VICIOUS DOG ATTACK!! Lake Deaton
 

My friend and neighbor owns a standard poodle , Lucy, which is the sweetest, most well trained dog I have ever seen. Everyone stops to say HI! to Lucy. Yesterday, another neighbor joined Lucy and her owner for their usual 4 mile walk from our village (Hillsborough) through The Village of Lake Deaton and return. On this particular walk they saw another owner walking his two, large, black Labrador retrievers. When the Labs saw Lucy they launched a vicious unprovoked attack on Lucy badly mauling her. They attack was so vicious the owner could not control them, was dragged to the ground and dragged several feet before he turned loose of his dogs to continue the attack. My two neighbors grabbed the Labradors by their collars and managed to pull them off of Lucy. Luckily they did not turn on them. Lucy was taken to the vet for treatment of numerous puncture wounds and is recovering. Had Lucy been a small dog like many owners have most likely she would have been killed almost immediately. So, Dog Owners, Beware. I ride my bike in that area, I won't any more.

I always thought Labradors were not aggressive. Big lawsuit.

That's terrible and very unlike Labradors. Hope Lucy continues to heal. :(

I agree about the Labs usually a gentle breed. So very sad to hear this. Hope Lucy heals.

With so many dogs in TV (dog friendly community) I am sure something similar has happen before but not reported on TOTV. Labs are usually friendly---I hope Lucy recovers soon.
Incidents like this makes me think twice about pepper spay or a "club" when out walking.

Maybe they were Rottweilers!?

Probably has nothing to do with the breed. Something going on in that household to encourage that kind of behavior.

if you cant control your own dog............maybe you should not have one?? thank god no one was hurt. I hope your lucy is ok now.

Hope your neighbor got the owner of these aggressive dogs to pay for the vet bills. Were these two dogs unleashed?

It's a matter of time when those or other abused dogs do the same kind of attack at the town squares. I think dogs shouldn't be allowed in the 5-9pm and holiday entertainment, crowded time periods.

Were the police called in the attack above?

The thing I would do now is to file a police report and file for criminal destruction of personal property. That will bring the case to court. The owner of the two dogs would have choices to be made.

Dog Bite Victim Guide - Steps to Take After A Dog Bite

Thought this might be of help.

Very sad situation. Personally, I never blame the dog in these cases- I blame the owner. Dogs are dogs, they’re animals and will do what animals do. I have a close friend that works for county animal services and deals with these cases daily. Owners are (very) often in denial about their animals. My dog would never…(obviously he would) or my dog has never…(well he did now) etc etc.

The only way to get through to an owner that is in denial is through the wallet. Cost him money and he’ll listen. I am not saying the owner of these Labs is in denial about his dogs, I’m just speaking in generalities. However, I am curious to hear the Labs owner’s side of the story.

We all hope the poodle recovers completely.

#1 post, OP

I am pretty sure that PEPPER SPRAY is legal in Florida, I think Harbor Freight sells it.

Were these two black labs on leashes? They have to be on leashes in this area.

The dogs were on a leash but were so strong and intent on attacking Lucy that he couldn't control them, was actually dragged on the ground for a few feet. The police were called but said there was nothing they could do as the dogs were on a leash,that is until they broke away from the owner. Lucy's owner delivered the vet bill to the owner of the labs. Personally, I agree with several of the other posts, that it is the owners responsibility to train his dogs. And I don't believe that Labradors by nature arbitrarily would attack another dog. I talked with Lucy's owner a while ago. Lucy doesn't want to go out of the house. Can't say I blame her. Will be a long time before Lucy is "Lucy" again. I imagine if it had happened to one of us we would pretty much feel the same way.

Labs are usually gentle but....
 

I always thought and still think that Labs are basically a gentle breed,
but a friend had two golden Labs and unfortunately
one of them attacked a neighbors little girl.
As I recall that dog was put to sleep.

VICIOUS DOG ATTACK!! Lake Deaton
 

At a minimum, animal control should be notified. They may be able to do what the police could not - take the dogs until it is determined that they do not have rabies. Then it becomes a matter of record and a second offense might result in the dogs being put down.

I love dogs but there is no room for vicious animals or an owner who can't control them. The owner is probably lucky he wasn't injured himself.

Poor Lucy, very sad situation. I hope she heals and gets her confidence back.
I don't know this situation, but in general, people who have no idea how to train large dogs should never have them.

Agree 100%. Large dogs are very different from lap dogs like my Harry.

Moving into Lake Deaton in 2 weeks, about off the route Lucy and owner most likely took. My 10# maltese/poodle mix is well trained and easy to control, but he will "get in the face" of aggressive animals, so thanks for the heads up

I do not leave the house with our "girls" without my expandable steel baton. Those will inflict serious damage on dogs, coyotes, bobcats, humans.......

Or Amazon. Delivers in about 48 hours if you have Amazon Prime. Costs less than 10 bucks.

I'm astonished the police would do nothing. Even if you look at it in a sterile environment it should be damage to personal property (poor Lucy). I understand they were on a leash but the Lab owner failed to control them. And if absolutely nothing else animal control should have been contacted and brought into the situation.

I've seen pepper spray at Walmart.

