Rottie attacked by unleashed dog, yet is blamed?

[IceKaya]

In my opinioun the little dogs owners are sure to blame for this incident but no entirely because a ten year old girl can not handle this situation, what if the other dog had been a bigger dog, another rottie maybe? I would never let a child so young walk my rottie, they are so strong even at such young age. The youngest person who has walked my dog was 18 years old.

[BarryD]

I think in BrianG's defence it's a case of old habits die hard. I bet his daughter has always walked the dog, and as the family are so used to the dog being well behaved for them, you can kinda forget that outside, it's a different ball game. My pup is only 8 weeks old, but my 13 yr old daughter isn't going to be walking the dog ever by herself, because we know how powerful these amazing dogs can be.

At the end of the day, both parties were to blame, but one more than the other, and it's irresponsible dog owners that feel they don't need to put a lead on their dog that gives rotties the bad press when something happens...

[BrianG]

Quote from BarryD "I think in BrianG's defence it's a case of old habits die hard. I bet his daughter has always walked the dog, and as the family are so used to the dog being well behaved for them, you can kinda forget that outside, it's a different ball game. My pup is only 8 weeks old, but my 13 yr old daughter isn't going to be walking the dog ever by herself, because we know how powerful these amazing dogs can be"

This was exactly the case- she has been seen walking and has "appeared" to have handled him well till the incident almost 2 weeks ago.
Its been a bit since I've checked and certainly like the variety of opinions, one of the main reasons for having this form.

Update:
It's been almost 2 weeks and the 10 days of quarantine have passed and I've started walking my dog with my daughter in tow, as was brought up by someone in the post.
We've had no contact till last night when the owner's husband came and spoke with my wife (he was gone during the incident and back yesterday) he was very calm and basically asked if we'd cover 70 percent of the bill due to his daughters being tramatized because of the damage to their dog. She told him she'd have to talk with me, but the most they would get would be 1/2. She also informed him of the breeder's involvement and her nastiness and she was the reason we retracted the offer and also that I had come by to offer to pay the same day of the incident. Now here's the kicker, the husband is gone for another 2 weeks and leaves my wife a phone to call his wife to discuss what they'd talked about. After hearing this, I told her I'd talk to him in 2 weeks and go from there.

[winnie22]

Don't pay anything, let them answer to their dogs behavior in court.

[Anne]

I would be retracting my offer to pay half the bill. Your daughter was also traumatised and the incident would not have happened had they had their dog on lead. This dog bit your dog and your dog defended itself.

I'd tell them to get lost and in future to keep their dog under control and on lead.

[tonihill]

a simular incident happened to me with a small bull terrier there are no leash laws in the uk as there are in the states so didnt have that on my side, this dog came out of nowhere up to my 3year male who is very dog agressive i see this as not my fault and i told the owner this my dog was on a lead. unfortunatly its another example of the rottie's unfair stigma

[BarryD]

Even though a lot of people say your daughter shouldn't be walking the dog, this unleashed dog has now brought up the fact that your daughter can now no longer walk the dog unattended, so surely she feels distressed about this too? If the other owners had their dog on a lead, then the daughters would not be in a position to be distressed.

In other words, due to someone's ignorance on lead/leash laws, a worse situation has arised. I think, even though I wouldn't myself, that offering half of the costs is a gesture of goodwill, and makes you more of the man to do so. If they don't accept it, then let them take you to court. At the end of the day, unless there is an actual law saying a girl of your daughters age cannot walk a dog, it is them who have broken the law by not having their dog on a lead, and the judge will go by the law that has been broken...

[my guy]

My poor George has been attacked 2 time by little buff balls..one of the times I needed to take him to the vets.... So now I report every dog off leash big or small and I DON'T care what people think of me or my dog.I only care about the safety of my boy..

[dbbear]

It's too bad your daughter had that experience; although she may be too young/small to walk your rotty it's not her fault some little squealer came up and bit her dog. I always keep a lookout when I'm walking our boy and although I'm sure many would disapprove, I promise you before I let ANY dog bite/attack mine I would punt it across the street. I've had to quickly get between my rotty and another dog running up more than once but either their owner yelled out or they backed off before any contact was made.

I also think you were more than generous.....I wouldn't have paid them a dime. You and your wife sound like good, responsible owners.
Enjoy your Rotty

[Janus'sMom]

I hate to say this, but IMO it soulds like the owner of the small dog is just after the $$$. They don't care that they're at fault. "It's always the other person's fault." I personally wouldn't offer them a dime since it was their dog that was off lead, and their dog that bite your dog to begin with. And the outragiousness of them saying that their daughter was traumatized just to get money out of you (no matter how much or what the percentage of the bill), like other posters have said, your daughter was traumatized as well. Some questions to ask them next time you talk to the husband, ask him this "If your dog was bigger would you have had it on a leash?" " If your dog was bigger and this happened and it bit my daughter what would you think would happen then? Would you still be asking for (whatever amount) money from me?" "If you had a larger dog that had no wounds from the incident and mine did, would you be compensating me and offering me money for my dog's vet bill?" ( You know he probably wouldn't have.)

