Odin Attacked At Obediance Classes

[Davis]

I haven't been on much this week, so I hope everyone has been well! we just finished moving and everything's been so hectic it's only now started to settle down. Odin has been handling his new surroundings very well he's just been over excited with it all which is understandable ! Anyway we've been going to a new obediance group training and the trainer is fantastic and Odin seems to love it. It was our second lesson Saturday and we were practicing walking around a circle at the same time while the trainer would shout out commands and we'd comply with our dogs except for some idiot woman's weimaraner.. He turned around and barked at mine, I had no idea he was aggressive nor did I think agressive dogs were allowed in this class.. And assumed theirs was just curious or playful.. Its owner continued to let her dog walk towards mine on his leash and when he got in odins face Odin tried to sniff him, the weimanarner pawed him and when Odin went to paw him back he latched his teeth into odins front leg very hard. It Was quite frightening and painful for him and he squealed in pain for over a minute and wouldn't put his paw back to the ground for some time.. He seems to be fine now and back to his happy, dopey self I just hope this won't lead to any problems around bigger dogs in the future because he was quite timid around the larger dogs the rest of the day at training. As the for the woman and her dog she was allowed to remain in the class which I thought was appalling and she didn't bother to ask if he was okay or attempt an apology she just snickered oh he's over protective (over fG protective of what sniffing??) when it happened and walked off. If it happens again unfortunately I will be taking it into my own hands and some words and actions will come out she in particular won't find very pleasant. I just have no time for people like that, what do you guys think? How would you handle a situation like this?

 

[mandym]

If it happens again unfortunately I will be taking it into my own hands and some words and actions will come out she in particular won't find very pleasant

If it were me, that would be the route I would take. You don't mess with my baby!

But then again you could always take the high road - but that usually doesn't get you anywhere these days

 

[JanS]

Oh man poor Odin. And that woman should not be in the class and the instructors should have never allowed it either.

If it were me I think I'd tell the woman what I thought of her being such an irresponsible dog owner and ask for my money back from the ob group. Just disgusting...

 

[Asteria]

Oh man poor Odin. And that woman should not be in the class and the instructors should have never allowed it either.

If it were me I think I'd tell the woman what I thought of her being such an irresponsible dog owner and ask for my money back from the ob group. Just disgusting...

I agree wth Jan

 

[GennyB]

Well I can tell you that a similar thing happened to Drake and I. In our case Drake was on a long down and the other handler was not paying attention (she was running her mouth instead) to what was going on. Her dog charges Drake and attacked him. He got Drake pretty good in the hind leg, drew blood. I was livid to say the least. I let her know exactly what I thought of what she just did. You have to pay attention when you are around dogs and talking about the movie you just saw has to wait until your dog is put up safely.
It turned out that Drake got an infection from the bite because it healed on the outside but not on the inside. It was a mess!
It was handled is a poor way by the club. They kicked Drake out because he was so excited to work that he got all the other dogs excited. I was not familiar with how this all worked so I was not about to let that happen. I did not want anything on Drake's record that said he was aggressive. I fought tooth and nail to have us put back in the club. We had to have a board meeting to have it approved. We did get back in but did not return for the rest of our class.
I feel the club was irresponsible by letting people sit on the side line with their dog and not paying attention.
I was also worried to death about how this would affect him. I just kept thinking that I told him down and stay, walked away and this is what he gets for listening to me. Would he ever trust me again? I am happy to say that I worried for nothing, his long down is just fine.
I personally feel that the first class should be handlers only and you should go over that it is not human social hour. Anything could happen and you need to pay attention.

 

[Judith]

Davis , sorry put this picture on the wrong thread, I have asked Jan to move it, I had the two threads open at the same time :shakinghead:god I must be getting old and past it, sorry again

 

[JanS]

Her dog charges Drake and attacked him. He got Drake pretty good in the hind leg, drew blood. I was livid to say the least. I let her know exactly what I thought of what she just did. You have to pay attention when you are around dogs and talking about the movie you just saw has to wait until your dog is put up safely.
It turned out that Drake got an infection from the bite because it healed on the outside but not on the inside. It was a mess!
It was handled is a poor way by the club. They kicked Drake out because he was so excited to work that he got all the other dogs excited. I was not familiar with how this all worked so I was not about to let that happen.

Oh that's terrible...

 

[obbanner]

I'd consider finding another class if the trainer can't handle the students. The trainer at a minimum should have seen the bite situation developing and told the weimaraner owner in no uncertain terms to get her dog out of Odins face before he was bit. If he continued and bit Odin, the Weimaraner should have at least been excused from the class until every one was satisfied the dog could return (not a guaranteed outcome).

