@justllookkin The proper response to a dog wanting more space is backing off. Some may snap back. Some may engage in a scary looking scuffle, but bite inhibition will prevent any major damage. Even if a collie was an asshole this mauling is a dog equivalent of shooting someone over cutting you off while driving. It shouldn’t be normalized under any circumstance.
@justllookkin At least in my country, you can absolutely be deemed responsible for a dog out of your care. You're still the dog's owner, whether its with you at the time or the dogsitter. If someone starts yelling at you, and you turn around and punch them hard enough to kill them, the "they started it" defence doesn't really hold up.
More than one person can be at fault. Did the rover carer lie to the collie owner? Yes. Should they have taken on so many dogs? No. Did OP omit the "aggressive" part and the part where their dog had been kicked out of daycare 1 week ago for biting another dog? Also yes. Did OP know that their dog with a recent bite history was going into a situation with multiple unknown dogs, including one that was already acting "off"? Also yes.
@enaga I have a border collie and I’m absolutely floored. My girl is timid thing, but absolutely needs her space. She will snap if dogs get too rough or rowdy, but it’s always a carefully measured snap that never goes beyond the “stop” and only happens with other dogs that are too much.
Still, I’m careful to inform all daycares, and she has been to 7-8 different daycares without incident. You know what daycares do though? They match dogs in energy and size. Fuck rover daycares because you’re talking an absolute gamble with private individuals who will almost never have proper insurance or procedures in place.
@raffy313 No, it's on the owner too! The dog has a attacked another dog at daycare before, isn't muzzle trained and they still went and put the dog Again in an environment that they know is not safe for the other dogs around it. They didn't take their dog's potential to do grave harm seriously.
@momma5 It drives me crazy when owners of a reactive dog are hopeful about their pup - all it takes is one trigger you don’t know about. Get your dog muzzle trained, don’t bring them to a daycare with other dogs, and stop thinking your dog is “normal”.
@john73 I’m absolutely baffled why she didn’t do that after the first attack. She better hope the other dog’s owner doesn’t see this post because if I were that owner I would screengrab this whole post as evidence that she knew the dog was dangerous and was negligent for allowing the dog to be around other dogs.
I work in a shelter and adore pit mixes and/or almost all breeds, but once a dog has shown he’s aggressive towards dogs — you automatically reduce socialization with dogs.
and for the Rover person to lecture them to let a potentially aggressive dog off leash while meeting new dogs? Wild.
A dog being dog aggressive doesn’t automatically make a bad dog. But it makes a dog you’re much more viligant about.
@blessed2fosteradopt yup. My dog, just like humans, is pretty selective about the friends she has. Daycare theoretically could be good if it’s just dogs hanging out w their friends they are actually compatible with in small groups but instead it’s just a bunch of dogs dumped in a room
with a minimum wage worker with barely any training.
@blessed2fosteradopt This!!! Although it's worth mentioning that this dog did not show reactive qualities initially, as someone who has worked at doggy daycares for a few years now... This is how so many dogs BECOME reactive. Especially younger dogs. Daycare is an unnatural, stressful setting and I can guarantee that even the (very rare) dogs that actually enjoy it are desperate to go home asap.
@blessed2fosteradopt Oh, I missed that the Rover sitter also called it daycare. I thought you were just referring to the doggy daycare. I was specifically speaking about before the ear biting incident when I say that he didn't show reactive qualities initially. I definitely agree that the dog should not have been taken to the Rover sitter after that.
@drjellyjoe I’m very sorry that this happened for all parties. But I do not know why you would so quickly leave your dog with a stranger and other dogs just after there was an incident serious enough to get your dog banned from daycare. The Rover sitters sound sketchy, but they did not know your dog like you do. Neither you or the Rover sitter should have been comfortable enough to say “it will be fine”. I know you know that now, but moving forward, if you decide to keep your dog, he cannot ever be around other dogs unleashed. And your cats are unfortunately in danger too. It doesn’t matter that the border collie snapped first, your dog did not let go until the dog was almost dead, and cats are even more fragile. Please think about what the best option would be for all of your pets. I’m sorry you’re going through this.
@drjellyjoe I’m sorry, OP. I can understand why you are devastated and so upset about this.
A lot of things went wrong here. There are consequences that may result that are out of your control. You may be contacted by Rover, animal control, the police or a civil attorney. Be calm and be factual about what you know. You don’t know what happened because you were not there. You can only tell them about your dog’s previous behavior/temperament. All of these individuals need to go directly to the Rover sitter to hear what happened.
What you can control, and have to take away from this regardless of any other consequences, is that your dog cannot be in doggy daycare, a dog park, or boarded with other pets ever again. I strongly encourage you to put a management plan in place to protect your cats. Once this situation has played out and things have settled, consider hiring a professional trainer/behaviorist for an evaluation and plan for your dog and household.
I definitely would not let your dog interact with others moving forward or without a muzzle.