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Cruelty to animals is a crime. Call the police and stay out of fighting, today you might just run up against a guy with a gun or knife. Don't be a hero....
Your dog could be injured or dead by the time the police arrived, if they even responded.
I would certainly defend my dog. If the assailant were dead, I would say that he told me he was going to kill me. If, however, I knew there were no witnesses, I'd walk away. In the situation with the UPS driver, it would be trickier. But I'd go after him without a weapon. Someone like this would use it on me as well, so I could get him fired,at least, and possibly jailed. If an attorney were involved, he would be history.
1. Yes, I would defend my dog. I doubt anyone would get very far in trying to harm her, but if anyone ever attacked her I would do whatever it would take to stop them.
2. I fish. If someone came along with an offleash dog and let it splash around in the water where I was fishing, you bet I would be PO'd. If the dog tried to take a fish I caught, I would probably yell, kick dirt, ect to scare it off. That fish is my food, no matter how small. The owner would get a harsh tounge lashing from me, not just because their dog was causing a mess of my fishing, but my biggest pet peeve- do not let your dog off it's leash unless you have control of it. That means being able to recall it no matter what is going on. On another note, your dog could have been injured by a hook if it had grabbed the fish or knocked over the man's tackle box.
I'm not trying to offend here- just calling it like I see it. The fisherman you ran into sounds like he was going to try and seriously hurt your dog and you did the right thing by getting out of there and calling the cops. I'm not trying to justify the way he acted (wanting to hurt your dog) by any means. My advice would be work on your puppy's recall, train it to come to you no matter what else is going on around you. There's all kinds of creative ways to do this. Also until the pup is better trained, if you still go on offleash walks be sure to leash up beforehand if you spot a situation (such as someone fishing) that may cause problems.
Yeah. It behooves dog owners to keep their animals restrained so that other people don't have to deal with whatever they're up to. Remember, strangers (including the UPS man) don't know how friendly and nice your dog is. And I know I wouldn't be willing to risk being bitten while waiting to find out.
That being said, if someone attacked my dogs, there would be immense hell to pay. I am not violent, nor do I endorse violence or vigilante justice, but I don't think I'd be able to get past seeing red long enough not to rip their heads off.
1. Yes, I would defend my dog. I doubt anyone would get very far in trying to harm her, but if anyone ever attacked her I would do whatever it would take to stop them.
2. I fish. If someone came along with an offleash dog and let it splash around in the water where I was fishing, you bet I would be PO'd. If the dog tried to take a fish I caught, I would probably yell, kick dirt, ect to scare it off. That fish is my food, no matter how small. The owner would get a harsh tounge lashing from me, not just because their dog was causing a mess of my fishing, but my biggest pet peeve- do not let your dog off it's leash unless you have control of it. That means being able to recall it no matter what is going on. On another note, your dog could have been injured by a hook if it had grabbed the fish or knocked over the man's tackle box.
I'm not trying to offend here- just calling it like I see it. The fisherman you ran into sounds like he was going to try and seriously hurt your dog and you did the right thing by getting out of there and calling the cops. I'm not trying to justify the way he acted (wanting to hurt your dog) by any means. My advice would be work on your puppy's recall, train it to come to you no matter what else is going on around you. There's all kinds of creative ways to do this. Also until the pup is better trained, if you still go on offleash walks be sure to leash up beforehand if you spot a situation (such as someone fishing) that may cause problems.
Good luck and be safe.
I think I'm going to agree with you on this situation.
I wouldn't hesitate for a moment in defending my dog, physically if necessary, to someone threatening to harm her. I don't have children, so like many others have said - she is one of my kids and a part of my family. My dog has never been threatening or vicious to anyone, so I doubt this situation will ever arise.
However, I think you were in the wrong for having your dog uncontrolled and romping around in this guy's business. He was on his own minding his own business, and your dog came and completely disturbed his peaceful fishing scene. Now, his reaction was way way overboard, but I think he had a right to be mad. He should have simply removed his fishing gear from reach and given you a chance to catch your puppy rather than provoking the situation. It sounds like there were two wrongs in this situation - your dog being out of control, and him way overreacting.
I still would have protected my dog in your situation though, I don't care who's wrong, I'd protect my dog. Glad no one got hurt in the end.
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SheridanPDC
I'm seeing this situation from two angles.
1. Yes, I would defend my dog. I doubt anyone would get very far in trying to harm her, but if anyone ever attacked her I would do whatever it would take to stop them.
2. I fish. If someone came along with an offleash dog and let it splash around in the water where I was fishing, you bet I would be PO'd. If the dog tried to take a fish I caught, I would probably yell, kick dirt, ect to scare it off. That fish is my food, no matter how small. The owner would get a harsh tounge lashing from me, not just because their dog was causing a mess of my fishing, but my biggest pet peeve- do not let your dog off it's leash unless you have control of it. That means being able to recall it no matter what is going on. On another note, your dog could have been injured by a hook if it had grabbed the fish or knocked over the man's tackle box.
