Whats the right thing to do in this situation?

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Subject: Whats the right thing to do in this situation?

I regularly meet up with some other dog walkers. 2 of them we meet quite often and the dogs all have a great time together. One man has a big softie retreiver and another lady has a little terrier cross. The dogs have always played great together although the little terrier likes to be boss and very often snaps at the other two when he wants a ball or first to get a treat. He is usually ignored and gets what he wants if he snaps at either mine or the retreiver, but he does love playing with them. We have walked together over a year. Today the little one snapped at the retreiver who yelped and then a fight ensued which was split up quickly by the owners. The terrier had been bitten and was badly bleeding (although he was not acting hurt or injured), other one was fine. Terriers owner rushed off with him and I was left with retreivers owner who was shocked to the core that his dog had bitten another dog. He couldn't believe his dog would do this as in 4 years its never happenned and dog is very placid. He kept asking me what he should do now and I had no idea what was the right thing. He thought he should find out where she lived and take her to vet and pay the bill. I was totally useless as I didn't know what advice to give. To me no-one was really at fault,but possibly it would be a thoughtful gesture to pay the bill, but then his dog didn't attack the other dog it happened as a result of possibly the terrier hurting him first?
Thank God mine stayed away when this happened.

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Ladibirdi
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Subject: Whats the right thing to do in this situation?

If the retriever bit the terrier because he/she felt cornered or had no choice, then the owner of the retriever should not have to pay the bill, the terrriers owners should train their dog a little better. The terrier snapping at the other dogs is not acceptable behaviour and needs to be dealt with by the owner.If the retriever has no history of aggression and the terrier does,thats cleary wjere the fault lies. Hope that helped.

Ladybird x

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lettieuk1
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Subject: Whats the right thing to do in this situation?

Thanks Slurps. I'm kind of thinking that way too now and wish I hadn't agreed with him about him paying the bill at the time. The terriers owner is a dear old lady so it felt awful seeing her so upset. But then again I've put my own dog on a lead sometimes when her dog has gotten a little too snappy for my liking. Lots of people walk with her and always say "oh the dog snaps at everything but is harmless really just a grumpy thing" and I did always think one day a strangers dog will react to that. I'm just sorry it was my other walking pals dog who did it as he was really upset too. I'm sure they'll sort it out as they've both known each other a lot longer than I have. I'm sure the wee terrier will be ok too as although it was a lot of blood we couldn't find a wound in the quick look we had and he was acting ok.

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