Family Dog Attacked

[felinefan]

German shepherds are an intelligent, highly trainable dog. There is no reason at all for their aggressive behavior; obviously they have not been well-socialized. When dogs, especially working dogs like that, are kept in or near the home, they get very territorial and thus become aggressive. This is especially true if they are unneutered males.

Check your phone book or local bar association and see if there are attorneys that specialize in animal law. And like everybody said, contact the police as well as animal control and file a complaint. Your dad has the right to jog where he sees fit, and the dogs' owners are idiots to say your dad "provoked them." Provoking is when somebody walks up to the fence and teases the dogs, encouraging them to attack; your dad didn't do that. If he was on city-owned or a public walkway, or an easement on private property, he has the right to be there.

Schnitzel is the nicest-looking dachshund I've seen; this coming from a cat person.

[EeyoresButterfly]

Just talked to my dad-here is the "full story"

My father was walking Schnitzel on the leash. Their dog E was out in their backyard with no leash so she could play with the kids. My father and Schnitzel were walking by and she came up and they sniffed eachother. Without warning, she seized him by the chest. My father was trying to pry her off of him, kicking, etc. and she would not budge. It took several adults from their family, and even they had a heck of a time getting her off of him.

My father admits that he exchanged a few "choice words" as he was taking Schnitzel inside. The dog got away from them a second time and tried to attack him again. He finally had to pick Schnitzel up while the 20 something year old son was yelling "Get your ****ing dog out of here!" He said he did blow his top during the attempt at a second attack. Apparently the dogs that cornered the woman and my father last year they had to get rid of, and the lady blamed my father for that. FTR, he never called anybody after they cornered him. We suspect it may have been another neighbor or the 911 call that did it.

The damage was much worse than we could tell. It just looked like puncture marks, but apparently the muscles in his chest and his entire rib cage were torn. The vet said that if we had not brought him in today he would have died. My parents did try to call their after hours last night and they did not answer, apparently they never received the page. They apologized profusely for it. He is on some serious pain meds and it will take about 3 weeks- a month to fully heal.

The bill will most likely be pretty high because of the damage. My father is on the fence about pursuing it though because he doesn't want to escalate it- he has had dealings with the woman before and apparently she blames us for having to get rid of her other german shepherds even though we never filed a complaint or called any kind of authority. We are well known at the vet's office, two of our cats were adopted from them. My mom is even in a book club with the "head vet" so we will be getting her opinion tomorrow.

What irritates me most is that these people have a history of not controlling their dogs, apparently had to get rid of a couple, but still do not control them. They have a dog run, the solution is so stupidly simple: Keep your dog in the dog run or on a leash! I'm hoping that she will do the right thing and come by. We are going to give them a few days to see if they come over and offer to pay once emotions have cooled down.

[accioetoile]

obviously, if they had to get rid of their previous dogs, and their new dogs are acting just as aggressive, they, as the pet owners, are doing something wrong. They don't deserve to have dogs if they cannot control them.

[dazyhill]

First off, my sympathies to you EB on your poor dachshund. I can't imagine the pain your family is going through.

As others have said German Shepherds are a fine breed-with the right owners. Clearly this woman is not. She as allowed her dogs to turn into what the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millian calls a "red-zone" case. The dogs are very territorial and dominant. Cesar has had great success in rehabilitating these types of dogs, but it takes a dedicated owner who is willing to follow through. Sadly, I don't think this woman will ever be a responsible owner.
There is a fine line between loving a breed of dog and actually owning one. You have to do your homework.

[BRWombat]

So sorry to hear about the attack, EB.

Animal Control is the first step...they should be called ASAP and your parents should also make a police report.

Agreed. Many places have controls in place for rabies prevention, so that when one animal bites another, or a person, the attacking animal must be impounded for a period of time (ten days is what I hear the most) for observation. Around here either Animal Control will hold the animal, or the owner must pay to have it held by a Vet. Don't know how it is where you are, but Animal Control would know.

[Princess Susi]

Call Animal Control. File in small claims court. I saw one of these cases yesterday on Judge Judy. Two large dogs attacked a smaller dog and the owner of the two larger ones had to pay the vet bills.

You need to have all your paperwork in order, vet bills, get pictures of the area if you can, the fence, the dogs, where the sidewalk is that people walk and run on and where the dogs have cornered people. All of this information MUST be given to the Aniaml Control and they will pay a first visit to the people. Then there is usually a wait to see if the owners comply, if not another visit could warrant them a fine. Usually the animals are not impounded until they bite someone or the Animal Control feels they present a real danger.

The fact that they attacked your dog and if you file a small claims action, they could impound the animals until the verdict is given. Have LOTS of witnesses in court and have LOTS of people either go to Animal Control or write Animal Control about these dogs and the people and what is going on with them. You should even file a police complaint and tell them that these people told your dad he should not run by the house because he was upseting the dogs. That is outrageous.

As much as I hate to see ANY animal euthanized, it may be that these two have been allowed by the owners to develop their baser instincts and have the pack mentality. At some point it is almost impossible to bring these dogs back to pet status, they have too much of the pack mentality in them and if allowed to continue, they WILL kill another animal or a child, or even attack a larger human. They sound like they show no fear and that is the end of the road for these dogs.

It is sad, this is the humans (who own them), fault.

As an animal lover, this angers me beyond words. The dogs will ultimately pay the price for these ignorant people. These are the sort of people who should NEVER be allowed to have animals.
You MUST act on this, because there is danger there with these two dogs and the fact that the people are NOT doing anything about it.

susi

[Mayonnaise]

So sorry to hear about your Poochy. I know it scared my mother and I to death the time the Dalmatian from across the street attacked our late dog, Pixie. Bit her in the neck and started shaking her. Luckily a sharp strike to the head made her drop Pixie, straight away.

I'm with those saying to call Animal Control. You may not want trouble but the fact that this is not an isolated incident, means that so long as those people still have big dogs, there will still be trouble, and next time it could be deadly. Here's hoping that a court decision includes an injunction against their ever having animals again.

8^(

[Kwahati]

Hey EB. Just wanted to add my condolences. I hope your pup gets better speedily. Also wanted to add: don't euthanize the dogs, euthanize the humans! There's no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners! :mad:

[ktulu]

Hope all turns out for the best!

[EeyoresButterfly]

Schnitzel is doing really well. He is not in a lot of pain, but the vet thinks that is due to the fact that he is one doped up doggie! :D: They are keeping him another night just to be safe due to the extent of the damage. I don't know if my mother has talked to the vet yet about the whole situation- like I said they are good family friends and my mother is in a book club with her as well. I think she may just wait until she goes to pick Schnitzel up. Once she talks to her is when they will begin deciding what to do.

My parents are pretty upset over this, so I'm just going to sit back and give tehm some time to process it all. I've said my piece about what I think they should do (call the authorities and have the owners pay the vet bill), so they kne my stance on this issue. Once things settle down a bit I will talk to them again.