Gsd Bit My Whippet Plus!

[Scooter]

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Hi everyone, last Sunday, Topaz, my whippet+ was bitten by a huge pale GSD. It was out of blue and unprovoked, as my husband and I were walking with her on a short lead towards the field where tall grasses are, and GSD was off lead with a woman approaching toward us. Because of the height of grass, we couldn't see GSD until the last moment. When the GDS noticed Topaz 1.5m away, it rushed to her and bit her, without any warning. She screamed. My hubby pulled the dog away with the collar, and I put myself between the two until the woman came to hold it.

Luckily Topaz had a padded lined fishtail collar where its upper jaw went, but she had bruise on the front shoulder where the lower jaw got. I was and am still terrified. It is a huge dog, bigger and stronger than me. I saw others had similar problems in old posts just now. I am sending a letter to the city council. Is there anything else I could do? I had never seen the woman. There are a couple of aggressive GSDs in our area, but I have only seen them on lead with different obivously more responsible people.

Topaz is submissive but playful dog; I had spent some months to get her used to other strange dogs when she was a puppy. I wish we had delayed 1 minute to go for a walk that day, but also I'm very aware of our luck. It could have been much much worse.

 

[dawn]

Sorry to hear of you trauma.

Have you contacted the local dog warden?

Why cant people be more responsible when out walking their dogs? :rant:

 

[alfyn]

I'm so sorry to hear of yet another whippet being attacked

Why,oh why do these stupid idiots that own aggressive dogs always seem to have them off lead in a public place??? :rant: :rant: :rant:

 

[littleminx]

Sorry to hear of you trauma.
Why cant people be more responsible when out walking their dogs? :rant:

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I agree but lets not GDS's get a bad reputation again :rant: yes there are some badly bred ones but most of the time it is the way they are brought up/ handled etc.

I have 4 GSD's and 1 Whippet and they are all good natured with each other, strange dogs and people and kids )

I am sorry for your dog but this is how they get such bad press, we went through this some years ago, then rotweilers did and so on.

My sisters 1 year old Borzoi bit a kid!!!! :rant:

 

[*Lesley*]

Sorry to hear that what did the silly woman say, I would have gone ballistic with her, it's her fault the dog should have been on a lead especially if it's aggressive

:rant: :rant: I hope Topaz gets over the trauma poor thing it's terrible :luck: :huggles:

 

[»Tina«]

awww poor topaz and poor you! I hope your both feeling better soon :huggles:

some people :rant:

in the village I live my auntie (and the people she sold her pups too) are the only one's I know of who have GSD's and I never bump into them on walks, I'm glad really, I'd hate anything like this to happen to my babies

 

[littleminx]

Would get a thread like this on when i put my GOOD TEMPERMENT GSD pups on here for sale last night!!! :thumbsup:

 

[alfyn]

Littleminx,I bred & showed Gsd's for 15 years,& all mine had lovely temperaments.I am not knocking the breed as there are a lot of other breeds that in the wrong hands end up aggressive.

It's up to the breeder of a litter to make sure that their puppies go to sensible & responsible people who are educated on whichever breed they have,& not to some prat who just wants a big or aggressive dog as a "status symbol"

 

[littleminx]

I agree alfyn, i also think it is a real shame when any dog gets attacked. I think i am defensive today as an old thread has been dug up and then this one, not what you need to see when you are trying to sell puppies!!! (w00t)

 

[OEH]

I think the upbringing is just as important as the breeding when it comes to aggression. When Tess was a puppy she was bably attacked by a springer spaniel and it just happens that one of her best friends is a GSD.

Poor poor Topaz , hope it doesn't make her nervous of big dogs, I reckon she needs a good play session with some doggy friends to remind her that most dogs are fun,not scary. Thats what we did when Tess was bitten and it seems to have worked.

Olivia

 

[~elizabeth~]

Ours was bitten by a big lurcher (fishtail collar saved him too) but has never regained his confidence with big sighthounds since

I do agree Olivia, I think aggressive people choose breeds like GSDs and it's not surprising that the dogs pick up on the bad temperament of the owners! When some kids walk up to you with a Dogue de Bordeaux and say 'my dog's gonna kill yours' you really wonder at people's motivation for getting some breeds

 

[~Helen~]

I agree alfyn, i also think it is a real shame when any dog gets attacked. I think i am defensive today as an old thread has been dug up and then this one, not what you need to see when you are trying to sell puppies!!!  (w00t)

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I don't think this reflects badly enough on GSDs to stop you selling your puppies to responsible homes. Most people know that it's not necessarily the breed of dog, but the breed of owner that is the problem. It could have been any dog, breed irrelevent, and it's a horrible thing to happen. Poor Topaz Hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[alfyn]

I do agree Olivia, I think aggressive people choose breeds like GSDs and it's not surprising that the dogs pick up on the bad temperament of the owners!

