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- Aug 12, 2005
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- 19,501
Mandarine, I just got a chance to read through this entire thread and I am SO sorry this has happened to you! I really wish you the best of luck with your health and whatever happens going forward with the whole situation.
I am really in awe of the fact that some dog owners can be as ignorant and complacent as the owners of the dog who bit you sound. It just astounds me that people can be so irresponsible and not take the necessary precautions to ensure that this type of thing won''t happen. I actually have a neighbor who is in his 70''s who owns a female rottweiler and walks her about 6 times a day around our neighborhood with NO leash! He carries the leash but doesn''t attach it to her.
He has told my DH and I over the past 3 years that he has actually been stopped by the police before and ticketed for not having her on a leash, yet he still refuses to leash her...he just carries it "in case" he gets stopped again. She seems to be a nice dog, but loves to "mark" our front yard by rubbing her butt on our grass and peeing on it each time he walks her by our house, which is obviously territorial behavior...we have two beagles now which are only ever outside in our completely fenced in backyard, but the dogs have met on the street and our oldest male beagle tends to want to "hump" the rottweiler, so there is apparently some sort of dominant/aggressive behavior going on with those two. The rott''s owner also allows her to lie on their front porch unleashed for hours at a time. She is not enclosed, and not supervised...I have often wondered when or if she will decide she doesn''t like someone and attack them--hopefully it isn''t me or my dogs because we walk past her occasionally.
As far as breeds/aggressive traits...as I said above, we have beagles. The oldest is a 30 lb. neutered 3.5 yr. old male. I took him to 16 weeks of obedience training, and he actually bit the instructor (who is touted in our city as a "dog whisperer.")
The instructor decided during one session of training that Milo needed to be put in his place and proceeded to grab him by the scruff (as you will see Cesar Milan do on the Dog Whisperer t.v. show) and hold him down. Milo wrestled away from his hold and immediately bit his hand, drawing blood. We were not kicked out of the class, but after that everyone in the class was terrified of Milo! It was an awful feeling, but there were a lot of factors which led up to the actual bite/attack, and next thing I knew I had this seemingly sweet, well-mannered dog who was now a "biter."
That was 2.5 years ago. Since then, Milo has never been off-leash or pinch collar in public, never around children, never left alone/unsupervised with other dogs no matter what size, etc. Dh and I do not have children yet, but I can tell you after that ONE incident, even though it seemed to be not his fault, that I will never, ever, EVER allow my dog to be unsupervised with strangers, children, or my older in-laws or parents. I consider myself and DH totally responsible for whatever might happen and would feel terrible if anything like that ever happened again, and we now understand that no matter what the dog has to be under constant supervision and leashed and collared at all times when he isn''t contained in the secured backyard. He showed one time that he could not be trusted not to bite, and I will do all I possibly can to control situations so that it doesn''t happen in the future. As a child, I was bitten in the face by a Westie (sorry Mara and all the other wonderful PS Westie owners--I still love that breed!) while playing with the owner''s daughter, and thankfully have no scars but I know the damage even a small dog can inflict on a human. That is why I really take the utmost precautionary measures now to make sure my own dogs never get the chance to attack anyone. No matter what size dog you have, as an owner you HAVE to assume responsibility and cover your a*s.
Our 70 yr. old neighbor walking a Rottweiler with no leash is absolutely nuts. There are a ton of small children/teenagers, etc. in our neighborhood, not to mention other older people who walk their small dogs daily...I can''t believe no one has formally complained about him. The thing is that he is super nice, checks in on all of us, knows when we go on vacations/travel, etc. and watches out for our homes, so I suppose none of us want to make an enemy of him. Plus the rott has never caused a problem but who''s to say she won''t...this thread has got me wondering if something needs to be said now. Yeesh.
Anyway, sorry for the super long post. Mandarine, take it easy...you''ve been through a lot! You sound like you have a great attitude and that will carry you through this ordeal. Don''t settle for less than what you deserve, and you deserve the best treatment/ongoing care possible. Oh, and as far as the rott jumping on the window barking at you: that should not happen! The owners again are being totally irresponsible and letting the aggressive behavior continue! Our dogs are NOT allowed to bark at anything walking past the house, whether it is dogs, people, the mailman, etc. We don''t use them as a "security guard." That''s what our ADT system is for!
I am really in awe of the fact that some dog owners can be as ignorant and complacent as the owners of the dog who bit you sound. It just astounds me that people can be so irresponsible and not take the necessary precautions to ensure that this type of thing won''t happen. I actually have a neighbor who is in his 70''s who owns a female rottweiler and walks her about 6 times a day around our neighborhood with NO leash! He carries the leash but doesn''t attach it to her.
As far as breeds/aggressive traits...as I said above, we have beagles. The oldest is a 30 lb. neutered 3.5 yr. old male. I took him to 16 weeks of obedience training, and he actually bit the instructor (who is touted in our city as a "dog whisperer.")
Our 70 yr. old neighbor walking a Rottweiler with no leash is absolutely nuts. There are a ton of small children/teenagers, etc. in our neighborhood, not to mention other older people who walk their small dogs daily...I can''t believe no one has formally complained about him. The thing is that he is super nice, checks in on all of us, knows when we go on vacations/travel, etc. and watches out for our homes, so I suppose none of us want to make an enemy of him. Plus the rott has never caused a problem but who''s to say she won''t...this thread has got me wondering if something needs to be said now. Yeesh.
Anyway, sorry for the super long post. Mandarine, take it easy...you''ve been through a lot! You sound like you have a great attitude and that will carry you through this ordeal. Don''t settle for less than what you deserve, and you deserve the best treatment/ongoing care possible. Oh, and as far as the rott jumping on the window barking at you: that should not happen! The owners again are being totally irresponsible and letting the aggressive behavior continue! Our dogs are NOT allowed to bark at anything walking past the house, whether it is dogs, people, the mailman, etc. We don''t use them as a "security guard." That''s what our ADT system is for!
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