The trainer should also have used the incident as a training opportunity for the class and explained that the handler should never let a dog stare at another and that dogs should never be allowed to approach another. A handler should ALWAYS be aware of what their dog is doing, even if they're chatting with other handlers. The fact that she didn't indicates a lack of experience or judgement.

 

[MelissaP.]

Sorry to hear about this. I'm sure the whole situation was incredibly aggravating and sometimes finding ob classes are few and far between. I hope everything works out.

 

[Davis]

If it were me, that would be the route I would take. You don't mess with my baby!

But then again you could always take the high road - but that usually doesn't get you anywhere these days

To be honest I didn't realize he was actually attacking my dog at the time I thought it was playing before it was too late, and then my priority was to just make sure his leg was okay. if I had my time back I probably would have blew up then and there

Oh man poor Odin. And that woman should not be in the class and the instructors should have never allowed it either.

If it were me I think I'd tell the woman what I thought of her being such an irresponsible dog owner and ask for my money back from the ob group. Just disgusting...

I will dispute something with him next class because it's unfair to allow Someone's aggressive dog in normal ob classes, and I'm going to demand her to be kicked out at least if not I will request a refund.. What happens next time when it's too late? Personally I don't want it to be there to find out

Well I can tell you that a similar thing happened to Drake and I. In our case Drake was on a long down and the other handler was not paying attention (she was running her mouth instead) to what was going on. Her dog charges Drake and attacked him. He got Drake pretty good in the hind leg, drew blood. I was livid to say the least. I let her know exactly what I thought of what she just did. You have to pay attention when you are around dogs and talking about the movie you just saw has to wait until your dog is put up safely.
It turned out that Drake got an infection from the bite because it healed on the outside but not on the inside. It was a mess!
It was handled is a poor way by the club. They kicked Drake out because he was so excited to work that he got all the other dogs excited. I was not familiar with how this all worked so I was not about to let that happen. I did not want anything on Drake's record that said he was aggressive. I fought tooth and nail to have us put back in the club. We had to have a board meeting to have it approved. We did get back in but did not return for the rest of our class.
I feel the club was irresponsible by letting people sit on the side line with their dog and not paying attention.
I was also worried to death about how this would affect him. I just kept thinking that I told him down and stay, walked away and this is what he gets for listening to me. Would he ever trust me again? I am happy to say that I worried for nothing, his long down is just fine.
I personally feel that the first class should be handlers only and you should go over that it is not human social hour. Anything could happen and you need to pay attention.

Sorry to hear about that.. I just can't believe the ignorance and stupidity of others sometimes I agree with you though their needs to be ground rules and procedure laid down from the start because it's the humans to blame not the dog

Davis , sorry put this picture on the wrong thread, I have asked Jan to move it, I had the two threads open at the same time :shakinghead:god I must be getting old and past it, sorry again

It's okay Judith was a great picture of smeagle buddy

I'd consider finding another class if the trainer can't handle the students. The trainer at a minimum should have seen the bite situation developing and told the weimaraner owner in no uncertain terms to get her dog out of Odins face before he was bit. If he continued and bit Odin, the Weimaraner should have at least been excused from the class until every one was satisfied the dog could return (not a guaranteed outcome).

The trainer should also have used the incident as a training opportunity for the class and explained that the handler should never let a dog stare at another and that dogs should never be allowed to approach another. A handler should ALWAYS be aware of what their dog is doing, even if they're chatting with other handlers. The fact that she didn't indicates a lack of experience or judgement.

well that was the issue we were walking in circles together and he's should sit, heel, turn etc and the dogs that were demonstrating weakness he was going on 1 to show the owners to correct properly, and the incident happened while he was helping someone's spaniel. He ordered us to give 5 feet between each other but the woman let her stupid dog drag her to mine. If I knew it was aggressive it would have ended before she even got to me. I don't want to lose the ob trainer because he's the best one in my area and I want to get into his agility classes.. So it's a crappy situation he's worked wonders with my dogs obedience in the past so id like to continue but I'm going to request the idiot with the aggressive dog be removed permanently from the class..

Sorry to hear about this. I'm sure the whole situation was incredibly aggravating and sometimes finding ob classes are few and far between. I hope everything works out.

cheers, and yes it was very aggravating and this was the last top rated one in my area any thing else is a 35+ Min drive I'm hoping this can all be sorted by next class just a pain in the ass!

