A Man Hit My Dog In The Face With A Hurley

Lucyx

I was walking my dog on the beach today and another dog was playing fetch with his owner and my dog gets excited when she sees another dog running around so she ran over and the owner smacked my dog in the face with the hurley he was using to play fetch. I was absolutely horrified and ran over and got very upset but the owner was totally unaffected and felt no remorse whatsoever.

I brought my dog to the vet and it seems that the cuts are only superficial and she got more of a shock than anything else and I've to keep a close eye on her to see if she becomes disorientated or anything like that. But I just can't believe that someone did this. The thought of someone deliberately doing this so brutally is just so upsetting to me. I love all dogs and I'm still sick to my stomach over this. I'm just wondering would a dog be affected by something like this in her mind. She seems in good form and eating and all that but this guy swung the hurley with full force into her face. Surely this will traumatise her ??

catchup

Horrible and no one can excuse what the man did.

BUT look at it from another point of view.... you were not in control of your dog. What if there was a 3 year old child near the other dog? Would the man have been justified if he felt your dog was a threat to his child?

RubyGirl

The pollox, what did u say to him, were you on your own. Dont know about the dog, but I would be traumatised. That's animal cruelty to me.

RubyGirl

catchup wrote: »

Horrible and no one can excuse what the man did.

BUT look at it from another point of view.... you were not in control of your dog. What if there was a 3 year old child near the other dog? Would the man have been justified if he felt your dog was a threat to his child?

That would work the other way around to, if I was on the beach with my child and a man playing hurley hit the ball in my direction and I saw a dog running towards me and my child. Would I pick up my parosol and hit the dog full force in the face.

michael999999

catchup wrote: »

Horrible and no one can excuse what the man did.

BUT look at it from another point of view.... you were not in control of your dog. What if there was a 3 year old child near the other dog? Would the man have been justified if he felt your dog was a threat to his child?

Ya thats a great story of what might have happened if there was a child there,but there wasnt a child there.

If he done that to my dog and i managed to restrain myself from using the same hurley on him,i would have rang the guards.That is animal cruelty of a serious order.

ISDW

catchup wrote: »

Horrible and no one can excuse what the man did.

BUT look at it from another point of view.... you were not in control of your dog. What if there was a 3 year old child near the other dog? Would the man have been justified if he felt your dog was a threat to his child?

No child was mentioned, so why bring that into it? Even if a child was there, the dog didn't threaten anybody or anything.

I give up.

yosser hughes

Shouldn't you have had your dog on a leash? No sympathy for you.I have sympathy for your dog though.
The dog will get over it.

Your poor dog :eek::eek::eek::mad::mad::mad:

ISDW

yosser hughes wrote: »

Shouldn't you have had your dog on a leash? No sympathy for you.I have sympathy for your dog though.
The dog will get over it.

Unless its a by law of that particular beach, then why should the OP have had the dog on a leash? And the man with the hurley, who had his dog off leash as well??? Unless he was playing fetch with his dog on a lead and holding hurley at the same time.

WIZE

do you mind me asking what beach this was .

Lucyx

I always put my dog back on the lead when theres kids around just to avoid anything at all happening. But there was no kids near us. I went nuts. Absolutely crazy. I love my dog so much and my voice was sore cos I screamed at the guy that much and like I say he thought that it was fine to do this.

Obviously my priority was getting my dog to a vet and we were way up the beach and it was the longest walk ever to get back to the car and then I had to drive far to get the emergency vet that was on call. The stress caused was unreal. So I couldn't hang around to get his reg and report him or whatever. If I do see him again I'm afraid of what I'll do. I'd say if I were a man he wouldn't have gone near my dog but hes a brave man hitting a womans dog y'know. The beach is near me so theres a strong chance of seeing this man again and god help him.

Wolfe Tone

Methinks there is more to this than we have been told.

Groom!

No yosserhughes you are allowed walk dogs off the lead on beaches during certain hours.

