Please be careful in pet stores !

I just wanted to share a terrible experience that we had recently. My daughter and I were in a very large, well-known pet store and I had Roxie (my 2 1/2 yr. old) in my arms. We had our back to the rest of the store as we were looking at pet beds against an outer wall of the store. From out of nowhere, an American Bull Dog came from behind us, jumped on me biting my upper arm. The owner had him on a very long leash and had allowed him to walk to the end of it. He was trying to pull him back, but before he could, he let go of me and grabbed Roxie ! I was trying to hold her but he jerked his head and ripped her right out of my arms. By this time, it was total chaos. My daughter and I were screaming, other customers were trying to help the man pry the dogs mouth open. They finally did and she had quite a gash that required stitches, but the attack had also tore her patella and required surgery to repair. This was one of the most frightening things I've ever experienced. Roxie's is doing really well now but I don't think I'll be taking them to the petstore anytime soon. Please be careful with your pets. Now matter how cautious we may be, there are so many people in these stores that are really uneducated about pet safety or just dont care.

Gosh that was a horrendous experience for you all. Thanks for the warning. Taking dogs to the pet shop (in my experience anyway) is a relatively new thing in Ireland.
I hope the American Bull dog owner was appropriately apologetic and also reimbursed etc you for your vet fees.

That is horrific! I am so sorry you went through such a terrible situation and I can understand how shaken you must be. I hope the owner has covered the cost of this or the pet store–did the pet store get his information, if you didn't? You have all the ingredients for a lawsuit there and one or the other At the very least should be paying all of your costs in caring for your dog. I would also be reporting the incident to the dog wardens and to the police. In most states, it is required that you keep your dog under control, and that dog was clearly not under control–the fact that he bit you, and then tried to attack/kill your cavalier is certainly grounds for taking action against the owner and the dog to prevent the same thing happening to someone else. I would at least talk to a free legal advice center in your area and I would also talk to the dog wardens and the police and report the incident.

We reported it immediately to the animal control authorities. The owner had actually taken the dog there for a training class because he had some issues with "dog agression". They were taking a break and he was told by the "trainer" who was all of 19 yrs. old that the best thing he could do was to take him around the store and "introduce him to other dogs" ! :shock: We are taking legal steps to cover cost of all medical bills but also to hopefully make them change some of their policies for training requirements. To be a trainer there you don't have to have ANY prior experience training dogs. They put you through a 4 week training class ! The dog is in quarantine for now. I'm not really sure what will happen next.

How frightening for you and Roxie. Glad she's going to be OK and like others said, glad you have legal advise. Make sure you take lots of pictures of your injuries and Roxie's for further backup proof. Get the names of all the store employees who were there too.

Oh my! What a traumatic experience. I can't believe that the owner wasn't more careful, letting a dog like that wander on a long lead... I feel so sorry for you. :hug:

I also feel sorry for the dog, ultimately his owner should have been more careful. It's a terrible experience for everyone involved I suppose.

I'm so sorry! I can't believe the trainer told them during a break to go around other dogs. Any dog with agression issues really should not be at a training class held in a pet store.

I think I know which one or something similar b/c I heard a trainer tell people that or do exercises around store while I'm shopping. It makes me think this should not be the place for that or especially specific problems. Puppy classes maybe but wow! How horrible.

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Wow! I am so glad you, your daughter and your cavalier are okay! I can't even imagine how scared you must have been!

Please keep us updated on what happens next with the dog/owner/pet store!

Holy cow... this is so shocking....

I stopped taking Gracie to the pet store recently out of concern for infection but attack is a whole new thing to think about. Each state is different on what will happen after a dog is quarantined. I would call the town hall where this happened and ask what happens. The dog should never be in a public situation again... period. Even on leash.... period.

You do have a lawsuit here... including the store for advising such a dumb idea. I can imagine that the owner picked this class because it was cheaper than other options or has no clue how to find a good trainer for aggression....many are beyond help because of breeding and early experiences. A man in our area just had to have a bulldog put to sleep because they attacked his neighbor's sheep and killed several.

That's awful. I'm not even sure who's at fault, the irresponsible owner, the inexperienced trainer, or the store that lets trainers out with no experience.

No one should be using a major petstore for behavior modification training. And the store should never allow this. And even so, the dog should have been muzzled before being allowed to roam (long lead or not).

You probably have a valid argument to be compensated for more than just damages, if you want to persue a case. Or maybe you could request a nice donation be made to a charity like Rupert's fund.

anniemac said:

I'm so sorry! I can't believe the trainer told them during a break to go around other dogs. Any dog with agression issues really should not be at a training class held in a pet store.

I think I know which one or something similar b/c I heard a trainer tell people that or do exercises around store while I'm shopping. It makes me think this should not be the place for that or especially specific problems. Puppy classes maybe but wow! How horrible.

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I hate it when I am shopping and Chamberlain is with me and I see the "class" walk their dogs around the store. I never know if they are "training" or just in shopping. I don't see the point of the exercise and for those reasons I did not bring Chamberlain to the dog classes there. Plus they are VERY expensive in my area! Not worth it!

