I think the poodle was asking for it. Unless the poodle has a job, it's the poodle's owner's responsibility.
Little doggehs, take heed: DO NOT mess with the big dogs. Yeah, you're scrappy and cute, but the big doggehs will eat your head!
(thread drift: when I read this thread title all I can think of is Ulysses Everett McGill saying "Consider the lilies of the goddamn field or... hell! Take at look at Delmar here as your paradigm of hope.")
I don't know why, that's just how my brain works.