My Neighbors Dog killed my Puppy!

[Mouse House Mama]

Sorry- this may sound cold, but if you're going to get a toy breed puppy, you need to take special precautions. Inspection of the fence and looking for digging occurring at the base of the fence should have been done. If the dog was only out there for 30 seconds- there is no way their dog could have tunneled under or dug a hole that quick. THE HOLE WAS THERE. You have to bear some of the responsibility.

PS- We have 2 saint bernards, including an 11 month puppy that LOVES to dig. We can't even have parties in the backyard anymore cause it's the land of potholes.

Good Luck.

OP- I am so sorry for your loss. The one thing that keeps running through my mind though was what if your child was close to the fence and you turned around to pick something up? Sorry but I do not think this was the OP's fault. My guess is that the fence has some give and perhaps a low spot that maybe the OP didn't even know about.

 

[labdogs42]

That is awful. It also strikes close to home as I have a 10 week old beagle puppy right now. I would be devastated if something happened to him.

I think the people who are giving you a hard time about our puppy being in the yard alone for a minute are being a little harsh. I am a responsible dog owner, but I do let my dogs romp in our fenced yard when I'm in the house (we have two Labs in addition to the Beagle puppy). That's kind of the point of having a fenced yard. Sure, the fence could have been more secure, but your neighbor's dog must be really vicious to have attacked and killed a puppy so quickly.

I guess the one good thing is that it sounds like the family (or just the dog) will be evicted and as sad as it is to have lost that puppy, at least that dog didn't attack one of your family members. The dog sounds like a lost cause to me.

 

[ashleyd725@hotmail.c]

Not sure where the dog is now but when we came home the dog and box are both gone!!!
Dh and I have beaten ourselves up about what we could have donedifferent, but there is NO damage to our fence their dog dug on their side of the yard. So for that dog to have snatched and killed our puppy that fast is ridiculous and scary. This is the reason that my children have not been out to play since the dog first scared my daughter. They have only lived there for about a month.

I did find out that their dog was a female and just had pups and I guess gets very agressive and protective after she has a litter and attacked the other dog that the owner has.

 

[JimmyJr'sMom]

Well last night my husband took out our puppies into our fenced in yard then he came back in to give me the phone when he was done talking, as soon as he walked in we heard Chewie our pomerian yelp so he turned right back around to check and see if the two were fighting. He was litterallhy in the house maybe 30 seconds. When he went out the neighbors dog had Chewie in his mouth, he pulled her under the fence. So my husband jumped the fence and the dog dropped her, he then scooped her up and knocked on the neighbors door and told him what happened. The neighbor comes out looks at his dog and says "Bad Dog" seriously!
So we had the police, spca, and the landlord from the neighbor next to us at our house last night.

I'm not getting out my flame suit. We've had a dog pull a zipcord mount that was screwed thru the bricks of our home and get hit by a car in front of our house.
Of course the OP has my sympathy.
BUT- if you are going to get one of these toy breed dogs, owners need to be aware that a 2 1/2 lb dog will require additional precautions. And letting one loose in a yard directly next to a dog that is known to be large and vicious, at night, for the first time, was not a great idea.
The only point I'm making about the 30 seconds is that the other dog could not have tunneled under the fence in 30 seconds without some sort of hole already being present.
If the question here is the liability ($$$) of the next door neighbor- then we have to be blunt and honest in our opinions.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm so sorry that your brand new dog was killed like that.


NOw that you know there's a problem in that fence, inspect it, fix it all, be vigilant. Especially if you do consider getting another.

"Two weeks ago my husband and I were discussing getting puppies, he wanted a big one, I wanted a little one."

Obviously this all happened VERY fast. In our family, months of deliberation were taken with each dog, except for the one that my mom found walking on the side of the road (who was with us for a year before he burrowed out and disappeared...guess we know why he was on the road!), even though each time we got the same type of dog.

So you might want to really give some more deep, intense, thought to what sort of dog you might want to get, rather than just big and small. We considered getting a small dog (we both like BIG dogs, but our condo doesn't allow them so we were considering our options), and ultimately decided that the personalities of the smaller dogs just doesn't go with our personalities. Not a good fit, not fair to us or whatever dog we might get. Some little dogs are cute, but it's personality that takes over after the puppy cuteness goes away, and that's what you have to carefully match up to your family.

Sorry this happened, especially since it was SO whirlwind between deciding to get the dogs, getting them, and this happening.

 

[madcat]

So sorry for your loss, we have three dogs and while I love them all, my pug is my baby, I would not know what to do if something happened to him. Our neighbors have three dogs as well and they are always running up between our two fences, I have worried that one of them would jump the fence and get to him, but none the less the dog (yours) was in your yard behind your fence. The neighbor should be held responsible. I work in a police department and they are right when they say that it is a civil matter, they are not being unsympathetic to your problem, they can only do what is within the confines of the law, and if the SPCA or animal control can ticket them, then let them.