That's not the issue here anyway so let's not get into the on lead/off lead debate.

To the OP...how dare he hit your dog. I would have followed him, got his car reg and reported him to the gardai.

Lucyx

It was donabate beach.

I was way up the beach and both dogs were off the lead and there was me and that guy and another couple and i think the owners wife.

He told me that his dog had been bitten by another dog recently so thats why he hit my dog thats what he told me. so my dog got the punishment for what some other dog did.

he was playing fetch and my dog ran towards the ball getting a bit excited and then BANG!!!! Wolfe Tone....you think its cool to smack a dog in the face do you??????

looksee

It's all about perception.

'I was on the beach, hitting balls for my dog to chase, when this other dog comes racing past me towards my dog, so I swung out the hurley to try and stop him or distract him. Possibly not the best idea, but I was surprised and acted instinctively to stop it attacking my dog. Between the swing of the hurley and the speed the dog was running he got quite a whack.

Then the dog's owner comes over, raging at me for defending my dog! If he couldn't control his dog he should have had it on a lead! I was very annoyed, - he was so self-righteous about his dog being allowed to run free even though he couldn't control it.'

Lucyx

yosser hughes wrote: »

Shouldn't you have had your dog on a leash? No sympathy for you.I have sympathy for your dog though.
The dog will get over it.

No and I don't want sympathy for me. If i was hit in the face I wouldn't be posting here. If he was p-ed off then give me hassle and hit me with the stick but not a poor gorgeous little dog having a run around on the beach that shes on everyday.

BrianJD

I'd (feel) like hitting the man in the face with a golf club

yosser hughes

Lucyx wrote: »

No and I don't want sympathy for me. If i was hit in the face I wouldn't be posting here. If he was p-ed off then give me hassle and hit me with the stick but not a poor gorgeous little dog having a run around on the beach that shes on everyday.

Fair enough Lucy.I'm sorry I was a bit heartless.I also didn't realise dogs could be off the leash at certain times on beaches.I genuinely did not know that.
Look the man was a brute but your dog will recover I'm sure of it.They are hardier than you think.You sound like a good owner.
Forget about revenge on the other man.It ain't worth it.

Lucyx

looksee wrote: »

It's all about perception.

'I was on the beach, hitting balls for my dog to chase, when this other dog comes racing past me towards my dog, so I swung out the hurley to try and stop him or distract him. Possibly not the best idea, but I was surprised and acted instinctively to stop it attacking my dog. Between the swing of the hurley and the speed the dog was running he got quite a whack.

Then the dog's owner comes over, raging at me for defending my dog! If he couldn't control his dog he should have had it on a lead! I was very annoyed, - he was so self-righteous about his dog being allowed to run free even though he couldn't control it.'

now looksee here looksee....this guy looked at me (i was a bit away from him) and DELIBERATELY smacked my dog in the face at FULL FORCE. FACT. He was very very content about hitting my dog and walked away and came back to assure me that he'd done the right thing even when he saw my dogs eye was all bloody. I would always defend my dog in any situation but I'd never hit another dog in order to do that. He knew exactly what he was doing and there was no acting instinctively or a kind of reflex thing going on. He was delighted with himself. I'm sure of it.

RubyGirl

What breed of dog have u Lucy, not that it make any difference (just curious)

LucyBliss

But here's the thing, if every dog owner went about hitting every dog that came over to ours, we'd be doing nothing some days but clobber dogs. I'm not being facetious but dogs do check each other out. I was at Portumna Forest Park last week with my dogs (who by the way were on the leash the entire time as one of them is led by her nose & would have lost the run of herself exploring if she had the chance) and the amount of unleashed dogs that were there was something else. And dogs were coming over to other dogs and sniffing each other and there were some signs of unruliness between a few.

While I have every sympathy for someone whose dog got jumped, I fail to see how hitting every other dog that comes over to it is helpful. I would assume that a dog owner would be able to recognise the signs of a dog coming over spoiling over for a fight as opposed to one who is coming over to jump around and be a harmless annoyance for a few minutes, and act accordingly.

