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Thread: Rottweiler Attack - Advice Needed

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  1. #1

    Rottweiler Attack - Advice Needed

    Today, my three oldest children were walking our new family puppy, a five month old male Maltipoo (Maltese / Poodle mix). During their walk a few blocks away, they encountered a Rottweiler that had escaped it's enclosure. The Rottweiler attacked the puppy by viciously picking him up and shaking him violently. The Rottweiler's owner came to the rescue by calling off his dog, removing our puppy from it's mouth and restraining his dog. My oldest child was able to pick up our puppy and carry him home, completely terrified and emotionally devestated from the whole ordeal. As our child and dog were getting back to our yard, the Rottweiler's owner drove up and apologized, saying that his dog escaped while he was in the process of mending the fence. He said that he didn't train his dog to be vicious, and has no plans to keep it if this behaviour continues. He expressed genuine concern for our puppy and promised to keep his dog under control. He literally had blood on his hands from our puppy.

    We took our puppy to the nearest vet clinic (after hours, emergency), approximately 40 minutes away. The vet's office x-rayed him and found no broken bones. However, the vet did find that our puppy has two puncture wounds from where he was attacked, one in the shoulder and one in the belly. The wounded areas were shaven so that we could better care for the wounds by swabbing them with hydrogen peroxide. He was also sent home with a dropper-style antibiotic and a recommendation that we administer a mixture of (30mg) chewable children's asprin and (30mg) chewable children's Tylenol. The vet warned that it's possible that our puppy may have permanent nerve damage from the attack, but it is still too early to tell. The puppy seems to be in alot of pain and is dragging one of his front legs. We were told to expect that he will be sore for the next week or so.

    My questions are: My first instinct would be to call Animal Control to have them deal with the Rottweiler and it's owner. I certainly don't want to see anyone (or anything) be hurt by this Rottweiler again. I'm reluctant to make this call because I don't want the Rottweiler's owner to have any hard feelings towards us. He DID come to our home immediately to introduce himself and try to make amends for his dog's actions. How would you recommend that I handle this issue?

    The vet's office didn't tell us how much today's treatment will cost, but agreed to bill us for the services instead of requiring payment today. I can imagine that it will be expensive, since it was after hours and involved much more care than a typical checkup. Should the owner of the Rottweiler be asked to either help us with the bill, or cover it entirely since their negligence caused it?

    Would a large breed such as a Rottweiler see a smaller breed such as our Maltipoo as an easy kill? Should I expect that attacks like this are probable in the future due to this large size difference between our dog and the majority of dog breeds?

    Thanks for any advice you can give.

  2. #2
    If the owner of the rottie agrees to pay for damages, I wouldn't get animal control involved. If he balks at paying damages, however, I would definitely call them.

    I wouldn't see this as the rottie seeing your dog as prey, some dogs just don't like other dogs for various reasons.

  3. #3
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    I'm very sorry to hear about your pup . Small dogs often do trigger the prey drive (to chase and harm smaller animals) in larger dogs, especially if they aren't around smaller dogs much. I wouldn't doubt if that's what happened in this case, eventhough Rotties usually are friendly towards all animals.

    If the owner agrees to pay for damages and accept responsibility for what his dog did, then no, I wouldn't invlove animal control. If he isn't willing to though, I'd definitely involve animal control. I wouldn't make him pay for the entire bill, but most would. I think it's entirely up to you.

    I have a small dog (along with 3 larger ones - a Rottie, a Dobe, and a retriever mix) and have only ever had two dogs come after her while out for a walk. Both weren't used to small dogs, and she triggered their prey drive. I wouldn't expect it to happen often.

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  4. #4
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    From what you said, the guy seemed very concerned about what his dog did toy your puppy and I really don't see a need to call animal control. If he refuses to have anything to do with the problem get them involved, definatley. If it happens a second time with the same dog I think maybe you'll need to call them then.

    No, you shouldn't expect attacks like this in the future. It could have been the prey drive or the dog could have been "Dog aggressive". This means they hate other dogs and will attack them if the had the chance to. Maybe that is what the Rottieweiler is. I have a Maltese(who you can see in my avatar.) and she is always the one trying to attack other dogs. But the point is DO NOT expect other attacks to happen.

