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Post by ripley on Jan 20, 2005 14:43:23 GMT -5
I've had it with my neighbors. Aside from one very nice family right next to us, the rest of them are as nasty as you could imagine. I went out this morning, to play frisbee with Dakota. I always play with him in our front yard, because the sand is softer there and a little bit easier on him if he jumps. Halfway through our game, I hear dog tags, and I see the neighbor's PACK of dogs running at me. A GSD, two rottweilers, a pit bull mix and a dalmatian. 4 of them stayed back, but the shepherd ran right up to Dakota and knocked him over, into our wall. It picked him up by the skin on his back and did its best to fling him around. Dakota ran behind me and this dog SNAPPED AT ME to get to him. So I'm yelling to the IDIOT owner who is across the street to call off his dogs, and he's just standing there whistling at them. The Rotts, the dal at the pit mix ran back to him, but the shepherd stayed and harrassed me and my dog.. The GSD caught Dakota again and tried to drag him by his foot (he bit off about 1/2 of Dakota's pad) and Dakota started screaming.. I thought the dog had broken his leg or something so I grabbed a rock and threw it at the dog. It hit him on the head (I didn't mean for that to happen) and he dropped Dakota and backed off, yellping.. Well this "owner" comes running up to me, and tells me that if I ever do that to his dog again, he'll sue me. He takes the big, snarling THING by its collar and drags it back home.. Dakota is okay, he was covered in dirt and after i cleaned him up he was pretty obviously bruised where the shepherd was biting him, but no blood anywhere besides his foot. I just really hope that this doesn't turn into a huge fear issue with other dogs. I've done my very best, trying to raise this dog. I've put a lot of work into raising him to be a stable, ideal dog, I don't want him ruined by something like this. What I wonder is, would this jerk have any right to sue me for defending my dog? Even if I killed his dog instead of just bopping it on the head with a rock, would he be able to do anything about it, because his dog ran from his house into my yard? OK, novel done..
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Post by Willow on Jan 20, 2005 15:01:58 GMT -5
He can try, and I don't know Az law, but in most places I don't think he would get very far, but you never know. A lot of judges are idiots too! This makes me sooooo angry! Poor Dakota! I hope this doesn't cause permanent mental scars too! Did you go over and talk to the owner's of the GSD? I would try, but usually people who react like this guy did are too stupid to reason with. I would go over and calmly explain what happened and if he gets nasty tell him his dog was in your yard and your dog was attacked and hurt by his dog and if Dakota has permanent damage from this, you will sue him! I hope you knocked some sense into the GSD. Too bad it wasn't the owner that was hit.
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Post by ripley on Jan 20, 2005 19:26:58 GMT -5
That's what worries me, that a judge might take his side.. And I wouldn't put it past this man to press charges if I even touch his 'sweet, loving dog' again.. He's as insane as his dog, if not more so. I wanted to talk to him earlier, but the Shepherd was loose and I'm in no mood to get bit. If it's that aggressive outside its territory, then I can only imagine what it's like when there's an intruder in its own 'turf'. I have a feeling it would be an effort in futility, anyway. If this guy is as arrogant and rude as he seemed this morning, there will be no reasoning with him. Would it do Dakota any good to get him around other gentle, friendly dogs today? Would it be good for him to see immediately that not all other dogs are going to attack him, or could it just make his fear worse?
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Post by Richard on Jan 20, 2005 19:53:52 GMT -5
Re being sued.....No, unless the judge is a complete idiot, if you take pictures of the injuries, have a vet sign a deposition to the injuries inflicted, the jerk with the GSD doesn't have a chance.
Sorry RG, he was just blowin' smoke up your backside...he probably saw you were a young woman and figured he could bluff his way through his dogs stupidity and assault on your dog.
Further, you were on your FRONT LAWN, on your property when this aggressive GSD (and this really hurts to say this cuz you know how I feel about GSD's) came over and attacked Dakota. How will that look in court? How will the jerk owner explain his dogs running loose on the street and then coming on your property and attacking your dog?
You did the right thing by protecting your dog. I or anyone else on this board who cares about thier dog would of done the same thing or more, if it was required. The fact that the GSD is owned by a jerk shouldn't keep you from doing what you need to do if it happens again.
Just keep doing what you're doing with Dakota..you need to assure him that you've got things under control...he'll take his cues from you when you're out and about....he may not want to go near GSD's (understandable) but as for other dogs, I would just take each encounter as they come and not put him or you into a position where you don't have options to handle it.
And as for the jerk and the GSD, I'd call the local animal folks and put a complaint in on him and the wandering dogs he lets loose on the street. If they refuse, call the police or go there and if that doens't work, send a letter to the local paper. There is a level of accountabilty that we have as dog owners whether you have 1 or 6. If someone thinks the rules or common courtesy doens't apply to them, then they will eventually face the reality of what thier ignorance can cause.
Sorry, this crap pi$$es me off when people blame others for thier stupidity..
