Pit bull coming at me, owner screaming "Vicious NO"

[Cacia]

And it's not true that some dogs are more aggresive or less. Dogs, like people and all mammals, have their character. Individual one.

I just don't know what to say.......I read the words and cannot wrap my mind around how you could come up with this. They all have equal intellect too. Dalmations and Border Collies. :05: ....wait! I will go one step further, ALL MAMMALS are the same.

 

[H2Andy]

When I was a wee lad my father had a kennel for Dobermans exclusively...

wow, what a story...

thank you for sharing

 

[tstormdiver]

I am relatively new to diving, but this is something I know a little about. The owner of the pit bull showed several instances of exercising poor judgement. I'm not sure what they are in your community, but most communities have leash laws. Most of these laws require that owners keep their dog(s) under complete control at all times. If his pit bull had inflicted any harm to you or your dog then he would have been financially, if not leagally responsible. To take an animal out into the public that shows tendancies to be agressive and on top of that, not have complete control of that animal is ridiculous. He should have been issued a citation for not controlling his dog (a hit in the wallet like that tends to make people pay more attention). Unfortunately even if society idiot- proofed the world, God would create the better idiot.
I observed a very unusual epsode involving a pit- bull & an Old English Sheep Dog. I was a licenesed Veterinary Technician. I had just led this beautiful, full coated Old English Sheep Dog, that had been in for grooming in preperation for a dog show, out to his owner's car. The owner was doing something in the car & the passenger door was still open. Just after the owner backed out & before he could close the door a stray pit- bull ran up, jumped into the car & began to attack the sheep dog. I had to run into the clinic and get an old plow handle that was rigged up to be a snare. I had to use the plow handle snare to hit the pit bull over the head & knock it out to get him to release the sheep dog. The sheep dog was taken back into the clinic and we had to butcher its coat in order to sew him back up. We kept the pit bull for 10 days (quarrantine time to make sure it didn't have rabies). The dog showed dangerous signs of agression to both people & animals and no one had tried to claim it, so the decision was made to euthanize the dog.
Unfortunately these dogs are usually bred for fighting. Not all pit bulls are agressive, but care must still be used in handling and training these animals. As I was growing up my family rised Old English Mastiffs. These dogs could grow to over 200#. We took care to properly train & socialize these dogs & I wasn't allowed to handle them until I was big enough to do it properly. When it comes to pit bulls the temperment of these animals are 50% nature & 50% nurture. Most people buy pit bulls to try to improve their macho status without thought to the needs of this breed. I hope that this incident wakes this owner up as to the proper way to keep his pet & the public safe.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I am relatively new to diving, but this is something I know a little about. The owner of the pit bull showed several instances of exercising poor judgement. I'm not sure what they are in your community, but most communities have leash laws. Most of these laws require that owners keep their dog(s) under complete control at all times. If his pit bull had inflicted any harm to you or your dog then he would have been financially, if not leagally responsible. To take an animal out into the public that shows tendancies to be agressive and on top of that, not have complete control of that animal is ridiculous. He should have been issued a citation for not controlling his dog (a hit in the wallet like that tends to make people pay more attention). Unfortunately even if society idiot- proofed the world, God would create the better idiot.
I hope that this incident wakes this owner up as to the proper way to keep his pet & the public safe.

The handler(s) were two girls and I'm guessing they were about 16; they were smaller than I am so could have been younger. The dog was leashed and evidently they and whoever their guardian is felt Vicious' prong collar would keep him under control--NOT! We were in Richmond, Indiana and the bike path runs through town. I'm not familiar with their leash laws but they are probably similar to what you describe. I should have called the police but to be honest that never crossed my mind until long after the incident was done. After the girl tackled and sat on the dog she begged me to "just go--now!" and since I didn't trust her ability to maintain control of the dog I left. They had leashed the dog and were long gone by the time I passed by that way again. I'm pretty sure it gave them a good scare judging by the way they were screaming but whether or not they will learn anything from it...well only time will tell.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[laughintom]

