Hi all,

I had the worst morning today :(
I took my GSD for his usual morning walk in the woods and we were having a great time until we came across a jack russel, my dog went up to him to say hello and the lady the dog was with didnt mind so I let my dog carry on but as soon as my dog got with in a foot of this dog all hell broke loose. The jack russel growled and snapped and my dog started back, then next minute my dog had the jack russel by its leg, i managed to grab him and put him on the lead, he has never done anything like this before, he sees all different sorts of dogs every day and is fine normally (although no dog has growled at him like that before). I checked on the jack russel and apologised greatly to the lady and her son (who was terrefied) I gave them my number so they could send me the vets bill etc. Anyway it ended up with me going with this lady, her husband and dog to the vets so I could pay straight away. She was so understanding probably because I did all I could but I just feel awful! I have now ordered a muzzle for my dog as I dont think I can trust him and I dont want this to happen again :( . Have I done the right thing so far and do you think there is anything else I can do? I just want to make things right again :(

Zoe,

I feel for you.  It was an awful thing to happen.  But not really the dogs fault.  Lots of dogs run up to mine and I presume they're friendly if they're off the lead.  Mine is quite tolerant of other dogs but will growl or even snap if they bounce around him or get too close. I wonder how you know that the other owner 'didn't mind'.  I always smile sweetly but it does bug me.

That said, it seems you had no reason to think yours would show any aggression as he hadn't done it before so I'm sorry that it ended like this.  But good on ya.  You did the right thing.  I've known of similar situations when your attitude wasn't forthcoming and a friend of mine was left with a horrifically injured dog and a £300 bill.

You've done what you can about what happened.....now, over to the experts to advise you on muzzles.  :)

Thank you for that :)
I knew she didnt mind because she asked me if he was friendly and I said "yes" :( and normally when the owner "ums" and "ahs" or say "I dunno" or "I wouldnt like to risk it" then I call my dog and tell him to sit and wait but unfortunatly the worst happened today :(

Then you've done nothing wrong.  Dogs are unpredictable sometimes - like us.  You can't prepare for every eventuality or you'd never go out.  The best you can do is do the right thing when things go wrong and try to lessen the risk - which you're doing.  If I could give you a hug I would.

Joe

Who knows, it may well have been the JR that started it by a grumble and by body language, you had no reason to know your dog would react as it did and now you do you have taken action to see it does not happen again.

Zoe, I feel for you - is this coming off your pet insurance? As Joe said you did the responsible thing and will be forearmed in future. ((((((((()))))))))

Sometimes these things just happen and if you do muzzle your dog then no one can say that you don't take responsibility for your dog even though it may not have been your dog's fault.

 

If you are going to muzzle your dog please make sure that it is a "basket" type so that the dog can pant and drink if necessary.

Also you must inform your insurers of any aggressive incident involving your dog otherwise you are in danger of it becoming invalid.

I have to say I do not allow my dogs to interact with others unless I have prior permission of the owner and I am confident with both the dogs and the owners! 

Well like I said, the owner was fine with the two dogs meeting and yes he has a muzzle were he can pant etc