Pitbulls

[Jeff K]

I walked out my front door tonight to shine for dillos, and there were three big dogs on my front walk. Two pits and some other dog. They jumped up and started barking and growling. I backed up into the house. I figured they would go on their way but they just stood their ground. I opened the big garage door a crack and the biggest one came at the door barking. I shot a bottle rocket under the door. The big one kept barking for a bit then wandered off. The two others vanished too.
I hate those FN Pits. Hind site I should have shot the big one. But I really didn't want a war with who ever owns these dogs. Since I do have a pup of my own. I wouldn't want them to seek revenge.

Not meant to offend the law abiding pit owners in the group. I'm sure to get a barrage of comments about how loving they are.

[Tropic traveler]

About once a year in these parts one of those lovable breeds of dogs kills a child or maims an old person. Amazes me that the genius owners are shocked & shaking their heads saying "I had no idea, it was so loving".
Riiiiiight. What the heck do you think those breeds are bred for?????
Idiots.

Glad nothing came of your incident.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

About 5 miles down the road from where I live a 21 year old woman was mauled to death a few years ago...I live in the country and my daughter & grand-daughter lives behind me ....One comes in my yard it will never leave. Below is from the local news staton after it happened....The owners always claim they did'nt raise them to attack.

 Jennifer Lowe, 21, died Monday evening after she was mauled by the dogs at the home. Deputies said Lowe had injuries to her face and one arm was badly mangled.

Smallwood says Lowe was like a sister to him. He only knew her for three months but after a fight with a relative, he offered her a place to live.

"I was like, you can stay at my house. She lived here for two-and-a-half months before this happened. She's played with my dogs, given them a bath."

Smallwood says his dogs were gentle and denies neighbors' allegations that they were trained to be vicious. He also said he didn't breed the dogs for fighting. "Not one bit, I don't believe in it."

[Jeff K]

Jeff,

MOVE!

Jeez brother.  Your home has been broken into and now three dogs have attacked you.

Be safe.

Mase

I love living in the country, but this crap is getting out of hand.
The punk that robbed us is going to prison, he has a record and the state said he is not eligible for any kind of probation. He will serve time.

[Jeff K]

Jeff,

MOVE!

Jeez brother.  Your home has been broken into and now three dogs have attacked you.

Be safe.

Mase

I love living in the country, but this crap is getting out of hand.
The punk that robbed us is going to prison, he has a record and the state said he is not eligible for any kind of probation. He will serve time.

Where are you at again? WI or FL?

Smack in the middle of Florida.

[GreenLantern57]

Live in the country, 3 loose dogs growling at my front door.  Out comes the shotgun.  Next out comes the shovel.  Buried and never tell anyone.  "Nope, never seen your dogs!"

Glad the creep that broke into your home is going away!

[Sludge]

On my farm I have to kill dogs on occasion because of them going for cattle and calves etc.  Havent had any try to go for me but that would earn a bullet as well.  I just dispose of the bodies and say nothing.  Its just easier that way. 

[Normandog]

True story. I know because it happened to a guy I knew. These friends of his had a pit they had raised from a pup. Not to be vicious and not to fight. They had kids and they raised the dog to be gentle enough to play with the kids. When they would go on vacation Garman would feed the dog. Had done this twice a year for 3 or 4 yrs. This one time he had picked up a bag of dog food on the way to feed the dog. He got out of his car, patted the dog on the head, opened the back door and leaned in to get the bag of food. The pit bull grabbed a mouth full of his butt and wouldn't let go. Lucky for him another friend of the family who did not know they were on vacation stopped by. If they'd been much later Gorman would have bled out. He had been around that dog since it was a pup. I used to believe you could raise them to be gentle. I was wrong.

[JimC]

Jeff,
they will be back, once dogs start roaming in packs they are up to no good. They can very easily sneak up on someone working out and about the property when you are not expecting it.

 Get the shot gun ready for their next visit. You don't want to take a chance.

