What should we do? (Hard Decision)

[hami2127]

i totally agree people think that because there dog is not capable of even knocking over an empty class that everyones dog must be like that, i have seen some of those small dogs and honestly if i was a large dog i would confuse them for rats

[Dodo & Bull]

The only reason i would pay half the vet bill is to try and keep peace and to fight for the breed..plus i wouldn t want the neighbors to be scared of her..

besides if i was any where else and my dog was onleash and her s not i wouldn t pay a cent..


plus you told the lady and she knows how she is...if i were her ,my intellegence would of said i ll tie my dog before she comes after mine..

one thing this lady has learned is when your going to say i m here she ll turn around pretty quick and wait..

i would not put her down for other peoples mistake...you always have her on a leash and your always being careful..

[Oeneus]

Originally Posted by Cinder

Some of the townhome units have that here. Someone would be nuts to think they are "safe", but that seems to be the mindset of the majority of little dog owners.

FWIW, there is no fence or fenced in area. Talking with our neighbor, she was trying to leave for an appt. and her dog ran out as she was leaving. We offered to pay $400 dollars of her vet bill, and it ended up being $225ish, so we are going to cover it. I was worried that it was going to be much more expensive, but having a new baby, and the wife still in school, I hate having to pay for someone else's carelessness just to make nice. My wife cleaned up her dog right afterwards, and I got the blood out of her carpet. We had a little talk, and we talked about strategies to avoid situations. She has not said anything about persuing legal action, and she was not thrilled about Carla living upstairs, but she is willing to work with us. The vet gave us the number of a local trainer, and we are going to try and work with the trainer.

Thanks for the responses. It was a pretty tough morning. We have not been good with her about being consistant with outside obedience and I am going to work with her in the meantime. I know that it sounds really harsh to threaten to put her down, but knowing she has already been rescued once, even if we were to surrender her to a shelter, I don't know what her odds are of being placed. As long as she is not too much of a liability, then I will keep her and work with her.

[Dodo & Bull]

Carla is real pretty and hands up to you for wanting to work with her instead of putting her down...

your emotions were high this morning after what happened and thats why you were thinking of putting her down..now that your calm you see a different side,,

at least your neighbor is being nice about the situation..i guess she knows it s her fault...

[lqaddict]

The dog must live. I don't even understand how "putting her down" thought even entered your minds in this situation
And a good decision on helping the other party with a vet bill

[Cinder]

"Putting down" thoughts enter b/c you don't know what to do! All you know is that YOUR dog attacked ANOTHER dog, and it's a helpless feeling for those of us that haven't had that experience and haven't seen first hand what our dogs can/can't do.

I'm glad that you all are working to a happy resolution. Atticus and the one he got into it with around the corner are still fast as friends (well, at least the owner and I are), and they go on daily walks with one another (also, this wasn't a DA act with the two, it was a situational attack). Mind you, Owen wants NOTHING to do with Atticus and will keep his eyes off of him and walk as far away as possible, but Atticus just wags his tail and acts as if he's the bodyguard in the situation.

You guys are doing a great thing, and WITH training you will come out so well equipped to handle so many situations. GOOD training really opens your eyes.

[attitude]

if you are worried about your dog in public areas muzzle it. yes the off leash dogs owner is an idiot, yes this whole thing could have been avoided, yes you should probably seek some serious training help, no the dog doesnt deserve to be put down over this. you are responsible for your aggressive dog, you are responsible to keep even the idiots out of harms way, you can not expect others to not use public areas when you are there (tho you do have the right to expect them to keep their animals under control and personally i would tell the woman next time her dog is off leash i would be registering a complaint). if you dont feel you can control the dog then i would try and rehome her, i certainly wouldnt consider putting her down for this, less there is way more to it

[tt557]

Glad you are not putting her down and you are looking into training.
However - until you are completely & 100% sure that after training your dog is safe....I would keep a basket muzzle on her.
Being she is DA - you need to take the extra step. I'm not saying to keep it on her the whole time outside. I would put it on her before leaving the apt. - take it off when you reach the walk/play area - then when done...BEFORE you start walking back - put it on. Again, taking it off when you enter your apt.

IMO - I would not feel comfortable with all the training in the world - if I lived in an apt. complex. Another mishap like that in your building could cause a lot of grief for you. Even though your dog was leashed - others wont care.

[Joe Sleepy]

The absolutely doesn't need to be destroyed.
As has already been posted, a basket muzzle
whenever she leaves the family home & some
training (to help both of you as well as her)..