Holy Shit!

[Duck-Stew]

That's terrible, I hope your dad heals up quickly.

Good job stepmom.

+1

[TiNi]

holy shit is right 

+1 on a speedy recovery for your dad, he's very lucky his wife is a good shot 

[Monster Dave]

I guess it just bothers me to see people bashing the breed without understanding that 99.99% of the time it's the owners fault and not the dog.

Speaking only for my own comment, I didn't mean any offense to any owners. I do acknowledge that there's a certain amount of responsibility that the owner is liable for. However that being said, on the flip side to that is the all too frequently documented history of attacks where pit bulls tend to reign at/near the top of the list of most dangerous domestic dog. I'm not saying that they are the only dog prone to such behavior, but there are plenty of other dogs that can protect a family just as well and don't posses the same vicious behavioral patterns. My friends' was a wonderful dog loved and in a family of 3 dogs owned by a K-9 officer. However, you could tell that in an instant his dog could turn into a monster - it was like flipping a switch - I know because I saw it happen in a live demonstration of animal behavior (not trained responses).

...after that I found myself significantly more nervous around his dog.

[KnightofNi]

Speaking only for my own comment, I didn't mean any offense to any owners. I do acknowledge that there's a certain amount of responsibility that the owner is liable for. However that being said, on the flip side to that is the all too frequently documented history of attacks where pit bulls tend to reign at/near the top of the list of most dangerous domestic dog. I'm not saying that they are the only dog prone to such behavior, but there are plenty of other dogs that can protect a family just as well and don't posses the same vicious behavioral patterns. My friends' was a wonderful dog loved and in a family of 3 dogs owned by a K-9 officer. However, you could tell that in an instant his dog could turn into a monster - it was like flipping a switch - I know because I saw it happen in a live demonstration of animal behavior (not trained responses).

...after that I found myself significantly more nervous around his dog.

i see humans do this much more often.

i know 2 people who own pitts. all of their dogs are the kindest sweetest things around. they are just big. really big. and when they play it's harder than most other dogs because they don't realize how strong they are and what they can do.

and i had seen dogs from all over the spectrum turn as you say "like a switch"
they just haven't been bred to kill or be as vicious as the pitts.

[Adamm0621]

Just like "When Animals Attack," dogs may be domesticated but they were wild animals for much longer than they have been house pets.  Although pits do have a high number of attacks, they're just animals like every other breed of dog.  I've been bitten by chihuahuas, cocker spaniels, and other small dogs.  Owners just need to take more responsibility.

[sbrguy]

best wishes on your father's recovery.

maybe if people were a bit more careful and realize that a "pet" is "an animal" at base even if its "domesticated" they would take a bit more care and maybe supervise their animal more.

[cyrus buelton]

Could the pit might have thought the little dog was a rabbit or a squirrel?

I am not sure on their vision.

And then when your Dad stepped in to help, general animal instinct (not just dogs, but all) kicked in?

[hadesducati848]

Could the pit might have thought the little dog was a rabbit or a squirrel?

I am not sure on their vision.

And then when your Dad stepped in to help, general animal instinct (not just dogs, but all) kicked in?

i doubt it, pit bulls have excellent sight, and are very smart. sadly it saw the lil dash hound as a chew toy and thought it was allowed to play with it.

[cyrus buelton]

i doubt it, pit bulls have excellent sight, and are very smart. sadly it saw the lil dash hound as a chew toy and thought it was allowed to play with it.

that's what I thought about their vision. My wife used to have a Amstaff and said his vision was amazing.


So do you think the dog was just not socialized enough and was just confined to a fenced yard?

[Popeye the Sailor]

Must we turn this into a pit thread?

[Triple J]

FWIW, Pit Bulls usually make poor guard dogs. Not that they aren't/can't be protective, but many other breeds are much more suited to the task (like a Doberman). Out of necessity Pits were bred to be animal aggressive, but the exact opposite with people. That's the only way a handler could control an extremy powerful fighting dog, and why such a powerful anumal lets itself be abused in the first place.

Zltful...you dad getting bit was most likely an accident, brought on by tunnel vision caused by the attack on the smaller dog. We've all seen dogs of any breed got extremely focused on things, whether it be a ball, a bone, or another dog, and lose track of their surroundings and training. That's not meant to be an excuse, as there is none for a dog biting an undeserving person.

The problem here is that the dog was unsupervised, and not confined in a yard.  

[1KDS]

I still can't believe it took two shots and walked away.

[IZ]

Crazy story Z! 

How old is your dad? 

Sounds like he might be in PT for awhile.   

[lethe]

Sorry to hear what happened, bad deal for all involved.  

My Pit/Akita mix really wants to be a good dog but we recognize her aggressiveness towards people and animals that she doesn't know. It took forever to properly introduce her to our other dog. Whenever someone unfamiliar to her is over, she either goes out into our fenced in yard or in her crate. I'd hate to ever have a bad thing like what happened to your dad occur.  

[muskrat]

terrible.  I hope he heals quickly.  I'll go to the pound with you to put a round or two in that dog.  I myself have killed 3 for that very reason, granted this was back in Venezuela where there are no laws.