Yet another Pitbull attack.

[Deanimator]

Maybe those dogs just wanted to play. They weren't barking or snarling. I'm not an expert on dogs. I do know they certainly had me concerned for my safety and if they had not broken off their rush to me I would have fired on them.

That's not your duty to determine. It's the owner's duty (absent some law absolving him) to control his animals. If I were you, I'd check with the law to see if that's some kind of violation. If so, I'd report it. What if next time, it was an eight year old girl they charged? I'll bet she panics, runs, they get excited, and something bad happens.

 

[odessastraight]

Well Dean, sir, I do thank you for your advice, but I don't reckon I'll rat out the guy about his dogs, to the law. We're in NC, not NYC, and most dogs just run loose out here anyway. We take care of any anti-social dogs ourselves and don't need the assistance of the law. Had I shoot those two dogs the owner probably would have said he was sorry for the trouble and just gone back to owning Blue Tic and Plot hounds again.

I don't want to see any harm come to an 8 year old girl, but I reckon she shouldn't be walking down that county road, all alone, playing with Pit Bulls either....and...were she to do that I'll bet she would be armed even better than was I.

 

[roo_ster]

Attention All Dog Whisperers!

It is not everyone else in the worlds resposibility to establish dominance over your dog, or to learn to interpret their behavior to avoid instigating an attack.

Amen, brother!

 

[Black92LX]

I hate when Pitbulls get a bad rap.
Pits are hands down one of the greatest breeds around. When it comes to strength, inteligence, obedience, and LOYALTY. You will find no breed of dog anymore loyal than the Pit.

The problem is not with the breed it's with the owner wether the dog be a poodle, lab, pit, whatever breed you may choose they all have the potential to be dangerous. But they have just as much potential to be your greatest friend that will never leave your side no matter what you do with it.

 

[Q-Lock]

Jfruser - I am with you on that one 100%

This is why the irresponsible dog owners need to be penalized. A dog attacks someone, and for the most part the dog is put down, sometimes the owner barely gets a slap on the wrist. In some of these cases, the owners need to be disciplined heavily for their lack of responsibility.

jamal - any dog is dangerous in the wrong hands...cmon, you have to be kidding me with your "pitbulls are dangerous to our communities" crap. ANY dog trained to attack a person is a serious threat. There can be much worse dogs than "pitbulls," APBTs are strong...but they are far from the most ferocious.

Regards,

 

[Quinch]

dfaugh- I was a bit confused about a couple conflicting posts of yours, but the only thing I think I disagree with is the dominance issue.
I've had dogs all my life, have two big ones right now.
All of them learn right off the bat that there are no dominance issues, because they are the lowest on the totem pole. The cat has more privileges.
I've had a couple challenge me, in little dog ways, like staring, or holding on to a favorite toy. I train that right out of them.
No dog of mine is Alpha anything. They are harmless. Noisy though, if a stranger walks onto the turf

I understand there is a place for that, military K9, some police dogs, but those are dangerous animals, and not really something you would take to the local park.
Especially cop dogs, their level of training is alot lower than military dogs in my experience.

If you're training guard or attack dogs, that's something else, that doesn't really relate to untrained aggressive dogs people encounter out there on the street.

I do home warranty work, so I meet alot of dogs.
I've fought dogs twice.
One was a boxer, that was all fists and feet until I could get out. not real determined, but willing to bite. Got my calf hard enough to bruise and came back for more. Not so sure after a good punt kick to the head.

The other was a Pitbull, that one waited for me. No-one home, the equipment I needed to get to was in the backyard. Keep in mind these people scheduled this appointment, and left the sidegate unlocked for me.
I banged on the gate, loudly, and waited, like I always do entering a strange backyard. Time passes, I whistle, bang some more..... nothing.

Go in, head to the equipment room. As soon as I get there, the dog shoots out of the doggie door and heads right for me. I kick him in the chest when he gets there, them grab an aluminum pole leaning against the wall and poke it at him. 5 minutes later, I make it out the gate. He kept coming and I kept giving him the pole. That was one sorry looking pole when I left.
If that pole wasn't there I would have shot the dog.
The dog waited until it could get between me and the gate. Intelligent? I'd say yes. Like a predator.