Either way, whatever your perception and regardless of hypothetical children, I don't hold with hitting a dog (or any animal or person) in the face with a solid object. And I'm not sure how people can assume the dog wasn't under control. The OP never said that her dog has dreadful recall or that she has to run half a mile to get him back when he's off-leash. She just said he went over to another dog. Which they do.

kildara

Lucyx wrote: »

He was very very content about hitting my dog and walked away and came back to assure me that he'd done the right thing even when he saw my dogs eye was all bloody. I would always defend my dog in any situation but I'd never hit another dog in order to do that. He knew exactly what he was doing and there was no acting instinctively or a kind of reflex thing going on. He was delighted with himself. I'm sure of it.

Report him to the guards. Seriously. That is, in my opinion, a clear case of animal cruelty. I am astounded that a dog owner would do that.
He came back to say he'd the right thing? Did he say why he did it - ie scared for his own dog that yours was running towards it?
What a bastard.

Lucyx

RubyGirl wrote: »

What breed of dog have u Lucy, not that it make any difference (just curious)

Shes a collie cross. Shes absolutely gorgeous and the skin just above her eye is all cut now and I hope it heals well cos she has the most beautiful face and I'd hate for her to be scarred forever. I got her from a rescue that I was volunteering in. She chose me as opposed to the other way around

I totally hear what you're saying LucyBliss. If I see someone with their dog on the lead I'm totally respectful of that and know that they don't want to be bothered or theres some reason that their dog is on the lead and I immediately put mine on the lead. But if the dogs are off the lead you make the assumption that its all cool and they can meet and play and sniff etc.

I'll be so careful after today though. Not a good day at all.

Lucyx

kildara wrote: »

Report him to the guards. Seriously. That is, in my opinion, a clear case of animal cruelty. I am astounded that a dog owner would do that.
He came back to say he'd the right thing? Did he say why he did it - ie scared for his own dog that yours was running towards it?
What a bastard.

I honestly thought he was coming back to apologise cos I was so upset and I hoped he realised his error.....but no.

Hopefully I'll see him again and get his car reg then.

He said he did it cos his dog was bitten recently. His dog was in grand form as well. Not wary of dogs or anything like that after being bitten whenever that was.

belongtojazz

Oh I do hope your poor dog is okay and doesn't suffer any adverse reactions from that waste of spaces disgraceful behaviour. There is no excuse

doubleglaze

What kind of dog did this man have? What did the man look like? Age? Colour of hair, etc? Someone else from your area might read this thread, recognize him and you might then be able to trace him and put some manners on him.

cbreeze

Lucyx wrote: »

It was donabate beach.

I was way up the beach and both dogs were off the lead and there was me and that guy and another couple and i think the owners wife.

He told me that his dog had been bitten by another dog recently so thats why he hit my dog thats what he told me. so my dog got the punishment for what some other dog did.

he was playing fetch and my dog ran towards the ball getting a bit excited and then BANG!!!! Wolfe Tone....you think its cool to smack a dog in the face do you??????

puts the_ass into hole imho!

Rochester

Oh your poor dog, such savagery.

smokie2008

Oh My God my bloods boiling.

You're right, there's no way on gods earth he'd have hit that dog if the owner was a bloke, he clearly saw it was a Woman and the coward that he is he hit the defenseless dog. (you'd wonder how he treats his own dog if it doesn't phase him to do something like that to an animal)

If he done that to my dog, I'd have had to be physically pulled of the guy, I'd have FLIPPED. I'm not aggressive at all and I'm a small guy but I'd have done my best to ram that hurley as far up that guys arsehole as his anatomy would allow :mad:

Mr. Presentable

Not cool to hit a dog. Your dog was uncontrolled.

Two wrongs.

Had you your dog under control it wouldn't have happened.

