My dog attacked a puppy

Whoa, hold on!!  Just because the dog attacked a pup does NOT mean that he is a liabilty or that he is dangerous to people.  Some dogs are dog agressive, and pitties WERE bred for fighting in the bad old days.  If it were MY dog, the very first thing I'd do is to get him to the vet to see if there is a medical reason for the sudden agression and I'd be sure to include a complete thyroid panel.
 
Dog parks are often dangerous places.  I won't take my crew to one for this very reason.

The first thing I would do would be to do some research on pits. Dog-dog aggression is a fact of life with the breed and is something most owners are aware of and deal with... It is not a reason to give up your dog. It does not equate to human aggression and does not make him a liability to you if you manage him properly. Adult pits should never be taken to a dog park, because even though they have never shown aggression towards other dogs in the past, it can always happen. Here are a couple of good siteshttp://www.pbrc.net/dogpark.html &http://www.badrap.org/rescue/dogpark.cfm For now, wait for the woman to call, do the responsible thing by taking care of this and prevent it from happening in the future. Good luck and I hope everything turns out fine.

My dog is not the least bit aggressive toward people, that's not the liability I'm talking about. He has no human aggression whatsoever. Even after this incident I trust him as much as I did before, with people. It's the dog-aggression I'm worried about.

Actually I'm worried about being sued, and having the owner force me to put my dog to sleep or something.

I'm just confused and shocked, this only happened about 2 hours ago.

Does the owner of the puppy have any responsibility here? I mean, all the dogs were sort of ganging up on the puppy before my dog attacked it. Would you bring a young puppy to a dog park with about 8 or 10 large dogs? I don't know if this is typical, I've never had a puppy, or seen one at the park.

I dont mean to sound like I don't care about the poor puppy - I do, and I feel awful about what happened.

Boxer puppies can often be a target at a dog park, because a lot of other dogs dislike their exuberant play style and "boxing" play. Until they learn to play politely they can have a rough time of it. Morally, ethically, in the sense of fair play (no pun intended) did the puppy owner have a responsibility to remove her pup? Yes. Legally? No.

I'm a little confused about what your angle is... are you worried about losing your dog or worried about being sued? In your position I would probably do everything I could to be kind and helpful to the puppy owner in paying her vet bills... since you have already offered to pay them I think if you did end up in court that could be seen as an admission of fault.

I don't think that rough play and/or biting puppies necessarily translates to Dog Aggression with a capital A but given that you have a pit, and given that he's an adoptee you've only known for half a year, it behooves you to proceed with the utmost caution. The dog park is probably a bad idea from now on. But I do cringe to see you describe him as a "not a liability I want to have in my home." Isn't he a little more than just a liability?

Thanks for those links. So apparently I can't bring my dog to the dog park anymore. I guess it would have happened sooner or later. Hopefully this little puppy will be ok. I have no idea how much damage was done to him and I'm terrified.

Anyway, my dog really does love playing with other dogs. Obviously the dog park is out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a play group or something? Would it be wise to try to let him play with other dogs in a different setting?

I am worried both about being sued, and about what might happen to my dog. I guess it seems like if I'm worried about one I can't be worried about the other.

But I am worried about being taken to court, that is a definite worry of mine. I am not sure what my liability is - should I have pulled him off sooner? Since I pulled him off once and then let him go again, does that mean I was aware of the danger and then deliberately or negligently allowed the attack to happen? I am not sure what the legal liability of this whole thing is.

Then, as a separate worry, I am afraid that my dog is at risk of whatever the consequences are of attacking another dog. This is all new territory to me.

Then as a third worry, I'm wondering if maybe this dog is dangerous to have in my family (not dangerous to my family members, but to visiting dogs? loose dogs that come in my yard? other dogs at the vet?)

So I have a jumble of concerns.

ORIGINAL: jones
But I do cringe to see you describe him as a "not a liability I want to have in my home." Isn't he a little more than just a liability?

I have four children and two cats. He is a nice family pet and we're all attached to him, but if we are not able to control him, then we're not the best family for him.

First, I understand that you are rattled--dogfights are scary. To answer some of your questions:

1. The idea that you "can't have this liability in your home" is riling people up because it sounds like you got a pit bull without doing any research when you say this. Pits, like all terriers but more so, tend toward dog aggression. You probably won't be able to go to a dog park safely with your pit, and I would never take a pit mix of mine to a dog park, even if it was over 2 years old and never showed any aggression. The tendency is there, and I would prefer dog-dog interactions that are easier to control, with dogs I know. This is not to say that pits are bad dogs--they are truly fantastic dogs and have an extremely low tendency toward human aggression.

2. Dog parks are not particularly safe places because you are at the mercy of all kinds of ignorances. Boxer pups do have a hard time learning how to play, and puppies get a lot of lumps in general. A lot of pit owners don't research the breed first and are very surprised the first time their dog decides to fight another dog. There is an assumption of risk when a person enters a dog run. You are probably not legally responsible for this reason, but did the right thing by giving your contact info and offering to pay the bill. You should pay it, apologize, and tell the owner that you are taking this seriously and are not going to dog runs anymore.

You did the right thing.

3. It doesn't sound like that big a deal in the big scheme of things. An ear bite is not going to require a shunt or anything, and most of the tissue in an ear is expendable (hence cropping of ears). The vet bill should be under $200.

If it makes you feel any better, I paid over $3000 in other people's vet and medical bills when I did have a truly aggressive dog (not a pit, but a rescue) that was not managable (she was a liability that I did have to put down--not like your dog). I empathize with you, but the dog was just acting like a dog, and it's your job not to continue the conflict with the other human. Be a good person, don't let the conflict between your dog and the pup turn into a conflict between owners, and you will be fine.

