Officer Shot By Partner During Pit Bull Attack

[XDKingslayer]

M60, I'm so glad you didn't crop his ears or tail. I'm sure you know by now but they have the funniest facial expressions if you don't.

Last night I was putting new speakers in the truck and my daughter didn't shut the front door tight. He meandered out and I looked up and he had his head resting on the rocker panel with an "I help too?" look on his face.

 

[woad_yurt]

Someone above said to let the dog bite you and then shoot it. Wow.

I've met someone who had both of her lower left leg bones crushed flat (not broken, crushed) by a pit bull. I also know someone who has a pit bull that is the biggest, happiest, sweetest baby you'll ever meet. He didn't pay for her; she was sitting sadly lost in a park when he found her. But the owner and I both wonder what would happen if she was inspired to bite, like if some little, 4 year old kid teased her. Would all of that breeding take over then? It's spooky because the dog is such a doll but she's got that giant head and neck with those huge jaw muscles. The bad thing is that you don't know what they're prone to do until they do it.

 

[XDKingslayer]

But the owner and I both wonder what would happen if she was inspired to bite, like if some little, 4 year old kid teased her. Would all of that breeding take over then? It's spooky because the dog is such a doll but she's got that giant head and neck with those huge jaw muscles. The bad thing is that you don't know what they're prone to do until they do it.

Bull.

It comes down to training. My dog understands that it is the bottom of the totem pole in my house. It is a constant and ongoing thing, as it should be with any dog, to keep him that way. You don't train them then stop, that's what causes what you people think is a dog dropping back to instinct. They're usually dominance challenges because the dog senses the oppertunity to move up in status.

My 5 year old daughter plays with my dog rougher than anyone. She'll take bones out of his mouth. She'll brush his teeth. When he had a sandspur in his paw who did he let take it out? My 5 year old. Not me. Not my wife. My 5 year old.

I have absolute confindence my dog won't bite because I train him properly day in and day out.

You can tease him, you can pull his tail, tug on his ears, grab him by his lips or his feet and he will not bite.

Now, bust into the house or make one of my daughters scream in pain and you've just signed up for your own mauling.

 

[Richmond]

kids

Even other dogs. I won't let him alone with small children just because he is a powerful animal with a mind of his own, but I will let him play with kids when I'm around.

That is prudent with any dog. I have 2 labradors, 5 and 6 years of age, neutered, socialized with children, who always play appropriately with kids - they love to run with older kids but slow way down and are very gentle with little ones. The "boys" fall outside most the statistical predictors of dogs that bite children (breed - labradors, although highest breed in US low on probablility to bite, age - < 5 most likely to bit, neutered - not neutered most likely to bite, socialized - dogs not socialized to children more likely to bite, past behavior - dogs nervous or aggressive in the past most likely to bite) but I still would not leave them alone around small children. They have a combined weight of 175 pounds, are powerful animals who I run an hour a day, and have minds of their own.

The insurance industry has compiled statistics on dog attacks, and the overwhelming majority of canine attacks requiring medical treatment involve children and occur at the dog's residence. A good blanket rule is that small children should be supervised when interacting with canines.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

1+ to XDKingslayer


I have been around pitbulls most of my life and yea there are bad ones ( as there are in all other breeds and animals people included) but I have yet to find a bad pitbull that was raised and trained properly. Like all dogs you must be the dominant one and everyone else in the house is as well. Any "bad" pitbull I saw where by wannabe tough guys beating , starving, or neglecting the dog so they had the toughest dog on the block. My female red nosed pitbull was a rescue who had seen the worst of life in her first year on this earth and still breaks my heart to think anyone could do to this beauty what those bastards did. Yet with good training and plenty of good food and exercise she is a happy and gently dog. She is good with other animals when properly introduced and all people. The same goes for my parents pitbull a 4 yo male weighing in at a good 90 lbs. He loves everything and would not harm a fly unless you confront my parents, then it's on.

