Another dog tragedy

Obviously, even though I have put some facts "out there", I'm very sorry for this lady's loss of life and for her friends and relatives, who must be very distressed

IF the lady who died had been charging £13.50 for each dog she walked, she would have been looking at £108 for an hour's work.

It's obvious that there are people who might be drawn to this type of money, but I believe it is not fair on the animals. There are also people trying to cash in who have not got the appropriate insurances or qualifications, who do not put the dog's needs first.

None of the dog walkers I personally know or trust would ever take so many dogs out on their own, they would hire help.

Including up to an hour walk and enrichment activities. There is a max of 7 dogs per day. Please ensure your dog is vaccinated , FULLY house trained and doesn't suffer from separation anxiety.


Group Walk per dog .......................£13.50


Solo Walk - week day ......................£20
Per Day (up to 8 hrs) ..................£19
Over 8 hrs charged at £5.50 per hour

Copied and pasted from a trusted site, so just an illustration. The wonderful lady in question does not take her maximum amount of dogs out on her own, but hires extra staff to help her walk them. I did use her for my small dog and she hired someone to give her 1:1, which I was happy to pay for. She also wrote an hour by hour report of what my dog had been doing and sent me photos during the day. I would use her again as she was excellent.

Thats great Iam64 Someone who has canine studies and considers the emotional needs of your dog is infinitely preferable to these greedy dog walkers who farm dogs together, for profit.

I blame the internet. There are so many videos on social media with dog walkers walking multiple dogs, often boasting about "perfecting my craft". I saw a doggy daycare one when the dog walker fell off some steps and the dogs all rushed over to jump on him. Could have been so different if the dogs were prone to aggression or if he fell on one or two of them, hurting them. There are also videos of a man in (America I think) who uses his dogs to pull a cart on a ten mile walk with the smaller ones having a ride when they get tired. To be honest, he looks like he knows what hes doing and provides really good daycare but I still wouldnt be happy for my dog to be cared for like that. She is used to 1:1 and thats what I'd pay for, with proven canine qualifications and excellent references only.

Onwardandupwards, I had to find a dog Walker last year because of the amount of hospital time. She walks 3 dogs only but we agreed my young lab is to be walked on his own. She also has an enclosed field, so one day he’s there playing games, some agility, retrieves. The next day, he’s on a long walk on his lead.
She is a farmer’s daughter, works with shire horses and has a degree in equine and canine studies. It helped us through my husband’s illness. I’ve continued her involvement as I negotiate my way through endless admin linked to bereavement.
But - there’s no way I’d risk my dog with the ‘professional’ dog walkers who use our park.

I was saying this morning that it would be really odd if it turned out to be one of the Dachshunds. Really anything could have happened. I thought maybe she stepped on a dogs foot who blamed another dog and they fought but when she tried to separate them.....

It was only a guess.

I hope people stop using doggy daycare facilities like these and choose one trusted walker who can give their dog the 1:1 attention it needs and deserves

I would imagine that the leads got entangled and the dogs panicked. If a dog attacks your dog one of the worst things that can happen is that the leads get entangled because it’s impossible to separate the dogs who then panic because they’re effectively being strangled themselves. I’ve been bitten on the back of my legs by two Jack Russells when I was delivering something to a house. It isn’t necessarily the big dog that killed this poor woman: it’s just as likely to have been one of the smaller ones.

BlueBelle

Sorry Dinah but what’s that got to do with all the big problems being brought up on this thread
Nice little story but totally irrelevant

Just that it was mentioned that the walker had fallen over and the dog(s) attacked her. Something else must have happened - she could have laded on one of the dogs. A lead could have got wrapped around another dog. etc etc.

Sorry Dinah but what’s that got to do with all the big problems being brought up on this thread
Nice little story but totally irrelevant

Some years ago whilst walking my two terriers I fell over and land flat on my back. My first thoughts were that the dogs would have run away, My second thoughts were to be embarrassed as someone came up to me to help me up. As it was they didn't run but stood around looking bemused and they came straight back to me.

