Sad news - talk about Friday the 13th!

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euphorion

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Received some very sad news from my old place of work. I used to work in a dog grooming salon. Today i got a call from a friend who still works there to tell me one of the regulars, who i know and used to clip on a regular basis, lost it today and killed another of the dogs in for grooming. Now this dog had been getting groomed there for years and you would never hear a bad word out of him, one of the best behaved dogs we looked after.

Apparently he was had just been out for a toilet break and was being put back up onto his table, just before he was clipped in (so they can't jump off the table or reach other dogs nearby) he made a grab for the dog on the table next to him. He pulled the little dog out of his collar (little dog was clipped in) and shook him like a toy. Once the staff got him under control and managed to remove the little one from his mouth he was perfectly calm again and jumped straight back up onto his table. I won't go into details regarding little dogs injuries, but enough to say that i am not squeamish, i am a vet nurse so i am used to seeing such things, but having the details given to me over the phone was enough to make me cry.

The little one was rushed to the vets just across the rd, referred to a vet up the rd with more equipment for emergencies, then referred to UQ emergency where he died from cardiac arrest shortly after. Big dog was euthed this afternoon as the owners have cats and young children at home and couldn't risk this happening again. That decision wasn't made lightly i can assure you.

Anyway, i don't want to hear anything from anyone about 'more procedures should have been in place' and 'all dogs can do this' or 'you should have prevented it, they were under your care'. Put simply, you can never anticipate this sort of thing, accidents happen, and all efforts are made to keep dogs seperate unless they are known friends or family.

I just felt like i needed to share this as it is weighing heavily on my heart. My friend feels so guilty that two lives were lost today while she was supposed to be caring for them. Haters gonna hate, please try to take it somewhere else.

RIP my friends.
 
Oh my god!!! :shock:

Thats so sad. I have been looking at getting a dog lately but I keep changing my mind because I am so scared that something like that could happen to my little girl. Even dogs that are 'good with children' can snap sometimes I suppose. I'm glad I havent got one now.

Thats terrible, and the poor owners of the little dog must be so upset :(
 
Unfortunately these things do happen, you never know what you're gonna get and be faced with next in life. Very sorry to hear about that Shoo, must have been quite a shock for you to hear about :(

Thals.
 
That is devastating news. What an awful thing to happen :(

The poor owners of the dog victim...... expecting their pooch to have a fun day at the salon and take it home all fluffy and clean :(

And the poor owners of the big dog, such a hard choice to make.

:(
 
Both dogs were fur-kids to their families, they will be sorely missed. It is such a tragedy. Megzz, don't let such a thing make up your mind about dogs. Owning a dog is a HUGE responsibility and a lot of work in training and behaviour managment but the rewards are boundless. I have no doubt that what happened today was caused by something more sinister than just a bad mood. No necropsy will be performed but it was just so purely out of character that i would bet money on him having a growth somewhere on the brain, spine or elsewhere causing pain or pressure in areas that could cause behavioural changes.

Everyone is in shock right now, we are used to getting bitten, scratched and yelled at my precious owners with sticks up their bums. But nothing like this. My heart aches thinking about the pain those families are going through right now. Also just found out another regular was euthed today for a heart condition even though he was only a young dog. So many people hurting right now :'(
 
Animals can certainly be very unpredictable.. Shoo do you mind telling me what breed the attacking dog was? Not that I really believe in breed profiling but just for curiosity's sake.

Good to hear it was euth'd, there is no place for dogs like that in society.. still very tragic and my heart goes out to all those involved.
 
so sad and a very heart renching decision for the owners to put their beloved pet to sleep not a nice or easy thing to do. what a shock for the owners of the victim dog to be told that their beloved pet was attacted and killed by another dog. my heart goes out to both families.
 
You poor thing :( You know I feel for you on this, and the owners of both dogs. Hope you're feel better soon x
 
Phil, it was a mature Bouvier. He was a fabulous dog. I wonder if they are more prone to cancers like labs?

I guess i'm still trying to reason things out, there will be no knowing why this happened.
 
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I rescued a golden male cocker spaniel a few years back. When he was good, he was wonderful, then we started to notice he'd suddenly turn very nasty....I mean, very very nasty. His eyes would go funny and he just wasn't the same animal, and he'd snap out of it just as quickly. We took him to the vet and was told he had....cocker rage....they said it's like eplipsy they just go "mad" suddenly, and it's not just golden cockers, (nor is it all golden cockers) but it happens in some other breeds too, I don't know why. We decided to have him put to sleep incase he attacked anyone as he tried to attack my husband. I wonder if this is what happened to the big dog you mentioned. He was 2 yrs old when we got him and after 2 years we had him put to sleep, it broke our hearts, but it had to be done.
 