 

[jfoofj]

When I was little (6ish) I had a pet rabbit that we used to let hop around our fenced in yard. A neighbor's dog (German shepard mix) dug under our fence enough to snatch the rabbit and killed it, in front of me. I remember not really understanding what was going on, and my mom screaming. It was awful.

I'm so sorry for your loss. We have a Yorkie who is 3 and I would be both heartbroken and furious if something like this happened to him!

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

I guess I don't have a great idea of what kind of fence this is, but if there was a gap anywhere that was big enough for your puppy to get through, be prepared for your neighbors to claim your puppy was in their yard. Not saying it will happen, but it's happened before.

Good luck.

I actually saw an episode of Peoples Court where this happened. The Judge said that since the lady (whose dog was killed) knew that the fence had holes dug allowing for the opening at the bottom and didn't do anything to prevent the accident from happening, she was 50% responsible. I don't know really what you could do other than keep refilling the dirt of put down some logs on your side to prevent the gap. I didn't catch what the Judge suggested. I don't think that the judgment was actually fair, I mean you take care of your side and the neighbor just disreguards the holes showing his negligence, he should be responsible for all damages.

Either way, OP I'm sorry you had to witness that and hope you are able to move on and get a dog to fill in the void. Best of luck to you.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

OP, I am so sorry for your loss.

Something similar happened to us a couple of summers ago with our family dachshund. Our neighborhood is outside of city limits- so no leash law. The people who moved across the street from us had two german shepherds that would chase people- my father included. The owners did nothing and even suggested it was my dad's fault for jogging by there, even though there was no way to avoid it.

One day, he was walking Schnitzel. Schnitzel was on a leash- we never let our dogs loose. The german shepherd ran up and grabbed him and shook him. It was only by a miracle he survived. We did not follow through on pressing charges, but they did at least finally get rid of the dog.

Please don't beat yourself up. Fences are tricky, especially chain link fences. It's easy to not see or to underestimate the size of holes. When I moved in I could have sworn my fence was perfect, but my dachshund/jack russell found several holes that with just a little bit of a push he could get through. Three of us personally walked the fence and never saw those holes! We fixed them by taking some little fencing meant for gardens and zip tying it to the fence. It has solved all of our problems. You may want to consider something similar. Drive it into the ground and zip tie it and it should keep any body from escaping or being dragged through.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I'm very sorry for the loss of your young puppy! You do have to take special precautions when you have a toy breed, but you should also feel safe having your own pets loose in your own backyard!

I would like to point out to some of the other posters, however, that not all dogs who attack and kill small animals are vicious! If the OP's neighbor's dog did bark or growl (or show any other sign of aggression) against her children, then you can reasonably consider it to be a vicious dog. However, many dogs have been specifically bred to kill small prey, and don't forget that all dogs have descended from wolves. Hunting and killing is how they make their living. Yes, it is tragic when a cat/rabbit/extremely small puppy is killed by another pet, but it doesn't always mean that the dog is vicious; it is simply acting on its instincts as a carnivore to hunt and kill small prey. It's the same as when a pet cat kills a wild mouse or bird.... but no one called that wild bird by name and put a collar on it. It's tragic for the owners of the killed pet, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the dog will attack people, or that it should be euthanized for being vicious.

Dogs who display aggression against people are a whole different story, of course. It is not responsible to keep a dog that displays the slightest bit of aggression against a non-threatening human, no matter the size of the dog.

For the record, my German Shepherd has an extraordinarily high prey drive.... but has been trained to not act on his instincts. He can even interact peacefully with our dwarf hamster, who enjoys nibbling his nose to get him to play with her. But would I leave them alone together for even a second? Never.

Edited to add: To clarify, I am NOT condoning dogs who enter other people's property to get at other people's pets! The owner has a responsibility to control their own pet's behavior to make sure that the dog is not destructive!

 

[Anjelica]

OP - sorry for your loss.

On another note - and I'm not saying this was the case on this incident - but this is a VERY good reason NOT to share a fence with a neighbor if at all possible. This way if a dog , not your own, were to stick his/her head through, under, over, etc. on a fence then they would be 100% "trespassing" and therefore legally its quite a different case. Additionally, keeping your fence several feet off the property line does afford you some leeway if say a person were to walk over to your fence and get bitten, etc. as again they entered your property.