 

[give]

m60,looks like he hs pit in him,and i have 1 also,he is a big baby and shows no aggression towards animals or people,as far as someone slapping him around well he deserved that,its a shame stupited people are allowwed to have animals,if you keep your dog away from visiters he will grow to think there is something wrong with them and want to protect the home,all dags are like that,if you raise a dog with love you will get a great dog,i got our pitt for my little one for her birthday,people would walk by and laugh at the pup all dressed up in baby clothes,she also used to dress my doberman up in tie dye shirts,lol

 

[XDKingslayer]

I have been around pitbulls most of my life and yea there are bad ones ( as there are in all other breeds and animals people included) but I have yet to find a bad pitbull that was raised and trained properly. Like all dogs you must be the dominant one and everyone else in the house is as well. Any "bad" pitbull I saw where by wannabe tough guys beating , starving, or neglecting the dog so they had the toughest dog on the block. My female red nosed pitbull was a rescue who had seen the worst of life in her first year on this earth and still breaks my heart to think anyone could do to this beauty what those bastards did. Yet with good training and plenty of good food and exercise she is a happy and gently dog. She is good with other animals when properly introduced and all people. The same goes for my parents pitbull a 4 yo male weighing in at a good 90 lbs. He loves everything and would not harm a fly unless you confront my parents, then it's on.

That's where most dog owners, even good ones, fail.

They don't give their dog a good diet or anywhere near enough exercise. People just don't understand how far that goes in effecting a dog's temperment.

A lot of people train their dogs horribly wrong. Sure that little yapping dust mop can sit, stay, play dead, shake, and pee standing on it's front paws, but he doesn't listen to other commands, doesn't recognize humans as the pack alpha and is a danger to bite anyone outside it's perceived pack.

It's so funny how we forget that dogs are animals. We watch people get mauled by pet tigers and we say "That's what the idiot gets for having a pet tiger." but are the same ones that place the blame for dog bites solely on the breed of dog...

I should put up pictures of my dog. Unless you look at him straight on you'd never know he was part pit. He looks like a malnourished lab with a blocky head. He's got a big barrel chest and a skinny waist and can run circles around just about anything. He's not very big, he's medium sized but you look at him and think he weighs about 30 lbs. You'd never guess he weighs almost twice that when you look at him. The only bad thing is that we have to keep a close eye on him in the heat. He has the hair of the pit with the color of the lab but he doesn't have an undercoat from being part greyhound. While it's less likely to cause allergies the lack of that insulating layer is bad in the Florida heat.

 

[RubenZ]

Everyone knows that if a dog is going to attack you you put an arm out in front. Better your arm than to let it jump and knock you down. Most dogs will go for the closest item. Once the dog is fixed on your arm you have a better chance of killing it with your weapon.

Seriously, what would you guys have done. Turn and run? Let the dog knock you down.

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

some folks here have never been really hit by a dog that means buisness.if a shepherd gave me all its got i'd be expecting to die

 

[offthepaper]

Everyone knows that if a dog is going to attack you you put an arm out in front. Better your arm than to let it jump and knock you down. Most dogs will go for the closest item. Once the dog is fixed on your arm you have a better chance of killing it with your weapon.

Seriously, what would you guys have done. Turn and run? Let the dog knock you down

If a 100lb + dog grabs your arm he will take you down.

 

[LongRider]

Suppose my question would be for what reason did the officer think it was OK to shoot the dog and why is it in the pound it did nothing wrong. The dog was in its home and defending its territory. Sorry to hear the officer was injured but in both cases they did bring it upon themselves.

An aside if any dog attacks your best bet is to get a ahold of it or if it latches onto you deal with it like you would any attacker. At ten my aunt taught me dogs are dogs humans are both more intelligent and powerful if we use our brain. There is no reason a adult human should ever loose a fight with a dog. At ten I could whip a doberman, since ten I have raised all kinds of dogs including pits none could ever win against me. It is fear that will allow a dog to prevail. Being bit does hurt but it is not fatal

 

[RubenZ]

If a 100lb + dog grabs your arm he will take you down.

Depends how big you are and how well you prepare your stance.

An aside if any dog attacks your best bet is to get a ahold of it or if it latches onto you deal with it like you would any attacker. At ten my aunt taught me dogs are dogs humans are both more intelligent and powerful if we use our brain. There is no reason a adult human should ever loose a fight with a dog. At ten I could whip a doberman, since ten I have raised all kinds of dogs including pits none could ever win against me. It is fear that will allow a dog to prevail. Being bit does hurt but it is not fatal

Exactly.

 

[longdayjake]

Suppose my question would be for what reason did the officer think it was OK to shoot the dog and why is it in the pound it did nothing wrong. The dog was in its home and defending its territory. Sorry to hear the officer was injured but in both cases they did bring it upon themselves.