 

[Judith]

Sorry about your incident at OB, I think trainers should work with some of the owners more than the dogs, the Wein knows the woman is weak so this is why it is taking charge doing whatever it wants and it will only get worse as it gets bigger, If you want to stick with the class make let everyone get into place before you decide where you are going to work with Odin, have a word with your trainer about what happened, the main thing is when you go back just stay relaxed and don't worry about it as Odin will pick up on you being worried or stressed and he will be worrying about you he will not be bothered about the incident unless he senses something is upsetting you.

The fact that she saw nothing wrong is a red flag to me, if she comes near you just say politely "I'm sorry but could you keep your dog away until you learn how to take control of it" good luck with your class, I started one when Bella was a puppy but the trainer was really snotty, she was picked me out and asked in front of everyone if I thought my dog was a mind reader as I did not keep repeating the command, I never went back

 

[Panama]

Sorry to hear your boy was attacked and glad he's back to his happy self.

Never allow nose to nose greeting with a strange dog. Eye contact is the first trigger they teach (or should).

 

[MyBuddy]

As the for the woman and her dog she was allowed to remain in the class which I thought was appalling and she didn't bother to ask if he was okay or attempt an apology

This is incredible! I think I'm more upset over this than the actual incident! lol What is wrong with people!?? They don't even say I'M SORRY? There's that responsibility thing again! Yea, I would have been in her face. The instructor didn't say anything either?

 

[Davis]

This is incredible! I think I'm more upset over this than the actual incident! lol What is wrong with people!?? They don't even say I'M SORRY? There's that responsibility thing again! Yea, I would have been in her face. The instructor didn't say anything either?

my thoughts exactly!! As soon as it happened he made her walk off the training field and checked to see if Odin was alright, then went back and talked to her about what happened and he then let her join back in about 10 minutes later. I'm not sure what was said between them so I'll ask next lesson. But yea as far as the ignorance of that woman.. She was parked right next to our vehicle when we were leaving and she put her sunglasses on avoided all eye contact until we were gone.

 

[JanS]

But yea as far as the ignorance of that woman.. She was parked right next to our vehicle when we were leaving and she put her sunglasses on avoided all eye contact until we were gone.

Just wow... That's all I can say...

 

[DreamValley]

Sorry to hear about it....
Your trainer is not as good as you think. If I were you I would find another class.
First, a trainer should not allow dogs to interract in any way. Dogs should be focused on owners. That's what they should teach at the beginning. Any OB trainer should be able to read a dog body language and stop any undesirable behaviour before it starts... that's not a dog off leash park!!

Odin does not need this kind of experience at his age... he may develop a fear aggression to other dogs. The only way to fix to sociaze him with GOOD dogs frequently.

 

[JanS]

Any OB trainer should be able to read a dog body language and stop any undesirable behaviour before it starts...

Boy is that the truth. Our trainer is like she can see out of the back of her head and she's on those dogs before they can even lift a lip to snarl. The dogs all know it and respect her too.

 

[Asteria]

The kennel club I use has a "no approach unless asked" tolerance.

They make orientation mandatory for newcomers and they go over verbally with handouts how important it is to give each dog it's own bubble of space for reasons just like this.

If they see you in violation they have to authority to ask you not to return.

I second finding another trainer.

 

[Caloni]

The kennel club I use has a "no approach unless asked" tolerance.

They make orientation mandatory for newcomers and they go over verbally with handouts how important it is to give each dog it's own bubble of space for reasons just like this.

If they see you in violation they have to authority to ask you not to return.

I second finding another trainer.

I agree. Our training club is the SAME way. But the "no return policy" is not as enforced as it should be. But people tend to respect a harsh warning from an instructor or club member. If they continue to do it they are taken aside and given a "meeting".

 

[iceman]

what do you guys think? How would you handle a situation like this?

Well..I am sorry for what has happened BUT you are to blame as much as the other dog owner & the trainer in charge of the session..

Your fault is that you did not read the other dog well enough to act in time and put a distance between your dog & him when he turned around and barked at your dog.
That was a sign that he was dog aggressive and willing to attack..

Owner of other dog is to blame for allowing his dog to walk towards your dog, knowing he is dog aggressive (definitely not protective in any way...that is called dog aggression!!)

And last of all..the trainer in charge, who is supposed to be most experienced in the situation, should have warned all of you to keep your distances from each other..

As a dog owner, rule one everyone must learn, is to be able to read dog's..their body language tells a lot to the experienced eye!!

I just hope this incident doesn't leave a psychological scar on your dog!!