Pit bull

[DFW1911]

I think it behooves us to learn to read animal, especially dog, behaviors.

It's easy to misinterpret signs for those who've spent no time training dogs. Just spend some time with a trainer: you'll learn quite a bit that is easy to miss if you don't know what you're looking for.

On THR, at times there seems to be almost a desire to shoot dogs in the neighborhood who are roaming around: let's not forget they are pack animals and will normally respond to the leader of the pack. If s/he's absent, learn how to be the leader by proxy and take control.

It's better than explaining why you "had to" shoot someone's pet...and might just save you thousands in lawyer's fees.

YMMV.

Just my $.02

DFW1911

 

[ArmedBear]

I think it behooves us to learn to read animal, especially dog, behaviors.

Ding ding ding.

Last I checked the stats, Labradors killed more people in the US than any other breed.

The right person knowing more about dog behavior probably could have saved some of those lives.

It's better than explaining why you "had to" shoot someone's pet...and might just save you thousands in lawyer's fees.

That's the flipside. Even if you are the sort of human being that enjoys shooting your neighbors' pets without any real cause, it could be something you regret.

 

[Logos]

American Pit Bull Terriers weren't bred to kill anything, even each other. Jack Russel Terriers, Dachshunds, real German Wirehaired Pointers are bred to kill, and nobody's afraid of them.

Partly correct......and partly irrelevant.

We are not talking about purebred AKC American Bull Terriers.

And, the small terriers you mention are not recommended for people who have cats or other small pets.......because?

Because they have an instinct to kill small animals......and this can lead to tragic results.

The average "pit bull" that people see on the street is a mongrel that has some American Pit Bull blood, but also has the blood of bulldog, mastiff, staffordshire and several other breeds.

It has a big head and muzzle rather than the long and slender nose of the AKC Amercan Pit Bull Terrier. It is multi-colored and not white.

AND......for many years now, the ordinary "pit bulls" that we are discussing have been bred to fight and.........kill.

The dogfights are still popular and big business (heard of Michael Vick?).

So, while I agree with some of what you said.....the situation we have with the common "pit bull" has little application to the AKC American Bull Terrier.

 

[shiftyer1]

A barking dog inside a fence is probably bored out of his mind. The running and screaming would probably triggered a lets chase and play reaction. I had to get rid of my dog when I moved into my new house 4 months ago. I had a pitbull that was perfectly trained and was not the least bit aggressive. If he could he'd make ya coffee. But due to fear of the breed my landlandy said he couldn't move in. I wish people would take the time to get to know dogs and educate themselves.

 

[Logos]

If the dog was a common pit bull........your landlady was right.

I'd have made the same decision. Why ask for trouble? She didn't know the history of your dog, but she did know genetics.

It is simply unwise to trust the common pit bull.

 

[ArmedBear]

Logos, you seem to "know" a lot that isn't so.

There's no such thing as an AKC American Pit Bull. There never has been.

The breed standard for an ADBA or UKC American Pit Bull Terrier has never included "white".

Of course the dogs were bred to fight -- OTHER DOGS. Dog fighting was an acceptable pastime, like boxing, dog racing or horse racing, and the APBT was developed for once-legal dogfighting.

Human handlers were IN THE RING with the dogs as the fights took place, like referees at a boxing match. That's why the dogs were bred to be non-aggressive to humans.

Big heads are most certainly present in breed standard dogs. http://www.adbadog.com/p_home.asp

You're right that some dogs referred to as "pit bulls" in the papers today might have little to do with the actual breed.

However, fighting dogs, even Michael Vick's dogs in fact, can still be family pets. Here are a bunch of Vick's dogs: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0812/nfl.michael.vicks.dogs/content.1.html

"Fighting dog" is NOT the same as "attack dog" and the breeds are utterly different.

I like Belgian Malinois, but I am a LOT more afraid of them than of "pit bulls" because I know what they can do if trained to do so. You will NOT clear leather if one of them WANTS to take you down.

 

[Logos]

Last I checked the stats, Labradors killed more people in the US than any other breed.

Actually, mongrels with pit bull blood would be more accurate.

AKC labs are rarely aggressive, and since they are so ubiquitous there are huge numbers of lab crossbreeds around and they do their share of biting.......however, to say labs kill more people is absurd.

 

[KelVarnson]

In these "should I shoot the dog" threads, I always find myself wondering why no one considers the option of just putting one into the ground next to the dog. The report alone would probably scare off 99.9% of all dogs.

 

[Logos]

There's no such thing as an AKC American Pit Bull.

Correct, and I edited earlier to fix that.

 

[Logos]

In these "should I shoot the dog" threads, I always find myself wondering why no one considers the option of just putting one into the ground next to the dog.

"Putting one into the ground" will get you arrested in most cities.

 

[scottgun]

In these "should I shoot the dog" threads, I always find myself wondering why no one considers the option of just putting one into the ground next to the dog. The report alone would probably scare off 99.9% of all dogs.

Because its a horrible idea to use deadly force when its not warranted, and because its illegal.

 

[Logos]

However, fighting dogs, even Michael Vick's dogs in fact, can still be family pets.

As I said before, a dog that is bred to kill does always have that instinct.

In other words, instinct......genetic programming....cannot be trained away.

So.....it is quite possible that the instinct could be triggered by a child.

It is PROFOUNDLY UNWISE to have common pit bulls as a family pet.

 

[rbernie]

Sadly, this thread is way too much about dogs and not enough about RKBA.

I'd been under the impression that using a gun in self defense was the last option, especially in the eyes of the law. Seems to me that the judge/jury often ask questions like "Why didn't you just go back inside?"

So I think you did the right thing. I suspect if you'd shot that dog your life would no longer be as pleasant or simple as it had been.

Pretty spot-on.

This is what can happen when you shoot at an aggressive dog : http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=465424

It pays to use your brains more than your firearm. Use the firearm when there is no other choice.

We have had oodles and oodles of 'how to handle a dog' threads here, and most of them wind up with folk being banned for losing their cool with each other. If anyone is seriously interested in learning how to determine the intent of a dog and if it's really being aggressive or not, there are plenty of Internet resources available to learn that. But THR is not a 'how to learn to deal with stray dogs' web resource, no matter how many times folk try to make it so.