Buffy was attacked.

*Caro said:
I am so sorry and glad Buffy survived without too much damage. ACDs are really tough dogs and can be a real problem, esp the females. The last serious dog attack on Tully was an ACD female and I know of a number of other female dogs (of all sizes) that have been attacked by ACDs. People really don't think about what they are getting when they take on a rescue cattle dog. Thank god for our dog's being so furry - makes it harder to get hold.
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I agree. The barn where I board my horse has an ACD and I don't trust that dog at ALL.

Chris said:
My advice is to send the Aussie's owner the bill. Sometimes a little cash outlay reminds people to control their hostile dogs. :mad:
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ACD's should not be confused with an Aussie. Aussie is a nickname for an Australian Shephard. The Australian Cattle dogs are commonly known as Blue Healers or Red Heelers over here in the states.
 
I'll just echo what everyone has said.

Give Buffy lots of hugs from me, I'll be thinking about you guys. Hopefully the wounds are minor and clear up quickly. I'm sorry you guys went through this.
 
I can only echo what every one else has said and send get well hugs to Buffy. This is just awful and I so agree that the owner needs the bill. You did nothing wrong- the other owner was at fault.
Hope she heals quickly and does not have lasting effects from this episode.
 
This gave me chills to read; I am so sorry Buffy went through this! I certainly agree with Chris about the money and hopefully the trainer will remove the ACD from the class and suggest private lessons for their dog for now!

Emma, Noelle and my fur pups all send their love and lots of hugs! Sounds like treat time when giving the antibiotics! :yes: Please keep us posted.
 
Wow, yeah, I would present the bill to the owner as well.

And I assume the dog will be removed from class. If not, the instructor is opening up all kinds of liability. We had an incident at our local training school where they continued to let an aggressive dog in classes, and it did $3500 worth of damage to a smaller dog. Despite the "hold harmless" agreement the club has, the owner of the aggressive dog lost the lawsuit and paid out an undisclosed amount of money.
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Yeah, the other owner and the instructor both offered to pay the vet bill right away. The instructor already refunded all our money for the class (even though this was week 5 of 6) and the other dog will not be returning to class.

The instructor also offered complementary additional training to both me and the other owner as necessary. I think the other girl was almost more upset than I was. (The instructor was honestly the only one who remained calm and level-headed during the fight.) I am sure she will continue to work with her dog; this is the advanced class so I know she has been a dedicated owner.

The vet gave us an antibiotic and cleaned the wound so we are all set on the health front.

It was all very nice gestures, I just don't really care about the money. I am just grateful Buffy is OK. We might bring her to a different section of class next week; she was a little leery of the other dogs in class right afterward, even the Lab, who is like the gentlest dog ever. So it might be better to do a completely different setting. We did see another Sheltie in the park though right afterward (what are the odds?) and we also had Buffy play with one of her dog friends and she seemed OK, if a bit more reserved than usual. She'll just get spoiled a lot this week. I feel so bad that I put her in that situation.

Thanks for all your sympathy, I really appreciate it...
 
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Here's the Wikipedia article on ACDs. It mentions aggression several times. I guess that a dog that little has to have a little snap to make cattle move. The ACD was not much taller than Buffy but she was way more muscular and probably weighed twice as much. The vet said that Buffy's ridiculous amount of fur may have saved her life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Cattle_Dog

I am so glad that Shelties are in general not aggressive. I would hate having that in a pet. They look a little like wolves. (OK, I'll end my snide comments about ACDs now.)
 
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I'm so sorry this happened to you and Buffy, how terrible! It looks as though a few of us have had a rough couple of days. Toby wasn't bit but he was definitely traumatized by some thoughtless people.

I'm glad to hear that the trainer and dog's owner took responsibility for the situation immediately, as they should have. Its not about compensation, its about owning up to one's mistakes. The owner and the trainer should have been keeping a closer eye on that dog. Its nice that the trainer went above that and offered free classes, its nice to know there are still good, honest people out there.

Try not to beat yourself up about it, its just one of those things that happens that is completely out of your control. A training class should have been safe and it was not up to you to be watching someone else's dog.

I hope Buffy is back to her old self soon!
 
So relieved that your Buffy didn't have any more physical injury. You now have to watch for any signs of mental injury. My uncle's Pom (who I trained) was attacked by a larger dog many years ago (not on my watch, thank goodness), and really never recovered. He absolutely would not tolerate other animals of any kind.

I know that you (being a Sheltie owner - meaning you are a nicer-smarter-than-average person to begin with) will help Buffy over this if she needs it. Don't blame yourself - the advantages of taking your dog out to training classes far exceed the dangers. My little Neechee (weighing 4 pounds at 10 weeks) was once attacked by a large mixed-breed. I reflexively jerked Neechee's leash away and snatched him up. This only served to give little "Mr. Testosterone" a worse Napoleon complex as he was still growling at the other dog once he was in my arms. Luckily the big dog was on a leash with a big guy at the end of it, who apologized profusely.
 
ACD's should not be confused with an Aussie. Aussie is a nickname for an Australian Shephard. The Australian Cattle dogs are commonly known as Blue Healers or Red Heelers over here in the states.
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Oops -- my bad! So I guess we had an OCD ACD!
 
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I am so sorry this happened to Buffy. I know how traumatic it can be. You have rec'd alot of great advice here. Give her a hug from Gypsy and I.
 
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