Does anyone else feel like that video was happening in slow motion?
Granted, I have extensive experience handling large dogs and I saw several instances where there was plenty of time to move in quickly, grab the dogs hind legs and wheelbarrow him. I also realize this sounds like it was a complicated situation that started long before the video began and emotions were probably quite high…but fer fuggs sake.
I do not disagree with this thought in hindsight, but I like to think that if this was possible with the people there then it would have happened.
Those obvious to you in the video times might have happened when the able bodied people were on the other side of the horse, or the only people near the dog were not willing to get injured themselves (innocent people), or they were afraid of the horse (lots of people are).
Armchair quarter backing is easy. Being in the moment is not so easy.
I 100% agree for the non-owners, as it’s not within their responsibility to risk getting bit. But the owner of that dog should have been ALL OVER IT instead of trying to get fluffy to stop on his own.
I’d rather be right up by the business end on a dog I don’t know, because being too far away means that business end can reach you and grab you. If you grab right behind the ears (grab the collar and twist it so it can’t slide around), and lift, then the dogs head becomes immobile.
That said, I’ve only had to forcibly restrain a REALLY driven dog probably 10 times in my life, so your mileage may vary.
The same way any animal acting like an animal and causing an injury while not actually “attacking” can be non-aggressive.
This dog was not growling, it didn’t have its hackles or lips raised, its face was relaxed and not tight, there was no white around the eye. A dog kicked or knocked away in a state of aggression will be faster onto its feet and faster to re-engage.
The dog was exhausted in the video, so you can’t judge it well. I think the terms aggression and intensity get confused, even to me.
I saw one account that said the dog was wearing a harness and the closure mechanism broke. I that case, the leash was likely still attached to the harness.
Oh, absolutely. It’s easy to pick apart what happened in hindsight.
I have less faith than you, though, @trubandloki, in the abilities of the people shown in the video. I find in most instances where something like this happens, there is a direct link between the end result and gross negligence and inability to act on the part of the people involved.
I guess I’m also one of those people that know myself well enough to know that if it was my dog I’d be in there regardless of the risk to me. I’d likely do the same even if it wasn’t my dog.
This scares the life out of me when driving my pony. He hates dogs with a passion. Feel terrible for the horse owner, not so much for the dog or dog owner.
Knowing my beagle mix has a high chase drive and when he gets in that headspace he is impossible to call off even with a vibrating collar. He will run through an electric fence anything to follow a scent, I would assume this dog is the same, high focus. He will bite if you try to pull him off a scent. I double leash him and add a vibration collar when I think necessary and if I’m taking him out for training in public. I hate harnesses anyway, they do nothing but ramp up dogs aggression when not used correctly.
What she did was SOP for Heading a Driving horse.
But if horse decides to leave, a smart Header will step aside (unless they too weigh 1000#).
From what I read, her worst injuries were from falling under the horse & getting trampled - unavoidable given the dog was often attacking horse from the front - injuries to nose & lips - putting her in the Line of Attack. Horse likely tried to avoid stepping on her, but with so much going on, not possible.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I think the dog is super aggressive. But in a way that is different than the usual meaning of aggression. We usually think of aggression in the form of territorial or fearful behaviors. What I saw in the video is another form of aggression: sport. Or to be fair to the dog, doing exactly what it was bred to do and in a sense doing it well: disabling and if possible bringing down a large animal. Not to go overboard but the fact is that horse came very close to be hamstrung or disembowelled.
Not a dog that should ever be off a leash around large animals.
It will be interesting to see if it comes out that this dog had a history of aggression towards animals. Any dog with that level of attack mode should not be out in public period.
If I had a dime for every time an owner told me 'my dog doesn’t usually attack other dogs/cats/rabbits/ect … they know and still let them off lead or aren’t careful. My nice leashed dogs were attacked by off leash dog so many times in public.
And that horse is a freaking saint
Dog was leashed and got loose when it went after the horse. This wasn’t an “ooh, my Pookie is okay loose” situation but an owner who didn’t know how to keep a high drive dog under control
Are there any updates on how the horse is doing?
I feel like it’s not very common for people to know about the “wheelbarrow” method. I’ve had dogs for 29 years as an adult, and only heard about doing this a few years ago. Luckily, none of my dogs have ever been in a situation that called for it. But if I didn’t know about it as an experienced dog and horse owner, I would suspect that newer or more casual owners wouldn’t know either.
I think the slip leash could have gone around the dog’s back end/legs and then you could yank him away without being much in the line of attack.
Yes, I got that. I was just bringing up another type of situation where dogs can and will get into trouble.
I don’t think anyone there (including the dog owner) had any experience controlling large dogs. There’s a couple of times the owner makes a tentative move towards him, but then backs off. The guy with the spatula is also pretty tentative (although to be fair, a spatula isn’t that useful in this situation). However, I agree that it’s also possible that they were intimidated by the horse as well.
I did wonder if the carriage whip could have been useful in some way to go after the dog, but it’s also possible that trying to use that would have upset the horse further.
(12) Horse attacked by dog begins road to recovery - YouTube
Driver suffered head wounds that required staples and a broken foot that requires surgery. She is self-employed and uninsured.
Nope.
Driving whips are short-lashed*, soft-lashed & meant only to replace your leg, to touch the horse, not smack.
They are very flexible, so even the length of the whip w/o including the lash can’t deliver much wallop.
*unless you are driving a 4 or more. Lash only reaches the shoulder of the Leader, farthest horse from driver
A longe whip has more of a “business” end, but hardly something easily carried along on a cart or not even the larger wagonette seen in the video.
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