In which a Pit Bull attacks my puppy

[Midorikawa]

So wife and I have been going to Dry Canyon for some hiking. We've been fine taking Mogli off his leash, but because there were other dogs around, we felt it was safer keeping him on. Good thing we did, because a family of 4 with 3 pit bulls, only the kids, ranging from I'd guess 6-10 had the dogs' leashes. The youngest allowed the only vicious dog to get away, who went straight for Mogli.

I yelled in alarm, and grabbed the pit by the collar, which came off in my hand.

At that point, I realized the mom of the 3 kids was standing doing fuck all to help out, and a close by couple was trying to separate the two. "fuck it" I thought, and kicked the pit full on in the ribs with my steel toed boots. The dog flew off the trail and into a ditch, didn't even pause, and kept attacking. By this point, Mogli was attacking too trying to defend the wife and I, and it was taking all my energy to stay ahead of Mogli, much less keep the pit back.

Me: "I'll fucking kick you into last week, mutt!"
Family: *stands and does nothing*
*pit sees me coming and runs, then tries to sneak around me through the brush on the side of the trail*
Family: *watches the pit run by them, STILL does nothing*
Helpful couple: WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A DOG THIS AGGRESSIVE OUT?! HE SHOULD STAY AT HOME!!
*pit gets close enough for me to take another swing at the dog, but he dodges, and runs away again.*
Family: *stands around like vegetables*

Helpful couple finally corrals the dog, and gets the collar put back on him. I'm fuming, my heart's skipping beats, and I'm ready to shoot the family for putting our lives in danger with such a dangerous dog. After all this, the family CONTINUES ON THE TRAIL AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED!

Had I not been on such an adrenaline rush, I'd have filed a police report, and demanded the dog be put down for being a danger to people. I'm also torn. Had I had my firearm, I wouldn't have hesitated to put the dog down right then and there. I wouldn't have wanted to kill a family 'pet' in front of such young kids, but dammit, the dog was attacking my dog, and for all I knew, trying to get to us. I still find myself wishing I was carrying today on that trail.

Mogli came out of it slobbered on, and definitely full of adrenaline, but otherwise unharmed. The pit probably is pretty bruised, and will maybe need to see a vet. Hopefully the vet will realize what really happened and turn the dog in, but doubtful. In all reality, I feel sorry for that pit for having poor upbringing.

On second thought, forget putting the pit down. Put the family down. </rant>

[Green_Fairy]

i fully agree with you. that dog and family needs some serious training. i hate it when people get pets and then do nothing with them. and then they wonder why they aren't well behaved. it takes more than food and water to be a good pet owner. not to thread jack, but there's a dog in my neighborhood that damned near jumps over a 4 foot fence every time someone walks by. no training or discipline at all.
i'm glad you and yours came out of it relatively unscathed. and i really hope the family does something about that dog

[Nurian]

Jesus Christ...

You can often tell a lot about people from the way they raise their pets. Pitbulls, rottweilers, and other "attack dogs" don't start out that way. If the family ignores the pet or abuses it, it'll turn mean.

That being said, I'd say that animal may be too far gone. I'm just glad you were there to protect your puppy. But had it been me, the next one to receive a boot in the ribs would have been the parents.

I'm glad Mowgli is okay. Good work!

[Mishi]

High holy frack-monkeys! I'm glad to hear Mogli's okay though, he's sooo cute. Completely agree with Nurian, it depends on the owner and those owners shouldn't be allowed either dogs or children.

[XCashier]

I'm sorry that happened to you and Mogli. I'm glad you had help from the Helpful Couple, but that family has no business owning dogs if they won't train them properly or keep them from attacking others (leaving a six-year-old to control the leash?! ).

[pitmonkey]

You would have been justified to protect yourself from the dog. To have the family just stand there and watch, I wonder if this was the first time this happened. A dog like that will soon attack a child. As to shooting it, that all depends what is on the other side of the dog.

[draggar]

You need to file a police report ASAP. There is NOTHING from stopping the family from filing one against you "some guy ran up to our dog and kicked it for no reason". You need to do this ASAP to protect your rear end and your puppy.

You also need to get your dog established. People are learning what American vs. western European vs. eaastern European dogs look like and the eastern ones are getting a bad reputation for being "attack" dogs. Get your dog trained ASAP and I would highly recommend at least a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) on him as soon as you can - it can help if you ever have to defend your dog's rights. Right now, the way the laws are written larger breed dogs are at a huge disadvantage. Even a correction or a play bite from a GSD can severely injure or kill a smaller breed and judges typically side with the injured dog - even if it was attacking the larger dog.

I would also look into local schutzhund clubs in your area (send me a list and I'll see if I can find out which one is the best) to get the dog trained on restraint and give you more control over the dog.

You can often tell a lot about people from the way they raise their pets. Pitbulls, rottweilers, and other "attack dogs" don't start out that way. If the family ignores the pet or abuses it, it'll turn mean.

It's clear that the family didn't give that dog an ounce of socialization outside of their home. The family needs to be taught that this is not acceptable.

You would have been justified to protect yourself from the dog. To have the family just stand there and watch, I wonder if this was the first time this happened. A dog like that will soon attack a child. As to shooting it, that all depends what is on the other side of the dog.

True. The dog was off lead (the family had NO control over it), it went after your dog (and possibly you) unprovoked, and it was on public property. I've had experience with similar (when Kiri was attacked by a pit - the owner would just stand there and watch but then yell at me when I tried to defend myself).

It's stories like this that makes me want to develop one of my "pit bull" related domains.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

To have the family just stand there and watch, I wonder if this was the first time this happened. A dog like that will soon attack a child. .