Very unlikely but......could Lucy be in heat?

I concur completely.

Yellow lab; golden retriever

We rented a house in SC next to a couple with two labs. They were rescued at different times, but had formed a pack mentality and would attack any dog that came around. She warned us because we had our golden retriever with us.

She and her husband would walk the dogs separately so they could keep control of them. They would go off in different directions because if the dogs were separated, they wouldn't attack another dog they encountered.

Some dogs will forma a pack and act aggressively toward other dogs as they see them as a danger to the pack. The owner should know this and not take more dog(s) out than he can handle.

I hope poor Lucy will overcome the trauma soon.

Dogs are considered property and Lucy's owner may ask Lab's owner to either pay for the vet bills himself or contact his Homeowner Insurance.

For those two neighbors who grabbed those labs by the collar your a better man than me. Perhaps its because I have seen more than my share of the consequences of dog bite-fight results. And always, always the dog owner claims "my dog is not like that" "it would not hurt anyone" What we found following these incidents is that the dog had been beaten, the breed inbred too long, displayed vicious propensities in the past, trained to attack or the dog taunted by the individual attacked.

In my view if those were my labs they be gone or at least retrained at an obedience school. People first always I hope this lab owner keeps his animals away from town squares, stores and restaurants

Normally I hate the usual skepticism on this site, but on this particular thread, seems like we are all ready to have the dogs put down, the owner bankrupt, and no need for the actual "first hand" telling. How we know the dogs were abused, or not trained is beyond me. I'm VERY sorry for Lucy, and hope she recovers quickly, but also reserve judgement on the other pet owner and his dogs. They all must have been fairly close to each other..."several feet" is not that much when you're talking large dogs. Maybe all involved should have been more careful here?

And the owners of the vicious dogs, not only were not responsible pet owners, but disrespectful human beings. Poor Lucy is suffering because of the carelessness of the owners of the black dogs. Thank God that Lucy was not a little kid, who could have been killed.:(

Well I'm not sure what you mean by all involved should have been more careful? The person walking Lucy, the standard poodle was just walking their dog. I'm not sure what else they could've done? It is not cool that dogs would maul another dog like that. Especially on leash. I was thinking of what I would do if this happened to me. My dog is small and I could pick him up , but that might mean that the two dogs would start mauling me to get to him. Very frightening. I think if you have two large dogs end they are even a little aggressive, you should not walk them at the same time together or have some better way to restrain them to protect others .

We were walking our dog in a grassy area here in the villages and another dog owner with a small cute dog came up to us, said her dog was friendly, and started to chat and at the same time her friendly dog either bit or tried to bite my dog Sue basically was ignoring him. We couldn't be sure if he broke the skin. Of course she said apologized and said wow, he has never done that before. Our dog is super friendly and goes to the dog park on a regular basis and is socialized. Some pet owners are just not responsible.

Well written and thought out.

I would walk my two Rottweilers on a twin leash and watch people move to the sidewalk on the other side of the street. On ice or snow, they could make me slip as their traction was much better than mine. When outside of their fence, they were quite friendly to all except cats, rabbits and squirrels.

So sorry for Lucy, she will probably be traumatized for life and will probably never trust strange dogs again?

My dog was pet rescue and foster dog (giving up several times) she is 17 had been mauled. Records shown this, she even had tooth removed from her skull. My dog is always on leash, she is predator focus due to her breed. Due to her history I have to be on the defense at all times. Somebody walking dog coming towards us I move to the other side of the street for her safety even though she wants to greet with her tail wagging.

IMO most do not understand their dogs. When I see nap raise on back of big dogs and they taking an aggressive stance they are not in friendly mode and I give them space or distance.

Another thing I don't understand why people would have two (or more) large dogs on majority of crackerjack lots sizes. Even CYVs no more that large dog run. But, that's me. Once our pet gone we won't get anymore.

I agree with CFrance that dogs can have a "pack" mentality. If one dog is aggressive, the other can pick up on that aggression. If an owner isn't physically strong enough to restrain two dogs, the dogs should be walked separately.

In Cassie's case above, even small dogs on a leash can be more aggressive because they know they can't run away, and they can feel threatened. This is why most dog parks stipulate "only unleashed dogs" once inside the park. So please be careful when walking your dog on a leash and chatting with friends that have a dog. I trust my dogs implicitly, but I wouldn't allow them to socialize on a leash.

Use the wasp spray that sprays 20 feet, it's cheaper and throws a lot bigger spray than pepper spray. Also, it will stop any dog. I carry it on my bike in the water bottle holder (I have 2 holders). For some reason, I have never had to use it. When the dogs see me standing there with the spray can they stop and never get close enough to spray.

So true about the leash. I was taking our golden to the pet area at a hotel last week when we met up with an "attack poodle" of about 20 lbs. The owner had two dogs. The other one was fine. He said, "It's only because of the leash, ma'am. If he were off-leash, he would be fine."

I used to walk him down a certain street, but we would meet up with a guy walking three doxies. They would go after Crosby with intent to kill. I think it was fear aggression, but nonetheless, we changed our route. No need for his dogs to feel, or mine to be, threatened.

If we see another dog coming toward us on a walk, we cross the street. You never know.