This is a hard one. Legally, the dog came onto your property and attacked your dog.
There is so much more to the story though. The neighbor was helping you and her dog followed her over. Your dog was the aggressive one and more than likely none of this would have happened had your dog not behaved in an aggressive manner. I would speculate that legally, she is responsible for all the bills. Personally, if it was my dog that was attacked in this situation, I would foot the bill and not bring it up again. As the owner of several little dogs, I completely understand what little shits they can be. I have worked diligently for mine to be solid citizens that are well socialized. I feel so many owners of little dogs blow off their bad behavior due to their size. I would feel completely different if the little dog was passive and the large dog attacked it unprovoked.
I guess it comes down to how much do you value your friendship. If you ask them to pay the bill, you might as well say goodbye to any chance of them helping you in the future. No good deed goes unpunished. I’m sure my opinion won’t be the popular opinion, but I don’t always the the world the way others do.
BTW, I am NOT a pitt fan and usually side against them. Actually, this might be the first time I’ve defended one. However, I do not feel this dog was the issue or that the end result was based on its bad behavior.