That's a possibility grannieannie, i'll ask my vets about this 'cocker rage' and see if they know any more about it.
 
Shoo I wouldn't be too quick to attribute it to a cancer or anything, it doesn't really sound like it to me (not that I know the history of this dog of course). With a cancer of the nervous system you'd expect to see other signs than a once off aggressive snap.. it could very easily be that it happened just because it did - I don't think you'll ever know the reason why. Very sad indeed.
 
Phil, i guess it just makes me feel better to think that it wasn't his fault, couldn't be helped, and that putting him down was the kindest thing.
 
So sorry to read of such a sad tragic event, would have been shocking to those who were there when it happened! Chin up lass, thoughts are with you at this time.
 
It's all so horrible, those poor families. Giving my furbaby extra cuddles tonight :(

We had a 12 month old collie x that snapped one day and almost killed our little foxie. There was no warning, she was well socialised and had known the foxie since she was a pup (foxie was the older dog).
 
Phil, i guess it just makes me feel better to think that it wasn't his fault, couldn't be helped, and that putting him down was the kindest thing.
Sorry Shoo I didn't mean to shoot you down or anything.. whichever way it was, it probably wasn't his fault - he certainly wouldn't have chosen to do it, not conciously anyway. Anyway very sad all the same
 
Always have to remember they're animals.

My beautiful, friendly, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly (but did chase ducks, quail and rabbits) Golden Retreiver Henry escaped from our yard one day and attacked a boxer, beat the poor thing up. Henry was an undesexed male, as was the boxer, and another neighbour had a bitch on heat in their yard. My mother didn't believe me, she couldn't picture Henry doing that, he was just the most friendly dog you could meet. But when it comes down to it, they're animals and the instinct is there.
 
Sure is like that hetty. I like to think my pooches are all sweet as sugar, butter wouldnt melt in their mouths, little dogs but i know every one of them can and will kill under the right circumstances. I would never trust any of my dogs to be around kids under 15 without supervision, i know my partner would and we have heated arguments about this. Don't get me wrong, my dogs know the rules, but you never know when they're going to have a bad day just like we do sometimes. One of my shelties has almost bitten a family friends new baby (mother thrust the sceaming bub into her face, dog when nuts, i literally grabbed her by the tail (she was lying down on polish wooden floors) and pulled her backwards and away as she was snapping at the bub to get it away from her. some people are so damn STUPID. our other sheltie is loco (i blame my dad for this, treats that dog like a king, lets him get away with anything) hates other dogs, literally takes chunks of fur off my belgian. the belgian is the most balanced, did kill a baby turkey when he was a baby but hey, hes a dog. hes had so many little dogs like jack russels, poodle x, westies go for him. literally flying throguh the air snapping at his face, and he just ducks, swerves and dodges them, doesnt bat an eyelid and never even raised his lip to them. if a big dog goes for him he gets upset but only has a whinge to them, never bites back. the one i worry most about is the most friendly, loving ang outgoing one of the lot of them, my rotti cross retriever. shes so sweet and friendly, but with her jaw power i worry that one day shes going to snap back at a dog that annoys her a do some serious damage. Anouc, if you're reading this, you really have turned me off dog parks, i go when they're quiet, watch with eagle eyes, leave as soon as anyone shifty turns up and keep control of my animals, etc. Anyway, shes had a few little dogs go for her in the past, one actually grabber her by the lip and hung on, she got pretty upset about that but luckily i was right there to stop her and calm her down before anything bad happened.

damn, rambling again. point is, yeah they're animals and we have to learn to live with that. even our lovely little house pets that are our best mates and look like they wouldnt hurt a fly (okay so we all know dogs love catching and eating flies...) we can train and socialise and modify their behaviour all we like but sometimes the proverbial hits the fan and things like this happen.

i even worry that one day a fight will break out between my dogs at home, i mean, you never know? they play so rough and it really looks serious, like they're really trying to do damage, but what if one day one of them goes too far? im paranoid now :( anyone want to recommend some awesome dog trainers?
 
Oh my god... I'm so sorry to hear that, it must have devastating for everyone involved! No matter how well trained and bought up an animal is it just goes to show that anything can happen and no one can know when... so sorry to hear of such horrible news.
 
WOW thats a full on story ShooShoo ..so sad !
What kind dog was the one that snapped???
 
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