I don't know about the laws in other states, but in Idaho if someone has a dog and does not notify police officers that it is in the house with them then they are guilty of aggravated battery on an officer if the dog attacks. Just as an officer would shoot a bad guy if he was trying to commit aggravated battery on an officer, the officer is under the same requirements with animals as well. Do you think it makes sense for an officer to let a dog attack them without defending themselves with lethal force? Do you think that the officers should leave the dog in a home where it was obviously being used to fight officers? The pound is better than dead.

 

[bluestarlizzard]

first, i'm going to throw out my credidatials on this subject. i have three dogs, and was raised with dogs. i work at a local boarding kennel/pet groomer. my bosses breed Anatolian Shepards for conformation showing, livestock gaurdians and pets.

Any animal orginally breed for fighting purposes can have agression issues above the average unless the instinct is completely breed out (like the Great Danes, who were originally breed as dogs for war). the american pit bull still has that agressive instinct breed into its makeup. many of the dogs found in the pound are actually rejects from fighting breeders that were droped on the street. luckly, with those dogs, the fighting instincts are not that strong, which is why they were discarded.
dogs of this nature are often misunderstood and hyped up. they are also often handled and trained in the wrong manner, even by those who just want a friendly pet. Pit Bulls and other agressive breeds need a firm hand, lots of love and LOTS of socialization. even after all the training, you don't just expect it to behave the way it should. Pit Bulls particularly, cannot, in general, be trusted around strange dogs. they're instincts say fight, so they fight.
the general rule of thumb is that its never the dogs fault, but the owners.

now, whoever said 'just let the dog bit you' has issues. you don't 'just let' a dog do anything that is dangorous. so you can handle it? big deal. what about the folks that can't. a pit does instinctivley go for the throat. its fighting still is to come up underneath its oponant and tear out the throat. thats WHY its breed to be short and stocky, with an increadably strong jaw. in fact this is why all the dogs originally breed for pit fighting are short, well muscled with large muscled jaws.
these dogs are breed with the capabilty to do serious damage to another creature. which is why training and handling MUST be more powerful instinct.
now i handle dogs that make pit bulls look like 90 pound weaklings. i know, for a fact, that if one of them takes it into their heads that they don't like me, i am in great dangar to life and limb. yes, i know how to defend myself against them and how to subdue them, but i still can get seriously hurt in the process.
AND my main rule of thumb is to NOT get hurt. so ANY hint of agression is dealt with BEFORE it becomes an issue. and if the dog does get agressive to the point of danger it WILL be removed from the gene pool and put down immediatly.

 

[Hardware]

I have been active in pit bull rescue for over ten years. I have done and continue to do temperament evaluations on puppies and dogs that have made me recommend pups as young as 3 months be put down for instability and otherwise good dogs put down for being trained for an unknown aggression trigger.

Well bred pit bulls are not human aggressive. Curs with a streak of pit bull in them can be.

A dog exceeding 65 pounds is not a pure bred pit bull. Somewhere in it's heritage is a mastiff or American Bulldog. Pit bulls come in three breeds exclusively, Staffordshire Bull Terrier(AKC), American Staffordshire Terrier(AKC), American Pit Bull Terrier(UKC). A lot of dogs have crosses, but will still be identified as a pit bull. One of my dogs has strong streak of water dog in her. She has a small otter tail and webbed toes. But she'd be identified as a pit bull.

I have had a bandog on my arm. The dog was a pit/Neopolitan Mastiff mix. 120 pounds of black fur, muscle and excitement. I'm a big guy and he didn't take me down, but I count luck as much as experience in helping me win that encounter.

The only thing my experience has taught me is this: There are no absolutes when dealing with dogs. Prepare yourself, educate yourself, have a backup. But just like dealing with people, things can get sideways awful fast. It pays to have a cool head and backup close at hand.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

 

[grimjaw]

Is there a bit of thread drift here?

I think the majority would agree that deadly self-defense was justified in this case. The issue seems to be the degree of fire discipline exercised by the officers involved, or lack thereof.

jm

 

[peyton]

I also think that when the parole police do these visits, it is a high stress situation, so maybe they let their guard down not expecting a surprise when they opened the door. Does the people in the house have a duty to warn the cops "Don't opened that door!! Or you'll get a surprise!!!

 

[mountaindrew]

Long rider, if police came into your house and YOU jumped out and attacked them, don't you think you would get shot at? Yes it was defending it's house, but the police were defending themselves. Should they let the dog eat them?

Personally, I think any dog owner of any breed whose dog attacks and injures another person who wasn't a threat to them (the owner) should be held on charges exactly as if they committed the attack themselves. If I leave my four year old alone with a gun and he shoots himself or his sibling, I am to blame. If I leave children alone with a don and it bites them, I am to blame.