JimC

[Black Pearl's Captain]

A crossbow is silent and deadly. No neighbor will ever know what happened to the dogs.

[Jess from VA]

I'm with Greenlantern and Sludge.  Shoot and shovel (0r feed them to the gators).  This is why more populous areas have a leash law.  With a pack, I'm using an AR with 30 rd mag and scope or red dot sight from a rest or bipod from the 2d story (or roof) (that's why they're called a varmint gun), not walking around outside with a 12 gauge.  Dispose of any collar IDs separately. 

If your sure no one else will get to it.... a few big bowls of antifreeze will do it too, quiet but a hard way to go . 

[Walküre]

I'm with Greenlantern and Sludge.  Shoot and shovel (0r feed them to the gators).  This is why more populous areas have a leash law.   With a pack, I'm using an AR with 30 rd mag and scope or red dot sight from a rest or bipod from the 2d story (or roof) (that's why they're called a varmint gun), not walking around outside with a 12 gauge.  Dispose of any collar IDs separately. 

If your sure no one else will get to it.... a few big bowls of antifreeze will do it too, quiet but a hard way to go . 

Our town has a "no pit bull" ordinance. None, not a one, is allowed in town. STRICTLY enforced!

As for antifreeze, "hard way to go" is an understatement! It attacks the nervous system, and is perhaps the cruelest way for an animal to die - fire would be close, but fire would asphyxiate or otherwise cause death, LONG before the hours that it takes antifreeze to kill.

Pits do what pits do. They have it bred into them. Sure, there are some that NEVER get out of line, but far more do. But, it's not their fault, just as it's not any other wild animals fault. I feel antifreeze is overly torturous, for any animal...just my personal opinion.

[Robert]

Its a pack and you got the lead dog, similar thing happened to me but I was on my sidewalk and the dogs came charging at me when I was sweeping my walk. With broom in hand I watched as the one was directly in front of me and the other two were flanking the lead dog. I was ok till the others started to make a move to go behind me then I whacked the lead dog in the head with the broom. It was like slow motion he stopped barking immediately the other two that were going to circle behind stopped and looked. Then they started to run off the lead dog fell on down sideways and started to do a three stooges going in circles on his ear. I thought to myself I scrambled his brains but after short while he managed to right himself and run away never to be seen again. The lead dog is the key get him and the others will follow you made it unsure enough to not want to tangle with you but they may be back. Pack dogs have a different mentality dont fool with them nor let your compassion steer you to to weak a action. I love dogs but I love my life more.

[DIGGER]

JMO

the breed needs to be anillated.

at the very least, the owners should have to have a license the same as having a tiger or a lion.

[MP]

How far to your nearest neighbor?

That will determine the gun to be used!


Shoot and shovel!  Get the lead dog.  The others might quit if you get rid of him.  If the others keep coming back, do the shoot and shovel routine until the problem is solved.

Please, do not wait until we read about you in the paper.

I would NOT report to animal control, as that will put you in the record.  Then, if you use the shoot and shovel method, when the dogs owner goes looking, you will be a suspect.

MP

[RUDE DOG - Steelers]

Wow, thats a lot of sad and disappointing responses.  Didnt expect to hear that from this group.

[sugerbear]

i.ve mantained it for years.  they good for ONE thing.  target practice.

[RUDE DOG - Steelers]

i.ve mantained it for years.  they good for ONE thing.  target practice.

With comments like that, it seems thats all your good for too.  People like you is why I usually only read the Tech board.

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I also live in the country, I've lived in the same house with the same neighbors for over 30 years. The closest neighbor used to raise pit bulls. My dogs ran loose and so did his. His were welcome in my yard and mine were welcome in his. However one of his (Tank) and my Lab Shepherd mix (Bear) developed a true hate for each other. About once a month they would fight until we broke it up, and would have fought until one of them was dead otherwise. Many times, I'd wrap my arms around one and put my foot against the other to force them apart. Only once did one snap at me, that was my own dog who I grabbed from behind before he knew I was there. After a fight, they would lay in their own yards and stare at each other day after day for weeks. Then they would start getting closer and closer until they would again fight. Bear had at least 3 visits to the vet to be sewn up as did Tank.

