Irresponsible owner(s) rant: Bulldog breaks into my fence
Today is a very nice day weather-wise so I opened the back door (leading to the deck and the fenced yard) and let Kuma come and go as she pleased. After going onto the deck and hanging a comforter to air dry I go back inside to clean.... luckily I did not go very far from the door. I heard a dog fight that sounded worse than any fight I have heard before. I round the corner to the steps and there is my Kuma locked into a fight with a bulldog INSIDE my fence at the bottom of the stairs. Not only did the dog get into the main fence- he got inside the secondary fence (where Kuma was). He tore up the fencing (made a hole/bend to get inside). I managed to separate them and drag Kuma inside the house. We have a gate on the deck at the top of the stairs to keep the puppies on the deck when needed so I was able to close the gate on the deck to keep the dog from following us onto the deck. I had to fight them both to accomplish this but I managed. I realized when I was getting Kuma up the stairs that there were 2 dogs- 1 inside the fence and one outside the fence trying to find the way in.
I called the police and they dispatched animal control. It took forever for them to get here. The animal control officer was very nice and helpful. He took both dogs. Both were wearing collars but no tags. The bulldog had quite a few injuries from the fight. Kuma is fine, thankfully!! I have never been so happy about her thick coat! I did have quite a hard time getting them (she weighs almost 110 pounds and the bulldog was probably around 80 pounds) and then dragging her inside to safety.
I am so sick of people letting their dogs just run around. This could have ended so badly. I feel bad about the injuries the other dog suffered but he got into our fence and Kuma did what she felt she had to do.
If the owners claim the dogs they will have to pay a fine, boarding, and get a citation of some sort according to AC officer. Why even have dogs if they aren't going to take care of them? These dogs are in puppy jail because their owners did not keep them contained and look out for them
Side note: I know things happen and dogs accidentally get away from their owners and even the best owners have mishaps but that is not the case with these dogs.
End rant.
I called the police and they dispatched animal control. It took forever for them to get here. The animal control officer was very nice and helpful. He took both dogs. Both were wearing collars but no tags. The bulldog had quite a few injuries from the fight. Kuma is fine, thankfully!! I have never been so happy about her thick coat! I did have quite a hard time getting them (she weighs almost 110 pounds and the bulldog was probably around 80 pounds) and then dragging her inside to safety.
I am so sick of people letting their dogs just run around. This could have ended so badly. I feel bad about the injuries the other dog suffered but he got into our fence and Kuma did what she felt she had to do.
If the owners claim the dogs they will have to pay a fine, boarding, and get a citation of some sort according to AC officer. Why even have dogs if they aren't going to take care of them? These dogs are in puppy jail because their owners did not keep them contained and look out for them
Side note: I know things happen and dogs accidentally get away from their owners and even the best owners have mishaps but that is not the case with these dogs.
End rant.
Comments
Wonder if this isn't the first time the bulldogs have gotten loose.
I hope owners learn their lesson and keep their dog contained from sounds of it they don't sound friendly.
Kuma is going to the vet tomorrow for a checkup. We have looked her over well but want to be sure she is ok so the vet said to bring her on in (they love her there lol)
I would like to give mention that when we were attacked by a loose dog during a walk, the thick coats had made it very hard to find any of the puncture wounds. We didn't initially see the punctures, even after inspecting them, and would have remained if we didn't find blood smears of the floor. Both of them were acting normal and were even playing with each other, so it's pretty insane how well they manage to mask their injuries.
My co-worker had a neighbor with a husky and one day a loose dog dug into her yard and attacked the husky. Well the husky won and after the owner of the errant dog got pick it up (I don't know the in between details) they sent the Husky's owner the medical bill and threatened to sue if she didn't pay it.
I had to work as dog management officer (stray dog collection) on behalf of the city council for a few months (I work at the,RSPCA). I had to catch 4 loose aggressive dogs that were running around as a pack. We had just had a big storm and hundreds of houses had their fences torn down, so these dogs had gone into a families yard and decided to guard it. They couldn't leave the house as these dogs would run to the door and bark at them.
Luckily, they were easy enough to catch without force, but it was still very scary.
You did very well to keep your dog safe. Let's hope the owners come forward to collect their dogs. Unfortunately, in my experience, the owners seem to care less then the people that try to do the right thing to reunite them :-(
After a very stressful day Kuma seems to be acting more like herself. She was very high strung all day and racing around the yard in search of the dog when I took her out to potty. Smelling every inch of the yard, pacing the fence line, etc. She had no interest in food at normal feed time so I offered again later and she finally ate so she is settling down. She grabbed her toy a little while ago to play and I took that as a very good sign that things are getting back to normal for her.
My husband fixed the fence for the moment so at least our dogs have their yard back!!
I appreciate all of your comments! I know you all understand how scary and stressful these things are and we all love our dogs (and animals in general) so much.
But yeah, do check in with the vet. I've missed wounds on my dogs because their fur is so thick it's hard to see. And if the skin gets pulled away, they can get pockets in there that have to be drained, and it's definitely better to catch that sooner rather than later. Been there, done that, unfortunately.
I have some pepper spray that I carry when I walk the dogs, just to use if necessary in the case of stray dogs (or coyotes, or bears, though I think my pepper spray is not bear strength). But anyway, it's near the door, so after reading this, I think it's a good idea in case I ever have a dog in the yard like this!
I have pepper spray, too. I didn't think I would need it in my back yard, though. Now I know.
Kuma checked out fine at the vet. We could not find any marks/wounds/scratches. Thankfully!
I tried to call to see if the dogs were claimed but I couldn't get any info.
(yeah, we had to put up chicken wire all along the fence were little pointy head girl sticks her head out).
Coarse the thick fur can be annoying if your trying to check for bite marks or ticks.. haha
@shibamistress, we had to use chicken wire on the underside of the steps on the deck because our fathead dog kept putting her head through the steps and we just knew she was going to get stuck! What a bunch of crazy dogs we all have LOL
Kuma has now taken up the habit of pacing the fence line where he came through.... almost obsessively. And she is super edgy, every noise sets her off. Barking, growling, wanting to eat whatever it is..... is this something that will pass, do you think, or did this episode turn my dog into the terminator who will never rest peacefully again?
Any suggestions to get her to relax?
Both dogs paced the fence line for a few weeks after that, but gradually got over it. A month after the incident, they were fine. They also do this when one of the neighbor cats makes its way into the front yard (which is also fenced). They chase it, then spend the next few days sprinting out of the house looking for the cat.
As for getting her to relax, does she have a favourite toy to play with outside? You might want to make yourself more interesting than the fence for a few days. But honestly, time will work just fine. I tried to work with my two when they were so worked up about the backyard, but I could not keep their attention for more than a few seconds.