Dangerous Dogs?

[Cry Wolf]

We have a pit bull by where I live. I never thought too much about them even though they are in the media a lot, until this summer. This one keeps roaming the neighborhood. The kids scream and run into their houses even though the dog seems friendly.

Do you believe certain breeds are dangerous despite environment and how they are raised?

[FreedomRings]

I know a guy that properly trained pitbulls and his was well behaved, I never feared him, but I think they take alot of work and in the wrong hands they are very dangerous. If he is running the neighborhood, keep the kids away he obviously is not well cared for and anytihng can happen.

[Highc95]

Some dogs like pitbulls, and rotweilers, have the greater potential (muscle, and "testosterone") to be agressive i guess.

[SeekNDestroy]

Some dogs like pitbulls, and rotweilers, have the greater potential (muscle, and "testosterone") to be agressive i guess.

Not quite. It depends on how the dog is raised. If a dog is raised properly, it will be a great dog. If not, it's going to be a hell-raiser.

[MTC140]

Even if it's a well trained dog, it's still a dog...Pitbulls have the mindset to kill.

And go ahead and rip me anyone of you, I don't care it happened to me I got mauled when I was 12 years old and I'm still terrified. The dog was always friendly to me, always, and then it snapped...It doesn't matter how friendly it is. **** happens.

[Highc95]

Not quite. It depends on how the dog is raised. If a dog is raised properly, it will be a great dog. If not, it's going to be a hell-raiser.

Yea but when you go to get a guard dog, you dont go to get a nice yellow lab. You go to get a rot or a pit.

[Cry Wolf]

Even if it's a well trained dog, it's still a dog...Pitbulls have the mindset to kill.

And go ahead and rip me anyone of you, I don't care it happened to me I got mauled when I was 12 years old and I'm still terrified. The dog was always friendly to me, always, and then it snapped...It doesn't matter how friendly it is. **** happens.


That is what is disturbing is that you hear stories of dogs snapping all the time. I am sorry to hear it happened to you.

[Mr. White]

Yea but when you go to get a guard dog, you dont go to get a nice yellow lab. You go to get a rot or a pit.
I agree somewhat, but any dog has the potential to snap. Usually there are signs though. I knew a girl who had a black lab that they always thought was a little unstable. One time it snapped on her, and if she had been a little quicker at turning her head away (the natural reflex), it would have gotten her right on the throat.
It also could have been the way it was raised to be a hunting dog, hardly receiving any attention or affection like most people are with their pets. BTW did anyone see what Deion Sanders said about how he thinks Vick loved those dogs? Weird

[SeekNDestroy]

Yea but when you go to get a guard dog, you dont go to get a nice yellow lab. You go to get a rot or a pit.


Yes, you are going to get a Rot or a Pit, but it's how you train those dogs. You can train it to guard, like it should, or you can train it to be a psychotic beast. It all depends on how it is trained.

[ScoobysMom]

Unit I was in I went on a few search warrants with the animal abuse team and the way many of the pits are treated is really sad. Some of the stuff we found was disgusting. I can say out of all the warrants I was on not one of those pits we rescued attacked us. They looked at us like "thank God we are saved." Being a dog lover it was very disheartening to find these animals in the shape they were in. Vick should be burned at the stake!. Oh if he is guilty of course.

[Cry Wolf]

http://newsgirl.org/news/ng11264_ving.htm

Interesting considering the thread subject.

[wraslinmom]

My father in law who works for CPD had one of the first canine dogs in Chicago a German Shepard named Guido. The canine dogs are very well trained but no matter how well trained they are animals and no matter what the breed they all have the potential to be dangerous.
I have a Rotwieler, a lab rot mix and a cocker poo out of all these I think the cocker poo would be the one I .would be afraid of biting. As a responsible dog owner I do not leave anyone unattended with my animals and have my yard clearly marked and my dogs no matter how well trained they are NEVER are off a leash. Is it in the training absolutely is it also a breed thing I dont know. We hear so much in the media about pit bull attacks I would be curious to see the stats on some of the other breeds. Now that being said I still do not think I could bring myself to own a pitbull no matter how well trained they are.

[FreedomRings]

http://newsgirl.org/news/ng11264_ving.htm

Interesting considering the thread subject.