As John said after we broke up one of their many fights, "if it was you and I fighting like that, we would soon decide we were tired of mutual beatings and find another pastime." Eventually Tank passed away and left Bear to grow old without any more fights since he got along fine with the other pit bulls.

When Andy (The Duc Man) was real little he would get mobbed by our dog and the neighbors dogs when he would go outside. They weren't attacking him, they were just trying to play but would knock him down and scare him. I taught him to kick the hell out of them as soon as they jumped up and not to let himself be knocked down and it took care of the problem.

However, I watched closely as did John, the pits owner. If my dogs or his had gotten out of line with a human it would have been a race to see which of us shot them first. But it never happened.

I will say the pits I've been around don't seem as smart as most dogs but do seem to be very efficient, bloodthirsty fighters. One that couldn't be trusted would be dangerous indeed and would quickly gain weight as I filled it with lead.

I do love dogs and would separate one from it's earthly surroundings only when absolutely necessary. I think in your case, it is or will shorty be "necessary". No trustworthy dog would offer to attack you in your own yard. Sooner, or later, those dogs are going to hurt a human if they are allowed to keep breathing.

[T-Bird]

I have two close neighbors with dogs in fenced in yards, one has a D#*n barking little yorkie, the other has a nice pit bull that only barks when someone is around. I wish we only had the pit close by.
I would't own one myself, but I have heard that more lap dogs bite people than pits, pits just do more damage.

[sugerbear]

i.ve mantained it for years.  they good for ONE thing.  target practice.

With comments like that, it seems thats all your good for too.  People like you is why I usually only read the Tech board.

you,ve obviously never seen anyone with their face chewed off by a pitt bull.

and you think all pitts are harmeless your a fool

[alph]

We had a neighbor that had a pit bull.  When my two girls (10 and 7 at the time) would play out side that dog would just stare them down and pace the fence.  His head came up to the bottom of that fence, I don’t think it would have been a problem for that dog to just hop right over it!  thankfully the dog took a snip at the owners son, that was the end of that problem.

Jeff, let me understand something, your house was robbed?  And you don’t have a gun yet??  WTH??  If you do have a gun, what’s the problem with the three dogs in your yard? 

[RUDE DOG - Steelers]

i.ve mantained it for years.  they good for ONE thing.  target practice.

With comments like that, it seems thats all your good for too.  People like you is why I usually only read the Tech board.

you,ve obviously never seen anyone with their face chewed off by a pitt bull.

and you think all pitts are harmeless your a fool

I never said all Pit Bulls are harmless.  Anyone dog that isnt safe is the fault of the a-hole owners, not the dog.  Its people like you that stereo-type others into believing their all bad.  That would make you the fool.

[Jess from VA]

I guess it's true some breeds are more aggressive than others.  I've had more ankles bitten by ankle biters than big dogs (and stinking all-day chronic barking too).  But I believe, like children (minors), problem dogs evolve from problem people.  In suburban areas, leash laws are near universal.  They are good laws.  People who let their dogs run and roam have little legitimate complaint if others find their dog to be threatening, destructive, or trouble.  I suppose out in the boonies may be different, but it is not different if neighbors however far away have problems with roaming animals.  And a dog pack is a different animal than a single dog.  

I have relatives that for generations have lived  out in the hills of WVa, and they do not let their dogs run free.  They inevitably run in packs and chase down and hamstring deer to die a miserable starving death, or may be attack children, other animals or adults.  When new people move in, they tell them clearly that dogs running free will be shot on sight. And they are.  

For chronic barking, I call County animal control.  But if the animal is a menace, I never call the authorities, cause when it disappears, I am not a suspect.

My mother always told me... "You cannot talk to people about their children or their dogs."  My experience is... this is mostly true.  

