Dog-on-dog violence

[Nishu]

What are your thoughts on it? How do you handle it?

We have a rock wall that lines the backyard of our backyards. It sits between my row of houses and the row behind us. The row behind us sits about 6 feet higher than ours. I guess you'd call that a retaining wall? Dogs and children sometimes climb this wall and it allows them to walk the length of the wall from yard to yard.

One of my neighbors had some visitors who brought dogs, and those two dogs hopped up onto this wall and came to my yard. I don't know who attacked who but it was my yard. My poor dog got a few wounds but nothing bad enough to warrant stitches. The owners came around the front of the house and apologized and offered to pay the vet bill. They had a checked dropped off shortly after I got back from the vet.

A friend of mine is telling me to report the dogs... not really sure who I'd report them too. I'm not really comfortable bringing it up because I know so many people will have such a strong reaction to what happened. Friend says that it's just as bad as attacking a kid. Problem is, my dog has attacked other dogs before so I do not feel as though I have room to talk. She's also never shown the tiniest amount of violence toward a human being, so I wouldn't assume that it means that these dogs would attack people. I'm not really sure that I'm going to be comfortable letting my kids play out there without making sure there's no dogs at the neighbor's house, though.

I know there's some of you that are more familiar with dogs than I am, so could you enlighten me? Is there a good go to policy on when we should be concerned or how to handle dogs who fight with other dogs?

[madhen]

It sounds like your neighbor's friends did the responsible thing and came to you with apologies and an offer to pay for any vet costs. I suspect they were just as surprised as you were that their dogs acted that way, and will take their own action to make sure their dogs don't do it again. If it were me, I'd let it drop unless I saw the same people there again and their dogs were not under control. As you say, you don't really know who started the fight, and it could be that the visitor's dogs came over just because they smelled/saw another dog - a totally normal dog thing to do - and your dog defended her property.

You would report your neighbor to animal control, if you decided to file a report, and most likely he/she would get a visit from an officer to have a report taken.

P.S. I would disagree with your friend's estimation that a dog attacking a dog is like a dog attacking a kid. As you say, your own dog has attacked other dogs but has never shown aggression toward humans. Dogs sometimes fight. That doesn't mean every dog who has ever been in a fight with another dog should be euthanized as a potential child killer.

[Nishu]

As you say, you don't really know who started the fight, and it could be that the visitor's dogs came over just because they smelled/saw another dog - a totally normal dog thing to do - and your dog defended her property.

So, it's normal then? That's what I'm really wanting to know. Is it okay for dogs to fight each other? I just kinda figured it was something that happened, but I notice that a lot of people tend to get ticked off about dogs who act violently toward other dogs.

My dog tried to eat some dogs that some poor guy was walking in front of my house one day. He was so pissed. I was really embarrassed. Does my dog need training? I'm trying to make sense of the varied responses that people have toward these types of situations. I'm not sharing this incident with people specifically because I don't want to deal with those who say I should report them or whatever. The truth is, all of the dogs we've owned have at some point been capable of violence toward other dogs.

Sometimes it seems like people are doing the same things to dogs that they are to kids: expecting an unreasonable level of conformity and good behavior and then chastising the owners/parents for screwups which are well within the range of normal. You know what I'm saying? Seriously, do you know? Because I"m not sure I'm getting it out properly.

[wanderlusting]

I agree with Madhen. They did the responsible thing and paid for the damages. I think dogs sometimes showing aggression towards other dogs is just a part of who they are.

I am assuming what might have happened was your dog realized there were other dogs near his property and barked to warn them to stay away. The other dogs probably saw this as a sign of aggression towards them. Then someone started the fight. This just shows how there can be miscommunication even in dog "language"!

If it were me, I'd leave it be. My dog has had slip-ups too. But looking back, he did those things because he thought he was protecting his family or property.

[Rhiamon]

I live in an apartment so I don't really have this problem, but I agree they did the responsible thing by offering to pay the vet bill.
My dog is dog aggressive and food aggressive. So I know he would never ever be allowed off leash except in my moms yard and she has a 8 foot tall privacy fence because of her dog. Which happens to be the only dog mine likes.
The owner may honestly not have realized how easy it would be for there dogs to jump the fence and come into your yard. I personally think that there is a big difference from dogs being dog aggressive then dogs being human aggressive.

[khaski]

Dog on dog aggression is NOT the same as dog on people aggression. I worked in a vet's office for years as a teen (kennel help), have owned dogs just about my whole life- and one of my dear friends this past 20 years is a pro. trainer and works closely w/ rottweiler rescue. There is no need to report them- it happened once, they were responsible about it, they don't even live near you, were just visiting. I am glad your dog was not seriously hurt!

[Spirit Deer]

You might think about putting up a fence to keep people and dogs out of your yard and your dog in.

