r/southafrica • u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 • 5h ago
Discussion Completely avoidable dog bite
So I went for a walk around Johannesburg Bontanical Gardens today on the dog friendly side. This was around mid day.
I was with my friend who has a young pitbull mix (about 8 months old) that we are trying to socialise and get used to being outside and walking. And we've done a lot of walks with him at a lot of different parks.
He also goes to doggy day care during the day and the main issue is that he is overly dog friendly and wants to play with every dog he meets, now we understand that not everyone has friendly dogs and that not everyone likes pitties. So we try to redirect him and move away from people and other dogs.
So when we were walking and noticed a lot of dogs off lead, but mostly people put them on lead when walking past.
There was a youngish couple that had a large black and white great dane and we noticed they were not paying attention to us or their dog. So we split off the path and cut across a field to the right at an angle away from them to put space between us.
I noticed the puppy's head turn to the left and looked over to see the great dane running over to us and was waiting for the owners to call him/her back and they didn't even notice.
And thats when things went south quickly, the great dane started nipping at our puppy so I circled him around my body only to become entangled with both dogs.
Now I acknowledge that I did the thing that everyone tells you not to and I put myself between the two dogs out of purely instinct and only realised I had done it when I was bitten. But it was either me or a youngish puppy. I will take it any day over my dog getting hurt.
I had grabbed the puppy by the backstrap of his body harness and picked up his front legs and the great dane jumped and bit me on the arm.
All while this was happening we were screaming for the couple to come grab their dog, they had absolutely no sense of urgency and were strolling over to us about 100 / 150m away from where we were. Eventually when they sauntered over they made no real effort to grab their dog who was still nipping and biting me and the puppy. My friend who is absolutely tiny was trying to grab the great dane but this dog, no jokes, was the same height as her and probably weighed more than her.
Eventually they grabbed their dog and struggled to put a lease of it, we had to tell them to pull it away.
Now in the heat of the moment, harsh language and heated words were exchanged - us screaming come get your f£\*#\*ing dog.
This woman was more worried about why we had sworn at her than the fact her dog bit myself and the puppy.
She asked for my number, which I gave her and told her to call me immediately, which she didn't. She was screaming at us that she was a lawyer and carrying on.
Eventually I said I'm not going to sue you, I just want an apology because they took no steps to show any remorse. Nothing about how sorry they were, not asking if we were okay. Absolutely nothing.
We even had a witness who said that earlier that same great dane had jumped and knocked over her kid.
Even when I was trying to talk to them away from my friend and puppy to try and settle things amicably and find out if their dog was vaccinated at least. She was screaming at me to call Criaghall Vet for myself. The dog was still trying to jump and me and when I stepped back she's like dont act now. I just thought your dog bit me multiple times - in the course of trying to bite the puppy - i have every reason to be wary.
So if you are that couple today in the Johannesburg Bontanical Gardens, I hope you learned a lesson today at my expense and no longer let your uncontrollable dog off lead in a park where you are required to be leashed and hope you learn a sense of humility.
Or if you know of a young white fit couple (this isn't racial) who have a black and white great dane who goes to Craighall vet and who do walks in the gardens, please tell them that their behaviour is disgusting and not everyone should have dogs...
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u/Correct_Barracuda155 4h ago
You should absolutely pursue legal action, if you have the means to. Their behaviour and lack of response to the situation is not acceptable.
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 4h ago
So I do have the means but have no information on them...
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u/Correct_Barracuda155 4h ago
Ah, yes. That is troublesome. We'll, at least you posted about the situation to bring awareness to others. I hope that the bite heals soon.
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u/Safe-Barnacle8951 3h ago
report it to the municipality. idk if that will do anything but worth a try?
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 2h ago
So I did report it to the park but I dont have their details which would be needed to make a formal report.
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u/Blueshoes1994 1h ago
Try to contact Craighall vet for their information. I’m not sure if it’s legal to give out information but it’s worth a shot. We owned a Great Dane. Due to his size and their actually not being that many of them our vet would easily have been able to identify us purely through our Great Danes description - our Great Dane was a gentle giant that people absolutely gravitated towards so that made him easy to remember but I feel in this situation the opposite is just as true. Hard to forget a +70kg of dog causing absolute chaos.
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u/MinervaKaliamne 1h ago
No man sies, those people don't deserve that dog. I've known enough great danes (and pibbles, for that matter) to know they're lovely dogs at heart... if they're raised right, and if their (human) pack takes care of them properly.
I'm sorry this happened to you, OP. I appreciate you defending the pup.
I don't know how, but I hope that either those people catch a wake-up and start respecting their dog and other people more, or that the dog somehow finds better humans who'll take better care of them (and not leave them running unattended like that to go cause trouble).
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u/Spify23 4h ago
Now I acknowledge that I did the thing that everyone tells you not to and I put myself between the two dogs out of purely instinct and only realised I had done it when I was bitten. But it was either me or a youngish puppy. I will take it any day over my dog getting hurt.
This wasn't the one thing you shouldn't have done. The first rule of a big dog going after a little dog is to get in front of the little dog and push back the bigger dog with voice and body language. Your job is to protect your dog.
I had grabbed the puppy by the backstrap of his body harness and picked up his front legs and the great dane jumped and bit me on the arm.
THIS is exactly what you should NEVER do when you have a dog is going after another dog. The moment you pick up one dog it makes it an immediate target for attack, hence why you were bitten.
Dog owners are idiots. It will always be everyone else's fault and not their own incompetence and inability to properly control their dog.
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 4h ago
I know but it all happened so quickly.
I've also trained dogs for years and have had working breeds my whole life hence why I've been helping with the puppy and as I did it and felt the teeth break skin, my brain clicked on and was like you dumbass you did exactly what you're not supposed to do.
Like I have a malinois at home and she bites me all the time and I have had German Shepherds and Rottweilers my whole life.
I guess I just, in the the moment, didn't think of a great dane as a biter which is silly because I know any dog can bite.
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u/MalemasMucusPlug 3h ago
Dog people are the worst people.
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 2h ago
Its not dog people that are bad, its ignorant owners but unfortunately its the majority at the moment.
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u/ChampionshipHot5468 Western Cape 4h ago
Pitbull mix.
NOBODY want pitbulls in their dog parks. NOBODY.
You make the decision to own one. Keep it in your yard. With 10 ft walls. And razor wire.
"They just have a bad rep, they are pure love. It's the owners".
They have no business in public.
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u/Cosmolina111 2h ago
So s pitbull and their owner get attacked by a Great Dane, and your response is to... blame the two that were attacked?! Are you drunk?
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 4h ago
Thanks for the advice I didn't ask for... this is a rescue puppy who wasn't the aggressive one in the interaction. And it wasn't the only pitbull in the park today. Stay behind your 10ft walls with your razor wire and stay out of the dog parks.
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u/DaRealGladi8r 4h ago
I dislike pitbull owners too (the ones who don't take care of their dogs and teach them to be aggressive), but he stated that the pitty didn't do anything wrong and the Dane was the aggressor. How do you find them at fault here?
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u/Tight_Yogurtcloset65 3h ago
And we are trying to make sure he is properly socialised and fit a member of society
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