Do not blame the dog, blame the owner.

A year and a half ago I was attacked by a boxer that had gotten loose. I was actually walking home from campus. It was later found out that the dog belonged to a man who raised them and bred them with pit bulls for fighting. It scarred up my hand pretty badly and I have a couple healed teeth marks on my left thigh. I had to kill the animal in order to protect myself. I was able to straddle it, thank god, and pull its legs up and out like a butterfly press to kill it. I'm a big guy 6'4" 220, but it was extremely difficult and I was rightfully afraid for my life. When the police and animal control showed up they were actually quite happy that I had killed it because it would have been put down anyway. If I hadnt I could have gotten some very serious life long injuries.

The point is, that this kind of thing mainly happens with large breeds, and only happens because the owners are lax in disciplining their dog. My girlfriend owns a boxer (which freaked me out at first, believe me). It is the sweetest animal on the planet. Why? Because they trained it correctly. It understands that all humans are superior to it, not just members of the family and friends. If a person is unknown AND being aggressive to family or friends, then it will be defensive but will not act without command.

The Pit Bulls that are involved in these attacks are not usually trained and certainly don't understand that all humans are alpha compared to it.

Instead of banning the dog, why not solve the problem not the symptom. Make it illegal to own certain breeds unless it has been certified as being trained to a certain level. Or something along those lines.

I personally don't like pit bulls, because they're quite ugly, and have no practical function. Much like accessory handbag dogs. Give me a retriever, pointer, or shepherd (something practical AND smart) ober one of those brutish dogs any day. But dont persecute the dog. It really truly does not know any better. Persecute the owner.

I second that! I LOVE him and I advocate him to anyone with a problem dog or a strong breed! He also has a book, "Cesar's Way", which I highly recommend to anyone with a dog of any kind.

Our dogs aren't even allowed in the bedroom, let alone on the furniture. They have to work for their meals and every treat or snack they get.



Exactly. The responsibility is the same, but people don't take dog ownership seriously enough.

Dogs are complex animals. Change doesn't bold well for a good deal of animals. If its use to being the main attention then you get married and some one else is the spotlight, it receives alot less attention. They aren't people. They don't "understand". They see it as some one else trying to take whats theres.

They know and understand only the basics. They see you as a threat to there way of life, they will attack you.

If you started to attented to a child enough because the child needs it, the dog may very well attack it. The dog doesn't see itself as being owned. It see it as "this is MY owner". It's theirs, not the childs. If the child is becoming the center of attention, thats threatening the dogs way of life. It won't react positive to that.

I keep hearing how a bad dog is the owners fault... most of the time it probably is, but not always. The owner can certainly help shape a dog's personality, but you can't completely control the pet. They are an individual too.

I grew up with many different types of pets, and most were friendly. But every once in a while we'd get a bad seed. A chemically imbalanced animal? Just jealous of a new pet/child taking up your time? Who knows. But despite all being raised in the same environment, some pets just weren't very nice.

While I don't think Pit Bulls should be banned, I think their potentially dangerous qualities should be brought to the attention of the buyers. Especially if the buyer has small children.

I have to disagree. I have been with dogs my entire life and see the complex emotions that I have seen in every dog I co-inhabitated with. They are magical creatures that require just your love (and a few treats!) I have a pitbul that was a rescue dog. I was very against Pit as house pets until this great being that is called "Smokey" Came along.

What a great loving wonderfully smart dog he is. He loves me with all his heart, in fact he has become one with me. His owners, my step-daughter and son-in-law moved in with my wife and myself. He has dis-owned them and now follows me everywhere and his entire focus is on me.

I have never seen a dog do that.