The thing is it may not have been one dog bite her, the others may have followed the leader and all turned on this poor lady
Such a dreadful tragedy for that poor woman her family and the dog owners
The RSPCA were on the news this morning I only caught a bit but it was about the dreadful cosmetic breeding to suit people’s need for designer dogs IT HAS TO STOP there has to be a law to stop all this inbreeding and purpose breeding shorter noses, more saggy skin, shorter legs etc etc so dreadful for the dogs and at the same time inbreeding any bad personality traits
There need new laws for a lot of animal owning I don’t believe there is nothing more can be done I think it needs to be done asap

A year is such a long time. Surely the pathologist’s work can be concluded in far less time (she said knowing nothing of pathology beyond tv dramas). The poor dogs will be so confused and so much depends on how this awful accident happened in the first place. The police must surely have been able to find that out by now. If it is the case that the woman caused it by falling over as has been suggested, why should the frightened and confused dogs be demonised?

sodapop

I understand of course the dogs cannot return to their owners OnwardandUpward but I do wonder if they will be suitable to return to being family pets after a year in kennels or indeed if the owners want them back.

A year is a long time in a dogs life. If they’re kept in kennels they will be institutionalised in some way and will have to be reassessed if and when they’re allowed back into a home environment. It would probably be worse for them if their owners were allowed to visit. They will be confused enough as it is.

Its so sad and I don't know either. I think we need a change in law and for dog walking to be regulated.

It must have been a "quick buck" walking so many dogs at once and I blame social media for people thinking its ok. Theres no way I'd use a dog walker except two that I know well who have both studied dog psychology and dog behaviour. Both only take out one dog at a time.

It’s a tragedy for everyone concerned .

I understand of course the dogs cannot return to their owners OnwardandUpward but I do wonder if they will be suitable to return to being family pets after a year in kennels or indeed if the owners want them back.

That does make sense. I mean, there would be an uproar if they were allowed back.

But, it will have really detrimental effects. The only good thing that can come from this is that hopefully the Pathologist can tell which type of bites were the killing bites and rule out some of the dogs, so that they don't all have to be euthanased.

I wonder if the owners are allowed to visit them? It must be awful being one of the owners and just not knowing.

I understand the dogs concerned are being kept in kennels whilst pathologists etc do tests to see which ones actually attacked the woman concerned. Other tests are also being carried out. This could all take a year or more which will have really detrimental effects on the dogs. I'm not sure then if they will be returned to their original owners or what will happen. It seems very unsatisfactory all round.

I guess Alaska isn’t densely populated but I was at this film. How can they ensure all those dogs are safe if they’re running free? And as a human, I certainly wouldn’t want to come across them in the woods. www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-64346501

So right, Iam, so right. Bless them.

An issue I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere is the possibility one of these dogs had been affected by something in its life in the period before this incident.
My dogs reacted to my husbands death in different ways. The quiet gentle 4 year old little spaniel has been needy, shown signs of separation anxiety, new behaviour. My gentle over friendly huge young lab transformed into a guard dog. The first time a male friend he’d never met came to the house the dog got in front of me, growling, snarling in a way never seen. It happened again the following day. He made no attempt to attack but was clearly guarding me. This new behaviour has been well managed , he’s had no opportunity to repeat it and is now back to being your typical soft lab.
Dogs are sensitive to their environment.

What I meant was that they might have an instinct to protect the animals they’re with, in the case of the dog attack they might have an instinct to protect the pack in the way that they would protect the flock. I’m just trying to think inside the dogs head ie the Leonberger felt her flock was being threatened by the dog walker. I know I’m over thinking it and I obviously don’t know what happened. It’s a bit like the husky attack on its owners baby. Something triggered that reaction. My gut reaction is that us humans have badly let down the Leonberger which has ended up in a situation which will probably result in it being pts. By saying that it doesn’t mean that my heart doesn’t go out to the dog walker or that I feel she was responsible for what happened. I feel that it was a situation that should never have legally been allowed to happen.There is no way that I’d feel afraid of a Leonberger whilst out walking my dog. I’m scared of terriers and bull breeds.

I think that’s right Dinahmo, despite the breed having a reputation for being gentle and the vet who looks after this one confirming it has a gentle nature.

MayBe70 Usually it's one or two of these v. large breeds (Newfie, Leonberger, Maremma) that are used to protect a herd of sheep. They are brought up with the sheep. They are unlikely to roam around in a pack. It seems to me that the Leonberger is getting adverse comments on here because of its size.

Germanshepherdsmum

Poor child. Thank goodness your friend realised.

I used to babysit for the child. She was a delight. I’ve never known someone learn to speak (and speak eloquently) at such a young age. Maybe it was due to being sat in front of a tv for hours at a time. Either way, it backfired because she told her mum what was happening.