Yes and a Mastiff is a huge dog. They can weigh anywhere from 110 to 350 lbs, but they are usually gentle. I wonder what caused them to snap? Scary stuff.

[Neuquafan]

Yes, you are going to get a Rot or a Pit, but it's how you train those dogs. You can train it to guard, like it should, or you can train it to be a psychotic beast. It all depends on how it is trained.

This is pretty painful to share because it brings up a pretty hard time my family went through... so take it easy on me here :o

My mother was mauled by the family Rottweiler. Mom was watching my kids. She was trying to coax my toddler son into his winter jacket to go pick my daughter up from school and she began tickling him to improve his mood. The dog mistook this for aggression and mistook my son's laughter as anguish and responded the way a dog that loves his family would. My mother was even living with us at the time but the dog doted on the kids.

She had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. She made a full recovery but it was traumatic and she was left with terrible scars and physical therapy she never planned on.

The dog was shot at by local police (they missed) when they were rescuing my mom. Our dog was ultimately put to sleep (ironically, it broke my heart despite the surrounding circumstances).

All I'll add to this discussion is that eternal vigilance becomes the price you have to pay when you choose to keep a Rottie or similar breed as a family pet.

We have a Labrador now.

[Grappler177]

You do hear a lot in the news about pit bulls, and they are used a lot in fighting but there is a reason beyond their looks and history. A pit bull is said to have one of the strongest jaws of any dog around. It also is a breed that will bite and hang on for long periods of time, rather than letting go. Most other breeds get tired (or bored) after 10 - 30 seconds. For that reason, many who train dogs to fight choose pit bulls. This is not to say they are the only breed that fights, but they do have that advantage.

On that note, I read a few month back about a guy that would train his pit bull to clamp on my having him lock on to something then suspending him from a tree. The article said he would leave him there for hours and the dog would not let go.

For this reason far more pit bulls are trained to fight. Throw in the back yard urban types that really have no clue (not to say that any of them have a clue but ...) and you have a reciepe for disaster.

[Grappler177]

This is pretty painful to share because it brings up a pretty hard time my family went through... so take it easy on me here :o

My mother was mauled by the family Rottweiler. Mom was watching my kids. She was trying to coax my toddler son into his winter jacket to go pick my daughter up from school and she began tickling him to improve his mood. The dog mistook this for aggression and mistook my son's laughter as anguish and responded the way a dog that loves his family would. My mother was even living with us at the time but the dog doted on the kids.

She had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. She made a full recovery but it was traumatic and she was left with terrible scars and physical therapy she never planned on.

The dog was shot at by local police (they missed) when they were rescuing my mom. Our dog was ultimately put to sleep (ironically, it broke my heart despite the surrounding circumstances).

All I'll add to this discussion is that eternal vigilance becomes the price you have to pay when you choose to keep a Rottie or similar breed as a family pet.

We have a Labrador now.

Sorry that you had to live through that - your mother too.

Rottweilers are known to be great with children and extremely protective of those they are around. That said, I can understand why it attacked when it mistook your mom's actions for something else. Most breeds that are protective of children are similar (though not many have the power of a rottweiler).

We had a German Shepard that LOVED my daughters and I had received a few growls and stares when in the middle of disciplining the children. The fact that I was master made me not worry about it, in fact I liked that he thougt to protect my kids. Of course, your story add an angle I had not considered.

On a lighter note, how did the police miss? What, trouble getting the bullet out of his shirt pocket and then in a rush? ;-)

[Neuquafan]

On a lighter note, how did the police miss? What, trouble getting the bullet out of his shirt pocket and then in a rush? ;-)

I still have no idea... they were ten feet from a dog that was standing still. They did shoot my house, though... and they had to practically remove all of the vinyl siding to retrieve the bullet for their report.

[MTC140]

Lab's are the way to go...or Boxer's I love my Boxer =)

But those other dogs just scare the living hell out of me.