-Richard
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Post by sibemom on Jan 20, 2005 19:59:15 GMT -5
RG you need to get him around some good stable dogs ASAP. As you read I am sure in many of my posts Blade and I were attacked many times, and still he was very social with other dogs. Alot of that was because of his breed, but also because I just kept him around as many dogs as I could by going to OB class or neighbors of mine (not many ) who had good freindly dogs. Make nothing of this and even if Dakota acts afraid at first just act matter of fact about the whole thing. Do you guys have leash laws there, or any kind of Animal Control? I would file a report because here anyway if a dog comes on to your property and threatens you, your family or your dog, THE LAW STATES YOU MAY USE DEADLY FORCE TO PROTECT. I know that does not mean a stupid JUDGE would not try to bend it but that is what the law is here. Don't feel bad about hitting that dog in the head but next hopefully there won't be I would aim for the owner Glad that Dakota is not badly hurt but I would still file a report on this guy before his dogs hurt someone very badly.
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Post by Kona on Jan 21, 2005 4:32:26 GMT -5
Grrrr . . . I can't tell you how angry this makes me. I'm so sorry for you and Dakota. The world has so many crappy people in it.
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BeTrue
Trained
Banned
Posts: 217
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Post by BeTrue on Jan 21, 2005 13:22:04 GMT -5
I'm so sorry this had to happen. People like that shouldn't be allowed to have pets at all.
I don't see how this man could sue you...whats he going to say "I want to sue this girl because she hit my dog in the head when my dog was attacking her dog in HER yard"? That wouldn't go very far, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
My lab was attacked by a german shepherd when he was a pup as well. He always had a certain fear around german shepherds, no matter how gentle and relaxed they were. He did make friends with a black shepherd, but that was it. Otherwise, he was still great with every other dog breed we ever met up with. If you know of any gentle shepherds that are laid back and will let Ripley approach on his own, it might be a good idea to make a slow introduction and let Ripley make his own moves.
I hope everythings okay with Ripley, and I'm glad he wasn't too seriously hurt...{{{{hugs}}}}
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Post by ripley on Jan 21, 2005 14:59:08 GMT -5
Thanks everyone. I've cooled off finally, even though I'd still like to throw the rock at the owner instead. (Whether or not he deserved it I do feel bad about hitting that dog, I didn't want to hurt him.. I would like to hurt his owner, though..)
As of now I'm dropping this. I haven't told my parents the truth about this and I don't plan to, because I don't want them to think that it's dangerous for me to walk my dog, with all the 'killer dogs' around.. (Sounds silly, I know, but I suppose you have to know my parents) And I also don't want them to get involved in this. They don't know what happened and they always seem to misinterpret what I say, and they won't let me correct them.. It always turns into a fight and I'd like to avoid that. I just want to drop this and get Dakota's pad healed and his confidence back up. Maybe when I'm not going to explode by talking to him, I will approach the shepherd's owner.
As for getting him around other dogs.. Last night I called a friend of the trainer I assist.. She has 3 lovely GSDs that compete in obedience, 2 of which are therapy dogs.. She's stopping by with 2 of her dogs (one is in season) so Dakota can be around some good-natured GSDs.. I've already taken him out and he seems ok with Rocky, the dog I've been working with.. He's not as gung-ho as he was before, but he's not fearful.. I hope the experiences he has with Leila's GSDs can sort of cross out this one.
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Post by Rowan on Jan 22, 2005 0:27:59 GMT -5
am so sorry for your experience.. Am glad Dakota is handling it in stride.. I would take a picture and documentate the inciodent (Date ect...) even if you just keep it too your self. As good as an owner you are, dogs and owners like them you can not always be prepared for, it's not in your control for it not to happen again when you not expecting it. "which is sad" but true. As far as sueing you am sure he could do the paper work but I don't see how he could win he is clearly in the wrong with his dogs on your property. he should be more fearful you would sue him. so typical butt head owner with a butt head dog poor dog..
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Post by ripley on Mar 2, 2005 21:08:29 GMT -5
Well, thought I would update you guys on this... Several days ago, Dakota was nearly attacked by this dog again, this time it jumped over our fence to get to him while he was playing in the yard. I saw the whole thing. Dakota, my little genius, jumped into the pool in an attempt to get away, and it worked Long story short, I had a friend there with me (my parents have been out of town for 2 weeks) and in an attempt to get the dog away from me, my friend was bitten several times on the arm. It was nothing serious, just a few bruises, and of course the MORON owner said that it was all my friend's fault for touching his dog. Today, I talked to the neighbor's girlfriend, and found out that the dog was PTS after it attacked her and put a few very large holes in her arm and leg. I have to say I'm relieved, I can let my dog out off-lead now and not worry constantly about him being pounced on by that dog, but it's also sad... I love GSDs, and I hate to see what bad breeding can do to such a typically noble, stable breed. This poor dog was a mess, he's probably much happier now. I just hope that my arrogant neighbor never owns another dog..
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Post by ladyarya on Mar 2, 2005 21:43:37 GMT -5
I just hope that my arrogant neighbor never owns another dog.. That's one of the saddest parts of dog attacks. Bruises hurt, but they can heal. But it's always owners like this who will get another dog after they have learned nothing from the one they had to put down leading to a long line of future attackers. While I certainly feel bad for you, your friend and your dogs, I also feel bad for the dog that did the attacking. Not his fault his $%^%&$ owner didn't teach him better manners.... And really, what's up with this guy? I know if one of my dogs attacked someone I would fully expect the person to defend themselves by any means necessary. Yeah, I would hate to see one of them hit with a rock, but if that's what the person had to do, then that's what they had to do. While I wouldn't wish it on anyone, maybe one day his dogs will turn on him and he'll learn his lesson.
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