 

[Anjelica]

I would like to point out to some of the other posters, however, that not all dogs who attack and kill small animals are vicious! If the OP's neighbor's dog did bark or growl (or show any other sign of aggression) against her children, then you can reasonably consider it to be a vicious dog. However, many dogs have been specifically bred to kill small prey, and don't forget that all dogs have descended from wolves. Hunting and killing is how they make their living. Yes, it is tragic when a cat/rabbit/extremely small puppy is killed by another pet, but it doesn't always mean that the dog is vicious; it is simply acting on its instincts as a carnivore to hunt and kill small prey. It's the same as when a pet cat kills a wild mouse or bird.... but no one called that wild bird by name and put a collar on it. It's tragic for the owners of the killed pet, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the dog will attack people, or that it should be euthanized for being vicious.

Dogs who display aggression against people are a whole different story, of course. It is not responsible to keep a dog that displays the slightest bit of aggression against a non-threatening human, no matter the size of the dog.

100% agreed. I grew up all my life with German Shepards and while some associate them with viciousness they are actually quite easy to train and follow their "masters" orders. People have to keep in mind that quite a bit of issues that arise from dogs/cats is not the animals fault but rather their owners own lack of proper containment, etc.

We had/have 2 large Siberian Huskies and as anyone who breeds/has a husky will tell you these dogs nature is VERY good with people/kids, etc. However, if a bunny rabbit or other small animal were to get into my yard (its fenced) they wouldn't hesitate to attack it (even a playful attack).

Its sad to hear about alot of dogs who get euthanized due to an owners lackluster "parenting" skills.

 

[Christine]

OP, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened.

I will relay my own story to you just for future knowledge.

My own dog (a beagle/hound mix) killed my smaller dog (a 10 lb Jack Russell). They had lived together for almost 5 years but they did get in fights occasionally (the JRT was sort of aggressive as you can imagine and didn't realize she was only 11 lbs).

One day, the two dogs were barking at something outside the fence (maybe a squirrel or something) and they got themselves all bothered about it. I was inside vacuuming for about 15 minutes. I look outside and see the JRT lying on the ground. She NEVER laid down. I called to her and she raised her head but when I got to her she was bleeding. I rushed to her to the vet but she died on the way while laying in my lap.

The JRT and my other dog had gotten in a fight in a split second and the smaller dog did not win.

Immediately, I thought I had a "dangerous" dog on my hands. My vet was sort of miffed at me that I would even consider putting down my other dog and he kept telling me that the dog was just being a dog. There can be an issue with larger and smaller dogs together, especially in a larger dog that has a strong hunting instinct (as do most hounds). It is called a predatory prey instinct and for a split second when a larger animal sees a very small animal (be it a dog, cat, fox, squirrel), this instinct kicks in and they go after it even if they KNOW the dog.

I ended up taking my dog to a animal behaviorist to make sure there was no aggression and they did confirm they she has a strong reflexive action against moving small animals. I *know* if a small dog ever got into my yard or she could get to it, this would not be a good thing. Both my neighbors have Shih Tszus (sp?).

Anyway, the point of my rambling story is to agree with another poster up thread. If you are going to keep these smaller breed dogs, PLEASE be very careful with them. I know my neighbors never let them off-leash (even in their own yards) because we have a few larger dogs nearby. Except for the most docile of breeds (golden retrievers) you might have this issue.

I'm not trying to argue that the dog who did this isn't a dangerous dog. He may very well be, but he might be a normal, larger dog too.

 

[bellebud]

I'm soooo sorry this happened to your puppy!

We have dogs and a fenced yard. We have chicken wire along the bottom of the fence.

You can secure the wire different ways. we used small boulders in some areas just sitting on the chicken wire. the idea is to have the wire attached to the bottom of your fence, and laying on the ground for 2 feet or so into your yard, then a heavy rock. If an animal outside your fence was trying to tunnel under, the chicken wire laying on the ground would simply keep sinking w/ the heavy rock on it - it would take massive tunneling from the other animal to get in your yard. You could landscape along that side of the fence and you wouldn't even notice it. some bushes and flowers along w/ the rocks, and it could be nice.

 

[Christine]

I'm soooo sorry this happened to your puppy!

We have dogs and a fenced yard. We have chicken wire along the bottom of the fence.

You can secure the wire different ways. we used small boulders in some areas just sitting on the chicken wire. the idea is to have the wire attached to the bottom of your fence, and laying on the ground for 2 feet or so into your yard, then a heavy rock. If an animal outside your fence was trying to tunnel under, the chicken wire laying on the ground would simply keep sinking w/ the heavy rock on it - it would take massive tunneling from the other animal to get in your yard. You could landscape along that side of the fence and you wouldn't even notice it. some bushes and flowers along w/ the rocks, and it could be nice.

We have this too. The day we brought home the JRT (who was 5 lbs at the time) we realized our wooden privacy fence was not adequate. She could walk right through the slats or right under the fence in some areas. My husband spent 3 weekends putting chicken wire halfway up the fence and down to the ground. He was not happy and we certainly hadn't thought that one out when we got the dog!! No one ever said pet ownership was easy.