I'm not trying to offend here- just calling it like I see it. The fisherman you ran into sounds like he was going to try and seriously hurt your dog and you did the right thing by getting out of there and calling the cops. I'm not trying to justify the way he acted (wanting to hurt your dog) by any means. My advice would be work on your puppy's recall, train it to come to you no matter what else is going on around you. There's all kinds of creative ways to do this. Also until the pup is better trained, if you still go on offleash walks be sure to leash up beforehand if you spot a situation (such as someone fishing) that may cause problems.
Good luck and be safe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GoHokiesGo
I think I'm going to agree with you on this situation.
I wouldn't hesitate for a moment in defending my dog, physically if necessary, to someone threatening to harm her. I don't have children, so like many others have said - she is one of my kids and a part of my family. My dog has never been threatening or vicious to anyone, so I doubt this situation will ever arise.
However, I think you were in the wrong for having your dog uncontrolled and romping around in this guy's business. He was on his own minding his own business, and your dog came and completely disturbed his peaceful fishing scene. Now, his reaction was way way overboard, but I think he had a right to be mad. He should have simply removed his fishing gear from reach and given you a chance to catch your puppy rather than provoking the situation. It sounds like there were two wrongs in this situation - your dog being out of control, and him way overreacting.
I still would have protected my dog in your situation though, I don't care who's wrong, I'd protect my dog. Glad no one got hurt in the end.
Playing devils advocate for a moment:
I also fish and have done a lot of hunting and fishing on public lands. The nature of the beast with public waters and public lands is that you, as fisherman/hunter, have no more claim to the use and enjoyment of said lands than anyone else and until you have actually captured that fish into your possession it is a public fish rather than your fish. I agree that a borderline or fully out of control dog disrupting the activities of other people who are minding their own business is a major annoyance and it would be difficult to resist a tongue lashing, but I think best practices calls for keeping one's cool and not escalating the situation by, for example, throwing rocks or threatening to throw rocks. While I can certainly understand the fisherman's reaction and I don't think the fault falls entirely upon him, I don't think it was reasonable.
My dogs are valued members of my family. They are on a leash when they are not on my land. And they are non-aggressive and completely under my control.
So yes, if under those circumstances, they are threatened by a person or other animal, I will prevent the attack on my dogs. Whatever it takes to do so is what I will do.
I was at my vet's office when a person came in with a dog over 100 lbs that was towing the owner behind it through the waiting area. I think the owner thought it was cute, from her reaction; the dog with me was only 45 pounds, and has an injured leg. Honestly, I backed up quickly with my dog, and the other one came straight at her. When we were back up against the corner wall, I stepped in front of my dog, asked the owner to stop her dog please, and when she giggled as it lunged, I stepped toward it, put my hand up, and barked a sharp "no" at it. The dog stopped in its tracks, and turned to drag the owner toward another area. We were very lucky and so was that idiot owner - I could have been hurt in trying save my dog and her bad leg.
Had the dog not stopped, even in the vet's office, I would have done whatever to prevent it from injuring mine (the dog was initially over 25' away from us, as I backed up asking its owner to stop, so no excuse). And this wasn't even a situation where a person chose to physically attack my dog, in which case the person wouldn't have even been allowed to get that close.
If that had been my dog that I couldn't control, I'd have told the clinic my situation, ie I can't control my damned dog and it might hurt another dog, so let me come in through a back door until I get it resolved. If someone doesn't wish to do that, then I will do what I need to in order to protect my dog that is minding her own business from the out of control dog or owner.
If I don't, I will have an injured or dead dog, that did nothing but do as I asked her to do, and suffers because of someone else's aggression. I am my dog's advocate and protector, and if I can't escape the situation, I am fine with defending myself and my dog from such things.
I also fish and have done a lot of hunting and fishing on public lands. The nature of the beast with public waters and public lands is that you, as fisherman/hunter, have no more claim to the use and enjoyment of said lands than anyone else and until you have actually captured that fish into your possession it is a public fish rather than your fish. I agree that a borderline or fully out of control dog disrupting the activities of other people who are minding their own business is a major annoyance and it would be difficult to resist a tongue lashing, but I think best practices calls for keeping one's cool and not escalating the situation by, for example, throwing rocks or threatening to throw rocks. While I can certainly understand the fisherman's reaction and I don't think the fault falls entirely upon him, I don't think it was reasonable.
I wasn't trying to insinuate that the fisherman was right in his reaction, I thought he way over-reacted by threatening to strike the dog with a rock or stick for romping around. I think a stern verbal warning and nudging the dog away would've sufficed, especially if the dog is a small puppy. However, he doesn't know the dog at all and for all he knew it could've been a wild or vicious dog attacking him and his equipment. I don't do much fishing myself, but spend a fair amount of time in parks and outdoors.
