My dogs and I were attacked by a pitt bull this morning (we're OK)

[stellaroo]

It’s the same damn story, time after time. Pitt bulls attack innocent people and animals with no provocation.

I walk my three dogs every weekday morning. The same walk, past the same houses. I know where the problem dogs are. The dogs that attacked us had been loose before. I thought the people had moved. Hadn’t seen a person or dog at that house for many months.

Young pitt bolted out as we were walking by and got my 28 lb. terrier. The attacking dogs has no leashes or collars. The owner had zero control of these dogs. I ended up falling and being able to protect my dog with my body.

I yelled at her to get her f’ing dogs and she said "I"m trying you f’ing b***h.

This is the second pitt bull attack in 6 months in my nice, quiet neighborhood. The first one was worse. My neighbor was walking her GSD and the pitt, out in the yard with owner, no leash, attacked. She was severely injured as was her dog.

It IS the breed. These are cheap, aggressive dogs and for some reason they are very popular with people who are not intelligent enough to own them.

They should be banned.

[Obiwan]

I’ve had my dog viciously attacked by a small terrier… If that’s how the world works, I’d like to see your dog breed banned too, please.

[Marshfield]

Please tell me you reported the incident to animal control. It’s one of your few chances of keeping this from happening again.

They’re a breed which can be wonderful, but also have the misfortune of attracting more than their fair share of lousy owners.

[stellaroo]

[QUOTE=Marshfield;8885615]
Please tell me you reported the incident to animal control. It’s one of your few chances of keeping this from happening again.

They’re a breed which can be wonderful, but also have the misfortune of attracting more than their fair share of lousy owners.[/QUOTE]

It was reported to the sheriff’s department and animal control.

[Where_sMyWhite]

It is not the breed… it’s the owners of said dog IMO.

[Miss_Anne_Thrope]

I am very sorry this happened to your dogs, but I just got home from my pup’s agility class, where the sweetest most beautiful dog there is a pit bull. And tomorrow, when my trainer comes for a lesson, I always love it when she brings her pittie, who graciously tolerates my rambunctious puppy. She is majestic in her tolerance.

IT. IS. NOT. THE. BREED!!

[scierra]

It’s the owner, not the breed. I’ve had bad experiences with other breeds from Chows to small dogs. Plus I’m not ignorant and I own a pit mix. I really took offense to that statement, all of us are not ignorant or irresponsible.

[DogIsMyCopilot]

I’ve had one Pit mix for six years now and the other for four. All my dogs are adult rescues and I’m pretty sure neither of them had careful socialization and / or training in their formative years, and they are still good dogs. Both have completely failed to ever attack anyone, bite any other dogs or escape from the yard so far.
My sheperd cross that I had before, otoh, would have seriously injured some other dogs had he been given the opportunity.

Banning Pit Bulls might make some people feel safer temporarily, but it has been shown time and time again that it doesn’t decrease dog bite incidents at all. The data is there from dozens of communities that have tried.

[dani0303]

I love pitties but the breed is undoubtedly more prone to aggression. The owner is of course the deciding factor in most cases, however you don’t see an epidemic of labs with bad owners attacking people/dogs/livestock. They are not dogs for beginners and unfortunately they’re incredible popular with the beginner crowd.

I’m so sorry that happened to you. I truly hope that you and your dogs can heal physically and emotionally from what happened.

[Bicoastal]

How is your dog? Any injuries? Punctures? How bout you?

[S1969]

Unfortunately it’s the owners and the breed. Loose/uncontrolled dogs are one issue, but the potential to do serious damage is a breed issue.

I don’t support a breed ban, but I would support other options, such as breeding permits and/or higher dog licensing fees that could be reduced/waived by spay/neuter and/or obedience classes.

I’m sorry this happened, OP. Hope no injuries.

[JanM]

It’s the owners, and it only takes one bad owner in a neighborhood to turn everyone against the dogs involved.

I read an article years ago in Dog World (I think that was the name) about a huge study they sponsored on dog bites. It turned out that virtually every attack that was fatal or had horrific injuries, it was a dog protecting illegal operations for the owner. Then there are the people who get off on having a ‘tough’ dog, and enjoy that others get injured by their animals.

[toady123]

The problem is bad owners with inappropriate breeds - you can’t say the dog is not part of the equation. Pit bulls and other assertive breeds can be a disaster if the are not properly managed. Add to the fact that breeds like pits are bred indescrimintantly, often with aggressiveness as the goal and it’s a recipe for disaster.

While I agree it’s unfortunate for the dogs who lose, I think there are cases where the bans serve the greater good - because people will act like idiots and won’t make good choices. I live in Ontario where we have a province wide ban and honestly I don’t miss having them around.

I know my feelings are unpopular, but they are mine nonetheless.

[MDMom]

It’s interesting how we try to classify in order to protect ourselves, even when that classification may be false.

Think about it. A pit bull (or a dog that appears to be a pit bull even if it is a case of mistaken identification) bites someone. Instead of blaming the owners, we blame the breed. We ignore all the attacks by other breeds and focus on pit bulls. This has been done in the past with Dobermans, German Shepherds, Rottweilers.