I have two dogs; both mixed breeds one is at least part husky and who knows what else; he's a pansy I could plant him in my garden next spring and have big pretty flowers. The other is a terrier cross and at 15+ years old getting quite short tempered; as a result we have to watch him carefully and keep him away from strangers; that is our responsibility not his. That being said; if his temper gets any shorter then I will have to do the right thing and have him put down; he hasn't harmed any one yet and I will do what I have to to keep him from doing that; then I will come home and cry for hours. Both of my dogs are treated as dogs; I'm the head of the pack, then my daughter and all other humans. Most problem dogs are caused by human errors and abuse; to ban a breed is something I just can't agree with.

I just got a new poodle pup in November and ran across Cesar Milan on the net. Love his 'calm and assertive' philosophy.



Here's Cesar's website:
cesarmillaninc.com...

great training informtion:
cesarmillaninc.com...

Inbreed of dog would be a better term, and yes, the truly messed up ones would be better "extinct". As you say, they don't exist in the wild. That should tell you something... i.e. they're not supposed to exist. They aren't natural, healthy or humane. they are the result of man's abuse of nature an natural selection.

If you want a happy, healthy, intelligent, long lived dog.. (and if you're a dog lover that's what you SHOULD want), then a regular mutt/mongrel is always the best choice. Nature's had some practice at stuff like this.

It was my understanding that Chows and Poodles were actually more agressive towards humans (especially infants) than pitbulls and rottweilers. Am I mistaken? I think the numbers are just skewed because rotties and pits are so popular among aggressive people (because of their reputation).

I've seen too many people who buy these dogs precisely to intimidate people, and to assert their dominance. It's not the right way to raise a dog. Besides being dangerous, it's pathetic. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the dog itself - put the owners down!

Another breed that's getting a really bad rap lately is the Canary Island Mastiff - they're beautiful dogs, very strong and well-built, but if you have no idea what you're doing with the dog, or you train it to be violent and aggressive, what do you think is going to happen? It's the size of a chest freezer, our skulls are two-bite morsels to these beasts!

That said, there are certain breeds of dogs that require special handling, and people should be aware of that before they decide to get one of these dogs. Perfect example is the Akita - wonderful dogs, very smart, very loyal, very beautiful. But they will turn your neighbor's poodle into confetti in half a heartbeat, given the chance - I've seen it happen, and it aint pretty.

You can't blame them - they're fearless predators. They were bred to hunt bears for cryin' out loud! What do you think is going through their head when they see an obnoxious little yipping ball of fur issue a challenge? "Easy." That's what I think, anyway.

The Akitas I knew were loyal to the death, they were gentle and calm and playful, but if you let them get too close to another animal, their instincts kicked in, and it was adios muchacho.

These same dogs who will shred other animals into brightly colored lawn decoration, will lay down their life to protect your child, if that's what they're trained to do. Sometimes instincts die hard, and no amount of training can prevent a random explosion in some cases, but dogs aren't microwaves, they are living creatures, there are no guarantees, no warranties.

You're obviously ushering some degree of risk into your life if you shack up with a big toothy carnivore. Still, odds are, if your dog is well trained and treated well, it will never, ever hurt anyone (that you don't want it to hurt).

It is all about the owner, as others have said. There are all these horror stories circulating about pits and rotties, but if you find one who lives in a loving home and has been trained properly, they are no better or worse than any other dog.

A special note about Rottweilers - they're awesome. Heads like anvils, and jaws like a vise, but with a brain and a heart that's about three sizes too big. Good dogs. They're some of the best when it comes to training, right up there with shepherds and terriers if you're looking for a dog that can make you feel dumb.

Don't ban dogs - ban stupid people. The dogs will thank you, and so will I.

Overall I agree with WO. People should be aware of the risks and they should be the ones responsible. You want one, well you get the responsibility along with it.

thats crap. NO bans whatsoever should be placed on a specific dog breed. Dog's arn't vicious unless you train them that way.

12m8keall2c, Thank you so much for the points!

That was a hard one to tell!

