Shooting Dogs

[AMC]

Archaeological and anthropological (as well as genetic) evidence suggests dogs are our oldest animal companions/helpers (going back maybe as far as 30,000 years). We not only shaped them, they shaped us. Since our girl is half Carolina Dog, we've been doing a lot of study of Pariah dog breeds and other "first dogs". Fascinating stuff. We call them Man's best Friend for a reason. While we know she isn't human, our girl very clearly believes she is part of the family. Not territorial at all, really, but very protective of the wife and kids. Showed that recently when the neighbors two dogs barked at her while my daughter had her on leash in front of the house. She went absolutely bananas. Took it as a threat to my daughter, and went after them. Lab and a Labradoodle.....they retreated fast in the face of a definite "I'mnotbluffingI'llfreakingkillyouboth!!!" Charge. Neighbor wasn't upset....saw our girl was being protective. Said that display should make me feel comfortable being away from the house at night.

[JAD]

Genesis 2:25.5, "Then the Lord God made the dog out of Adam's toenail, as a sort of apology," has been deleted from modern texts, probably under the influence of cats.

[Rex G]

Notably, usually smaller dogs are more aggressive than larger ones. A friend of mine from high school who helps train working dogs and does bite work has observed and heard from other trainers about this tendency.

I've had lots of encounters with the breeds most folks associate with as aggressive, the most they've done is licked me half to death. Then there's this chihuahua near my house that used to run at me and my wife when we would go for walks, who came close to being punted in to the nearby lake on several occasions.

I've had folks who were scared of the Husky I used to have (had to put him down for age). That dog would wander up to anyone and flop over for a belly rub.

ETA: A buddy of mine who works for the local PD had to answer a call to a stop'n'rob one day for a pit bull outside the store, the callers stating the dog was basically holding them inside. My buddy shows up, gets to the dog and it's the friendliest thing ever.

I think the higher levels of aggressiveness and alertness among smaller dogs may be as simple as that they are more vulnerable, and have to compensate.

Chihuahuas, however, do seem extra aggressive, by and large, out of proportion to any size formula. They are almost like a separate species, with behaviours and characterisitics unique to the breed. (For a while, my wife seemed to run a part-time Chuhuahua match-making service; many have passed though our lives, for periods of days to years.) My wife's current semi-rescue Chihuahua is a bundle of meanness and aggressiveness, except to a very select few people and dogs, ever-ready to bite, and I mean bite hard, but then, she is the earliest-warning among our canine early-warning system, and very empathetic/healing toward my wife, perhaps the reason my wife survived her scary heart disease experience two years ago.

[Rex G]

Archaeological and anthropological (as well as genetic) evidence suggests dogs are our oldest animal companions/helpers (going back maybe as far as 30,000 years). We not only shaped them, they shaped us. Since our girl is half Carolina Dog, we've been doing a lot of study of Pariah dog breeds and other "first dogs". Fascinating stuff. We call them Man's best Friend for a reason. While we know she isn't human, our girl very clearly believes she is part of the family. Not territorial at all, really, but very protective of the wife and kids. Showed that recently when the neighbors two dogs barked at her while my daughter had her on leash in front of the house. She went absolutely bananas. Took it as a threat to my daughter, and went after them. Lab and a Labradoodle.....they retreated fast in the face of a definite "I'mnotbluffingI'llfreakingkillyouboth!!!" Charge. Neighbor wasn't upset....saw our girl was being protective. Said that display should make me feel comfortable being away from the house at night.

We had such a primeval dog, PoBear, a beautiful off-white rescue/orphan, who passed away about three years ago, at about ten years old. We told people he was a husky/shepherd mix, but his littermate, Mia, whom we placed with a friend of my wife, was declared by her vet to be a wolf mix. They did not act anything like "wolf hybrids," being very civil with people, but did act very much like the pariah breeds. Among other things, PoBear would, like a Carolina Dog, back-up into thick shrubbery to poop.

There was a very-pariah/Carolina-Dog-looking pack that used to roam the disused railroad/utility right-of-way along Westpark Drive in Houston. They were a darker cream color than PoBear, more or less tan. Very wary of humans, I managed to see them somewhat often at night, while on police patrol. I had hoped to scout their behaviors, and perhaps rescue a littler of pups, before the inevitable capture/extermination could occur, but then they disappeared. I should have acted sooner.

[11B10]

