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.