Oh my gosh....that is horrible!! I think it's very fortunate she wasn't killed No disrespect to the youngsters...but what in the world is a 19 year old doing teaching a training class? IMO, they couldn't possibly have enough experience on top of that was just plain old bad advice so tell him to go have his dog meet other dogs knowing the dog had an aggression issue. I don't take my dogs into the large pet stores, too many naive owners and employees...and I worry about them picking up something bug-wise. Hope everything works out for you, what a horrible experience (been there before so I know how you're feeling)

3cavies said:

I just wanted to share a terrible experience that we had recently. My daughter and I were in a very large, well-known pet store and I had Roxie (my 2 1/2 yr. old) in my arms. We had our back to the rest of the store as we were looking at pet beds against an outer wall of the store. From out of nowhere, an American Bull Dog came from behind us, jumped on me biting my upper arm. The owner had him on a very long leash and had allowed him to walk to the end of it. He was trying to pull him back, but before he could, he let go of me and grabbed Roxie ! I was trying to hold her but he jerked his head and ripped her right out of my arms. By this time, it was total chaos. My daughter and I were screaming, other customers were trying to help the man pry the dogs mouth open. They finally did and she had quite a gash that required stitches, but the attack had also tore her patella and required surgery to repair. This was one of the most frightening things I've ever experienced. Roxie's is doing really well now but I don't think I'll be taking them to the petstore anytime soon. Please be careful with your pets. Now matter how cautious we may be, there are so many people in these stores that are really uneducated about pet safety or just dont care.

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Poor Roxie it must have been a terrifying experience for her as well as for both you and your daughter. I am pleased she is on the road to recovery and I just hope she does not become distressed near other dogs as a result of this terrible incident.

I am both horrified and angry that such a situation could have happened within a pet store of all places. The owner clearly did not have proper control of his dog by allowing it free reign with a long leash and its aggressive manner, should have ensured a muzzle in a public place.

I do hope you receive full compensation from the owner and the pet store, and as for the owner he should be prosecuted and banned from ever having a dog in the future. As for the alleged trainer, he should be banned from his role and prosecuted for allowing the dog and owner into a store without any safety (ie muzzle) as well as proper control throughout.

This post is indeed a wake up call for all dog lovers, to be aware and we all Thank You for raising this issue, which will have been undoubtedly a painful reminder of the event for you.

I was worried about the effect it would have on her with other dogs as well. She is a certified therapy dog and visits nursing homes, hospitals, & children's therapy programs. There are alot of times that she is around many other dogs in our group. Right after the surgery, several of them came over to visit her and have a little playdate. She went right up to them with her tail wagging away. So far she doesn't seem fearful of other dogs. She's scheduled to go on visits to a hospital on Wednesday, but we have a stroller for her to ride in. She's doing great, but the vet still wants her to keep from walking much for a few more weeks. When she goes to hospitals she usually curls up in the patients bed while they pet her so she should do fine. Cavaliers are so trusting and forgiving. Thank you all for your kind words, it's meant alot

So glad to know she doesn't seem to be suffering emotionally. My now 7 year old was attacked by a rottweiler several years ago and to this day she doesn't care for big dogs.

3cavies said:

I was worried about the effect it would have on her with other dogs as well. She is a certified therapy dog and visits nursing homes, hospitals, & children's therapy programs. There are alot of times that she is around many other dogs in our group. Right after the surgery, several of them came over to visit her and have a little playdate. She went right up to them with her tail wagging away. So far she doesn't seem fearful of other dogs. She's scheduled to go on visits to a hospital on Wednesday, but we have a stroller for her to ride in. She's doing great, but the vet still wants her to keep from walking much for a few more weeks. When she goes to hospitals she usually curls up in the patients bed while they pet her so she should do fine. Cavaliers are so trusting and forgiving. Thank you all for your kind words, it's meant alot

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When Ella got attacked, the thing that I worried about the most is if it would change her spirit. She used to do some therapy work but I was amazed at how right after she still had no fear. They are truly amazing dogs

What a terrible thing to have to deal with. Hope you all recover from this awful experience. Here in Australia they have just started to allow pets into pet stores and some are called pet cafe's. I thought it was a good idea but now I can see how dangerous it could be. Hope it hasn't made Roxie afraid of other dogs after this.

This is an example of how trusting Roxie is. This is a picture of her and one of her favorite friends in our Therapy Dog group.

awwwww....

I love that picture of Roxie with her therapy friend

Gosh that is a terrible story I took Coco to an intermediate level training class at petsmart and I actually liked the cirriculum, in fact it was really a repeat of her puppy class that we had taken her to at an actual academy (and to be honest the price was the same, $109 at Petsmart, and $110 at the academy). We had a dog aggressive dog in our class too, but that dog was handled differently than the others and was not allowed to roam the store, etc. The owner also brought a muzzle to class every week.

I do agree that based on the type of training done, and how trainers are hired...with no experienced, that behavior modification training should be allowed! I hope that with this experience that these large stores change their training policy.