Tell me I did this right...

[Ginger's Mom]

You did the right thing in presenting them with the bill. Since you said you had a good relationship with them I may have done it in person rather than by letter, but the fact that I am older has a lot to do with that (I don't think you should have). However, they should be responsible for the costs associated with the injury caused by their dog. Taz went after a friend's dog while we were talking about a month ago, and I offered to accompany her to the vet or pay the bill (just a little puncture under the eye-she said she would take care of it herself, no vet). They probably didn't realize that Giselle was actually injured at the time. I hope Giselle is feeling better.

[chocolatepuppy]

Did the neighbor inquire as to if Giselle was okay the day of the attack? They should have. Then you wouldn't be wondering if you did the right thing. Even if they are nice people and this is the first time their dog was loose and maybe by accident, it doesn't matter, they are responsible for what their dog did, just as any of us here would be.
I hope Giselle is doing ok.

[Freedom]

How frightening! I think you did fine focusing on your reactive dog. Poor Giselle, glad it isn't serious.

And I agree with you following up with the neighbors. I think Ginger's Mom said it well.

[moosmom]

Your neighbors should consider themselves very lucky that you are ony asking them to pay the vet costs. You did the right thing.

[Taz_Zoee]

OH my gosh, Sophie. I got tears in my eyes reading this. I cannot imagine going through that. How scary!
But I agree, you did the right thing. Unless you feel like you, along with one of your parents, could go follow up on the letter, you might just have to realize they won't pay what you requested. It would be great if they did, but you never know. I also hope it doesn't cause uncomfortableness (Is that even a word? LOL) between you now.

Poor Giselle, I hope she is feeling better soon!! Give her hugs and kisses for me please.

[Spiritwind]

I agree with everyone else. I would hope the owners of the dog would step up and pay the bills without any issues... I don't think you did anything wrong!

I had something similar happen what about 13yrs ago... I was walking my first Collie, who was barely a year old... we were walking around the high school football stadium when this guy with a Golden showed up with his dog off leash.. he was on the complete opposite side of the stadium but his dog saw mine and came charging around after us. The owner of the Golden did nothing more than walk around to get to his dog, he was in no hurry... of course by the time he got to his dog, his dog had already jumped on mine (I was 12-13yrs old at the time) and knocked him down a few steps, and though I didn't know it at the time, my dog had got bitten a couple times on the hock. I couldn't break it up myself, plus my dog wouldn't let the golden near me, he kept himself between me and the other dog.... by the time the owner got there the dog stopped attacking mine... the goldens owner asked if I was ok, didn't ask about my dog... and said his dog just wanted to play.. leashed him up and left...

As I was walking home I noticed blood running down my dogs back leg... vets were closed so we took him the next morning... it was nothing major but he was sore for a few days and limped around for a few days.

I didn't know who the Golden's owner was though... but by talking to a few other people in the general area, who have had similar issues with a Golden going after their dogs, we got the name of the possible owner and tracked him down so he could pay vet bills... took a couple weeks to finally talk to the guy but he paid the bills...