Dog Community

It's Not Your Pit Bull...It's You.

Posted : 9/2/2006 1:00:33 AM

This really annoyed me today. I live in an area where pretty much everyone thinks it would be cool to own a fighting dog, which means that just about everyone owns a pit bull they don't know how to care for. Now there are some great pit bull owners around here with great dogs as well. Don't get me wrong about that. I'm not heaping all pit owners into the same basket.
To get to the point of my story: I went out walking Ramses this evening and a woman from down the street comes over to me and tells me that the guy who lives next door to her just lost his pit bull. Her actual words were, "The guy right over there came to my house just now and told me that his dog got out and that it'll probably attack anyone it sees walking around. He said if I'm going to be outside to take a stick or some mace. It's a big, brown pit bull. I just wanted you to know, in case you see it." She pointed out to me the man who owns this dog and he was an unconcerned gentleman a couple houses away, raking up grass or something.
What in the world is the matter with people?? If you own a dog that is so aggressive when it escapes you have to walk around to all your neighbors telling them that if they plan to be outside they better arm themselves shouldn't you be looking for him/her when he goes missing? He could be on the next street killing a child and this genius is raking up junk on his lawn with nary a care in the world. It irritates me to no end how irresponsible some people are. Not only was I disturbed by the fact that he wasn't concerned at all and that his dog is that aggressive to begin with, but also he doesn't care if people are randomly macing and beating the poor thing with sticks. "Hey guys. My dog got out. If he tries to attack you just go ahead and beat him with a stick. He might stop." Too bad there aren't restictions on who can own dogs.
I had mace with me, but I don't have any faith in my ability to use it under pressure against either man or beast and I quickly hurried home. People like this guy are why so many people are against pit bulls. I'm not against pit bulls, per se. I'm against the people who find "fighting dogs" trendy and have completely overpopulated neighborhoods like mine with mean, unacceptable dogs that no one should have to be exposed to.
Sorry I just wanted to vent my frustration.
Christina

marynh

Posted : 9/2/2006 7:30:36 AM

I've seen only a few pitbulls around here - and one of them was the sweetest little brown and white sausage I've ever had the pleasure to pet (I did tell her owner that dog needed to lose some weight).
I used to see a guy, walking around town, with a pit whose ears were cropped and he would walk the dog wearing his spike collar (dog not him) big leather strap like leash.
Saw him walking around one summer then I would see him walking minus the dog. I'm assuming he ended up giving the dog away - probably couldn't handle him anymore or the novelty had worn off.

alieliza

Posted : 9/2/2006 9:52:10 AM

This really irritates me too, for a lot of reasons.

First of all, Pit Bulls are not human aggressive dogs. So, either this person was unfortunate enough to get a dog with an incredibly unstable temperament from a byb, and has done nothing to help to rehabilitate his dog, OR he has created a monster through poor socialization, aggression, mistreatment, etc. Poor doggie.

I am also concerned that he was unconcerned, as the OP stated. This is not only dangerous for humans, but very dangerous for the dog as well. None of this is the dogs fault, yet he will be blamed for anything that may happen, not to mention probably frightened, or very angry, which is no way for a dog to live.

Lastly,
Myself, as a responsible APBT owner, not only does this affect the owner, the dog, and any person the dog may come into contact with, but this affects ME! This is the reason that pit bulls are disliked, this is the reason that breed specific legislation is becoming more and more popular among local governments, this is the reason that people cross the street when I take my dog for a walk, this is the reason that I have to constantly defend my choices as a dog owner (not that I particularly mind doing this, as frustrating it may be), etc.

And as a side note, I do not agree with ear cropping, I do not think that it is necessary, and find natural ears to be quite cute, but keep in mind that cropped ear does not equal mean dog. Many responsible owners crop ears because it is traditional, they like the way it looks, or their rescue dog came that way. (Responsible owners, however, would never get a botched job.) Most dogs with cropped ears are just as sweet as those with natural. Please don't take offense to this, I used to think that cropped ears were ugly and intimidating looking, but as I learn more and more about the breed, and meet more and more responsible owners, this has become clearer to me. I just thought I would pass along the info.

Stacy Zeidman

Posted : 9/2/2006 10:33:44 AM

nyiceprincess

Posted : 9/2/2006 10:37:16 AM

O think in this case i would have called Animal Control immediately and let them know that an agressive dog is on the loose so they can find him before somebody gets hurt.I dont care if its a pit bull or a chihuahua somebody has to find this dog quickly before something happens.I hope he was exagerating or maybe the dog just doesnt like his owner.
There was a story on the news yesterday about a suspect in a drug case.The police showed up to arrest her and she sent her pit out to attack the police officer.He was bitten 3 times and she was able to escape.They found her 3 days later with the dog.These stories are allways bad news as they are already trying to ban the adoption of bully breeds in this area due to a few other cases like this.So far enough people have fought it but if i keeps happening several dogs will end up being PTS daily since the pound is full of pit bulls here.Most of them as sweet as can be.

georgie4682

Posted : 9/2/2006 10:51:24 AM

That is so sad. I can't believe some people! I have just started a new job at Petsmart in the hotel/boarding section and have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few pit bull dogs, one (Bridget) that I completely fell in love with. She gives you these big "I know you want to take me out and play with me" eyes everytime you pass her and you just can't resist. Then she gives you a big smile and is ready to play. They can be so sweet, but some people are in it for all the wrong reasons, it is such a shame.