 

[golfgal]

OMG I am SO SORRY this happened to you.

You need to DOCUMENT everything....Send a letter immediately to the landlord and the tenant and ask them to turn the letter over to their respective insurance carriers to seek a claim. You can sue him in small claims court instead, but the reality is, you still lost your dog and getting some $$ will not help mend your heart.
That dog is considered being Vicious and carrier may TRY to deny coverage however they may just try and settle with you if you provide prrof of cost AND document your clamn (p/r, write up what happened, etc)
ood Luck, again I am SO VERY SORRY this happened to you....
I know someone and same thing happened. The FENCE is required to have a WIRE along bottom (it holds it down and dogs cannot burrow under it) to AVOID allowing DOGS/PETS to get UNDER it in the first place, what a shame

Sorry, waste of time-this is not covered under your insurance. If the dog bit a child or person it would be covered but your insurance will not cover an animal.

Not sure where the dog is now but when we came home the dog and box are both gone!!!
Dh and I have beaten ourselves up about what we could have donedifferent, but there is NO damage to our fence their dog dug on their side of the yard. So for that dog to have snatched and killed our puppy that fast is ridiculous and scary. This is the reason that my children have not been out to play since the dog first scared my daughter. They have only lived there for about a month.

I did find out that their dog was a female and just had pups and I guess gets very agressive and protective after she has a litter and attacked the other dog that the owner has.

Hopefully your neighbors got rid of the dog. Our 12 lb rat terrier was attached by our neighbors Rottweiler while DH was out walking our dog. The neighbor's dog got out of their fence and was wondering around the neighborhood. She saw our dog and ran right for her and attacked-TOTALLY unprovoked. Our dog ended up with several stitches and a bad infection that led to a heart murmur. She is now terrified of other dogs-she used to LOVE to play with other dogs. Our other neighbors saw the whole thing and called the police. They took a report, the neighbors had to microchip their dog and take her to obedience classes. This was the second dog their dog had attacked that WE have seen. The first attack was not reported. If it had been they would have had to put the dog to sleep. If she attacks any other dogs, they will have to put her down.

It sounds like your police force is being lazy. I can't believe you don't have any animal control laws in your area.

 

[labdogs42]

So you might want to really give some more deep, intense, thought to what sort of dog you might want to get, rather than just big and small. We considered getting a small dog (we both like BIG dogs, but our condo doesn't allow them so we were considering our options), and ultimately decided that the personalities of the smaller dogs just doesn't go with our personalities. Not a good fit, not fair to us or whatever dog we might get. Some little dogs are cute, but it's personality that takes over after the puppy cuteness goes away, and that's what you have to carefully match up to your family.

Sorry this happened, especially since it was SO whirlwind between deciding to get the dogs, getting them, and this happening.

I like big dogs, too. I have two Labs. We were ready for a third dog, but decided we wanted to downsize this time around. So, we shopped around for a smaller dog with a "big dog" personality. We ended up with a beagle and he is great! I'm not a toy dog person at all, but there are some smaller/mid-size dogs that embody a lot of the great big dog characteristics.

 

[ZachnElli]

I just want to tell OP I'm so sorry that that happened to your puppy! We have 3 small dogs that were that small as puppies and I would have been devastated if that happened to them!

 

[olena]

How awful..... Poor little puppy.

Two weeks ago my husband and I were discussing getting puppies, he wanted a big one, I wanted a little one. We were also discussing how much we could afford on these puppies, we decided we were getting two so they would be friends from the get go. Well I found a Pomerian for $350 and he found a Boxador (Boxer Lab mix) for $50, so we decided that we could swing that.
Well last night my husband took out our puppies into our fenced in yard then he came back in to give me the phone when he was done talking, as soon as he walked in we heard Chewie our pomerian yelp so he turned right back around to check and see if the two were fighting. He was litterallhy in the house maybe 30 seconds. When he went out the neighbors dog had Chewie in his mouth, he pulled her under the fence. So my husband jumped the fence and the dog dropped her, he then scooped her up and knocked on the neighbors door and told him what happened. The neighbor comes out looks at his dog and says "Bad Dog" seriously!
So we had the police, spca, and the landlord from the neighbor next to us at our house last night.

The landlord doesnt even allow anilmals she didn't know they were there. The police said there was nothing they could do it was a civil matter.
The spca said they could cite them with a dangerous dog. And that we should contact a lawyer to get reimbursed for the dog.
The Landlord told him he had to make things right with us and get rid of the dogs within a week or move out.
The neighbor still has not said anything to us.

Has anyone ever had this happen, if so what did you do?

 

[C.Ann]

I'm so sorry.. We used to have a Pom and he was just the cutest little dog ever..