Another dog tragedy

At 13 I was attacked by a German shepherd dog leading to a lifelong fear of dogs. 10 years ago I was cured of my fear by my friends gentle Rottweiler. I am still wary but no longer totally terrified.
We had a frightening experience with a Dog Walker a couple of years ago. She had 9 dogs running wild, my gcs were screaming with fear aS the dogs barked and jumped up at us all and the Walker stood by did nothing and a told us ‘they are just being friendly’. I was both furious and terrified all over again. There should be a limit to how many dogs are taken out together.

Indeed there should. Dogs are by nature pack animals and one person can’t possibly control nine. En masse their basic instincts surface.

Eventually we will find out how this tragic event happened.

I agree Jane, focusing on the breed isn’t always helpful. Our postman says the worst dog he encounters on his rounds is a Jack Russell. Even some small dogs were originally bred to kill badgers etc.

I'm reading that there were 8 dogs ranging from a cross between a St Bernard /Newfoundland (think Nana in Peter Pan) and daschunds, being walked by the Dog Walker. That surely sounds like a recipe for disaster. I am not a great lover of dogs and I was amazed when a woman would walk by my home with possibly more than 8 dogs of various sizes every day and started to let them use my drive as a "pissoir" . I gave her what for and she did stop walking her pack down our road. She was a DogWalker and when I asked the council are they registered? I was told no, anyone can start up the business. I would love to have found out more about her and reported her to HRMC as I would imagine she was doing it "cash in hand" judging by the loud uncouth conversation we had. There needs to be more regulation regarding Dog Walkers as obviously a dog on it's own is a pet 8 dogs is a pack.

Local authorities do have power to require dog walkers to be registered with them and to limit the number of dogs which can be walked together. I don’t know many have bothered to exercise those powers. Seemingly yours hasn’t notgran. And maybe not the local authority for the area where this woman was killed.

Well maybe that’s the very first thing that needs doing
Local authorities need to firm up all their dog laws BIG TIME

Germanshepherdsmum that is interesting about Dogwalkers having to be registered. Please can you tell me where I can find this definitive information and I shall get back in touch with our LA.

I agree with previous posters that walking or trying to walk 8 dogs is crazy. You can’t control that number of dogs as this poor young woman found out. She bravely called out to two horse riders to turn back as she was being mauled.

I have never fancied letting my dog go with a walker if they have so many dogs which a lot do. Think about it, if they charge £12-£15 for an hour that works out at circa £100 for an hours work! Time is usually from when they pick up to when they drop off. Most have big vans with separate cages for each dog. We have dog wardens now so council’s really should do something about restricting numbers.

You would need to ask your local authority notgran. They might have something on their website.

Any dog can turn.My grandson had a Spaniel for years.his girlfriend was used to the dog and he was ok with her.
She was in his flat one day looking after the dog.She just stroked him and he turned on her almost destroying her hand.She had to hospitalised and have an operation ,and still has difficulty using her hand
My sister also got a small dog from a rescue.he did the samr.She was only stroking him,her hand was a mess too.
I believe the law is a dog walker should take no more than 5 dogs at a time.She had to return the poor dog 🐕
The rescue said when she took It watch your hands..It was only a small dog .but did a lot of damage
That rescue knew it could turn and shouldn't have rehomed it.It was a stray originally so no history
I bet they rehomed it sgain

Germanshephersmum nothing on their website as I expected as I had been told on the phone and when I saw a Local Councillor that it wasn't required. Here is hoping it will become a legal requirement.

I sincerely hope so. It should not be something councils can opt into. I would hope that this tragic case will see registration and control on numbers made compulsory - but people will always flout the law if there’s money to be mad.

Germanshepherdsmum

Indeed there should. Dogs are by nature pack animals and one person can’t possibly control nine. En masse their basic instincts surface.

Eventually we will find out how this tragic event happened.

The horse riders reported that the leads got tangled up and the whole thing descended into chaos. I can't imagine why anyone would try taking that many dogs out together as the lead situation would be impossible. And as for letting them loose, well that is even worse as they would have no control and anything could happen.

You can buy special leads which enable two dogs to be walked on one lead. That would enable you to walk four dogs with one lead in each hand provided they are not ‘pullers’ and you have the strength. So many separate leads is an accident waiting to happen.

25Avalon

I agree with previous posters that walking or trying to walk 8 dogs is crazy. You can’t control that number of dogs as this poor young woman found out. She bravely called out to two horse riders to turn back as she was being mauled.