As for dogs attacking each other, it happens. And sometimes it's hard to know what set them off. One of our huskies has the sweetest personality you could ever hope to find in a dog. She loves everyone, and everone loves her. But every once in a while, a dog she meets in a campground will set her off for no apparent reason. If your dog has not been aggressive to people I don't think you need to worry much about that, although any dog needs to be supervised around young children. You can never say never when it comes to any animal.

If your dog is aggressive to other dogs, training is always a good idea. Again, so is a good fence.

It sounds like you had an unpleasant experience but the outcome was as good as could be expected.

[frugalfranny]

You would report your neighbor to animal control, if you decided to file a report, and most likely he/she would get a visit from an officer to have a report taken.

And I think it should be reported..........just for the record. In case the same dog does something again. It entered YOUR yard.

That is all that will happen on the first time..........they get a visit.....paperwork done........on record.........done deal.

You don't know that this dog hasn't done this another time.

[low-1]

Our newest dog looks quite intimidating, but he's a big cupcake. That said, and I know quite a few people who's dogs are the exact same way, if he's restrained in any way, you would think that the world was coming to an end if there's another dog present (with the exception of our other two).

If I hold him back, if he's behind a door, if he's behind a fence, or if he's at the end of his "invisible fence", he sounds like he's ready to kill. When he is left unrestrained, he is one of the most outgoing playful pups you could imagine.

That makes it extremely difficult to introduce him to other dogs where the owner is nervous. Hold him back and he sounds like a freight train, or let him go and you have 50+ pounds of shepherd husky mix running full tilt with a big "dog smile" on his face.

He, as well as my other two dogs, have fought with other dogs on more than a handful of occasions. Our other big dog is very protective of our little dog, so if there's another dog rushing her, the big guy will get his rut up and pin the other dog down. Our little dog just has "little dog syndrome" and generally doesn't like other dogs, although she has her "friends".

So yeah, I'd say very normal. Especially if another dog enters your dog's "territory". I wouldn't be concerned about it turning to violence on children.

[Nishu]

The bite on my dog's back is oozing pus. I think it's infected and I'm going to have to call the vet in the morning. It looks really deep. I don't know why they decided not to suture it.

I have an address for the owners. Any advice on how to handle this? They already paid for the initial vet visit and I thought that's all we needed. Should I wait until after she's healed up and then send a letter and a copy of each of the bills?

[shellyrhds]

I would contact the owners of the dog and let them know that there may be more vet bills due to complications. Then i would send them the final tally. I have a 10 pound yorkie mix that is generally very sweet towards other dogs, but certain dogs just tick her off and she acts very aggressive with her barking and stance, regardless of the size of the other dog, LOL! Our town has a leash law and has laws in place regarding the type of enclosure you must keep your outdoor dog in if it's not an inside dog. I don't know whether your town does or not, but it might not hurt to look into it, just to save your own butt in case your dog attacks another dog. If there are laws in place, you are liable. I personally love the leash/outdoor laws for dogs. Without it, I would not be able to take my dog for a walk without larger dogs (pretty much ALL dogs are larger than mine) coming up to my dog. It keeps everyone safe and happy that way!

[krbshappy71]

Animal control in my area would not take a report from me for an incident because I did not witness it myself. I could not prove who attacked who in the situation. Just an fyi if you do decide to contact animal control that they may not even do a report. I ended up paying for all vet bills myself. I could go off about this but I don't want to get into all the details and in my case it was not on my personal property.

I would just like to say that I agree with madhen's posting and I personally would not pursue further but that's due to my own past experiences. I was impressed the people gave you money in the first place, perhaps they would be willing to split the bill with you?

I hope your dog recovers quickly. As far as dog-to-dog aggression, I also liken it to people. Some can grow up and love each other every single day and then just one day....something snaps. The same can happen with dogs. Whether strangers or littermates, stuff happens very quickly and once it does, look out.

[madhen]

So, it's normal then?

Dogs attacking other dogs isn't uncommon, but is typically a result of one or more undersocialized dogs. What is absolutely normal is one dog hopping over a low barrier to check out another dog. What happens then is a result of whether one or both dogs are not socialized properly. A dog who has a lot of experience with greeting other dogs will not immediately feel threatened and attack.

Without being in your yard, I can't say whether your dog was the aggressor or was just defending herself from an overtly aggressive dog. Based on your statement that your dog has attacked other dogs, if she did so without real provocation, I'd suspect she needs some socialization and training, basically more exposure to friendly and well-socialized dogs, so she can learn how to properly act around dogs who are not aggressive to her.

[Nishu]

Hannah's wound stopped oozing the next day, so I guess it just took a little bit for the antibiotic to start working. She's fine. Not sure what I'm going to do about my pup. She doesn't attack dogs that are just around, you know? I can walk her and she doesn't chase after dogs taht are around us. The ones she attacked were walking across our front yard so I'm not sure if that made a difference. =/