Police activity!

[thegiraffe]

Seeing police activity in/around our store rarely happens, so there's always a buzz when it does.

Saturday, I was coming back to work from break (I live a mile from work). There was a rather large Pitt Bull** in the bed of a pickup in the parking lot barking at people as they walked by...and just barking in general. It was obviously an aggressive bark, and a few times I was afraid it was going to jump out of the truck, as it wasn't chained in. I let the ASM know as a heads-up (though I'm not sure why anyone would go near it, IMHO).

Anyhow...about 10 mins later, one of the office guys went on the PA: "Will the owner of the gray Ford F-150 in the parking lot please come to the front doors?" I immediately perked up (and was in the lobby, so I heard/saw this all happen) because I knew what truck that was. The dude was there in like 0.5 seconds, and said "did he jump out?". D, the office guy, said: "no, the cops are out there. They asked me to get you". The dude swore and ran outside.

I'm not sure what happened beyond that, other than they were out there for a good long while, and I didn't see the guy come back in the store.

Lesson: Don't leave a dog with that kind of reputation in the bed of your truck not chained up so it can terrorize people. That's dog parenting 101, guys.

**Disclaimer** I love dogs. I do. There are even some Pitt Bulls that I'm quite fond of. One of them sits on my lap for a scratch when I'm at 'his' house. HOWEVER...regardless of the opinion that it's ingrained in them or they're trained that way, the fact is these dogs have a reputation. I'm familiar with an aggressive bark (I have a large dog), and this dog's bark was very aggressive. There are some breeds that, no matter how sweet THAT dog may be, it's just not smart to leave them like that. What would have happened if the dog felt threatened? Someone could have been killed. Any other discussion would have to go to Fratching...for risk of being banned. **

[Fawn]

Oh! I want to know what happened?!?! You left me with a good story but no ending! Must poke around and discover what happened Pleaaaaase!

[chawksftw]

Oh, but don't you know that everyone's dogs are nice, happy, sweet and harmless? Until they tear someone's face off, that is.

I'm not sure why so many people love those aggressive dogs. Whatever happened to people liking sweet dogs like golden retrievers and labs?

[marty]

Poor pup. I hope nothing happened to the dog.

[Ree]

Just a polite reminder not to turn this into a debate of one breed vs. another, or whether certain breeds are just misunderstood.
(See the OP for giraffe's request on that point.)

[thegiraffe]

Oh! I want to know what happened?!?! You left me with a good story but no ending! Must poke around and discover what happened Pleaaaaase!

I'm not sure what happened. The dude was pretty irate and I didn't see him come back into the store. Hopefully he was cited for...something. I don't care WHAT kind of dog it is...leaving it open to torment and being unsupervised can agitate even the calmest dog into defending itself.

I hope he learned a lesson.

[Emrld]

Poor puppy . . .
and oh my gosh owner's first thought is the dog might have jumped out . . .seriously whatever breed pet if you know it might could possibly jump out . . .may not be the best option to leave it alone in the bed.

[BlaqueKatt]

I'm not sure why so many people love those aggressive dogs. Whatever happened to people liking sweet dogs like golden retrievers and labs?

actually a bull terrier (commonly known as a pit bull) scores higher on the temperment scale(meaning friendlier-less tempermental/aggressive) than a golden retriever-any dog can be trained to be aggressive, or passive* I've been attacked by a very vicious chihuahua and almost licked/cuddled to death by a German rottwieler(German bloodlines are MUCH larger than the american version-think almost Great Dane sized Rottie)-So I'm generally terrified of smaller dogs.


*Just stating known proven facts not starting a debate

[Saydrah]

Amen, BlaqueKatt

You don't live in an area with a pit ban, do you? If you do, they probably put the dog down but hopefully they cited the owner for a dangerous dog ordinance and required him to attend obedience classes, or something along those lines.

[PorkChop]

The majority of pits I have seen around here are big babies. Meaning, they are huge wusses.

I used to work in a vet clinic and the pits would try to sit in their owners lap! The most vicious dogs I have seen in the clinic were chihuahuas and labs.

I'm not saying that all Chihuahuas and labs are mean. I have met a couple chihuahuas at the clinic who are calm and relax and who wouldn't even think about biting anyone.
Alot of labs are loveable and jumpy dogs who want to slobber all over you.

[iradney]

Leaving a dog where it can be tormented by passers by is asking for trouble. Is it safe to assume the pickup didn't have a covering over the bed? Coz if it didn't, then not only can the dog jump out, it can also be stolen

[thegiraffe]

Leaving a dog where it can be tormented by passers by is asking for trouble. Is it safe to assume the pickup didn't have a covering over the bed? Coz if it didn't, then not only can the dog jump out, it can also be stolen

Yeah, it was just the bed. I thought for sure he was going to jump out a couple times. He likely would have gone straight for the store and inside to find his owner. Gah...that would have been a NIGHTMARE lol...

[cinema guy]

My next door neighbour has a Rottweiler. It barks like crazy whenevr anyone comes to my house or theirs. A while ago it got out into my back garden, apperntly having bashed its way through a wooden fence. I went to ny next door neighbours and knocked on their door to try and tell them, when the dog came round the front and barked at me. I'm only a little guy and that dog is pratically as big as I am. My life flashed before my eyes, I though my end had come. Then it got bored and ran off up the road to bother and old lady before running off.

Back to the point, aggressive dogs scare the bejezus out of me. No dogs should be left untethered and unwatched in public.

[PepperElf]

Just a polite reminder not to turn this into a debate of one breed vs. another, or whether certain breeds are just misunderstood.
(See the OP for giraffe's request on that point.)

off topic... this just reminded me of a line from "Fool On The Hill" by Matt Ruff.
The best breed of dog is the breed that believes there is no best breed.

back to topic...
as for breed tendencies... my belief is that "there is no such thing as an accident"

i saw a rottie once, and he looked totally sweet - basically a big doggie happy to be out with his master.
then i looked at the dog's owner and realized... the man had properly trained the dog from the start, never stopped training, and always made sure that no accident would ever be possible.

for example, he had a special collar with links that turned inward - not a cruel one, just one that ensured the doggie would not be able to get out of control. he always kept the dog in his attention, didn't wander off leaving him alone. and when i asked to pet the dog, he scratched the doggie's face to ensure the animal didn't get upset.


but this truck guy.... you don't leave your doggy by itself in the car. it's unsafe. and i dont just mean the doggie would bite someone... it's unsafe for the dog because there are jerks out there who will try to kill it just for fun, or even for hatred of the breed. so it's safer for the dog to not be left out in a parking lot by itself.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

When I was a kid I was walking through a parking lot with my Mother on a very hot summer day and we saw a dog that had been chained to the back of a pickup. the pickup metal was hot to the touch and so was the pavement. The dog kept jumping around the back of the truck, then tried jumping onto the pavement, yelping in pain each time. My little sister started to cry, the dog was obviously in pain.

Somebody went inside and used the business phone to call the police and they came out and took the dog away. (B.C.P---Before Cell Phones)

When the guy came back out there was a crowd of people waiting for him. It was not pretty. My Mother made us get in the car and she drove away when it started to get ugly.