Love this owner!
 

She speaks for a lot of us insofar as the attack being one of her fears since the day she got her little Maltese. Thank God in Heaven above both girls are alright, though her little one is suffering from severe wounds..
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pit-bulls-attack-woman-her-165030843.html

Terrifying, poor dog.

Oh my gosh :(. So glad they're okay. I wonder why on earth those other dogs were loose like that...shame on whomever caused those dogs to be fighters :mad:.

So scary, we overlook a park, and I get so angry because of all the selfish owners who don't think the leash law applies to them. I'm not sure if a dog has to be a fighter to attack a smaller dog, it seems like a lot of dogs will do it because small dogs look like prey to them. Thank God for buddy belts, I've been able to swoop my dogs up to my arms in a flash, but still if a big dog is persistent, he will continue to attack. I even have had several try to bite my two through the gate, and when I tell the owner about the leash law, they just shrug their shoulders, so now I call the police on them. Shame on the owners for driving away!

How sad! Failure to obey leash ordinances and failure to secure pets are my biggest peeve. We cannot walk in our nice neighborhood because of it.

We also cannot walk in any of our parks because people ignore the leash rules.

I have to drive daily to take my boys to a relatively safe place to walk. That means they no longer enjoy a morning and evening walk. :( We only have time for 1 outing.

so devastating. a miracle that little maltese is alive.

So terrifying. I see this crap a lot.

Kaira and I frequent off leash areas, because she's excellent at her off lead skills and enjoys hitting the trails. I also take her to a dog park that is split by size. I frequently see dogs in the large side come in snarling, attacking eachother, and the owners do not step in, and they do not remove their dogs, who often continue being aggressive. There have been similar issues, but far fewer, in the small side. But one time Kaira did get bit on the shoulder- she was playing with the dog, who all of a sudden decided it was done and tore into her. Tiny dog, so no real harm done, small scab, but it still drives home the importance of watching our little ones and watching the dogs they are with.

What really grinds my gears is the loose dogs in the on lead areas. I have two dogs who really don't enjoy strange dogs in their space, and so I only walk them in leash only areas. But people still let their dumb, rude dogs get up in their faces, run up on us, etc, and then they have the gall to be offended when my dogs react. Like really, put a leash on. One of the dogs has a muzzle on, clearly you shouldn't let your rude dog get in her face, she doesn't like it.

Don't even start me on the aggressive fake service dogs. Ever nearly gotten killed in a pharmacy by a huge pit bull? It's not fun. That thing was going to eat Kaira.

Because it is such a major issue, I carry a stun gun to protect myself and my dogs. I wish I didn't have to, but it is such a problem that I do not have a choice. Kaira can't protect herself, she only weighs 6 lbs, and I'm not big myself- 140 pounds isn't much when it comes to a huge dog. I work with dogs, I know dogs and their behaviors, and I feel that I am not able to keep my service dog safe.

That is so very saddening. Poor toy dog that Maltese. I don't think we have the same degree here in Toronto - although lots of stupid owners - but most obey the leash laws here in my city.

have to say the few times my big dogs have had to defend is for my Razzle - my Yorkie - we used to go to leash free parks but after the second time -when Razz was being *bad* and ran to big boy Magic to defend him - that was it for us.

I did try it out with my calm Male Magic the big boy some 7 yrs later - about 2wks or so ago - and he was bedevilled by out of control off leash dogs. I just wanted him to legally run free a bit and retreive a ball. Sigh we had to leave. A situation developed that the other owner was ignorantly un-aware of - his dog growling at mine over and over again. Magic was about to attack. He had HAD ENOUGH! And this is a senior boy who does not need at his advanced age to get into a bloody dog fight. BTW this aggressor was a big dog - Magic ignores the ankle biters. Ie the small dogs.

And I am sorry but I will voice that I do not trust pit bull type dogs - seen too many owned by idiot owners who do not train and do not control their dogs.. The problem is their bite strenght and propensity to not dis-engage at all. Although according to Magic the worst dog in the world is a bull dog he can't stand them - he was attacked as a young dog by one. There are many other idiot owners of other breeds and dependent on the breed - you do not get into as much trouble with dog aggression.

Kaira, we learned that even at the vet's office, people do not use common sense. My dad had Teddy on his lap in the waiting room while Max and I were in the exam room.

A woman came in with a very large Golden Retriever and purposely dropped the dog's leash so that he could check out Teddy. Dad told the woman to back her dog off, and she just laughed and insisted he was friendly. :rolleyes: Not everyone wants to socialize, especially at the vet's office.

How terrifying for that poor lil Maltese I pray she makes a full recovery.

Soooooo true!

This happens so frequently in my neighbourhood it's just annoying!