One nice weekend day in SoCA USAF base housing, my wife and I were in our little four-foot chain link fenced back yard barbecuing with our (her) two Himalayan cats sleeping in the yard.  Suddenly a big juvenile G Shepard was right outside the fence snarling and barking and working up to jump the fence to get at the cats.  I got up and went over and tried to calm him down to no avail, and then loudly commanded him to back off, and then took a broom (at hand) to him.  He went absolutely berserk and was now focusing on attacking me.  I ran inside and grabbed my 870, racked a round ran out and jumped the fence yelling like a banshee, and for the first time he backed down and ran.  I chased him down the street with the 870 at high port arms .... I used to do the 100 in 10.8.  He ran into a Col's yard and up on a porch.  The Col's family saw me and could have caused me some BIG trouble, but I never heard a word about it.  They knew their animal was wild, and it was never loose again.  

I won't tolerate that kind of behavior from humans on my property, and I sure won't tolerate it from unleashed dogs.  

[GreenLantern57]

Wow, thats a lot of sad and disappointing responses.  Didnt expect to hear that from this group.

He lives out in the country. Pack dogs are DANGEROUS.  Not just pits. A stray is usually skittish and stays away from people, it is not until it joins a pack that it will get brave. 1996, they had a pack of dogs roaming the country around McLean TX.  Domestic dogs that got out and went wild. They would run down a cow and kill it. Didn't eat it, just killed it. Liked killing sheep too. Ranchers and Farmers got together and took care of business. People that do not take care of thier dogs are the ones responsible and it takes someone protecting thier property and family to handle the problems. I am a HUGE dog lover, have 2 shelties right now. Bridget is 15 in April and Trevor will be 12 in Sept. I love my dogs, take care of my dogs, am responsible for my dogs.  

[JimC]

I never said all Pit Bulls are harmless.  Anyone dog that isnt safe is the fault of the a-hole owners, not the dog.  Its people like you that stereo-type others into believing their all bad.  That would make you the fool.

I do not like to come across as a smart ass or someone that is one sided, but you sir are wrong!

Pit bulls have been bred for decades to fight. The people that buy pit bulls and think that they will never digress to their breeding lines are foolish. (or stupid)

I am a bird hunter, when I was looking for a pheasant dog, I looked for a dog that was bred out of hunting and trial dog stock. It makes the training much easier because the dog has been bred to do what I want it to do first, then the easy stuff, like house braking and house manners came second because any dog with a reasonable intelligence can be trained for that.

If you want a watch dog, buy a german shepard, or a doberman. If you want a rabbit hunting dog, buy a beagle, if you want a lap dog buy a poodle, etc. etc.

If you want a family dog DO NOT BUY A PIT BULL because they have a tendency to revert to their in-bred training and fight. If you want to take a chance with a pit bull and your family, go right ahead. I know enough about dogs to not want a pit bull for anything= period.

JimC

[RoadKill]

Sounds like the KluKluxKlan Canine division !
Maybe ya'all should get a rope and head down to the animal shelter for a lynching  

If Chihuahua were as large and strong as your Labrador retriever humans would be lower on the food chain,they would rule the planet. Chow is the most unpredictable breed in my opinion,I have raised a few. Wouldn't just run out and shoot one of them either!

[Marcel]

They are fine as long as they kept up all the time.

If they run loose like my neighbors Pit Bulls did then the whole neighborhood is in terror.

I call the law 3 times and told the sob that I am the one that called on the dogs.

He was a drug dealer and owned the dogs and yes they were trained to attack.

He displayed this for the whole hood to watch on unsuspecting dogs and cats for all to see.

He had two pits tattooed on his forearms.

He came after me once and his wife came over and tripped him and he was told to get in the house

and don't come back out.

Lucky Day for that dude as he was going to attack me in my yard.

They moved after that.

AL

Good lookin dogs there Roadkill, all pits ain't bad but they sure have a reputation.

You must agree on that.

[MarkT]

That woman who was the first to have a face transplant, recently in the news, was mauled by an animal - though if I recall, it was a monkey.