Switch the situation around some - lets say you're having a picnic in a public park keeping to yourself in a secluded portion of the park. You open a nice bottle of wine and fancy meat for your crackers; suddenly this random unknown dog comes barreling out of nowhere and knocks over your expensive bottle of wine and proceeds to lick/eat your snazzy snacks. You'd have every right to be angry and exchange some harsh words with the owner about keeping the dog under control.
I'd always defend my dog, right or wrong, against another person that was threatening her. I also know my dog would never do harm to a person, and most common people should be able to assess the situation before escalating to physical violence. I also ensure that my dog is never in that situation by keeping her leashed in public areas (or trained well enough to be off-leash), this avoids letting her get beyond my control.
The fisherman was definitely wrong in threatening to beat the dog with a rock or stick. However, this whole situation could have been avoided if the owner had their dog properly under control - that was my only negative point.
Something really scary happened to me today. Someone threaten to hit my dog with a rock. He could no find one so he took a huge heavy stick. He didn't get to hit her (we ran) but I called the police and gave a description anyway. If a person actually hits your dog on purpose and causes your dog an injury, what would you do???
An older guy, (55-60) in this crappy apartment complex we live in, threatened our dog (mid 2008) with a baseball bat because she was barking at his little yappy ankle biter. Went back to his apartment and returned quickly with the bat. I was getting ready for work when my wife came in and told me what had happened. I instantly went down to his apartment yelling out... "next time you threaten my dog with a baseball bat I'll take it from you and beat you with it. then shove it up your arse". We would do anything to protect our baby girl. Our 110 lb. baby girl.
When I was a kid, our miniature poodle (on a leash) in the front yard with me barked at the mailman who hadn't even come in our yard yet. He picked up a rock and threw it at my dog. It hit her hard on the heel. I was only 8 or 9 so I sure couldn't defend my dog. But my dad could. I yelled for him and when he came charging out the door, the mailman literally ran. My dad didn't catch him but he called the post office and that mailman never came back.
Our dog really got hurt that day and got so much attention from us that, even when she healed, she would start to limp when she got disciplined or wanted attention. This went on for years afterwards.
Now that I'm an adult, I would do whatever it takes to protect my current or future pets (well, short of murder of course).
My dogs are valued members of my family. They are on a leash when they are not on my land. And they are non-aggressive and completely under my control.
So yes, if under those circumstances, they are threatened by a person or other animal, I will prevent the attack on my dogs. Whatever it takes to do so is what I will do.
I was at my vet's office when a person came in with a dog over 100 lbs that was towing the owner behind it through the waiting area. I think the owner thought it was cute, from her reaction; the dog with me was only 45 pounds, and has an injured leg. Honestly, I backed up quickly with my dog, and the other one came straight at her. When we were back up against the corner wall, I stepped in front of my dog, asked the owner to stop her dog please, and when she giggled as it lunged, I stepped toward it, put my hand up, and barked a sharp "no" at it. The dog stopped in its tracks, and turned to drag the owner toward another area. We were very lucky and so was that idiot owner - I could have been hurt in trying save my dog and her bad leg.
Had the dog not stopped, even in the vet's office, I would have done whatever to prevent it from injuring mine (the dog was initially over 25' away from us, as I backed up asking its owner to stop, so no excuse). And this wasn't even a situation where a person chose to physically attack my dog, in which case the person wouldn't have even been allowed to get that close.
If that had been my dog that I couldn't control, I'd have told the clinic my situation, ie I can't control my damned dog and it might hurt another dog, so let me come in through a back door until I get it resolved. If someone doesn't wish to do that, then I will do what I need to in order to protect my dog that is minding her own business from the out of control dog or owner.
If I don't, I will have an injured or dead dog, that did nothing but do as I asked her to do, and suffers because of someone else's aggression. I am my dog's advocate and protector, and if I can't escape the situation, I am fine with defending myself and my dog from such things.
i was on the other side of a similar situation about a year ago.... buddy-the-giant-lab is 98 lbs of solid muscle..... and was COMPLETELY untrained, undisciplined and very difficult for me to control .... his "person" had abandoned him with me when i had to kick his sorry azz out of my house, but i digress..... i knew buddy was WAY too much dog for me and found him a great lab rescue group in the tulsa area.... in preparation for surrendering him, i took him to the vet for his exam, shots, heartguard, etc. .... buddy by that point had gotten aggressive towards male dogs and i let the vet's office know that.... they had me bring him in when no other appts were scheduled and 2 of the vet techs came out to my car to bring him in for me.....
buddy worshipped the ground bailey and i walked on and i am sure that his bad behaviour was an attempt to "protect" us from what he perceived as danger.... i hated like heck giving him up, but relieved some of the guilt with the thought that he was with "lab people" and actually had space to run and romp and play..... he was adopted into his forever home about a month after he went into foster care and is doing well.... i still check on him every now and again......
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, I would say that he told me he was going to kill me. If, however, I knew there were no witnesses, I'd walk away. In the situation with the UPS driver, it would be trickier. But I'd go after him without a weapon. Someone like this would use it on me as well, so I could get him fired,at least, and possibly jailed. If an attorney were involved, he would be history.
