Charged by Pit bull in my driveway

[HighVelocity]

Yesterday was a nice day and a lot of my neighbors were outside washing there cars/trucks, doing yard work etc. Kids were our riding their bikes and playing in the street, taking advantage of the cool weather. My son (age 9) and I were out in the driveway unloading the back of my pickup. My son suddenly jumps to the side and a really young pit bull dog about 40lbs races past him right at me.
I grabbed the dog by it's collar with both hands and threw it down the driveway as far as I could. A split second later my wife walks out the front door and the PB attempts to run in the house, the wife is yelling at it and holding it's collar as it fights to get free. I run to the door and grab the dog again and throw it out into the yard, push the kid inside and close the door.
The PB comes right back to me only now I can see that he's just a goofy clumsy pup that wants to make friends.
I check his collar and he has no tags indicating his owner or vaccination records. Shortly thereafter the owner comes looking. Calling, here puppy puppy.

All the dog attack threads got me paranoid. My son even asked me at dinner why I grabbed the dog and didn't shoot it.
This was the perfect opportunity for me to reinforce to him that it's not always safe to shoot (aka know whats beyond your target), especially when there are innocent bystanders in close proximity. (there was less than 8 feet between me and my son and the dog was between us and there were at least a dozen children within 50 yards). I tried to explain threat assessment to him but I'm not sure he got it. Basically, not everything that looks like a threat is a threat. Sometimes it's just a big dumb pup.

 

[W Turner]

Good job protecting your son and yourself. I live in a neighborhood that seems to prefer PB's as a breed over other dogs. Even had a couple of neighbors try to give us puppies (politely declined). I am always watchful and armed when outside. Especially when my 13 mo. old son is out there with me.

Good job also on knowing when not to shoot due to legitimate safety concerns. I personally would have gone inside the first time he came after me. The second time when he tried to get in the house, I probably would have shot him if I didn't realize he was just trying to make friends.

Sounds like you used good judgement all the way around.

W

 

[oh blanky]

pitbull owner=dirtbag

 

[RRTX]

You know my feelings about dogs running loose

 

[Frandy]

Sounds like you used good judgement all the way around.

+1

 

[hso]

Well done!

It brings to mind the old saying "When the only tool you have is a hammer all problems look like nails". Looks like you not only know how and when to use "the hammer", but that you've got a few more tools in your personal tool box than some of the "gun only solution" folks.

 

[Missashot]

I would have to disagree with the idea that just because someone owns a pit bull, they are a dirt bag. I have been around several very good-natured pit bulls and even owned and raised one myself. I do think that an owner of ANY dog needs to be responsible enough to keep their dogs on their own property. My neighbors have Pekinese dogs and they let them run loose all the time. My German Shepard however stays inside and only goes out in our fenced-in back yard. I have noticed that in every news article where there is a dog bite, seems to happen to be a pit bull or a pit mix. There are undeniably vicious pits out there but there are also lots of other vicious breeds too. And in my very humble opinion, these vicious dogs that run loose, no matter what the breed, need to be disposed of. I am glad that no harm came out of this encounter, but the owner needs to be reminded that pit bulls are notorious escape artists. They are also smarter than most people that keep them. I hope that the owner learned a lesson and will secure his dog better in the future.

 

[Darth Ruger]

pitbull owner=dirtbag

Anyone that thinks this way about pit bulls knows nothing about the breed. That's as much of an uninformed knee-jerk reaction as the general non-shooting public thinking that all gun owners are trigger-happy, dangerous people that should not be allowed to own guns. Get a few books about the breed and study their history. They are excellent fighters because they were bred for that purpose. But their training and their natural disposition are two different things. The ones that you hear about in the news and give the breed a black eye are ones that have been trained to be aggressive, either through training or just by the treatment they recieve from abusive owners. Their natural disposition is exactly the opposite, they are naturally affectionate toward people.

Ask any dog-training expert about the breed (not some breeders, some of them will perpetuate the 'bad dog' myth about them because they make money breeding them for guard/attack dogs), they will tell you that pit bulls have a history of being excellent family dogs. They usually want to fight every other dog they see, that is just a natural competitive nature of many dogs, not just pit bulls. Mine was that way. She wanted to eat every other dog she saw, but she was more gentle than a teddy bear with the family. The kids could play with her, pull her tail, try to ride her like a horse, and she would just lay there and take it without complaint, and lick them clean when they got dirty. She was as happy as any other dog around family and friends. She was so happy to make friends with strangers that we often felt she would be a lousy guard dog at home.