I sometimes get a dog running free on my property out here in horse country - properties around 5 acres so houses are typically 150yds or so apart.  I don't tolerate dogs running onto my property, discourage them with a scoped 1100fps .177 pellet rifle.  Don't really want to injure the dog, just teach them there's some really angry wasps on this property. Try to hit them on the rump. Though sometimes I think the pellet should be smacking the dog owners on the rump for letting them run loose in horse country.  Never see dogs in a pack.  Now coyotes - that's another story.  There are a lot of them around here - hear them howling every night.  If you have any small animals - if you let them outside, you won't for long.  Never heard any reports of human attacks from the coyotes, though.  They are pretty scared of people.  

[FryeVRCCDS0067]

I'll agree that most of the time problem dogs come from problem owners. But not always, some dogs just like some people are born bad or evil if you will. I've known and know people from great families who are dishonest, worthless or worse. The same thing can happen with dogs. If your going to own a pit-bull or similar dog you need to be extra careful about how you raise it and even then, it may become vicious. As with hunting dogs and hunting, pits are born predisposed to aggressive behavior. It doesn't mean they will turn out bad, I've seen several die of old age without ever doing or trying to do harm to a person. But it does mean they are more likely to get in trouble. Mix that with a crappy owner and you've got trouble.

I also have a friend who had to keep his friends guns for him for a while because he lost his right to them for shooting a threatening dog. The dog came into his yard and growled at his family and he shot him, but he shot him poorly. The dog made it back to it's owners house. The owner happened to be a local politician. Needless to say, the guy was arrested for shooting the dog. Had to pay attorney fees and vet fees.

Looks to me like his poor shooting cost him a lot.

[Jeff K]

We had a neighbor that had a pit bull.  When my two girls (10 and 7 at the time) would play out side that dog would just stare them down and pace the fence.  His head came up to the bottom of that fence, I don’t think it would have been a problem for that dog to just hop right over it!  thankfully the dog took a snip at the owners son, that was the end of that problem.

Jeff, let me understand something, your house was robbed?  And you don’t have a gun yet??  WTH??  If you do have a gun, what’s the problem with the three dogs in your yard? 

I have always had guns. Lost my .45 in the burglary, still plenty of fire power left. It was a B&E, no one was home, they only took the hand gun they could find, and all of the jewelry they could find.

[bigvalkriefan]

Dogs are animals first, dogs second and their particular breed third. The role of the human is to control these in the dog. It's when you have an irresponsible owner who has no idea how to be a responsible owner that the problems start.  Worse yet is the owner who intentionally magnify's the breed of the dog. Obviously having a unstable Pit is a lot worse than a unstable Yorkie because of the damage that can be caused and I've seen a great many more unstable small toy type dogs than Pits. Pits that are owned by responsible, knowledgeable people make great pets. Also poor breeding has a lot to do with it. Breeders who only care about money breed their dogs indiscriminately causing unwanted and repressed characteristics to come out. They are not a dog that should be owned by someone who is ignorant in dog behavior.  

I took this off of Wikipedia:

"The APBT is a breed that is loyal to friends and family, and is generally friendly towards strangers. People have been known to be afraid of them because of reputations propagated by poor representation in media. Nonetheless, an APBT can be a very congenial pet as they have a general love of people. Many APBTs exhibit high prey drive toward small animals.[7] As with any dog breed, proper training and socialization at an early age is a must. According to the UKC, "aggressive behavior toward humans is uncharacteristic of the breed and highly undesirable."[8]

  

[Dragonryder2]

Please, please, please don't use antifreeze. I know pits are dangerous, but that is the most horrible way for a pet to go.  Been there watched it.  Just shoot them, lace some hamburger with a mega dose of sleeping pills, use a bow and arrow for silent/deadly shot.  Either put in back yard for fertilizer or a trash bag and have it hauled out with the rest of your garbage.

As a vet assitant I saw some Really Really nice Pits as patients.  Also saw a few really really nasty Chihuahuas that didn't belong in this world.