I also have to jump in on the "Nurture" side of this argument. I have two pit bulls, both abandoned by original owners, and they could not be more friendly. Both have been taught what is acceptable behavior. From the first day I have done everything that could possibly annoy them while encouraging appropriate behavior. I have put my hands in their food dish as well as having every visitor do the same. Pulling ears, grabbing paws, and any thing else. They now take all of this as playing and will wag their tails and play rather than be aggressive. The biggest danger from these dogs is the welts from their tails when they get excited. I have never had a vet ask to muzzle my dogs when giving an exam, taking a temperature, or giving a shot. These same vets will typically muzzle smaller dogs when giving shots. These are intelligent dogs which in recent years have done well in ****zhund competitions. I also keep my dogs on a leash at all times as I would not want to take a chance on them going after another dog. I would love to hear the opinions of more people involved with training dogs as well as more vets. I also have to agree that even when these dogs were actively being fought, aggression towards humans was typically dealt with by putting down the offending dog. The very nature of dogfighting made human aggressive dogs almost useless.
Once again, I have no problem dealing with dogs on an individual basis. Any large, powerful dog displaying aggression towards humans(with the exeption of protecting its owners), should be put down. There are however, many great examples of this breed and it was at one time used to represent the unstoppable nature of the american people during WW2.

 

[Cacia]

are you talking about the Marine Corps mascot? the bull dog?

 

[HarryWhisman]

I have put my hands in their food dish as well as having every visitor do the same.

Here's your sign. I'm sorry I just couldn't resist.

 

[mels_2]

i just want to give my 2 cents..... first there are good dogs and bad dogs not good breeds and bad breeds....the breeds that you are all referring to be it "pittbull", shepard, dobi, or rotti are more commonly known as bad dogs bc moronic people tend to own these dogs. They are also the gaurd dogs bc they have a high intelligence level and are easily trained. however, you can train any dog to be AGGRESSIVE. Dogs act the way they are treated.

The sweetest dogs I know are all the above mentioned dogs and would leave my children in there presence with out a doubt. That being said I would not leave my children around any breed of dog that I didn't know. There is a poodle around the corner from me that i am afraid of the dog is vicous.

Just another point my 6 yr old daughter is terrified of most dogs (thanks to the poodle around the corner) with the exception of my sisters dog who happens to be a rotti/chow mix. both breeds are deemed by insurance companies around here to be cause for cancelling insurance policies. Would he protect my child if someone was to hurt my child absolutly, but he lays there and lets the kids lay on him, brushes his hair in the wrong direction, brush his teeth, jump on his back...etc etc etc. he has never so much as growled at the kids or showed any sign of aggresion towards them.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Sorry, folks, this one is nature, not nurture.

Pit Bulls are simply more prone to damage other dogs than most breeds. Furthermore, they are *capable* of inflicting far more damage than most other breeds of dog. What would be a squabble with little to no damage between two labs often becomes deadly between pit bulls.

I don't care how they are around kids or people or all that jazz. They suck around other dogs. It doesn't matter how you raise them.

Sure, there may be exceptions to that general rule, but I have met plenty of pit bulls that were well raised from birth as the family pet attack then other dogs out of nowhere. They are very unpredictable and dangerous.

I truly don't understand why people who want a nice family pet would ever choose a pit bull. There are so many more intelligent, friendly, sociable dogs with much weaker jaws than pit bulls.

And whoever said that all dogs basically start out the same way regardless of breed and that these behaviors must be taught doesn't know a thing about dogs...

 

[H2Andy]

Pit Bulls are simply more prone to damage other dogs than most breeds. Furthermore, they are *capable* of inflicting far more damage than most other breeds of dog.

how do you know this? what is your evidence in support?

would you say a pit bull is more capable of "damaging other dogs" than
a rottweiler? a doberman? a fila brasilero? a tosa?

any of these dogs would snap a pit bull in two in no time flat.

but that misses the point.

there are zillion of pit bulls out there. those that are not trained to
fight by their buttmunch owners generally lead happy, peaceful lifes.

if it were "nature" then ALL pitbulls (or at least an overwhelming
majority) would obey their "killer instincts" and "destroy" any dog
they came into contact with.

that simply is not the case