I have never fancied letting my dog go with a walker if they have so many dogs which a lot do. Think about it, if they charge £12-£15 for an hour that works out at circa £100 for an hours work! Time is usually from when they pick up to when they drop off. Most have big vans with separate cages for each dog. We have dog wardens now so council’s really should do something about restricting numbers.

There are dog walkers out there (like my friend, as I said in a previous reply on this thread) who specialise in one-to-one walks, which are becoming more and more popular in this area. Nervous or reactive dogs really need that one-to-one attention and being walked as part of a 'pack' would do them more harm than good. Not all dog walkers are unscrupulous money-grabbers.

Veejay, there is no law saying dog walkers are limited to 5 dogs. Local councils can introduce a by-law. My council didn’t. The next town did, restricting walkers to 5 dogs. As a result, my area is over run by walkers from the next town arriving with y or 8 dogs per handler. One van has two walkers, 7 dogs each, open the van doors and out they come, barking. Needless to say, I no longer walk my dogs in our own park.

veejay

Any dog can turn.My grandson had a Spaniel for years.his girlfriend was used to the dog and he was ok with her.
She was in his flat one day looking after the dog.She just stroked him and he turned on her almost destroying her hand.She had to hospitalised and have an operation ,and still has difficulty using her hand
My sister also got a small dog from a rescue.he did the samr.She was only stroking him,her hand was a mess too.
I believe the law is a dog walker should take no more than 5 dogs at a time.She had to return the poor dog 🐕
The rescue said when she took It watch your hands..It was only a small dog .but did a lot of damage
That rescue knew it could turn and shouldn't have rehomed it.It was a stray originally so no history
I bet they rehomed it sgain

What colour was the Spaniel? Golden ones were very dangerous for many years because they were inbred to get the solid colour, but people still wanted them. I think 1/14 were quite dangerous ( but this is going back a long time). I heard of several cases where the owner would fall asleep in a chair and the dog would go for their falling hand.

As an experienced dog owner myself I can see how something like this might happen. Dog walkers take far too many out at once. IMO no one can safely walk more than 3-4 at any one time, and only that number if they are biddable and have good recall.

These are not their own dogs and as such do not have the same relationship with them as the owner, nor the understanding of how each particular dog reacts in a stress situation.

I recently had to intervene when a dog walker lost control of two of her charges. They started attacking each other. Her first reaction was to try to separate them physically. You never do this. She got bitten, naturally. She was ready to go in for a second attempt when I told her to leave them to it.

There was a possibility that one dog might have killed the other, but more likely they would run out of steam. These after all are not fighting dogs but family pets who’ve lost their temper.

In the event they did calm down and between us we put them back on leads and into the van.

I don’t know how badly she was bitten on the arm but she insisted she was ok to drive them back to their homes.

Even dogs that live in the house together can fall out and start fighting, don’t try to separate the you will get bitten, if they are outside a bucket of water or a hosepipe works well, indoors I have wrapped them in a heavy blanket and they have separated, do take care.

Some dogs are very aggressive towards others but wonderful with people. Get one of them in the mix and trouble is guaranteed. My current GSD is very gentle and friendly with people but hates other dogs (knowing her background I understand why). I act accordingly and she is never put unmuzzled in a situation where trouble could occur. It’s incumbent on the owner to understand the dog and manage it accordingly.

I think even two dogs walked together can be risky if they don’t know each other well and the leads get tangled and they panic, especially certain small breeds which are bred to react quickly to things going on around them. I dread to think of the position that poor woman found herself in, on the ground unable to stand up, leads tangled and seven or eight dogs in a panic.

I am very fond of dogs and have a terrier of my own - she’s a friendly pet but I know what she would be capable of given certain circumstances.

I had a horrible bruise on my arm from when I gave a dog a treat and his friend got overexcited and grabbed my arm ( I’d asked the owner if it was ok to give them a treat). If that was what it’s like to be bitten by a soft mouthed dog through several layers of clothes I can’t bear to imagine what it’s like to be attacked.

MayBe70.the dog was a Springer Brown and white
The get said it could have had a seizure or brainstorm of some kinf.and Spanield are prone to thede.
I don't know who reported it.but the girl had to go straight to Hospital l.whether they can do it not I'm not sure but the police were involved and told he had to have the dog put down.,as now classed as dangerous
As for dog walkers being registered
.My son has a dog walker as he is unable to take his dog out due to illness,and he says he is registered and insured
I definitely read that dog walkers should take no more than 5 dogs out at once

Just had a search. and councils can say how.many dogs can be walked together.for example Blackpool said 6 some others said 4
It is up to individual councils to decide
I had seen 5 maximum somewhere.maybe our own council .due to accidents etc.

veejay - see my post at 15.00