Both times, the owners said the same thing "Oh, he/she always behaves for my husband.....I don't know why he/she acts up........"
The owner of the Pitbull actually told me "My pool guy knows to run to the doggie door and close it...."




Oh, and Q-lock:
Try to keep your postings civil.

 

[dfaugh]

First, you can't let the dogs out together because they will attack each other and they won't stop until they "win" or kill the opponent. Then you say that your dogs will never start a fight and if they do you can stop it right away by "calling them off" and they will respond right away.

So which is it you can't trust your own dogs because they will immediatley attack each other or they never start a fight. Those are contradictory statements.

Can you immediately call them off or will they fight to the death (and you got bitten calling them off each other?)

For the most part, your confusion is because I didn't spend alot of time in getting into the details of my response.
The reason I can't let MY OWN dogs out together, is because they all have a "history" of fighting each other. In some cases they were OK together, at one time, until a dispute arose regarding a toy or something (All toys belong to ME!). But, once they've "gotten into it", they remember, and are mortal enemies forever more. I can't even let one of the younger ones out with her mother(or father), as they WILL tangle. I can call off the more highly trained ones (which happened to be the 2 males, one just now deceased) but the females tend to not respond as well, as they aren't quite as well trained. With a "strange" dog, they will will not start the fight (well the youngest one MIGHT, and has) unless the other dog "starts something". I can call them off, but if the other dog continues to try and fight they will defend themselves, no matter what I do (short of getting into the fight and physically seperating them). Took my big male (111 lbs) to the vet yesterday, and there was a Golden in the waiting room, barking at him and generally causing a fuss. My dog totally ignored him.

OK, some of the responses have implied that others have owned "dominant" dogs. And on 1-10 scale they were probably a 7 or 8, and needed to be taught to respect the owner. Mine would be an 11 on that scale. A real, true alpha usually WON'T fight, unless seriously challenged (they don't NEED to, as most other dogs will recognize that they are truly the alpha). They consider other dogs as insignificant, and not worth the trouble. The big male (125 lbs) I just lost, was challenged (and actually attacked) by various dogs at shows and such over the years. He generally just looked at the other dog like "What's your problem?" To even bother with them was completely beneath his dignity. His "mate" (which is the one that bit me bad), DID challenge him a few times. (and its rare that they are dominant enough to cross to a different sex), but he kicked her butt in short order, and she finally gave up. Probably the worst was my East German female. Even with my experience, she was a handful at 6 months old. If anyone other than me placed any part of their body over her (a dominance thing), she'd bite them. The trainer I was working with at the time tried to get her to "down", which is a submissive position...She tried to eat him...about 40 times.... He finally handed my the leash and said "this dog is too tough to be trained". (Note that his prized Shutzhund III Rottweiler had hospitalized 5 people in Germany before he got him.). I did finally get good control over her, and she's now OK with people, but it took some serious A$$ kicking to get her that way.

I understand there is a place for that, military K9, some police dogs, but those are dangerous animals, and not really something you would take to the local park

Wrong. If properly trained these dogs are safer than most dogs you might encounter. (Unfortunately the quality/temperment of many of the police dogs and such is questionable.) Many police forces buy from the "lowest bidder" and don't always get a quality dog. My friend/trainer in Miami sells alot of police dogs...all are "dual trained" as both patrol dogs and bomb/drug dogs. He gets $15,000 for a good, trained dog. But, for the most part, any of his dogs are COMPLETELY safe around anyone. They are so well trained that you can "call them off" even when they are "in the air" taking the bite on a BG.

I don't TRY to get dominant dogs...I just seem to end up with them!

 

[dfaugh]

More

This is why the irresponsible dog owners need to be penalized. A dog attacks someone, and for the most part the dog is put down, sometimes the owner barely gets a slap on the wrist. In some of these cases, the owners need to be disciplined heavily for their lack of responsibility.

True, IF the owner is truly irresponsible. But I've seen many, many good dogs put down because the person that got bit CAUSED the bite. I have actually testified in some dog bit cases, where I TRIED to get the dog to bite me (and, beleive me I know how), and was unable to do so. But its ALWAYS the dogs fault, and NEVER the person that got bit.

The only time one of my dogs ever bit someone, it was 100% the fault of the person that got bit. I won't get into details (sick of typing), But what would you do if someone smacked you in the testicles with a rake?