So....this just happened today....

Was walking both Kota and Kuky around noon time on our usual daily walks (3-4 times a day). Most of the time it's usually only with Kota but I brought Kuky this time.

Before I get into the details, a little back story regarding this dog that attacked Kota and bit me.

There is this Husky(Luna) who lives at this corner which is fenced up in their front yard. She is a very pretty husky. When we use to only have Kuky, we walked down that street and the husky was wagging her tell and likes to greet Kuky. Once we got Kota and walked the same street, she was fine at the beginning but some how her attitude changed towards Kota behind the fence. She started to show teeth when ever we walk near the fence.  Since then, we stopped going on that side of the street and only walked on the opposite street. We didn't want any issue and knowing about Huskies, they can climb fences.

One day at the dog park, Kota was just playing and greeting every dog that comes in.  A husky came in the park and my bf was with Kota near the other side where another gate was available for dogs to come in and out.  All of a sudden the husky lunged at Kota and started to attack her. Kota defended herself and the owners pulled their husky away and left the park.  My bf told me that it was the husky(Luna) on our street.  The owner told my bf that she has never done that before.  What is weird is that the other dog owners at the park says that it was not the first time the Luna have done that.  We were just glad they left the park.

That was probably 3 months ago.

So today, we went walking and we are on opposite side of the street.  as I got close to their house, I noticed that the Owner's parent let their Luna and their other dog get out of the fence and hang out with them in the garage. The parents were not paying attention to her and I noticed that she was already eyeing Kota and already creeping half way on the streets and we were already too close to walk the other way. She was going to lunge after Kota so I tried to keep the Luna away from us far enough while calling out to the owners to watch their dog. By the time they heard us, it was too late and Luna went after Kota. I had my hands full with both leashes for both of my dogs. I grabbed the scruff of Luna at one point but she got away from me.  The mother finally came but not fast enough because it lunged towards Kota again between my legs and caught my inner thigh. She finally got a hold of her and we walked away. After I walked them home, I checked my thighs and told my bf about it. He wasn't home. But he told me I need to report them and to go to the hospital for my wound. I had a dog bite on my leg. It didn't seem bad but safety first.  I went back to their house to talk to them. Also asked them for updated rabies paperwork. They only found one that was already expired. Not sure how up to date it is.  I really feel bad about the situation but my bf made a good point. If I let it slide, what if it took a life of another dog or injured a kid or elder who was walking their dog.

So I also told the Luna's dog owners what the situation is and that I would have to report their dog.  It wasn't the first time showing aggression. And I told the mom that if the daughter wants to talk, they can call me.

Do you think I did the right thing? I really don't want anything bad to happen to their dog. I have never had this happen before and don't really know the process. The SPCA near our place closes on Monday so I called Humane Animal Control. They told me that they will report this and I will hear soon from an officer.

You are, without a doubt "en una posición dificil" (between a rock and a hard place, sorta) however you are doing what you need to do and that *is* the right thing to do.  Your bf's quite right, the dog has shown prior aggressive tendencies and to not take action can cause you to feel guilty if someone else does get hurt (you're not but I think most of us would think we "could have prevented that.")

What will happen now depends on your state / county / city laws.  In the best of worlds, assuming that this is the first report of an actual bite then the dog will be classed as aggressive and the owners will be required to post notices to that effect as well as to control the liberty of the dog (normally this means on leash / chain / inside at all times); in the worst of worlds, since the dog has bitten a person, it may be required to be put down "immediately" or (and I'm sorry if this seems insensitive) be tested for any potential rabies since the vaccinations aren't current.

I have a dog who over the first few years I had her, bit me 5 different times - the difference is that she's my dog and with the exception of the last time when I needed stitches they were never reported.  Other than a *bad* case of food aggression she was a great dog (er, still is a great dog.)  If she'd bitten me again, I would have put her down - simply because I couldn't take the chance that someone else might have gotten bitten if they, for example, had had food in their hands and she decided that it should be hers.  As it was we've worked out most of *that* problem, thankfully.

Regrettably, in my opinion, it's best to put down a dog who's showing to be a problem.  I'm sorry I feel that way because I know it's painful for the dogs owners but better that than having it severely bite a human.

You'll be contacted by Solano Sheriff's Animal Control (many Animal control officers are also deputies or police officers as part of their job.) After taking your report, they;ll decide on what action they need to take.

Just as an item of interst, it's the responsibility of the *owner* of the dog to file the report when their dog bites someone.

Quote :

3.17 Same - Reports.
Whenever any person having charge, care, control, custody or possession of any dog has knowledge that such dog has bitten any person, the person having charge, care, control, custody or possession of such dog shall report such fact forthwith to the health officers or his deputies. The report shall state the name and address of the person bitten and the time and place such person was bitten.

Extracted from Fairfield City laws which includes the County of Solano laws.

ETA: How are you relative to all the fires?? Are you all safe??

Thanks Al for the info and your perspective on this matter. This really helped make me feel more at ease. I think I do agree with you that if it it was my dog and she showed aggression then I would have to make the hard choice as well if nothing can fix her behavior.

I guess I will have to wait to hear from the Sherriff and go from there. I will definitely keep you posted. It does seem like it was the first incident because according to the family, she has never done this before. Somehow, Kota is the only targetted dog.  So in any case, I just hope they are more aware of the situation.

And thank you for checking up on my safety as well. Luckily the Atlas fire did not get too close to Vacaville and we did not have to evacuate. Even though I had a suitcase ready in case.  The Atlas fire is about 56% contained and seems to be progressing. My family all live in the bay area so they are far from the fire but their air quality is worse then ours.  We are fortunate.

How about yourself Al? Did the hurricane affect where you live or was it far enough?

P.S....didn't know how to use the quote to address.

