Randomly attacked by neighbor's dog... Would you report it?

[Jax's Mom]

My parents' 2 dogs were attacked this afternoon by their neighbor's large mixed dog. They were coming out of the garage and the dog seemed to be loose because one of their kids left the front door open and left the house for the day. My dad was coming out of the garage to walk the dogs because they had been acting weird (nervous and pacing), and before the automatic garage door was even half open, the neighbor's dog barged in and went for my dad's dogs (completely unprovoked) which are always on a leash and it resulted in 10 stitches for my dad's dogs, nothing on the neighbor's dog.
They don't know what came over the dog. They had to stuff him back into the neighbor's house. They've played before and have shared a fence for years now without issues. The dog is usually loose and unsupervised but has never done anything like this before.
When the neighbors found out they were very apologetic and offered to pay the vet bills so there are no hard feelings but they're not sure if they should tell someone in case the dog is dangerous. We don't want to see anything happen to the dog and don't want to sue or anything, just don't want to see anyone/anything get hurt... Has anyone experienced anything like this before?

[Kris10]

Because it is a sudden change in behavior they should take him to the vet to get checked out. If I felt that the owners understood the gravity of the situation and agreed to have a vet check and never let him out unleashed, I would consider not reporting him.

[selzer]

I would want to make sure the dog is up to date on its vaccinations. But I would probably not report it if the neighbor offered to pay for the damages.

Having large dogs, having any dog, sometimes means going the extra mile to keep neighbors on the good list.

Generally Animal Control or our dog warden would do nothing in this situation, maybe fill out a report. But if they went to the other extreme would your father want the dog to be designated dangerous, or even euthanized? If it was a kid, there is no question, call the authorities. But dog-dog aggression is really a whole different story.

Sorry your dad had to put up with that though. Poor doggos.

[lisgje]

Difficult situation. However, if the dog gets loose again, what is to stop it from attacking another animal or a person. Not sure how I would feel if it happened again and I had not said anything. The fact that the dog came onto the property and attacked unprovoked would make me more than a bit nervous. You also said the dog is usually loose and unsupervised. Not a good situation either.

[Jax's Mom]

This is the first time I think that the dog's been loose with no one home... Maybe he has separation anxiety and panicked because no one was home?
The neighbors have several grade-school aged children (I haven't actually counted how many belong to them and how many are just visitors lol) but my parents don't want the kids to lose their dog and they've paid the damages (I think they went over with cash this evening).
When I walk up the driveway with my dogs, he barks at us but not really in a threatening way... He seems really good with children, they're always outside with the dog around... If anything, we're surprised that he hasn't been hit by a car by now, not that he hasn't bitten anything.
I hope after this the kids learn to close the doors after themselves.

[lisgje]

Here in Rochester, a dog cannot be loose outside of a fenced in yard even supervised. Must be leashed at all times. Hope you are right and it is a one time issue. Glad the neighbors at least took responsibility.

[middleofnowhere]

It is my understanding that dog on dog agression does NOT translate to dog human agression. I would probably not report it.

So far as why, maybe it had something to do with whatever was making the other dogs pace and worry or maybe it was in reaction to them being stirred up.

[selzer]

Originally Posted by middleofnowhere

It is my understanding that dog on dog agression does NOT translate to dog human agression. I would probably not report it.

So far as why, maybe it had something to do with whatever was making the other dogs pace and worry or maybe it was in reaction to them being stirred up.

This and the vet bill and the knowledge of what their dog is capable of, undeniably, will probably make the neighbors more careful in the future. I think the problem is pretty much solved at this point, unless there is a future episode.

[Larien]

Sounds resolved and fine to me. I don't like unnecessarily burning bridges with neighbors, either - if they apologized and offered to pay, that's doing enough, best to let it go.

Years ago my neighbor's GSD (that I used to petsit and loved a lot) for some reason left it's yard and attacked my collie in our yard, my dad saw it, and I guess really yelled at the owner, who was really apologetic and offered to pay for any vet bills (there weren't, it wasn't a bad fight, no blood) and I never saw the dog out of it's yard again after that. We wanted to maintain a good relationship with them, and I continued to petsit for them and everything was fine. You never know when you'll need your neighbors so don't be too mad at them.

Now for a different scenario, my other neighbor's Rottweiler attacked me once, it left it's yard and followed me on my bike, and grabbed my leg and dragged me onto the pavement. I was all scraped and bruised and my leg was all shredded and bitten. Obviously, THAT one went reported, a dog attacking a child on the street is definitely not acceptable! Don't know exactly what happened, but I never saw that dog again.

[Denali Girl]

It may seem resolved but I hope the owners take some kind of action so this doesn't happen again? The dog ran under the garage door? I know some people wouldn't have been so nice.