If I were to booby trap my house with bombs the exploded and killed someone in my home, I would be in jail. If I have an aggressive dog who kills someone, even in my home, I should be in jail also. Unless the dog was defending my life. No mistakes alowed.

 

[Girodin]

Some peoples ideas about dogs on here are as accurate as many antis ideas about guns.

I have always wondered why people feel the need to opine about topics they clearly know very little about and have even less experience in.

Here is a picture of my rotties. They are great dogs. Sadly I have to try to counter more dog myths about them (and pits) perpetuated by the ignorant (willfull and other wise) than gun myths.

 

[catfish101]

My dog keeps an eye on my place and stays in the house at night. He is a great dog and isn't mean but will sound of if something isn't right outside but I wouldn't expect anybody to just walk in on him.

Dogs are great for home protection. Mine isn't mean but he would give me some extra time to get a gun.

The guy that said to let the dog bite. If my dog wanted to hurt you and bit down on your hand or arm. It's broke. I have a, very agile, 200+ lb. English Mastiff. I have given him femur bones from cows and he can bust them in seconds.

 

[leadcounsel]

Many people, especially the media, are ignorant of dog breads.

Pits have been unfairly labeled by the media and this has perpetuated their wholesale death.

The truth is, and dog breed can be trained to be aggressive.

 

[TexasSkyhawk]

Pathetic. Let the dog bite you, put muzzle up its ass an fire. Why on earth do people panic so much with dogs? Especially bigger adults. Don't officers carry easily accessible knives as well?

Having once been a federal narcotics agent for a number of years, I saw far too many of my share of dangerous dogs guarding compounds, meth houses, crack stashes . . . you name it.

I also saw a lot of police K9 units take down guys on meth, PCP, LSD, coke and crack.

Can't really see a sober person letting the dog bite you, and you calmly putting a muzzle up its ass and firing. If it were that easy, it would be done a helluva lot more by the bad guys.

Funny how you just don't hear about it . . .

Everyone knows that if a dog is going to attack you you put an arm out in front. Better your arm than to let it jump and knock you down. Most dogs will go for the closest item. Once the dog is fixed on your arm you have a better chance of killing it with your weapon.

Seriously, what would you guys have done. Turn and run? Let the dog knock you down.

There was a time in which a trained dog would do exactly as you describe. These days, a great deal of police dogs come from KNPV trained dogs--they're trained to go after the arm that is brandishing/firing the weapon.

Hope you're not only ambidextrous, but damn cool under pressure and intense pain as well.

Not all dogs go for the first thing offered them. Fear-biters typically will, but a fear-biter will not continue the attack, either. One bite and when you fight back, the dog will release and retreat--still barking, hackles up and growling. But at this point, will exercise avoidance.

Nonetheless, I always enjoy how non-cops and those who've never been cops always become smarter and braver and more experienced than the cops in situations like this.

That officer will have to live with the stigma that she hurt her partner and could've killed him. Anyone that's been a cop knows what that means and what she's in for.

Jeff

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

yeah it definately isn't just pitbulls. My German Shep-mutt

I was 8 years old. This kid thought it'd be funny to pick on me. He pins me to the ground. He was twice my age and four times my weight. My dog, yo part german sheperd, part doberman and a little rottwhiler in her, charged this bastard and grabbed him by the arm, and FLIPPED the basterd over on his back and she was getting ready to go for his throat when I called her off. He gets up, he's crying. I tell him to leave or I'll sick her on him again.

His mom seen the incident, and so did mine. The didn't call the pound because the boy deserved it. Now the dog is older now, 15 0r 16 years old. She has survived years of fights and idiots picking fights. Now, she gets her sleep, about 18 hours of sleep per day. She's active when I want her to be and I take her running every now and then. She still acts young, though her poor old bones know they aren't. She's got bad arthritis now too, but we've found some awesome awesome vita-whatevers that she takes and now she doesn't feel the hurt as bad. Poor girl is afraid of guns, firecrackers, and storms now, so everytime this happens, we take her downstairs.

I love her to death and I don't wanna think about the day I'll have to say farewell to her.

 

[mr_blove]

Girodin I couldn't have said it better, my rotti has a extremely motherly instinct but people are wary of him because of his size.

 

[Pilot]

I love her to death and I don't wanna think about the day I'll have to say farewell to her.

It was one of the hardest times of my life when my dog died. You just have to keep saying to yourself that they led a good and happy life.