ISDW

LucyBliss wrote: »

Either way, whatever your perception and regardless of hypothetical children,

:pac::pac::pac:Sorry, this is a very serious thread, but that made me laugh.

Whispered

OP, you poor thing!

I know it's little consolation after seeing something like this, but we used to live in a house with a GSD whose owner would play fetch with a hurl. One day his brother accidently hit her instead of the ball, full force in the face. There were killings between the brothers, but the dog made a full recovery and still gets all excited about going out to play ball.

I can't advise you on dealing with the man who did it, but with the dog, I would suggest you physically fix her up then forget about it. Don't allow yourself be nervous of meeting this man again, or treat her any differently when going to the beach. It was a horrible experience, but the dog will move on quickly enough so long as you don't make an issue about it in front of her.

Lucyx

doubleglaze wrote: »

What kind of dog did this man have? What did the man look like? Age? Colour of hair, etc? Someone else from your area might read this thread, recognize him and you might then be able to trace him and put some manners on him.

He had a little white dog and some brown markings and the man had a bloody hat and glasses on so might be hard to recognise again but he had a blue jacket on and I'd say he was mid 40's. Skinny guy too. A weedy little coward he was.

Maybe it was Mr Presentable since he thinks the guy was justified. 'uncontrolled' is pretty broad in these terms.

cruizer101

Sorry to hear of this is horrible thing for anyone to do but really seems strange for another dog owner to do.

That said the title did make me laugh a bit, years ago I was hitting a tennis ball with a hurley for the dog, of course he got a bit to excited by it all and decided to go for the ball just when after I threw it up for me to hit, I was already mid swing and couldn't stop in time, he got an almighty smack on the head. I was so worried but he just picked himself up shook his head, picked up the ball and ran off. Me nearly in tears worried about it and him wagging his tail looking to be chased. I was often amazed at how tough dogs are.

Anyway this is still a terrible thing to do, anyone with dogs should know they just want to come over and have a sniff and say hello.

Mr. Presentable

Lucyx wrote: »

He had a little white dog and some brown markings and the man had a bloody hat and glasses on so might be hard to recognise again but he had a blue jacket on and I'd say he was mid 40's. Skinny guy too. A weedy little coward he was.

Maybe it was Mr Presentable since he thinks the guy was justified. 'uncontrolled' is pretty broad in these terms.

I didn't say it was justified, I said it wouldn't have happened had you control of your dog.

Bullseye1

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

I didn't say it was justified, I said it wouldn't have happened had you control of your dog.

The other guy had his dog it's lead too. Since he resorted to violence....

Lucyx

cruizer101 wrote: »

Sorry to hear of this is horrible thing for anyone to do but really seems strange for another dog owner to do.

That said the title did make me laugh a bit, years ago I was hitting a tennis ball with a hurley for the dog, of course he got a bit to excited by it all and decided to go for the ball just when after I threw it up for me to hit, I was already mid swing and couldn't stop in time, he got an almighty smack on the head. I was so worried but he just picked himself up shook his head, picked up the ball and ran off. Me nearly in tears worried about it and him wagging his tail looking to be chased. I was often amazed at how tough dogs are.

Anyway this is still a terrible thing to do, anyone with dogs should know they just want to come over and have a sniff and say hello.

I think their heads must be very very tough cos honestly I don't know how she was even conscious after it happened. I was expecting her to pass out any second. Head of steel thank christ.

hdowney

your poor doggy. that guy is such a pr!ck

i had a similarish experience a number of yrs ago. i was like 15ish and walking my yr old collieX at the time up my local beach. dogs can be off or on lead there. i am very responsible and was even then, if there were dogs on the lead, i wouldn't let my dog be all over them (cos theyr obv on the lead for a reason) and i wouldn't let her cause nusiance. so whilst she was off the lead she WAS in my control.

dogs would come up and they would sniff and whatnot then go on their way.

so this westie comes up - off lead - and starts sniffing my dog, she is sniffing back and they are having their chitchat when this BIG man comes up and hits my dog a FULL FORCE kick with his steel toecap boots. she was well whimpering in pain and i was like :eek::mad::eek:.

