, and probably fought to the death. I'm really hoping that this doesn't affect Hartley's temperament around other dogs because it has always been awesome - so much so that my friend (who is a dog trainer) has used him as a decoy dog for reactive dog training, he's always a very clam, unflappable dog that isn't phased by anything.

[Gail and Bailey]

So sorry you had this experience! I hope Hartley heals quickly! What a shame that the vet and his out of control dog have ruined your great hiking place for you!! Doodle hugs for you and Hartley!

[Stella]

It makes me angry that responsible dog owners are stopping going to places because we don't want to face the risk of running into an unleashed dog. The irresponsible dog owners are winning :(

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm so sorry this happened to you and poor Hartley. JD has also been attacked and bitten by an unleashed dog, so I know just how you feel. I agree with Laurie, that vet is a gigantic ass and there is no excuse for this. "Dogs will be dogs"?????? Yeah, that's why there are leashes and leash laws.

I hope Hartley heals quickly and you can both put this behind you. 

[Stella]

Thanks Karen. I was so angry and yelling at him and he was saying "hey, I know you", so I looked up and responded "yes, and I know who you are too" and continued to yell at him! What pissed me off the most is that comment "dogs will be dogs", no a******, leashed dogs shouldn't be targeted by unleashed dogs. He of all people should in ow that their behaviour is different under those circumstances. And his dog was big, I think it may have been a dogo argentino....it was definitely large and pure white, otherwise I'd say some kind of mastiff/ bulldog mix - big powerful dog, had no place being off leash at all. The dog was wearing an e-collar, which clearly had no effect on the dog at all.