[ScoobysMom]

I still have no idea... they were ten feet from a dog that was standing still. They did shoot my house, though... and they had to practically remove all of the vinyl siding to retrieve the bullet for their report.
Obviouslly not all cops are sharp shooters:(

Tragic story, I am glad I said no when my husband wanted a rot.
We had an incident in our neighborhood about 4 years ago. My husband heard what sounded like a baby screaming, when he looked outside about 8 houses away all he could see was a bunch of men attempting to beat a dog that was attacking something. My husband thought it was a child and with gun in hand ran to the scene. Once we got there we found it was a pitbull attacking our neighbors dog (10 year old Water Spaniel). My husband shot and killed the pit. The scary thing is my neighbor was walking her dog with baby in hand and it could have very well have been them. There were 2 off duty fireman beating the dog with kel lights and hosing him (go figure), but the pit would not release the other dog.
This turned out to be a nightmare for my husband and I and the neighbors who's dog was mauled as the pitbull ownes put in complaints to CPD telling them that both my husband and I were harassing them ( which was investigated and we were exonerated), which was not the case and in fact there angel was caught playing ring and run on both our home and the neighbors. This nonsense went on for over a year(they also threatend to get our kids) until they got tired of there kids going to jail and finally moved.We became the bad guys because they allowed thier dangerous dog to run the neighborhood.

[Grappler177]

Lab's are the way to go...or Boxer's I love my Boxer =)

But those other dogs just scare the living hell out of me.

I don't know ... the lab we have now is as dumb as a box of rocks. Nice enough dog, great with the kids but just plain dumb.

Give me a good German Shepard any day

[MTC140]

Trained labs are usually pretty smart when trained right.

[Cry Wolf]

My lab is 9 and she is perfect. Of course she was dumb as could be until she was about 6 years old or so.

[Grappler177]

My lab is 9 and she is perfect. Of course she was dumb as could be until she was about 6 years old or so.

Great! 5 more years of this. :D

[wraslinmom]

Nequa sorry your family had to go through that.

we had a black lab and it took him about 4 years for his brain to grow in. He lived to be 12 and we had to put him down.

[DawgeatDawg2]

My theory on dogs, they eat and crap on the floor. And, if you need to guard your stuff, call State Farm.

[Cry Wolf]

Interesting considering your name DawgeatDawg2.

[DawgeatDawg2]

Interesting considering your name DawgeatDawg2.

You got me there.

[Duckunder132]

I used to read meters for Com Ed back in the day and had my fill of dogs!
From my experience, Dalmations, Pit Bulls, Schnaussers (sp?) are the worst! I had a friend who had a dalmation and lunged at their new born baby while it was sleeping on the mom's lap and bit her in the face. A lot of plastic surgery and thank God she was OK.

On another note, we had Standard Poodles growing up a kid and while not being considered a "manly" dog, they were smart, good retrievers, protective and pretty tough when threatened. Mine kicked the crap out of a neighbor's Alaskan Malmute even while he was tied on a chain!

[Cry Wolf]

Well, my pitbulls better be vicious, otherwise they get to know what a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the face feels like.


What? Are you special kid or what?

[KaleM]

What do you mean?

[DawgeatDawg2]

What do you mean?

Now that's funny.

[FreedomRings]

What do you mean?


I think they mean special, like special ed. Ouch

[.techfall4u.]

I have a yellow lab who is 13 and still living strong. Though occasionally her hips bother her. When she was younger she would not like little dogs though. she sees them as furry little demons who might be fun to chew. And we always had to feed her seperate from the other lab because she sees herself as the alphadog and thinks she can have both dogs' food. But that wouldnt go over well with my other dog and they would growl and nip at eachother and i would break them up. now she is living the highlife in my room without other dogs. But she is the best dog you could ever have because she would do any thing to hang out with you and be near you.

[Amanda Donovan]

I have a yellow lab who is 13 and still living strong. Though occasionally her hips bother her. When she was younger she would not like little dogs though. she sees them as furry little demons who might be fun to chew. And we always had to feed her seperate from the other lab because she sees herself as the alphadog and thinks she can have both dogs' food. But that wouldnt go over well with my other dog and they would growl and nip at eachother and i would break them up. now she is living the highlife in my room without other dogs. But she is the best dog you could ever have because she would do any thing to hang out with you and be near you.


We have a lab that is wonderful. I love her dearly and she has been the greatest dog. They have fantastic personalities.

[Tokeepufit]

I currently have three yellow labs. Two of them are six years old and we now have the baby of the family who is 8 months. These dogs are tremendous with everyone in which they encounter. I have taken a great deal of time to train them and am never concerned with their interactions with others. In my opinion, this breed of dog has the best temperament. We have a two year old son in which all three are great with, respond to his commands, and are his wrestling mates and tackling dummies.