In case you all don't know the Golden Retiever bites the most people in the US as of right now, because they are the most popular dog. 

Pits do need to be kept locked up and only out on a leash, but I'm not sure they all need to be comdemd out of hand.  Be gentle folks.

[T.P.]

And here I thought that Pit Bulls tasted like chicken.     Well don't they ?

[Hoser]

I sense a large string on this thread, so I will just say, I am a dog lover, all breeds.  If out and about and dangerous on on the attack against an unarmed human, I will shoot any one of them.  If not, I will give them a dog biscuit and rub thier ears!     Hoser

[RoadKill]

They have a reputation. My Daddy has a reputation as a drill instructor,doesnt mean I can bark orders like he does. It's like asking the Asian kid to translate the red symbols at bottom of a fortune cookie! What is the difference in racism and shooting an animal because it looks like a certain breed ? Can you identify a staffordshire terrier VS american pittbull terrier at a glance? Do Cubans look Mexican to you ?  Ask a puerto rican if that is a mexican flag in their car sometime,You will probably get a response from a PITT BULL!    

[¿spoom]

Interesting thread. Myself, I won't judge a dog or person by their breeding or appearance. I will judge them by their actions, however. Going only by this story, exactly as presented, if a pack of dogs were to threaten me at the door of my own home I feel the 12ga. OO would come out since it would be a better defense than other methods. I don't know if I'd use it the first time as I can close the door and be safe for the moment, but a second occurrence and I have to side with the shoot & shovel crowd. You can't have packs of animals trapping you in your own home.

[Jess Tolbirt]

in the mid 80's there was a man that had a pit bull that pulled him around in his wheel chair,, he would let the kids play with the dog and pet it...one day he didnt show up and the police found the man behind the store,, the dog was eating the man,, the mans head was crushed from the bite of the dog...
i dont trust a pit bull...if one comes in my yard he will go for a ride in the trash truck on trash day...

[Jess Tolbirt]

in the mid 80's there was a man that had a pit bull that pulled him around in his wheel chair,, he would let the kids play with the dog and pet it...one day he didnt show up and the police found the man behind the store,, the dog was eating the man,, the mans head was crushed from the bite of the dog...
i dont trust a pit bull...if one comes in my yard he will go for a ride in the trash truck on trash day...

Without a link of proof... unbelievable and/or hearsay.

you dont have to believe it,,,,i was there,,,dont really care if you believe it,,,,

[Sludge]

What ever ya do folks.  DONT use antifreeze!  Thats just animal cruelty.  Plain and simple.  Use a well placed bullet and leave no suffering.

Some of ya think its all breed.  Some think it has to be the owner.  Im here to tell ya that sometimes it can be either that makes a dog go bad.  I had a great dog once.  Kept him for about 5 years.  Well trained.  However, all of the sudden, one day... I mean... OVER FREAKING NIGHT.  He changed.  He tried to bite a freind that has known him since he was a pup.  Later he tried to bite a guy getting into a truck beside of mine.  Then later he tried to bite me.  I had to put him down.

Ive been around some very VERY loving Pitts.  Ive been around some very bad ones too.  However, any time dogs start running in a pack they get dangerous.  I was attacked by a pack once while running when I was about 17.  I didnt have a gun with me and I got bit, but I also got lucky and got away.  Mostly out of bravado.  I kicked the crap out of a couple of em and then I charged them.  I bluffed them.  I was very lucky.  All domestic dogs btw.

Some of yall who live in urban areas may not understand, but in rural areas killing them is sometimes just what you have to do.  911 calls from my area may get someone out in anywhere from 45min to 3+ hours.  Animal control?  They may come by the next day... or the next...

These differences of opinion between urban and rural kinda parallel the entire gun debate too.  Folks living in cities seem to think only of guns as weapons where rural folks see them as both, weapon, tool, and sometimes toy (when we hunt, shoot skeet, rifle or pistol competitions...) we have had since childhood.