i rang my mam and she came hairing up the beach - we live next to it - and said to ur man WTF did he think he was doing kicking my dog full with his steel toecaps when the dogs were just chitchatting, and his dog had approached mine in the first.

his answer - his dog was a bitch in heat and he didn't want my boll*x of a male anywhere near his precious babba!!!! :eek::eek:

well my mam let rip. first she says our dog is a neutered bitch, second if your dog is a bitch in heat why the F do you have her off lead in a popular walking area where there could be intact males off lead! you are in the wrong and you hurt my dog - although she used more voiciferus words and whatnot. she demanded his name - chap at this point least had the decency to look sheepish, you don't mess with my mam! - and contact info and if the dog needed anything from the vet she would be billing him.

thank mercy my babba was fine physically, but too this day she is wary of men, particularly tall ones, and will bark the boll*x off them if they come near our house.

i was :mad:

The Sweeper

Lucyx, what sort of dog do you have?

(And before anyone jumps up with 'it doesn't matter it doesn't matter' - yes, the breed is no justification for randomly belting someone's dog with a hurley, but I want to get a picture in my head of what stick-swinging guy thought he was fending off.)

smellslikeshoes

I'm not defending what sounds like an obvious case of cruelty but how was the guy with the hurl to have known your dog's intentions?

If as you say your "dog gets excited when she sees another dog running around" then you have absolutely no excuses and it's downright wreckless to not have her on a leash somewhere like the beach where there is a good chance you might run into other dogs.

I hope your dog makes a full recovery and hopefully you will use it as a wake up call to be more careful around other dogs as this could have ended up much worse.

ISDW

The Sweeper wrote: »

Lucyx, what sort of dog do you have?

(And before anyone jumps up with 'it doesn't matter it doesn't matter' - yes, the breed is no justification for randomly belting someone's dog with a hurley, but I want to get a picture in my head of what stick-swinging guy thought he was fending off.)

Lucyx wrote: »

Shes a collie cross. Shes absolutely gorgeous and the skin just above her eye is all cut now and I hope it heals well cos she has the most beautiful face and I'd hate for her to be scarred forever. I got her from a rescue that I was volunteering in. She chose me as opposed to the other way around

magentas

what an a$$hole. hope your little lady is OK

Lucyx

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

I'm not defending what sounds like an obvious case of cruelty but how was the guy with the hurl to have known your dog's intentions?

If as you say your "dog gets excited when she sees another dog running around" then you have absolutely no excuses and it's downright wreckless to not have her on a leash somewhere like the beach where there is a good chance you might run into other dogs.

I hope your dog makes a full recovery and hopefully you will use it as a wake up call to be more careful around other dogs as this could have ended up much worse.

I've been going there everyday for the last few years and she has a sniff and walks on everytime. sometimes a bit of a bark too if the another dog hangs around too long and starts pushing her too much.

'its downright wreckless'.........gimme a break.

boomerang

The guy was totally out of line, but then, you have no right to let your dog bound up to someone else with their dog, uninvited. They were minding their own business. I have a dog who is not comfortable with loose dogs coming up to her as your dog did, and even on lead, she would have attacked your dog while you were running to catch up from what ever distance to get your dog back under control. I think it's inconsiderate and dangerous to let your dog off to interact with whoever she pleases. Wait for an invitation!

johnthemull

Lucyx wrote: »

I was walking my dog on the beach today and another dog was playing fetch with his owner and my dog gets excited when she sees another dog running around so she ran over and the owner smacked my dog in the face with the hurley he was using to play fetch. I was absolutely horrified and ran over and got very upset but the owner was totally unaffected and felt no remorse whatsoever.

