Doberman attacks family - Pit Bull defends them and kills the attacker

i like what Callie had to say (as always []) but i think this would be a good time for the media, local, regional, national, what ever, to educate people in the evening news about the laws and consequences of such an event.
our local media is good about explaining things like that. its usually a short side note while explaining the story, but they handle it pretty well so it doesnt sound worse than it really is. they make sure to note if something is procedure or if there is a genuine problem (which is WHY its procedure, to contain a potential problem)
that woman with Dobe should be smacked for setting up that event. your friend has five kids and herself, that's six witnesses to the event. you can probably rally neighbours or other people in the area that walk up and down that street to attest that the Dobie was territorial and a possible threat.
its a good time RIGHT NOW to not single out two controversial breeds, but to educate on how to prevent this
number one would be to not leave a child in charge of a large breed dog... my step mom had an incident happen when she has a teen... a kid in the neighbourhood was selling raffle tickets and would walk his family's standard poodle with him while he visited people. when he got to their house they opened the door, the poodle saw their little terrier sitting in the living room and it charged inside THEIR home dragging this kid with it and proceeded to kill the terrier right there in their house. standard poodles are not small sissy dogs... they're big and strong like a dobie! and they are prey driven hunting dogs....
after reading this i am tempted to contact my own local media and (not give out location or details of this particular incident) tell them this happened and it was totally preventable but people take their kids and dogs for granted and it needs to be addressed to the public that this not the smart way to handle things.
with my own dogs, when we first moved here.. the min pin across the street came into my yard and challenged my dogs, so they chased it back home.... pinned it and started to play with it (90 lb GSD and 80 lb AmBull vs a min pin... even in play that's deadly) i dont know what would have happened if the lady across the street wanted to make an issue of it.... thankfully she didnt.... but... i dare not think of the consequences... since then i have contained my dogs better but hers still runs the neighbourhood.... at least my butt is covered..

What a horrible thing to have happened.  I think this goes to show how important it is to report a loose dog that attacks, or is aggressive.  I think the pit owner would have an easier time of things (with law, AC, etc) if there is a documented history of the dobe having been loose, attacking other dogs, etc.

Sheesh how awful to be in that situation. I'm glad your friend had her dog there or who knows what would have happened. I'm sorry for both dogs but hopefully kain will be returned home after the quarentine.

Wow.
Im sorry that this happened.
Im sorry for the Dobe that was not contained properly, sorry for Kain for having to go through that and for the repurcussions that he may face, and sorry for the family and children that went through it.

I am glad, though, that Kain is a hero.

I am so sorry for all involved. 
 
Please keep us up to date on Kain and let us know if we can do anything should it become neccesary.
 
 

Respectfully, leave the media out of it unless there is no other option.  The current climate about dogs and bites etc is volatile; any press needs to be in a positive light.  My assumption is the general public would focus on dobe, pitt, dead.  Not something I would want to add to fuel the fires of BSL or other legislation.

I STRONGLY second contacting an attorney and starting legal procedings against the dobe owner before the quarentine period ends.  The best defense is a good offense,  make sure you have the attorney include compensation for the children's emotional upset etc.

OMG!  How horrible for your friend, her kids, Kain & the 10 y/o kid.  Good doggie vibes to Kain.  Just a thought.  If his family can visit, can they take a favorite toy for Kain or his bedding or something that might remind him of home & make him feel a little better?

How horrible!This is a tough situation because you don't want to make dobies look bad,but once again its the fault of an irresponsible owner[&o]I will be keeping kain and his family in my thoughts and prayers.

This story makes me so sad for the Kain and his family.  They are being punished for someone else's mistake.  I don't know if anyone has brought this up but how do her neighbors feel about the dobe?  If it comes to it, maybe getting their take on him would be one avenue for proving his viciousness?  Especially if your friend says the owner kept that dobe outside and the others in.  Can't say anything good for him regarding his behavior around other dogs.
I do hope Kain can be reunited with his family soon.  Thinking about him sitting there in that cage all by his lonesome, wondering what went wrong, is so depressing.

oh come now. A dog charges at people barking and growling, on what he considers his turf, is not an attack unless he actually bit someone. Odds are all he was going to do was run around them barking in an attempt to chase them away from his property. And a pit bull killed him.  The dobe is the true victim.
 
Anyone setting foot on my property gets a pack of dogs charging at them barking. They don't attack, they just charge.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

oh come now. A dog charges at people barking and growling, on what he considers his turf, is not an attack unless he actually bit someone. Odds are all he was going to do was run around them barking in an attempt to chase them away from his property. And a pit bull killed him.  The dobe is the true victim.

That dobe wasn't a victim - he was a volunteer. 

And charging and barking IS a form of dog aggression.  The pit responded.  A pit that has taken a nip from a dog before, and never reacted. 

