Tagless Dog Bite (Superior: neighborhood, living in, dangerous)

[Canyon Rose]

So my husband was out walking and passed this hippy guy and his dog (no tags, of course). The guys dog proceeds to jump on my husband who uses the standard "cross arms and turn away" stance to try to get the dog to get down while the guy pulls ineffectually on the leash.

This wouldn't be that big of a deal except the dog stopped jumping and instead latched onto the back of his pants (with his teeth dug in to the hindend) and pulled back, biting repeatedly to get a better grip. At this point my husband turned to the owner and said, "This is unacceptable! Get your ****ing dog off me NOW!" to which hippy replied, "It's ok man. He's not a bad dog."

It doesn't matter if Mr. Patchouli and his mangy mutt are besties - dog bites are serious! If your dog is repeatedly biting a stranger in the middle of the street then pull the dog off and apologize, don't give some **** excuse about how it's not a bad dog. The dog doesn't have tags and is biting strangers - it's the definition of a "bad dog".

Although I'm usually a live and let live type, this really bothers me. Although he just has a bruise where the dog latched on and it didn't break the skin, he was wearing a coat that we JUST paid to have cleaned and repaired and now there are dog teeth rips all over the hem. My question is, can we do anything to make the guy pay for a new jacket or repairs at least? Should we report the dog bite to the police or animal control? BoCo has pretty strict dog laws, so I would think a dog biting a stranger repeatedly would be reportable.

At the same time, I'm not a jerk. I don't really want to get some idiot in trouble over his stupid dog, but it really did cause a lot of damage to the coat and I resent the fact that his dog literally bit into my husbands ass and tried to drag him to the ground. The guy lives in the neighborhood so we could file a report pretty easily. He wasn't hurt, but he could have been. He just got lucky because he was wearing a heavy coat the dog couldn't bite through the pants and the coat. Jumping up and nipping are annoying, but I think full grip biting is different and dangerous. Advice?

[Micktooth]

Several years ago I was bitten by a neighborhood dog while I was walking by. I was living in Superior at the time. I did have to go to the hospital for the bite. I got the same excuse your husband did.."he's never done that before,etc". I called animal control and told them I didn't want the dog to be punished, just the owner. I decided to be nice and just ask the owners to pay for my medical expenses. A few days later I saw the same dog jumping on other people with little children near by. My "rear" is at the same level as a child's head. This behavior was totally unacceptable. I reported it to the management company and by the time my medical bill had arrived, they had been kicked out of the complex so I was stuck with the bill and the pain. So my advice would be to report the incident to animal control. Just think if that dog did the same thing to a child!

[Canyon Rose]

Thanks for the reply. Sounds a lot like this incident. I did think about if it were a kid, and the results would have been far worse, so we will probably file a report. I just wish people would train their dogs better and walk with them at heel. The bite wouldn't have happened if the owner had the dog at heel, but as usual the dog was out several feet in front of the owner so he had no leverage to pull the dog off.

[mic111]

100% guaranteed that this dog has done this before. Report it right away. The people that allow their dogs to do this are always serial offenders. The jerks are all the people before you who didn't report him. Reporting him isn't being a jerk but rather a responsible citizen.

And sure you should ask him to pay for the jacket. Probably he won't but you should ask. If he were a responsible dog owner he wouldn't have allowed his dog to develop a people biting habit.

[johnwmackay]

Sometimes dogs, kids, spouses, and vehicles do the unexpected. That's life. It doesn't mean they're bad. The jacket could just have easily been dirtied or damaged by a slip on the ice. Regardless of whether the guy was dressed as a hippy or a banker, give him a pass. Life is too short to launch into a war over a jacket. Let it go.

[Canyon Rose]

Originally Posted by johnwmackay

Sometimes dogs, kids, spouses, and vehicles do the unexpected. That's life. It doesn't mean they're bad. The jacket could just have easily been dirtied or damaged by a slip on the ice. Regardless of whether the guy was dressed as a hippy or a banker, give him a pass. Life is too short to launch into a war over a jacket. Let it go.

Spare me the off topic . The hippie wanderers around here all have mangy dogs that are poorly kept, don't have shots and aren't trained and are frankly a danger to everyone. At least the banker has enough money to pay for training and a tag. You are barking up the wrong tree with that bleeding heart nonsense. Good people pay A LOT of money for tags for their dogs, and I don't really have sympathy for people who think they should be the exception to the rules.

Also, the coat wasn't damaged by the ice. After reading your post, I'm going to report hippy guy just to spite you.

[johnwmackay]

You asked for advice, that was mine. JM

[Hipchik]

Originally Posted by Canyon Rose

At the same time, I'm not a jerk.

Could've fooled me. Based on your descriptive language (idiot, hippie wanderers, Mr. Patchouli and his mangy mutt) you sound like a real sweetheart

[Mike from back east]

Dog bites can be serious issues, especially large strong untrained dogs.

[OhioToCO]

Unleashed or untrained dogs who bite are my pet peeves. I was attacked while jogging in my neighborhood by two dogs that escaped from someone's yard: What was the best way to handle this situation - dog attack.

I posted this in the Dog forum, and most dog owners suggested I report this to animal control or police. I didn't, "letting it go". But at least the owners weren't jerks in my face. They were nowhere to be found . The guy should've at least apologized and offered to pay for the damaged clothes. I would ask him to do just that, and if he refused - I would report this. Actually, perhaps, you should report this anyway: somebody has to make sure this dog doesn't just go around attacking people. Next time he may cause more trauma. It can also attack a child.

My 12 year old was also bitten by a dog, this time we knew the owner and talked to them right away. They were very apologetic. My only concern was for the dog to be up to date on the vaccinations, and owner assured me that it was. She also gave me contacts of her vet, so that I could verify the records, if I wanted to. I didn't, but a week later I asked if the dog was doing OK, ruling out any remote possibility of rabies. It is fatal, you know, and it was my child, so I wasn't about to be "polite" and "not bother people".