Put the blame where it belongs. On the owner, not the breed.

[MsM]

I was in animal control and protection many years ago. At the beginning, the “tough” dog was the GSD or “police dog”. Then it became Dobies, then Rotties, and then Pitties. These were the favored dogs of guys (usually) trying to be tough or protecting illegal stuff. Obviously these dogs in those hands were not trained or socialized appropriately and accounted for a lot of dog bites. The Pittie issues were worse with other dogs. Many of them were bred to be fighting dogs and were effectively doggy sociopaths - they didn’t accept dog social cues, attacked without provocation, did not accept submission and were hard to pull off. So more of the humans being bitten by Pitties involved dog attacks on dogs first.
The trouble with trying to outlaw Pities is that the problem owners will move on to another intimidation dog. I am not sure that the laws can keep up with all the strong breeds that could be dangerous in the hands of irresponsible owners.

[Rain]

OP, I’m sure I would react exactly as you did, and be furiously angry at the attacking dog, the owner, and the dog breed. Adding to the problem is the idiot owner’s obviously unrepentant attitude.

I don’t have a solution, but you have my sympathies. (for what it’s worth, my Golden and I got attacked by a neighborhood Shiba Inu and then a French Bulldog during an agility class. I still harbor resentment for both breeds, even though I know it was the owners’ fault. Emotions are sometimes not logical.)

[CanadianTrotter]

[QUOTE=toady123;8886166]
The problem is bad owners with inappropriate breeds - you can’t say the dog is not part of the equation. Pit bulls and other assertive breeds can be a disaster if the are not properly managed. Add to the fact that breeds like pits are bred indescrimintantly, often with aggressiveness as the goal and it’s a recipe for disaster.

While I agree it’s unfortunate for the dogs who lose, I think there are cases where the bans serve the greater good - because people will act like idiots and won’t make good choices. I live in Ontario where we have a province wide ban and honestly I don’t miss having them around.

I know my feelings are unpopular, but they are mine nonetheless.[/QUOTE]

Agree 100%.

I feel bad for the breed, they didn’t ask for what has happened to them. Because of bad breeding/conditioning/ownership, they have basically become an unstable loaded weapon. The ban most definitely serves the greater good.

Sorry you went through this Stella and glad it wasn’t worse than what it was.

[yellowbritches]

It’s not the breed. And it sucks for the breed whenever something stupid like this happens. My mom’s neighbor’s young dog was attacked by a pittie st the dog park. My mom was devastated by it (she was there with her small terrier. Thank god that little dog and my little bird of a mother stayed safe and the pup was ok after getting sewn back up). She was devastated because two of her "grand dogs " are pitties. But it was the fault of the ignorant owner with poor dog handling skills, and way too many poorly trained and socialized dogs (she showed up with four large block headed dogs). Turn out she had a handful of priors and an outstanding warrant. Classy. But the fact of the matter is, my run ins with pitties are mostly sweethearts who are likely to lick you to death. The ones with issues have been owned by people either WAY over their heads who keep them cooped instead of training them, or who are legitimate skeezy people.

My dog was brutally attacked by a mastiff. She was also attacked by a border collie. I’ve nearly been bitten multiple times by my neighbor’s collie and the same collie pinned my little dog. I’m leery of my landlord’s lab, but their pittie is a love muffin who quakes in terror of my little dog because she barked at him once. A friend’s little pittie cross got attacked by a pack of jack Russells. I had to pull her out from under the farrier’s trailer, kick the pink ass JRTs away and carry the 40lb terrified pittie (who doesn’t know how to defend herself) to safety. These are a few examples of the bad dogs (mostly owned by bad and neurotic owners) that I’ve encountered.

My point being, please don’t blame the dog. From the sounds of it, you’re dealing with some trashy people. Blame them. Mourn for the dog.

[Sswor]

You are very lucky you were not maimed or killed, as you did what a lot of us would have done–you put your life on the line for your dog.

I agree with you, but it is both the breed/type AND the owners.

Some of the pit owners who swear up and down it is 100% the owners, will be surprised some day. Not all, but some, and that’s a roulette I would never play.

[red_mares]

I think you guys who think the breed has nothing to do with it are on crack.

Of course the breeding of a dog has an impact on it’s temperament. All the attacks by pits are not due solely on ownership issues. There have been too many for it to be all owner caused.

OP, I had a scary moment on Friday as I was leaving my house. A big, black pit bull was jumping around a woman pushing a baby stroller on the main street. Poor woman was terrified. I stopped but couldn’t do anything. I had a boot on my foot and a cat in the car; I was as vulnerable as she was. Thankfully, someone (owner???) came up with a rope or leash in hand trying to catch the dog. The dog may or may not have been playing, I really don’t know. I wished I had a camera handy when it happened.

Any dog who attacks should be put down. Period. No three strikes, no second chance, just one and done. There are plenty of dogs out there, if yours goes after someone/something too bad.