I was gonna say the same, it's only a matter of time before some kid is getting their face stitched back together (or worse).

I seriously doubt it is the first time this has happened. These breeds get a bad rep because people frequently GET those breeds becuase they like having a "big, scary dog." It sort of makes them feel like they actually have a penis. Those are the sorts of pet owners that make SURE they have a "big, scary dog" if you know what I mean. They treat the dog in such a way to assure it. And when their dog attacks someone or another dog, they get off on it.

I have seen people actually let their dog off the leash when they saw someone else so they dog could run over and terrorize the other person. Someone did it to me (which backfired because I was armed with a machete, a cellphone, an extremely nasty attitude, and an appetite for mayhem) and some other peckerless douche did it to my sister in a park (and that backfired because she was armed with a Rhodesian Ridgeback...you know, the dog that was bred to hunt lions...and a pair of steel toed boots. The peckerless douche in my sister's case actually got mad because she kicked the shit out of his dog (he decided to retreat when she offered to kick the shit out of him instead. Yeah, real man there.)

These people are everywhere. Anybody who just stands around while a stranger is being attacked by their dog is in compliance with the attack.

[jedimaster91]

I seriously doubt it is the first time this has happened. These breeds get a bad rep because people frequently GET those breeds becuase they like having a "big, scary dog."

Kinda OT, but there were two English Bull Mastiff brothers at the humane society a couple weeks ago (not sure if they've since been adopted, but I hope so). If you've never seen one, they are massive. They could probably eat a pit for breakfast. But "Big Mike" was the laziest, most gentle dog I think I've ever seen. Such a sweet heart. He looks scary, but he's a big baby. So if anyone wanted him because he's a "big, scary dog" they're going to be quite disappointed.

Back on topic, please do report this. Not only will it cover you and your dog, but it will help establish a pattern (because this will happen again) for animal control to step in.

[Midorikawa]

As to shooting it, that all depends what is on the other side of the dog.

Initially, the dog was in direct line of sight between us and those kids. I would not have fired in that instance. After kicking him, he was off to the side, and I could have put a .45 round in him safely without other people being nearby.

You need to file a police report ASAP. There is NOTHING from stopping the family from filing one against you "some guy ran up to our dog and kicked it for no reason". You need to do this ASAP to protect your rear end and your puppy.

Good point. I'll file one today.

You also need to get your dog established. People are learning what American vs. western European vs. eaastern European dogs look like and the eastern ones are getting a bad reputation for being "attack" dogs. Get your dog trained ASAP and I would highly recommend at least a CGC (Canine Good Citizen) on him as soon as you can - it can help if you ever have to defend your dog's rights. Right now, the way the laws are written larger breed dogs are at a huge disadvantage. Even a correction or a play bite from a GSD can severely injure or kill a smaller breed and judges typically side with the injured dog - even if it was attacking the larger dog.

I would also look into local schutzhund clubs in your area (send me a list and I'll see if I can find out which one is the best) to get the dog trained on restraint and give you more control over the dog.

There's only one Schutzhund club in the state, and it's up in west jordan, according to google anyways. As for the CGC, he needs a bit more training on distractions, and not "OOOPEOPLE!!!!HIHIHIHIHIHI!HOWAREYOU?!"ing before he'd pass that class. Beyond that, he'd pass with flying colors, as is.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

And people wonder why some municipalities want to enact bans on pit bulls and similarly large dogs. It's because of breathing meat like these people who turn their dogs violent.

Perhaps the parents will see the error of their ways when one of their kids becomes the dog's chew toy. But I doubt it.

[draggar]

There's only one Schutzhund club in the state, and it's up in west jordan, according to google anyways. As for the CGC, he needs a bit more training on distractions, and not "OOOPEOPLE!!!!HIHIHIHIHIHI!HOWAREYOU?!"ing before he'd pass that class. Beyond that, he'd pass with flying colors, as is.

That shouldn't be too hard for you to get past. As for schutzhund clubs, there are many all over the place that are not USA or DVG affiliated and these can be better - they concentrate more on training the dogs than politics but may be harder to find.

Where are you (general locations)?

And people wonder why some municipalities want to enact bans on pit bulls and similarly large dogs. It's because of breathing meat like these people who turn their dogs violent.

Perhaps the parents will see the error of their ways when one of their kids becomes the dog's chew toy. But I doubt it.

The parents will learn and blame it on the dog - not themselves. Personally I'm against breed specific legislation since it is rarely the breed (there are only a couple of breeds that are bred to be aggressive towards humans but I don't think any of them are in the USA), 99.99% of the time it is the owners (the rest is issues like rage syndrome etc..).

[Midorikawa]

Where are you (general locations)?

I'm in Northern Utah, just south of Salt Lake City.

[draggar]

If you're just south of Salt Lake then West Jordan shouldn't be that far (accoridng to Mapquest).

The one that was recommended was that club, too (and I requested a club that put training / improving the dog and handler above politics):

http://wasatchhundesport.com/

If a drive is making you hesitant - my wife aqnd I drive close to an hour (each way) to our schutzhund club at least once a week - they're worth it.

[Midorikawa]

If a drive is making you hesitant - my wife aqnd I drive close to an hour (each way) to our schutzhund club at least once a week - they're worth it.

The drive isn't a problem. I grew up in West Texas, where it's at least 5 hours drive to anything. I've driven 6 hours before to go to a concert as a teen. :-) We'll have to get him enrolled in the club when either of us is off saturdays. (currently, we're both working saturday mornings. I work 8-5, and she works 7-3 or so.) Since the meeting is saturdays at 9, neither of us can make it.