Just keep repeating to yourself that you didn't bite anybody, and you'll feel better after you write that check.

but if we are not able to control him, then we're not the best family for him.

Why wouldn't you be able to control him? You know now not to take him to the park. The rest of it is very easily managable.

I'm wondering if maybe this dog is dangerous to have in my family (not dangerous to my family members, but to visiting dogs? loose dogs that come in my yard? other dogs at the vet?)

Introduce him to visiting dogs on neutral territory, if all goes well then you supervise their time together, don't let toys or food become an issue, and separate them when you aren't watching.

Why are loose dogs coming into your yard?

At the vet, either control him by keeping him from the other dogs or muzzle him if you feel it is necessary.

Bourbon St, I wouldn't think about this for the rest of the day if I were you. It's really not the end of the world, these things happen, and you are really riling yourself up and "what-iffing".

You're scared, and that's OK but it's not productive. Give your dog to your husband for the rest of the day and go do something else. Every question you ask here right now is going to create conflict and get all blown out of proportion because it sounds like you didn't do your research before you got the dog in the first place, and this board is notorious for people kinda jumping all over folks for not doing their research in the first place. That's just going to get you more upset, you don't need it, it wasn't that big a deal.

Thank you.

I guess I must come off as one of those ignorant people who go and adopt a pit bull without doing research. To be honest (and you may not believe me), I didnt realize this dog was a pit bull when I adopted it. Yes, I am that dumb. It was advertised as a "terrior mix". Well, now my husband and I know "terrior mix" is a euphanism for pit bull, when they are looking for people to adopt these dogs. After taking him, I *then* did the research and realized he looks an awful lot like a pit bull.

And it was at that point that I realized he has the typical pit bull personality of being extremely sociable and friendly with people, which makes him a great family dog for my kids.

I also knew about the dog-aggression with the breed. and yes, I thought "MY dog isn't like that - after all, he's not all pitbull - he's a mixed breed".

I do feel really, really stupid. I just didn't know that much about dogs in general, even less about pit bulls.

ORIGINAL: BourbonSt

Thanks for those links. So apparently I can't bring my dog to the dog park anymore. I guess it would have happened sooner or later. Hopefully this little puppy will be ok. I have no idea how much damage was done to him and I'm terrified.

Anyway, my dog really does love playing with other dogs. Obviously the dog park is out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to find a play group or something? Would it be wise to try to let him play with other dogs in a different setting?

I think you're going to the extreme here.  I'm going to go to the other extreme.  IF your dog hasn't shown signs of aggression towards other dogs at the park, and IF you are able to control your dog and IF you have a reliable recall, I think you should go back to the park.

You didn't read your dogs signs well enough and the "timeout" you gave him was too short.  When you put your dog on "timeout" at the park, the best thing to do is to remove him from that particular area of the park while on timeout.  Keep him/her on lead for 3-5 minutes.  After you've let him/her off of timeout, practice behaviors that are really reliable-a sit, a down, a handshake, whatever your pup knows and is reliable with.  Then release him back to play. 

The time out allows him to extricate from the situation, calm himself down and recognize that YOU are in control.  Practicing known behaviors reinforces your control of the situation.  When you release him back to play, give him 2 or 3 minutes and call him back, further reinforcing your leadership.  Lots of rewards when he comes, lots of praise.  Release him again. 

Too many people bring their dogs to the park for exercise only.  I am of the opinion that the dog park is for socialization and some good off lead playtime.  Alot of owners take the dog straight from the crate to the park.  These dogs come in like a flash of lightning and get everybody all excited.  Then that excited dog leaves because the owner thinks that "everybody is picking on my dog."  I'm not saying that you are doing this BourbonSt, just that it is a common occurence.  Take your dog for a nice walk before going to the park, which strengthens that bond between the two of you.  Then go to the park and have fun: maintain control but have fun. 

If you take the dog park completely away from him because of one incident, further down the road you might find that you've turned him from a "loves playing with other dogs" dog into a dog aggressive dog.

In reference to boxer puppies...alot of time they just don't heed the repeated warnings that other dogs give them.   That could have been what happened.  I don't know because I wasn't there.

He's a good-looking dog.

I agree that there is an assumed liability when you enter a dog park, regardless of whether your dog is the biter or the bitee.  Did you see BLOOD?  The pup could just be a drama queen, carrying on like crazy over a bit of a scare.
 
I seriously doubt that AC would take a complaint about this sort of thing too seriously.  Your dog wasn't the ONLY dog fussing after the pup after all.  And that little pup *could* have been giving off some sort of signals that were riling up all the grownups.  And honestly, if this were MY pup, he would have left that park the first time another dog fussed at him.  So the owner has some "fault" here as well.
 
I think you need to take a deep breath and step back a bit from the situation.  Your dog scared the peanuts out of you by behaving in a way that you've never seen before, but he didn't KILL the pup and he didn't come home and kill the cats because he "got a taste for blood".  He is still the same boy you knew and loved this morning, but now he's shown you that PERHAPS he shouldn't be allowed to play in that type of situation.
 
If your yard isn't fenced and you CAN'T fence it for some reason, get a kennel for him for his outside time.  That way you CAN control those stays that wander into your yard.  At least HE is safe from them...after all THEY could attack him.  Put a baby gate or a halfday someplace so that the cats have a "saferoom" where they can get away from him if need be.
 
This IS a managable situation.  But, I'd still get him to a vet for a complete check up.