My labrador was involved in a dog fight with an otterhound this morning.   The dogs bumped into me and as a result I was bitten on the leg by the otterhound and even though I was wearing thick jeans, the dog's teeth grazed and bruised my leg and I needed a tetanus injection.  I think the dog biting me might have been an accident as they bumped into me but was really concerned at the aggression shown by the otterhound.   I am not sure if he had been castrated or not.  I was wondering if I should suggest to the owner that her dog was too aggressive the next time I see her or just make sure that they don't ever have a chance to come into close contact again.  My lab is very playful and may have irritated the otterhound by wanting to play but I would have thought that the otterhound would have made it clear that he wasn't interested at the beginning and not half way through a playfight.  any suggestions would be welcome as my lab is only 14 months so we are still learning. 

Were both dogs offlead or on lead? Does your dog come back when called? It might help to understand exactly what happened if you can answer those questions :)

Both dogs were off lead and my dog does come back when called but may take longer if he is enjoying himself

I have answered this post on the visitors question forum where you originally posted it.

What do you mean by "aggression"?

Why is castration an issue?

There is a difference between "not interested" in playing and "no longer" interested in playing.

And as I said in my original post what would have been your viewpoint if the positions had been reversed?

Maybe the otterhound owner " was really concerned at the aggression shown by the labrador" ?. 

"my dog does come back when called but may take longer if he is enjoying himself"  ...........that is not coming back when called!

If you do not have total control over your own dog is it reasonable to expect more of others?

Just curious.

As I said in my original reply, one cannot make a reasoned judgement through the ether, we were not there and one person's "aggression" is another's "frustration, boisterousness" etc depends on a lot of things, your experience with dogs, normal male interplay etc etc etc

Otterhounds are not exactly top of the list when it comes to "aggression"

I did see your reply on the visitor's section but had trouble logging in this morning.  Thank you for your reply. I should be able to discuss this issue over the coming weeks with fellow dogs walkers but have to say that I was shocked and the bite was hurting this morning and wondered if anybody had been a similar position and could offer advice?

Otterhounds are generally good with other dogs because they are bred for pack-work, and, if correctly socialised will be tolerant. The ones I've met tend to have a 'mature' attitude to life, and don't necessarily appreciate over-boisterousness. The best advice I can give is to avoid walking in that particular area until your boy's recall is better and you can call him back to you when you see the otterhound in the distance.

I sym[pathise with the bite - they do hurt, and so does the tetanus jab! But it's one of the downsides of owning dogs, I'm afraid. Scraps happen, and many people (myself included) have been bitten trying to stop them. We live and learn!

Sorry to be blunt but people do get bitten in dog fights and it is very rarely intentional.  If an Otter hound MEANT to bite you, I would doubt your leg would now be much use to you, they are huge and have VERY powerful jaws. I would put it down to experience and accept it for what it was, an accident.  Hope your legs heals quickly.
Dawn.

All dogs will show aggression if they feel they need to, some more than others. THis was just an unfortunate incident, dogs do get into arguments time to time. However people are not so adept at reading dog language, so this seemingly 'sudden' attack may have been caused by your dog giving off aggressive body language or by accidently hurting the otterhound. I wouldn't neccesarily say the dog is very aggressive. My dogs have only ever had two aggressive incidents with each other, they were because my retriever got carried away and bit too hard, causing my other dog to tell her off. If i had been to close it is likely that i may have been caught in the crossfire, but as neither dog were hurt i couldn't say that they were extremely aggressive.

I have mentioned castration as my dog trainer (APDT qualified) told me that this sort of thing was less likely to happen if my dog was castrated.

The wound on my leg shows that the otterhound put his jaw round my thigh and I was very fortunate to be wearing thick trousers otherwise the skin would have been punctured, as it is it is very bruised and sore with two teeth grazes.  That is what I mean by aggression.

I would have been very worried if the situations had been reversed although I can see from the comments made on this site that it is likely that this was an unfortunate accident.

I agree that I should work harder at recall as there was an incident the other day with a lady leading a horse when my boy did not come when called.  I have dealt with this before by using his favourite game of chasing a tennis ball and it works for most situations but not all.

I am not laying the blame entirely with the otterhound as I have been watching my dog more closely and I think he may not be his normal self this week, has had runny eyes.

A dog that I owned once bit me very badly on the arm; however...........

this was because an out of control dog came towards the car whilst I was loading up my bitch and dog;  my arm was bitten because it got in the way (as I was trying to close the cage door to prevent injury to both my dog and the "intruder") .............. my dog was not "aggressive" per se, or having a go at me, but was doing what came naturally to him, in that context.

Castrated dogs can be just as "aggressive" as entire males...........................

With regard to your leg being particularly painful, I had a similar experince, but not with a dog. I was walking along a road when a large moggy type cat sprang at me wrapping itself around my leg and started biting for all it was worth. The bites went nasty as usually happens with cat bites. I had to have a tetanus injection and as you have found the area around the bites felt a lot worse afterwards. Within 48 hours my arm and shoulder then became swollen and painful, this lasted approximately six months! My doctor told me it was because I had reacted badly to the tetanus shot.

Hi,

Is it possible to say that 2 males dogs just may not get on whether entire or not?

Both dogs could still have excellent temperaments around other dogs,children adults etc ?

I have seen 2 young adults both been seen to have a go at each other for no reason it would appear and yet normally they great with other dogs and people.

Briony

dogs can have personality conflicts, just like us :D