Hurricanes, what hurricanes?? - laughing - I'm in far west Texas, about 200 miles from the westernmost point in Texas and about 700 from the easternmost - - so I'm a long way from the coast and any bad hurricane weather.

You might want tho talk too the owner about muzzle training. If I were less cautious, Z'ev could need the villain in your story. I particularly like the Baskerville Ultra muzzle. Here's my thread with fear aggressive dog:

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t16630p150-blazze-becomes-z-ev-follow-his-journey-from-death-row-to-member-of-the-family#254210

My female husky will target and attempt to kill any other female dog. If the other husky is an unfixed female or has similar hormone issues to my girl that could be cause for some of her obsession with Kota.

It's really just a waiting game now though. You've done what you can to protect others and yourself. Now it's down to the law to do whatever they are going to do. If it is a first offense and the law lets her slide they will no doubt have some things they are supposed to do. With expired rabies there is usually a mandatory quarantine period (at least here there is). Sometimes that can be served in house if the people aren't a risk for dumping the dog. Sometimes they have to serve it at the pound. Then the next will come down to what kind of owners these are. Will they actually do what animal control tells them they have to like posting signs and/or muzzling when they walk the dog (if they even walk the dog at all).

I hope your leg gets feeling better.

Lol Al. Well I am glad you are not near. Texas is such a big state!!

Amy-thank you for that information. I do hope Animal control advise them that they need to muzzle her or at least not allow her to be off leash in the front.  She has almost climbed over their fence this one time when she saw us walking pass but the mother pulled her down from the fence.

Jenn-I think you are right. I know that Luna is not fixed. Kota is fixed though and I wonder if she is just trying to protect her territory or something. But she has that look that she was really wanting to destroy Kota. She started to have the prey move where she creeped slowly across the street and waiting to see what move Kota was going to do before she started the kill. I also think it might be because of this Husky/Malamute named Desius that is our complex area that Kota loves playing with. I heard that it's Luna's bf and that she is in love with him. I wonder if maybe his smell was on Kota so she got jealous! haha.  

I think as long as animal control tell them that she either needs to be muzzled or leashed at all times when she is in the front then I am more comfortable in that situation.  Plus the owner and the parents needs to be aware what their dog is doing and needs to be controlling the situation before something worse happens.  I do need to read up on California regulations regarding these situations.

My leg is doing pretty good. Just a little sore, probably a little bruised. But at least no swelling or redness at all.

I love this Husky group! You guys are so knowledgeable and welcoming!

Just keep a careful watch on that bite. I had a tiny little nothing of a bite that rapidly developed into cellulitis lymphangitis much tho my surprise. I always thought ox infection add something with oozing pus. This was just increasing pain than rapidly spreading redness and slight swelling.

amymeme wrote:

Just keep a careful watch on that bite. I had a tiny little nothing of a bite that rapidly developed into cellulitis lymphangitis much tho my surprise. I always thought ox infection add something with oozing pus. This was just increasing pain than rapidly spreading redness and slight swelling.

that sounds really scary.  I will definitely check for sure. Thank you!

And yay for me...I figured how to use that "quote" thingy!

IamtheAlpha wrote:

amymeme wrote:

Just keep a careful watch on that bite. I had a tiny little nothing of a bite that rapidly developed into cellulitis lymphangitis much tho my surprise. I always thought ox infection add something with oozing pus. This was just increasing pain than rapidly spreading redness and slight swelling.

that sounds really scary.  I will definitely check for sure. Thank you!

And yay for me...I figured how to use that "quote" thingy!

Yay for you - took me quite a while to figure that one out.

We had a similar experience a few months ago with our husky, Bella. The other dog was off leash and aggressive and darted after Bella. My husband had to use force on the other dog to remove it from Bella, which they then tried to turn around on us and threatened to call the cops because he grabbed their dog. Sorry, we love all dogs, just not dogs that try to kill ours.. We would do anything we had to in order to protect our girl.

I think you certainly did the right thing in this situation. I would have reacted in the same manner as you did, although they always say to not get in the middle of a dog fight.. I hope the owners of Luna become more aware of their dogs behavior and do all they can to prevent something like this from happening again.

@IamtheAlpha  You've been awfully quiet since this thread, how are things turning out??

@aljones aww thanks for checking in. It's been busy here and I haven't had a chance to get online. The bf is on TDY(temporary deployment) so taking care of the girls and trying to study for my exam and working full time gets a little crazy sometimes. I didn't even know you can send notifications this way.

Update: The Animal Control Sheriff came to get a statement from me. Bad part was they came unannounced and I had 8 minutes before I had a conference call meeting with my client. Thought it was going to be quick but I was late to my conference meeting and had to apologize. I told the Sheriff that I don't really want to press charges but just want to have the owners aware of the situation and the "what could happen". He said that he can tell them what they should be doing to avoid the situation but said that if I don't have the hearing then he really can't enforce it on them. So I told the Sheriff that in this case I would prefer to have a hearing so that it is enforced. After that, he said he was going over to their house to get their statement. No news from it ever since. That was just last Tuesday on 10/17.

Found out from a neighbor across the street from that house with Luna that there was a dog that chased his wife. He thinks it's the same husky too but he wasn't sure because it was his wife that had the incident. They just got a 4 month Shepard/Husky mix that is very adorable. Kota loves him and allows him to play bite her while she "acted" submissive for him.

So far, I have only seen the husky out in the front once since the incident and the owner held on to her collar while we walk by (on the other side of the street of course). And then she pulled her out of the fence area and into the garage, probably trying to get into the house from there. I think they learned their lesson.

@bellanova - oh gosh. I definitely do not like owners who can't own up to their responsibility of their actions. Hope everything went well with your Bella and your husband and that the cops didn't go after you guys.