As if I needed any additional stress...

I took my Scottie over to my mom's after dinner tonight and when we got to her house with my dog, the little dog across the street was out with her owner.  Max had never met Bella before so we took him over to see her.  He growled a little bit when he got about a foot away from her, so I pulled him back and mom and I both chastised him and he seemed calm.  I locked the leash at the shortest distance,but then Max (who is only 25 pounds but VERY strong for his size) suddenly lunged at Bella and the lock on the leash gave way.  Both mom and I tried to grab that tiny black cord to pull Max back (we both have deep areas where the friction of the cord ripped through the skin on our hands and fingers and left oozing "burn" lines) but by the time we could get control of him, Bella (a Bichon) was screaming in pain.  Max bit her on the leg (with a smaller bite on the underside of her leg from the opposite tooth).  The owner is an elderly widowed woman who became hysterical.  It was not a deep bite but it did start to bleed a bit, so I put the woman and the dog into my car and took them to the emergency vet clinic. She was so upset that she was having trouble even making a decision about whether she wanted the vet to give the dog something for pain.  The vet cleaned both punctures, checked to be sure there was no serious damage, and gave her some antibiotics and pain pills.  Even though the vet tried to assure her that the dog would be fine in a couple of days (but that she should watch the wound for any sign of infection), she will be taking the dog to see her vet tomorrow.  

So, in addition to the unexpected house expense, I paid $191 to the emergency vet and will end up paying probably another $75 a $100 for the bet visit tomorrow.  I felt SO bad that Max bit Bella, and I don't know why he did it... There is only one other dog he has ever had a problem with.  I felt so bad that this poor woman was so upset  but did everything I could to try to assist and get her dog care.  So... More stress and more bills...

Lora

((hugs))

That's a rough one.  I have a VERY dominant Shih Tzu.  He is the alpha male and makes
certain other animals know that.  The only other dog he has been tolerant of was his
brother.....and he even beat him up on numerous occasions.  (sibling rivalry...lol)  Buster
is just a bully.  Hopefully you don't have the same problem down the road with your Scottie.

He gets along with all three of the other dogs (all males) in the family, and with one of the dogs next door.  The one other dog he had an altercation with was a male, so I thought maybe it was a dominance thing, but I was really surprised when he went after the little female tonight.  After thinking about it, I am wondering if Max's aggressiveness towards her is related to my Chow bullying Max a bit when his hips were really hurting him... So maybe now that Khan is gone, Max is becoming a bully..

Lora

We have a 45 pound dog that is great with family members but not with strangers or other dogs.  I like that she is protective when I am alone in the house.  Our daughter has a friendly boxer but will fight with our dog because mine starts it.  Twice my husband has had to break them up.  The dogs were fine but my husband's hands were not.  She is the first dog that we've had that acts this way so we keep her in our house and backyard.  My husband will take her on walks but I get to nervous when other dogs run up to us.  Sorry you had stress on top of stress.  I hate the worry of unexpected expenses and we've had our share this year.  I tell myself, "Such is life".

Well, clearly I am not going to be able to allow Max to "meet" other dogs anymore.  I have a fenced backyard, so keeping him away from other dogs isn't an issue, and he gets along fine with the other family dogs.  I just feel terrible that he bit this friendly little dog when we took him over to make friends with her, and that the owner was so upset.

Lora

 I am sorry!

So sorry this happened and that you now have to deal with the unexpected expense. That sucks. You just never know how a dog will react to another, but you did all you could do before and after the bite. My dog was attacked a few months ago when we were walking. After I separated the dogs, I had my back to the other dog, checking for injuries, when I turned around the owner and dog were gone! I understand things happen, but as dog owners we have to be responsible for our pets' actions! Hope you are feeling better today.

Wow, how terrible that someone would just walk (run?) away after their dog was in a fight with someone else's dog!  Yes, as much as I did not need any extra expenses right now, my dogs are my responsibility and that includes covering any vet bills (or any other kind of bill, for that matter) that someone else might incur as a result of my dog's actions.  That is just part of the responsibility that people accept when they decide to own a dog (and even very well-behaved and good natured dogs can have unpredictable moments).

Lora

 Awww, so sorry. 

I'm really sorry you have to deal with this on top of everything else.

It sounds like you did all the right things.  You had no reason to expect Max to behave this way, you got control of him as quickly as you could, you took the lady and her dog right to the vet, you're paying for the veterinary expenses... and thank goodness her dog is going to be OK.  And you're going to keep Max away from strange dogs in the future, now that you know he might react badly.  There's nothing more you can do.