Would the dobe have bitten?  We'll never know.  And one woman and 5 kids are probably pretty thankful to have not been the "test."  Given Kain's excellent track record with dogs, I'm inclined to believe him that the doberman represented a true threat. 

there is a distant relative in my family that had her face ripped off by a dobie... there was a male and female living next door, the girl was only three.. playing in her backyard -yes a fence between them - parents were inside.. all they know is their baby had to have plastic surgery because two dogs came through the fence. you DONT leave kids alone when dogs are around. ever.

both dogs and the kids are the victims. the boy holding the leash saw his dog killed in front of him, the kids with the pit watched their dog kill another.. and the mother was terrified that her own kids or herself would be bitten.
no we'll never know if the dobie was going to attack or not, but to be honest and speaking from a mother's POV... i would put myself between my own kids and a charging dog... and yes i would willing kill that animal if it was obvious about trying to hurt me or my family. BOTH dogs were doing their jobs. the dobie was protecting his turf, the pit was protecting his family.
the real problem was the dobie's owner assuming her kid could hold on to the dog. you just CANT assume that! no matter how strong you think your kid is, or how well behaved your dog acts. I would never hand my dog's leash over to a kid under the age of 10. and over the age of 10 i HAVE to be standing right there.... my dogs wont listen to anyone else but me and my husband - the alphas - a kid is just a pup... its stupid, ignorant, and needs protecting.

one thing i am inclined to disagree with is the dobie got close enough to be attacked by a pit on a leash. the pit was behind his owner, if he stepped out... that's pretty danged close... too close.. that dobie wanted some action. if he was going to charge and run a circle around, he would have kept about 8 to ten feet... out of striking range.... i've been charged and circled by rogue dogs while walking my own... they dont get that close... if its a bluff then it would be obvious. a bluffing dog has a good sence of self preservation. he has no desire to fight, kill, or die, but he wants the threat to go away. so if he acts bad enough then maybe it will... fighting is a last resort for a dog that wants to bluff.

and since none of us were there, and there is no video footage of the incident we can only guess about how it happened based on the second hand description.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

oh come now. A dog charges at people barking and growling, on what he considers his turf, is not an attack unless he actually bit someone. Odds are all he was going to do was run around them barking in an attempt to chase them away from his property. And a pit bull killed him.  The dobe is the true victim.

 
Are you serious? I hope you are being sarcastic.
 
A dog charges at a family barking and growling and he's the victim? As for him considering the street "his turf" tough noodles. The street isn't his turf.
 
Running around them barking to drive them off? Wouldn't that be better expressed as "threatening to hurt them in an attempt to scare them off?"
 
The charging dog was acting as if his intent was to injure the people or the dog ON THE LEASH  The dog on the leash is allowed to protect himself and the family. PERIOD.
 
If a strange man charges at me screaming "I'll kill you" while brandishing a knife and I can stab him with a sword when he gets to a couple of feet away, then I get to defend myself.  Ditto for a dog or human when a dog charges at them barking and growling. When threat to injure is clearly communicated you are allowed to defend yourself.
 
If you were alone on a walk with a cane in hand and you believed the dog running at you was going to attack you would you wait until after you were bitten to raise your cane in defense? Or would you wait until the dog was a couple of feet away??? Which would be about as close as the dobe got in this case?

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

Anyone setting foot on my property gets a pack of dogs charging at them barking. They don't attack, they just charge.

 
Big difference: YOUR PROPERTY.
 
Do your dogs charge people walking by your house on a public street?

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy
oh come now. A dog charges at people barking and growling, on what he considers his turf, is not an attack unless he actually bit someone. Odds are all he was going to do was run around them barking in an attempt to chase them away from his property. And a pit bull killed him.  The dobe is the true victim.
 
Anyone setting foot on my property gets a pack of dogs charging at them barking. They don't attack, they just charge.

 
While I do feel bad for the dobe, too, since he obviously had an incredibly irreponsible owner, your comment baffles me. Kain and his family were not on this dog's "turf", they were on a public sidewalk (or street, or whatever).  They weren't tromping around in their neighbor's yard.  The dog saw them, charged, and escaped the little boy's control.  You can speculate all you want that he was probably all bark and no bite, but you have no way of knowing what would have happened if he hadn't been stopped.  Neither did anyone else involved in that situation, including Kain.  I don't think you can blame a dog, pit bull or not, for defending its family if they are seemingly in danger.  Granted, many dogs wouldn't have had the same reaction, and perhaps Kain's reaction was out of proportion for what would have happened if he hadn't intervened, but it's impossible to say for sure.  Given the fact that Kain had, up until that point, gotten along with other dogs (even those who engaged in annoying behavior toward him), I'd say that he "sensed" something about the dobe's approach and reacted on instinct.  The fact that the dobe got close enough to be killed by an on-leash dog tells me that he was not simply in "threatening" mode.  If a barking, aggressive dog got that close to me or my child, I damn well would consider it an attack.
 
If your dogs charge people who walk on public sidewalks/streets near your house, I think you've got a real problem.  That's aggressive behavior, whether or not a bite is involved.  I'd say it's a lawsuit waiting to happen, not to mention an extremely inconsiderate and frightening situation for your neighbors.