I read about this poor little girl on a British news site yesterday and its awful. The father is in a state of shock and cannot stop crying and the mother is in just as bad a shape. The poor grandmother who attempted to get the baby from the dog was apparently wounded badly too. All that over just wanting to go out and have a night out for New years eve. The parents must be blaming themselves for leaving the child that night. I hope that never happens to me.


its not the dogs fault the owner is an idiot. Perhaps like a drivers license , when you get a dog license there are a few things they could test people on when it comes to dog ownership instead of just giving anyone a dog, they should be able to answer some basic questions regarding taking care of and training an animal. Its probably going to be deemed outlandish but some people are under the impression that a dog needs to be trained to be vicious in order to protect its owner. IF you give a dog enough love and attention it will naturally protect its owner no matter how big it is.

designer


That's not necessarily true. Some dogs are naturally quite vicious - it's their nature (don't forget that they're predators - they kill to survive). Any dog breed can be trained to be calm and responsive to commands though - so it's not so much that these problem dogs are trained to be violent in most cases, it's that they weren't trained at all.

Some people do train their dogs to be aggressive, but most people seem to just leave their dogs to their own devices.

Little One, I understand your sorrow. Your post was certainly worth a Way Above.

I too have a pit mix. He is a sad-eyed doll......most of the time. But there is still something there, a darkness in his personality. He IS different.

I say this as someone who was raised with and has raised a constantly changing 'pack'. I have had German Shepherds (4), Chow-Chows (3), and even a Wolf/Shepherd mix. NONE were as difficult as my present charge.

He was brought into our house at 8 weeks and has had our full attention since. ( We have no other dogs.) He has good indoor manners, was easily house broken, and politely tolerates our 10 outside cats. But even as a wee pup he evidenced an aggressive streak that even strict handling has not entirely conquered!

I would NEVER allow him around a small child or elderly person. He never steps out the door without a leash and a choke collar, even though our nearest neighbor is hundreds of yards away.

Your story breaks my heart.

Little One, I just read this and I am so sorry that happened to you. You described my smokey dog perfectly. Best friend I ever had, understands more english than a lot of people I met and loves loves loves me.

It would break my heart if that happened. I think they just get too territorial, mine growls at my wife when she yells at me. I guess I better start watching the ole boy.

My heart goes out to you Little One.

Put it another way I could go out and buy a corn snake which as some of you know is a harmless north american snake, from a pet shop tomorrow with no problem but if I wanted to keep say a rattle snake as a pet I have to have a special licence and and all manner of checks beforehand to establish the fact that I'm not a moron who will handle the animal irresponsibly or allow it to be a risk to others. So it should be with certain types of dogs too.

Maybe, to reduce not only harm to people but also cruelty to animals ALL pets owners should be required to be checked out before being allowed to own an animal, no matter what it is.

I agree, and that should entail the owner being prosecuted for the actions of their dog if necessary. i.e. If their dog bites someone, THEY get prosecuted for assault. If the dog kills a baby, THEY should be prosecuted for manslaughter... If the dog craps on the side walk, THEY get prosecuted as if they had done it themselves.

People would soon learn about responsibility.

I hate topics like this. it is not the dogs fault.

why stereotype certain breeds?

My dog is a golden retriever - family dog right? If anybody comes near me that he's not happy about he goes mad at them. I'm not saying he would, but he could kill a child easily. It only makes the news when its certain breeds though *rolls eyes*

I once had a pitbull type dog. Most sweet thing ever. the only problem is the stereotype because of dog fighting in america etc.

Same with rottweilers. I know rottweilers that would roll over for a tummy rub if a burgalar came in the house!!!

Don't ban the breed it is not their fault. any dog, any age, any breed, could attack and possibly kill a child. The dog most likely will be protecting thier owner, not be used to kids (and if a child squeels/screams/runs about when a dogs not used to children it is a recipie for disaster) or because children are on eye level, dogs see them as a challenge.

leave poor pitbulls and rotties alone. there are thousands that give their owners so much unconditional love and make thier lifes worth living.

blue

When you look at the amount of attacks by a Pit Bull vs. any other breed, the total is undisputably high.



The Numbers




Attack Statistics