For 20 years, I've lived in a very quiet neighborhood - until about 2 years ago, when a group of people moved into a rental house two doors down from us. Since they've moved in, we've had every kind of antisocial behavior you can think of that would emanate from basically teenagers left to their own devices - with a Mother who is trying desperately to relive her youth. We had young people handcuffed on our front sidewalk last summer, we've had what we believe is drug activity, plus the type of street stuff you'd associate with inner city, like tuff guys "boxing" in the middle of the street, absolutely terrible car stunts, etc. OK, yesterday one of the frequent visitors to this address brought his dog, a pit and somethingelsehuge mix, which was sitting in the backseat of his suv, open window. Another neighbor was walking her maybe 20 lb. little dog (ld)when big dog (bd) jumps through the open window and, as ld attempts to flee, bd grabs him by the gut and begins twisting the ld so violently I think he could rip him in half. I'm across the street, just began mowing my lawn, 15 yards away. I have my H&K P30SK aiwb, spare mag at 11:00, Griptilian rf pocket, as always. I realize none of the dozen or so morons, including the mother, are gonna be able to separate the two. The mother, who's literally strolling around in the street, talking on her phone, apparently did call 911. The rest are alternating between screaming at the dog and running around in circles. I retrieve a youth baseball-sized aluminum bat from my front closet (has been used in the past to whack a couple ground hogs who invaded our yard and cornered our dog) thinking maybe I can either pry them apart or apply it liberally to the skull of the biter. By the time I come back out, bd has released ld and two LEO are just arriving. I take the ld and his owner to a grassy spot and we begin checking him out. He has a nasty puncture wound that is leaking more than bleeding and, he seems to be settling well. We are both petting him and talking to him. His breathing and heart rate are leveling off and I'm once again thinking good things for him. I have a 2-1/2 year old granddaughter living 1/2 block away and I know my approach woulda been a bit different if the biter had gone after her. I hate the idea of shooting dogs, but.....can you say contact shots? I had two phone conversations with one of the officers. I told him how good their response time was, but, was not pleased with his responses to my questions. He 'wasn't sure' where the dog was/went - he 'thinks' the owner took him...somewhere. I was only listening until he said: "You know, I walked right up to the (biter) and petted him." I said: "My experience was that I saw an approximately 85 lb. dog attempting to tear a 20 lb. dog in half. I have a granddaughter 1/2 block away - she plays outside all the time. I want to know where that dog is."

[Zincwarrior]

For 20 years, I've lived in a very quiet neighborhood - until about 2 years ago, when a group of people moved into a rental house two doors down from us. Since they've moved in, we've had every kind of antisocial behavior you can think of that would emanate from basically teenagers left to their own devices - with a Mother who is trying desperately to relive her youth. We had young people handcuffed on our front sidewalk last summer, we've had what we believe is drug activity, plus the type of street stuff you'd associate with inner city, like tuff guys "boxing" in the middle of the street, absolutely terrible car stunts, etc. OK, yesterday one of the frequent visitors to this address brought his dog, a pit and somethingelsehuge mix, which was sitting in the backseat of his suv, open window. Another neighbor was walking her maybe 20 lb. little dog (ld)when big dog (bd) jumps through the open window and, as ld attempts to flee, bd grabs him by the gut and begins twisting the ld so violently I think he could rip him in half. I'm across the street, just began mowing my lawn, 15 yards away. I have my H&K P30SK aiwb, spare mag at 11:00, Griptilian rf pocket, as always. I realize none of the dozen or so morons, including the mother, are gonna be able to separate the two. The mother, who's literally strolling around in the street, talking on her phone, apparently did call 911. The rest are alternating between screaming at the dog and running around in circles. I retrieve a youth baseball-sized aluminum bat from my front closet (has been used in the past to whack a couple ground hogs who invaded our yard and cornered our dog) thinking maybe I can either pry them apart or apply it liberally to the skull of the biter. By the time I come back out, bd has released ld and two LEO are just arriving. I take the ld and his owner to a grassy spot and we begin checking him out. He has a nasty puncture wound that is leaking more than bleeding and, he seems to be settling well. We are both petting him and talking to him. His breathing and heart rate are leveling off and I'm once again thinking good things for him. I have a 2-1/2 year old granddaughter living 1/2 block away and I know my approach woulda been a bit different if the biter had gone after her. I hate the idea of shooting dogs, but.....can you say contact shots? I had two phone conversations with one of the officers. I told him how good their response time was, but, was not pleased with his responses to my questions. He 'wasn't sure' where the dog was/went - he 'thinks' the owner took him...somewhere. I was only listening until he said: "You know, I walked right up to the (biter) and petted him." I said: "My experience was that I saw an approximately 85 lb. dog attempting to tear a 20 lb. dog in half. I have a granddaughter 1/2 block away - she plays outside all the time. I want to know where that dog is."

is there a way to file a report? If you have to protect a child it would be beneficial to establish a previous record on the dog.

[11B10]

is there a way to file a report? If you have to protect a child it would be beneficial to establish a previous record on the dog.

There is a way and I will, but....hold on....doorbell - it was the ld's owner just stopped in to thank me and to give me an update on her dog. He has a 50-50 chance of making it - after her spending many dollars for surgery. As you would expect, he has significant internal, crushing-type injuries. She's a basket case because she just put down her long term buddy a few weeks ago, adopted Milo - and this happens. She told me that the female officer (who took her home yesterday) advised her to sue. I told the owner of my conversations last night with the other officer and we both agreed she has to pursue this by calling the officers. No one knows where the bd is - who his owner is or.. if he has had any shots. The owner is a strong person and I'm confident she'll get some answers.

[11B10]

It seems the smaller dog is made of some tough stuff - came home from the vet late yesterday. Except for a shaved belly, some stitches and some bruising, he looked fine. I never would've thought this possible - not after the gruesome thrashing he got!

A late addition to my earlier post - one thing I had said to the officer and neglected to repeat here (wife reminded me) was that IMHO, the pit bull wouldn't have known the difference between the 14 lb. dog and our 20-something lb. granddaughter. It was part of my response to his understandable concern as to why I was digging so deep.

[Peally]

It is a shame the hostile dog wasn't taken out of the equation by force, I have a feeling in a month or two someone else will meet the same fate.

[JTQ]

...one thing I had said to the officer and neglected to repeat here (wife reminded me) was that IMHO, the pit bull wouldn't have known the difference between the 14 lb. dog and our 20-something lb. granddaughter.

Certainly possible. However, a lot of dogs (often pitbulls, and their AKC counterparts such as American Staffordshire Terrries, Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers) are dog aggressive and people friendly. Though watching a dog jump from a car and latch onto another dog certainly would have had an impact on me.