Long story short, I'd try to make them see all the possibilities of "what could have happened" and the "what if's" to try to get them to understand why the leash law is important and for EVERY DOG OWNER OF EVERY AGE, BREED, AND SIZE. And that if he and his family would have followed the leash law, then this wouldn't have happened.

And I have to agree that your daughter shouldn't have been walking your dog by herself. And I'm glad to hear that you have you dog back without any problems with the law about this. And now that you and your daughter both walk your dog together, it's just one more activity that you can enjoy with her.

And here's a question to ask the other owner... "Regardless of who was walking the "big Rotti" since the little dog was off leash, would the little dog still have gone after your dog, and "possibly" still get bitten by the defending Rotti? And still having to go to the vet's and have a vet bill on hand now?"

[BrianG]

This week will be the 2 week mark, I'll post if he tries to contact me this week. Still no issues as I and the kid walk the dog. In fact I walked him about 5 miles this weekend, and he loved every minute. I'll have to post some pictures soon, thanks again for the additional comments and insight. Glad you all agree on our situation.

[Wolfram]

Large Breed owners always will have the up hill fight in situations like this. I have had GSD and now my Rottie, Bear. He is well behaved and we walk together everywhere. There is always some Corgi or Pug, etc.. that has to come out and start trouble with him.

Most of the time, Bear just ignores the little troublemakers. Sometimes the little guys get too close before we can change direction and Bear lets out that low "Back Off Now, Mister!" rumble...

It is all fun and games for the little dog's owner until that exact moment. They think it is FUNNY that their dog is so BRAVE to go after a dog like Bear. Once the low grumble comes out, it is "Bad Rottie..." Sheesh, if it was up to me, I would have responded the same way towards the owner.

Anyway, Bear and I about face and go on our merry way before contact can be made.

The funny thing is that if that same dog would approach Bear to play, Bear would lie down and be calm and play. It is all about attitude....

[Hope]

No offense, but the dog that attacked your rottweiler could have been a pitbull! Had your young child been involved in the middle of a massive fight, this could have turned ugly.

You are both at fault and I would guess that if this goes to court, you will both be in the wrong.

Unfortunately, people with small dogs will usually seem like the victims and you have to consider that a small dog has no defenses against a rottweiler. If I owned a small dog and it was attacked by large dog, I think I would be pretty angry.

[CleasMommy]

I'm so sorry to hear that this happened. Something like this happened to my Clea, and that's how I got her.

She had been living in a townhome with a small back yard. They neighbor had a pomeranian that would bark and harrass her thru the fence. Clea was on a walk with her owner (leashed) and her pomeranian neighbor had gotten loose and ran to Clea, attacked her and bit her on her neck a few times, then Clea defending herself bit the dog back, and broke the small dog's neck.
The pomeranian was dead, and the big bad rottweiler had killed it. The owner's home owners association told her she either needed to move out of the complex, or get rid of her dog (she was a renter). Clea was sent to a County Shelter. They refused to euthanize her, and by the grace of god ended up in a rescue in San Diego. This is where I got her.
When I went to pick up Clea she was lying in the lady's living room, with a POMERANIAN lying curled up next to her butt! The lady also had 3 autistic children and they were playing hopscotch over her head!!!! I could tell my little Clea was not a mean, vicious dog. Her unfortunate run in with the pomeranian was a horrbile accident. (I have contact with her previous owner who confirmed the story)
So long story short, I brought Clea home. We go on walks every day and there are little dogs all over the place, and she's never had a problem. We had her tied to a lead inside of the garage (so she couldn't get passed the garage opening) while we were working on the garage and we had a chihuaha run into the garage and start sniffing her and she was fine!

**I think that you guys were more than generous to offer for half of the vet bills. My neighbors do NOT believe in leash laws and let there dogs (big & little) run all over the place, It makes it very inconvenient to go for a walk with the dogs cause you never know what will happen with unleashed dogs. I don't think they would be as kind as to pay for half if one of there dogs bit mine!

[Anne]

Originally Posted by Hope

No offense, but the dog that attacked your rottweiler could have been a pitbull! Had your young child been involved in the middle of a massive fight, this could have turned ugly.

You are both at fault and I would guess that if this goes to court, you will both be in the wrong.

Unfortunately, people with small dogs will usually seem like the victims and you have to consider that a small dog has no defenses against a rottweiler. If I owned a small dog and it was attacked by large dog, I think I would be pretty angry.

Yes, it could have been a Pit Bull but it wasn't. It could have been any other breed but it wasn't. I don't see what that has to do with people allowing their small dogs to run off lead and bite/harrass other dogs, be they large or small.

If this small dog that attacked the on lead Rottweiler had been under control this would not have happened. I do agree and the OP has acknowledged that his young daughter should not have been walking the dog without an adult present.

If I owned a small dog and it was attacked by large dog, I think I would be pretty angry

So you would be ok with your large dog being bitten by a small off lead dog
That wouldn't make you angry?
The Rottweiler was defending itself after being bitten by the other dog. It did not launch an attack for no reason.