Christina Rancour

Posted : 9/2/2006 11:02:24 AM

I talked to the woman for a while, because she was interested in adopting a greyhound, so I was telling her all about Ramses (retired racing dog). She said that she's called the SPCA on the guy before because the dog stays outside chained to a tree, but apparently they told her that's not illegal and to call them back if he stops feeding him. It makes me sad. I could never understand why someone would buy a dog and then chain it to a tree.
I wasn't so worried about the pit bull attacking me. I was worried about him attacking Ramses. Ram is terrified of large, barking dogs as it turns out. Ha. When we have to pass the people on the corner who have a beautiful GSD that loves to bark at us poor Ramses cowers, even though we're way on the other side of the street.
I've had a few close shaves with loose pit bulls in my day. Thankfully all of them turned out to be friendly or at least uninterested. The woman or the owner might have been exaggerating, but the woman seemed genuinely concerned. Like Nyiceprincess said maybe the poor dog just hates his owner. I think I would bite that man too.
The thing about the news story makes me think about how a few weeks ago I saw on the news that some drug dealer was shot and killed in his home and it turned out that he had over 300 pit bulls on his property that he bred, trained to fight and then sold to people all over the country.

Christina

chewbecca

Posted : 9/2/2006 11:19:27 AM

ORIGINAL: ShepherdLuvR

Or at least educate them!
OR, we could scan owners before they're allowed to purchase or adopt.

I, too, get frustrated in defending the fact that I own a pit bull.
And then when ignorant people find out that I want to feed her raw...UGH.
I get the "Don't let the human devouring beast get the taste of blood, you fool!" comments.
My English teacher asked me if I spoil Ella and one girl in my class goes (as she shivers),"That's better than her turning her into an attacking beast!" Because, BY GOD, we ALL know that EVERY pit bull owner owns their dogs so that we can train them to eat humans. But not only that, we train them to eat humans for ENTERTAINMENT. If I would've had time. MAN.
People are under the impression that pit bulls make good guard dogs. hahahahahaha! Good guard dogs. RIGHT. Maybe of their OWN TOYS.

But I will continue to educate and be patient about it.
It just can be frustrating.

Stacy Zeidman

Posted : 9/2/2006 11:24:58 AM

I truly believe people should be liscensed to own a dog. There are way too many people out there who have no idea what they're doing. If people love dogs enough, then being liscensed won't bother them because they know they will be helping the majority of dogs out there, who would otherwise get stuck with people who are careless, abusive, etc.

I wouldn't mind going through something in order to become liscensed - heck, if it keeps other dogs from being harmed, I'm all for it. I see way too much abuse/neglect out there and it upsets me a lot.

chewbecca

Posted : 9/2/2006 11:44:56 AM

I agree.
But obtaining a license to own a dog needs to be a bit more difficult than obtaining a fishing license or a gun card.
And I fear that it would come down to that sort of simplicity if we were to put that law into place.
I think people should have to go to classes. I think the classes should be similar to those of babysitting courses or possibly even more interactive courses. Of course, what I ACTUALLY believe is that it should be more difficult than that, but that would be a start idea.

alieliza

Posted : 9/2/2006 11:50:51 AM

Having a license to own a dog seems like a good idea, but unfortunately, a lot of the people who are irresponsible owners, and say, own dogs for fighting even though its illegal, would probably own a dog without a license, even thought that would be illegal too!

ron2

Posted : 9/2/2006 1:37:43 PM

Or go to one of their criminal cohorts and get a forged license.

Still, though, proper education is the way to go. Calling the police on suspected dog fighters. And then, having police that aren't afraid to do their job and arrest the dog fighters, who are usually into other criminal activities, as well, such as drug trafficking, illegal gambling and therefore, bookmaking. And all of this money they made that hasn't had taxes paid on it.

Then again, a number of people think they know something about dogs when they really don't, other than whatever experience they might have had as a kid. Can you make them study various books on dog psychology and training and good nutrition? That is what separates me from my co-workers who don't read training books and feed the cheapest food they can find, without any regard to what we would consider important.

gayle

Posted : 9/2/2006 1:41:45 PM

even if the dog wasnt aggressive shouldnt he have been concerned about his dog and looking for it so IT wouldnt get hurt?

while i love all breeds the same, maybe hunting dogs moreso, but not the point, i would like to say pitbulls can be weird. my husbands friend had the sweetest pit on the planet. he was raised with kids, loved the crap out of them, the dog was treated well, under control, the whole nine yards, i loved that dog he was always a sweetheart. he had to be put down though because one day while our friend was at work the dog busted through a living room window to go after a mentally impaired child on a bicycle, and he did bite the kid. last thing you ever would have expected this dog to do.
this isnt the first time i've ever heard of a well trained pitbull snapping like that and doing something way out of the ordinary, but i have heard similar incendents with alot of other larger breed dogs too.

Luvntzus

Posted : 9/2/2006 2:00:31 PM

I would DEFINITELY have called animal control immediately so at least they could be out looking for the dog. It would be good for them (and possibly the police also) to know that there was a potentially dangerous dog on the loose AND that the owner is totally unconcerned. [&:]