    I'm so sorry to hear about your poor puppy. She must have been terrified! I hope her wounds heal okay.

  5. #5
    I had a similar situation happen to me about 2 months ago, except it is my neighbors dog. We got animal control involved from the beginning (we had previous problems with his dog getting in our yard, and they met us at the vet clinic). It scared him enough that he now keeps his dog completely contained, and he paid the vet bill (it was about $200 without xrays, but the puppy did have puncture wounds). In all honesty, mistakes do happen. Hopefully he learned, but you may want to at least report the incident with animal control, but decline to press charges or anything.

  6. #6
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    I think you should ask the man if he'd pay all of the vet bill, as it was his negligence with his dog that caused the problem in the first place. If he refuses then I'd contact animal control.

    What I'm kinda wondering about is your vets choice to prescribe Tylenol for your dog in conjunction with Asprin. Asprin I understand, but the Tylenol has me baffled.

    Either way I hope your doggie is feeling better soon and has no permenant damage from this horrible incident, your children as well.

    RIP Dusty July 2 2007 RIP Sabrina June 16 2011 RIP Jack July 2 2013 RIP Bear July 5 2016 RIP Pooky June 23 2018. RIP Josh July 6 2019 RIP Cami January 6 2022

  7. #7
    Thank you for all of your replies and concerns.

    To answer all of your questions:
    Our puppy's name is Casper. (The vet told us that he is 7lbs. He will be full grown at around 8lbs.) His condition is pretty much the same today. As expected, his shoulder seems very tender. He was on a leash during the walk. I don't know why the doctor prescribed children's Tylenol. He did recommend that we alternate it with the children's Asprin however. Both were prescribed to help minimize his discomfort. According to the vet, both would be easier on his stomach than anything that he could prescribe for animals.

    I'll update this post as things develop. Thanks again!

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy! I'm so relieved he/she wasn't killed!

    I would definitely expect the Rottie's owner to pay half or the WHOLE bill for the vet costs. I would also suggest he take his Rottie to a behiavourlist and be assessed and have an issue like this dealt with.


    "Did you ever notice when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you?
    But when you take him in a car he sticks his head out the window." -- Steve Bluestone

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    First off, I'm very sorry to hear about your puppy. What is his name? I hope that he will recover from his wounds and be ok.

    Was your puppy on a leash? In my opinion if the rottweiler was loose like that the owner should be completely responsible to pay all of the vet bills for your pup. If he's not willing you will have to check what your local laws are in situations like this.

    I've walked my dog many many times and had loose dogs come up growling/barking at him and it makes me very angry. If my dog was attacked while on a leashed walk I would most certainly be trying to get the owner of the loose dog to pay for the vet bills. It sounds like the rottie's owner is concerned and it was an accident, I hope that he'll be willing to help you pay for your pups vet visits.

    After your pup recovers make sure you take him to some puppy classes/play sessions with friends or family dogs (that you know are dog friendly) to introduce him to friendly dogs so he doesn't have a fear of other dogs for the rest of his life.

  10. #10
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    I'm sorry this happened to your pup. I hope your pup has a speedy recovery!
    The owner of the Rotti seems like a very responsible guy and he sounded like he cared about the situation. I think he should pay for the vet bills since it was his dog. My RB Dalmatian was dog aggressive and she attacked our neighbors dog and we payed to the neighbors dogs stitches and vet bills, since it was our fault.

    Would a large breed such as a Rottweiler see a smaller breed such as our Maltipoo as an easy kill? Should I expect that attacks like this are probable in the future due to this large size difference between our dog and the majority of dog breeds?
    Depends on the breed and the dog. Some breeds have a high prey drive and will go after small dogs. My Kodie is a Rottweiler mix and is so friendly with other dogs of any size. Most of his buddies are small breeds like yours. Don't automatically assume that every large dog will attack your pup. Accidents do happen.
    Last edited by sammy101; 09-29-2006 at 10:40 PM.

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