Dogs killing people

[Robert Mitchum]

To each his own, I like serious dogs, mine are well trained, and my lifestyle can handle them.
Big fenced in yard and live in a rural area, I have zero problems controlling my dogs.
I stopped taking them out in public because of A holes running up and saying wow what kind of dog is that and trying to pet them.

They are not for everyone and should not be owned by most people, they have made it hard to go on vacation sometimes.
I don't inflict my choice on others and have no use for A holes who get a serious dog and have no clue on what to do.
If I had the money back, I spent on top Quilty food obedience and bite work I would have a lot of money to buy some toys!

Once we got him to stop trying to eat the cat, he is a 178-pound Teddy Bear with us but not so good with strangers.
He will never be put in a bad situation to get into trouble, I have made arrangements if something happens to me a friend will take him and any cat or dog we own.

He is only 174 pounds.

[BWT]

I had less strong feelings before I had small children.

Having small children now and knowing how quickly they’d be absolutely overpowered by a dog evokes strong emotions.

I have seen virtue signaling folks who are trying to do a good thing and rescue dogs. My Dad rescued a pit bull. But to be honest, I saw two pit bulls running loose a few weeks ago in my neighborhood. And I think I have a 16 month old walking around in my back yard and it fills my heart with dread because my family plays in the yard.

I just look at it like would you leave a loaded firearm out laying in the front yard? No? Okay, well that loaded firearm isn’t sentient and doesn’t walk around and go exploring or have a bite drive or a chase drive or anything else like that.

I get really frustrated by people that don’t keep their dogs on leashes. Again, it’s not an inanimate object that could be lethal. It’s a animal with capabilities and relying on someone to obedience train/raise their dogs is just more margin than I personally have with a dog than I do when I look at my kids.

I know several people attacked and bitten by dogs. I’ve been chased but wasn’t caught by a family members German Shepherd when I was a small child. Thankfully we got on top of the car before it could get to us.

It just frustrates the crap out of me when people obliviously and uselessly call to their 70-90 lb dog that’s hopping all over us or my kids.

I guess this is mostly venting, but I owned dogs for years, I used to walk dogs as a part time job in high school, etc. I like dogs, but I am just callous to explanations about dogs when they run loose in the neighborhood. Also, just keep control of your animal. LE/Mil keeps their K9’s on leashes and those dogs are worth tens of thousands and have years of training and daily reinforcement of that training. I’m just exasperated with people’s excuses and ideology.

Alright, I’m done.

[blues]

@BWT

People who let their dogs roam loose are a major pet peeve of mine. I've made some unannounced visits to homes over it...and threatened more than one dog with grave bodily harm that menaced either me, my wife or one of my dogs over the years.

I completely agree with you about animals allowed to roam freely.

[LittleLebowski]

As mentioned above the “pit bull” label is broadly and often hysterically applied or more often mis-applied to any mixed breed dog that bites someone.

I’m gonna bow out and put this thread on ignore after this because it’s pretty clear you are simply reinforcing your existing prejudice with bad data from the site linked in the OP.

Every time I hear say say they like dogs but they don’t like pitbull’s (as opposed to someone who doesn’t like or is afraid of dogs in general) it’s always someone who has purebred dogs, usually a Mal or a German shepherd. It’s like some irrational form of dog racism.

You can’t reason or rationalize someone from an irrational position so I’m out.

I know what I'm getting into (reasonably so) with purebred dogs. I know that I love dogs, but I also know which breeds are the most problematic and given that I don't like worrying about if my dog is going to randomly attack someone, I stick with purebreds (and I also prefer certain traits that my favorite purebreds are known for). When I got my GSD, I knew what I wanted and I got exactly that. My Mal and my GSDs just never have exhibited the behavior I've seen from pits and even one American Bulldog down the road that has real issues despite being in a loving home. I'd love it if I knew which pits were good ones, but in my experience you never know. To me, it's like buying a KAC SR-15 versus buying a homebuilt, parts bin AR. There's a chance the homebuilt AR will run well, but which one would you bet on?

[Lex Luthier]

Check out this video of a small dog that is absolutely ferocious. Starts about 16 seconds in

That is a Standard Wire Haired Dachshund.
(One lives here.)

[UNK]

I know what I'm getting into (reasonably so) with purebred dogs. I know that I love dogs, but I also know which breeds are the most problematic and given that I don't like worrying about if my dog is going to randomly attack someone, I stick with purebreds (and I also prefer certain traits that my favorite purebreds are known for). When I got my GSD, I knew what I wanted and I got exactly that. My Mal and my GSDs just never have exhibited the behavior I've seen from pits and even one American Bulldog down the road that has real issues despite being in a loving home. I'd love it if I knew which pits were good ones, but in my experience you never know. To me, it's like buying a KAC SR-15 versus buying a homebuilt, parts bin AR. There's a chance the homebuilt AR will run well, but which one would you bet on?

Until HCMs post I had no idea Mals could come with papers. Mine didnt it came with a receipt and rabies tags. I got her from a trainer who had a bunch of kids and some cats. All the dogs rotated through the house and also the kids helped with training. Anyway when I first got my Mal it nipped. And during training it would get so wound up it would bite my foot closest to her. It took a while to train the nipping out of her. After that no problems. My favorite place to work her on obedience was at the kids play area at the park while my kids were playing. Thats a whirlwind of activity and noises. All that said she was a sweetheart till you hit the go switch and then she was terrifying.

[UNK]

Guns dont get out of a poorly contained area and roam the streets shooting people. They dont turn on their owners or owners family and kill them after years of ownership. Guns arent at a shelter after their untrained owners couldnt handle them for the next unsuspecting family to adopt.

[WobblyPossum]

Until HCMs post I had no idea Mals could come with papers. Mine didnt it came with a receipt and rabies tags. I got her from a trainer who had a bunch of kids and some cats. All the dogs rotated through the house and also the kids helped with training. Anyway when I first got my Mal it nipped. And during training it would get so wound up it would bite my foot closest to her. It took a while to train the nipping out of her. After that no problems. My favorite place to work her on obedience was at the kids play area at the park while my kids were playing. Thats a whirlwind of activity and noises. All that said she was a sweetheart till you hit the go switch and then she was terrifying.

Now picture that Mal without the benefit of an owner who cares enough to train it and work it. That’s basically a lot of pitbulls. They’re great, loving dogs but they’re sometimes wound tight and need structure and a way to release that pent up energy. Why do you accept this out of Mals and GSDs but not pitbulls?

[GJM]

Last night, leaving the dinner restaurant, a guy had a Mal out, running freely with no collar on. He was a beautiful dog, but that struck me as the equivalent of open carrying an AR in public.

[blues]

Last night, leaving the dinner restaurant, a guy had a Mal out, running freely with no collar on. He was a beautiful dog, but that struck me as the equivalent of open carrying an AR in public.

Worse...if I had to pick between the two alternatives.