This is the natural disposition of the breed. Aggressive toward other dogs, but gentle and very affectionate toward other people. I'm not saying you should trust every one you see running loose on the street, because there are too many these days that have been made aggressive by owners that just want something mean (those types shouldn't be allowed to own dogs, in my opinion, just as anyone that uses guns for bad reasons shouldn't be allowed to own guns). Some breeds are aggressive towards people because that is simply their natural disposition in not all, but the majority, of cases. Rottweilers are an example of that type. Pit bulls are not that way naturally, they're made that way. A lot of people have a hard time believing this when they hear it. They've been so brainwashed by what they hear in the media, which is uneducated about the subject and likes to sensationalize all the bad things without saying anything about the facts.

As gun owners, this shouldn't be a surprise to us. We all know how that is. Every bad incident is plastered all over the news while all the good pit bulls, which far outnumber the bad ones and are very quiet and gentle, are never mentioned, a situation which gives the breed as a whole a bad reputation. Don't take my word for it, and don't be just another uninformed knee-jerk liberal and form your opinions based on what you hear in the news all the time. Educate yourself. Check out a book about the breed. You'll learn the truth of the situation and start to understand how they've been given an evil image by the media and abusive, unethical owners and breeders, just as much as law-abiding gun owners have been given a bad image by the media and abusive, unethical gun owners.

 

[HighVelocity]

Every bad incident is plastered all over the news while all the good pit bulls, which far outnumber the bad ones and are very quiet and gentle, are never mentioned

I agree with the above statement. It just happened to be a pit in my situation. I had a brindle pit years ago and she was a sweetheart. Not an evil bone in her body. Still, I was responsible enough not to let her get out and run the streets.

The intent of my post was not to condemn pit bulls or their owners. I only wanted to share my experience and the lesson I learned from it.

 

[Darth Ruger]

The intent of my post was not to condemn pit bulls or their owners.

I realize that, but the statement above by oh blanky is typical of uneducated liberals who base their opinions on what they see on the news every night without finding out the facts for themselves, and I felt I had to shed a little light on the situation, as hard as it may be for some to believe.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

"Quote:
Every bad incident is plastered all over the news while all the good pit bulls, which far outnumber the bad ones and are very quiet and gentle, are never mentioned"

'I agree with the above statement. It just happened to be a pit in my situation. I had a brindle pit years ago and she was a sweetheart. Not an evil bone in her body. Still, I was responsible enough not to let her get out and run the streets. -The intent of my post was not to condemn pit bulls or their owners. I only wanted to share my experience and the lesson I learned from it.'

And the lesson your son learned. You are a better person than I. I probably would have killed it. Two experiences recently with Pit's that were unfortunately unpleasant. Neighbor had a female for a bit. 6 pups. Let them run all over digging up my yard and chasing the wild jack rabbits, killing several. Out doors in a kennel at night. All they did was bark. Threats and calls to the landlord from several neighbors got the dogs removed. The owners of the dogs are to blame for not keeping them under control. Another altercation- Nieces and nephews were raising hogs to auction at the the local fair. Their nieghbor's 3 pits attacked the hogs in the pen. Killed two, and severely mamed three others. One that had to be euthanized later. This is not acceptible. Again the owners are to blame. But, I cannot trust any domestic animal that has tasted blood and has attacked without being provolked. These weren't piglets they were playing with, they were near 50lbs. each yet the dogs attacked. Sheriff did nothing since it was the first offense. So, do we allow the second offense? A child attacked walking down the road? I would not have been so nice. Dead dogs one way or the other. Sorry, I live in a rural farm community. And that's the way things are handled out west.

-Steve

 

[Too Many Choices!?]

All pitbull are assualt dogs(tittle II) and need to be registered with the Feds..

Just like all guns and owners

Pitbull owner is to dirtbag as gun owner is to what? Sheeple and there generalizations can drain a reasonable person :banghead: ...

I think chiuhahuas are too small and concealable(and therefore the possibiliyt exists for their owners to violate lease laws{apartments} and leash laws { of parks and condos} necessitating that they also be classified as tittle II dogs
:banghead: ... Some people will never get it until it is in terms they can understand, but then it's too late.

 

[svtruth]

Ebd

And our Labrdor is an evil black color.

 

[M-Rex]

I remember a few years ago a direct parallel happening in California. There was a rash (read that as maybe 2) of pitbull attacks.

What was California's solution?

Start talking about legislation to ban the breed. No thought was given to actually punishing the neanderthalic owner...just ban the breed. Sound familiar?

Montana looks better day after day.

 

[pax]

The original post was gun-related, and made a really good point.

The rest of the thread hasn't even tried to stay gun-related, and people are already frothing at the mouth after a mere dozen posts.

Closed.

pax