I brought my dog to the vet and it seems that the cuts are only superficial and she got more of a shock than anything else and I've to keep a close eye on her to see if she becomes disorientated or anything like that. But I just can't believe that someone did this. The thought of someone deliberately doing this so brutally is just so upsetting to me. I love all dogs and I'm still sick to my stomach over this. I'm just wondering would a dog be affected by something like this in her mind. She seems in good form and eating and all that but this guy swung the hurley with full force into her face. Surely this will traumatise her ??

Your dog will be fine. Just give her extra love. There is no hope for the human.

boomerang

Lucyx wrote: »

If I see someone with their dog on the lead I'm totally respectful of that and know that they don't want to be bothered or theres some reason that their dog is on the lead and I immediately put mine on the lead. But if the dogs are off the lead you make the assumption that its all cool and they can meet and play and sniff etc.

I'll be so careful after today though. Not a good day at all.

That's the thing - you can't make assumptions about other dogs. My dog minds her own business, doesn't approach other dogs (she actively keeps away from them) and won't stray from my side if I have a ball or a frisbee.

Now along comes a young, goofy dog who thinks a stranger is just a friend you've yet to meet and bounds up to my dog to say hello. If he ignores my dog's signals to give her space, she will jump on him and pin him to the ground. No bites but your dog will have got a right fright. And it'll be far, far worse if my dog is on the lead, as it makes her more reactive. It's bad for your dog too, because a bad experience like this can make a dog fear aggressive around other dogs.

I hate that you had to learn this lesson in such a horrible way. I'm sure your lovely dog will be just fine.

smellslikeshoes

Lucyx wrote: »

I've been going there everyday for the last few years and she has a sniff and walks on everytime. sometimes a bit of a bark too if the another dog hangs around too long and starts pushing her too much.

'its downright wreckless'.........gimme a break.

Wise up. Sooner or later your dog is going to go bounding up to a dog for a sniff who would rather be left alone and it will kick off and I can tell you the injuries could be a lot more severe than what you described was done with the hurl.

The Sweeper

To be fair, Lucyx may need to do more recall training with her dog. To have your dog off leash, you should be able to call your dog to your side no matter how exciting the distraction is. So you should be able to call your dog away from other dogs, from a rabbit that breaks from the hedgerow, from a cat out in the street, from a child whizzing past on a scooter, from a guy on his bicycle, from a roller-blading girl, from a bunch of skateboarders. To have your dog off leash, your dog should turn and look at you when you whistle or call, no matter how interested they are in what they're doing.

That's "recall". Recall isn't "He never runs away, he will come back to me before we go home". It isn't taking your dog to the park and letting them off-leash and being sure you can put them on-leash again before you go home. Recall isn't going walking in the woods and letting your dog off-leash and having it trample through the undergrowth in a 300 yard circle around you and you having to spend 10 minutes getting the leash back on it at the end of the walk.

I'll put my hand up straight away and admit I don't have the recall as described above with my dog. It's hard to do. It takes work. If I could get somewhere utterly deserted I could let him off-leash, but the flip side is the sort of bushland where we wouldn't meet another person is the sort of bushland where we'd meet snakes, and given they're poisonous down here I'd need to be certain Gus would come when he was called (and he really wouldn't) or else he'd literally be dead. Subsequently I walk my dog out bush with a 20-foot horse's lead rein.

ppink

I dont actually think you should leave your dog approach anyone anywhere unless invited.

However saying that if I had a hurley and I was worried about a collie cross coming my way I would hold it at bay with the hurley while shouting to owner to call back the dog. Easily done with a hurley!

Hitting a dog for me would be a last resort at attack stage not at "enquiry level"

Cú Giobach

If a man did that to one of my dogs, for no reason other than being approached, I would end up in court for assault and I wouldn't regret it one little bit.

piperh

While i don't and never would condone hitting a animal in the first place and cannot understand this mans reactions or reasoning i have to say i think the op is being a little ignorant in her responsibilities as a dog owner.
I would not appreciate someone allowing their dog to approach my 2 just because "thats what dogs do". How do i know her dogs intentions or its temperament and i would certainly question her control of the dog.