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This is why breeders should do their homework on the people they're going to sell puppies to!

 

[Scooter]

Thank you for your kind thoughts, everyone !

We don't seem to have a dog warden here, so the place I am going to report to is the Public Nuisance. I'm also going to ask other dog walkers I often meet if they know of the woman and the dog. It seems to me these are all I can do.

The woman said 'Sorry'. I was shaken and probably pale too, so all I could say to her was 'Please hold your dog while we pass'.

Topaz has never behaved confident around large dogs. I suspect this would be a setback. She is great around medium, small and tiny dogs, especially puppies. So I will start taking her to city centre where all dogs are on lead to rebuild her and my! confidence.

I guess our local breeding GSDs have aggressive gene in them. I also think that GSD is initially bred to protect herds from wolves etc. Therefore, it will guard 'the herd' more readily than, say whippets, if it feels threaten, hence they are used for police and military. It is owners' responsibility to harness and control their nature and make it work in a positive way, but some obviously fail.

Thanks again. It's a great place!

 

[Lolcoe]

I have a dog that has been attacked by a GSD but i dont think they are vicious dogs as a breed.

In my opinion i have yet to meet a non-aggresive Akita, to me they do seem vicious and go for any dog smaller than them. There is a couple who breed them that go to my old ringcraft class, and apparently have a go at some poor dog on a regular basis. Hence the fact 'old' ringcraft class!!

 

[Scooter]

Hi, Akita is a genuine guard dog breed, not pet, and they are known to attack other animals and other dogs in Japan. I have never seen loose Akita there. They are very loyal to their own family, but they need a firm consistent experienced hand and a strong arm (not for hitting, of course) to keep it under control even when they are puppies.

In my opinion i have yet to meet a non-aggresive Akita, to me they do seem vicious and go for any dog smaller than them. There is a couple who breed them that go to my old ringcraft class, and apparently have a go at some poor dog on a regular basis. Hence the fact 'old' ringcraft class!!

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[Janimal]

Hope Topaz is feeling a bit better - and hope you are not too traumatised. :luck:

My old whippet Chip ...5 years ago was attacked by a Staffy cross and was almost killed - 4 wired ribs and punctured lungs - I was traumatised for a long time afterwards and had decided then not to have any more dogs when Chip eventually died.

Anyway it did have a happy ending because 9 months after Chip died (last Feb 04) I eventually decided to have another whippet, and Im so glad. Those people who had that dog almost put me off for life.

:rant: :rant: Its the dog owners that make me angry ... not the dogs themselves - irresponsible idiots some people. :angry:

 

[littleminx]

This is why breeders should do their homework on the people they're going to sell puppies to!

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Agree again but that isn't always easy, you go by your gut feeling on people and can normally work out right from wrong but it would be impossable to check everybody fully and even then for some reason the dog gets moved on and may still end up in the wrong hands. We can only do are best for them.

I sell my pups for good money so hopefully the people who just want one to make them look hard or to tie it to a chain all day will go to the free ad's and get one for a lot less money.

 

[kirsty]

Poor Topaz, what a horrible experience to have had to go through.

My last dog was a longhaired German Shepherd and he was the best natured dog I have ever had so far. He was scared of other dogs! He had the nature of a saint, you could take a bone out his mouth whilst he was chewing it and would not even growl. He was my sons best friend as he was growing up. Everyone said before my son was born you will have to watch Zak when the wee one comes along but his nature never changed one bit.

It is a shame that these beautiful dogs fall into the wrong hands and get a bad name. Anyone with common sense would keep an aggresive dog on the lead at all times when outside where they might come into contact with other dogs.

I do hope Topaz hasn't lost confidence when meeting other dogs now.

Kirsty

 

[Scooter]

Thanks for your kind thoughts for Topaz and me.

I'm so sorry to hear about Chip, but so glad to know that you found another whippet to share your life again. I'm more suspicious about unknown dogs now, of course, but so many other people said their dogs were attacked in past, maybe I should be more cautious from now on.

I agree. In our neighbourhood there is an old lady whose GSD is aggressive towards other dogs. She makes sure that she takes him to a further field where fewer dog are, and explains other dog walkers about him. She never let him out of the car when there are other dogs around. I respect her very much, and I am very happy to co-operate for her and her dog. We often wave to each other from distance during walks. Only if there are more people like her, there would be less grief.

Its the dog owners that make me angry ... not the dogs themselves - irresponsible idiots some people.

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