A hypothetical situation

I know Sequoia, she is not fond of most other dogs but she feels smaller animals including dogs are prey. We work VERY hard at keeping her under control at all times. When we take her to dog events we keep her on a very short leash close to us. However, many dog owners don't do the same thing. Especially owners of smaller dogs. They feel it is perfectly all right to allow their dog to wander along on an extended leash or completely off leash. I am ALWAYS saying to owners of small dogs to please not allow them to get near Sequoia.

Hypothetically speaking, if I am walking her on the street somewhere and some small dog comes racing out of a yard or house and runs up to her to attack or just to say hello and Sequoia manages to grab hold of the dog and injure it...who is at fault? Sequoia, us, the small dog or the owner of the small dog? My dog is on leash and under control but the small dog is not.

I ask this because a friend of mine was walking her Ibezhan Hound down the street and this Boston Terrier comes racing out of the house and attacks my friends dog "Tesh". Tesh was injured not by the Boston biting it but because she is so timid she leaped in the air to get away and came down wrong and twisted her back and bruised her side. The owner of the Boston took her time coming out because she was on her cell phone. IF this had happened with Sequoia the Boston might have been killed or at the least severly injured.

I was just curious to hear others opinions on this type of situation.

Denyce

I think the Boston owner was "in the wrong".
Her dog should not have been unsupervised and off leash.
This is coming from a Boston owner.

Where I live we have "leash laws", which means its against the law for a dog to be on public streets without a leash. You might want to check that where you live.

One of our dogs is dog agressive with certain dogs, so we don't take her to public events anymore, nor do we go to dog parks. I feel its too risky, and don't want to risk injury to my dog or any other.

I've been dealing with the same situation almost everyday. MAXIMUS is always on leash. He doesn't appreciate other dogs, big or small, getting near me. It freaks me out every time a little dog comes running towards us. He could very well hurt them, severely. I always have to yell at them to 'go home' or 'go away.'
I thought of a spray bottle of water. But, I don't want to have to get that close. Maybe a water gun? MAXIMUS has been doing so well ignoring other dogs on our walks. But, what is he to do when they come at him?

Oh we have a leash law and it is my opinion that the Boston's owner was negligent. In that situation it turned out ok for the Boston because of the type of dog Tesh is. However, if it had happened with Sequoia and she got ahold of the dog and injured it would people still feel the same way or would there be backlash against Sequoia for obeying her instinct and being who she is.

We don't even think about taking Sequoia to a dog park. That is totally out of the question. However, I do feel we can take her to dog events such as our local Dog Ice Cream Socials where all dogs are to be on leash and no nose to nose contact at all. I am amazed by how many dog owners don't pay attention to those rules.

You may want to look into the dog control laws in your area.

If there are leash laws, the dog off lead is automatcally at fault.
Sometimes the leash law may not be affective as long as the dog is in their own yard.

If there are no leash laws and it happens on the dogs property (your dogs leash is long enough for your dog to be in the other dogs yard, even just a few inches, like on the grass) your dog is aat fault.

If there are no leash laws & it happens on neither dogs territory than I'm not sure. It would probably be taken to court where I hope the judge would see that your dog would be in favor because of the leash.

This actually happened in the big city near where I live. A woman was walking her big dog (don't remember what kind) on a leash and a little dog (I think it was a Terrier of some sort) ran across the street to greet it. The big dog took the Terrier by the neck and shook it - killing it. The Terrier was owned by a little girl who witnessed the whole incident. She was in shock and was very upset. The woman walking the big dog was also upset. People in the neighborhood started to write to the local paper saying that the woman's big dog had been trouble in the neighborhood and she should have to get rid of it and they didn't feel safe with "that kind of dog" in the area. In the end, she was able to keep her big dog. It was on the leash like it was required by law. The little dog should have been controlled by the little girl (or an adult should have been in control of the little dog). It was an awful incident and it was just sad for both parties. But in the end, it was the little dogs fault.

Being the owner of a little dog myself, Fenway is ALWAYS on a leash (except at the dog park and the ball field). When I walk him around this pond (in the big city), there are signs EVERYWHERE that says dogs must be leashed. What do I see? Unleashed dogs! Luckily, they've been friendly or aloof. But I carry Muzzle Mace in case anything should happen.

I live in a small town and really don't know about leash laws there. There are 2 other dogs in the neighborhood (both small terriers like Fenway). But now you got me thinking, if anything happened at the ball field, it would be my fault for not having Fenway leashed.

Tough, tough question, Denyce, because while I can see your point about this particular situation, knowing your dog's attitude is a huge amount of the issue. I'm speaking of Sequoia in particular. I don't think I would ever throw her into a situation where she was confronted with something like this. I have to do the same thing with our own, Honey. Around other dogs, she is fine, but it is people, especially men and young children that concern me. Honey is a Golden Retriever, but that is the attittude that I have had to take with her. I don't ever want to be put in a situation where she might get out of control, therefore we are very selective about where she goes and when she goes.

Logan

I agree also about being particular about where we take her. We no longer walk her on our street because we have so many neighbors that feel that because we live in the country they can leave their dog off leash even though the leash laws apply here also. We have had one neighbor fined because he won't keep his dog confined. It cost him 250 dollars.

However, it also isn't fair to her or to us not to be able to take her for a walk in a local park ON LEASH, or down a friend's neighborhood street, once again ON LEASH because of other irresponsible dog owners.

Really we haven't had a problem with her because we are very cautious. However, after a year of living with her I know that if the scenerio occured that I described I can pretty much predict the outcome. It did occur with a friend of mine. The owner of the Boston was very lucky that Tesh is such a submissive, timid dog.

I was also making a point in relation to another thread about praying for a poodle that was attacked by a husky. I think we should all pray for the health of the poodle. Having your dog injured no matter the circumstance just sucks. However, I was seeing some threads starting to blame the husky. I think without knowing the whole situation there shouldn't be blame involved at all. And knowing the breed characteristics of both poodles and huskies they were probably being themselves. Sometimes it is just a sad situation.

I just thought this might be a good discussion and would bring up some interesting points that we all should think about and many of us do. So far it has been a great discussion.

Denyce