# Pitting Dog Owner **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 15, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428 "2008-03-15T01:11:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/1 "2008-03-15T01:11:35Z")
I love dogs and have three of 'em, but am terrified of pit bulls because my late labrador was attacked on three different occasions by (different) PBs and was nearly killed during one of these events (45 bites and 250+ stitches). Today my doggie and I were strolling through the park when a guy started screaming that his dog was off the leash and to stop. Tiger and I stopped and the man’s enormous pit bull ran at us full speed. My heart nearly burst out my chest and I made Tiger sit and I stared the other dog in the eyes and said “no.” The dog, thankfully, was not aggressive and let me grab her collar and sit her down (which, retrospectively, was a _really_ dumb thing for me to do, but it was an instinctive thing). The guy then proceeded to hit the dog for not listening to him. I had to just turn and walk away. What the hell is wrong with people? Who lets a non-compliant dog with a breed reputation for ferocity off the leash in a public park and then hits the poor animal? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/2 "2008-03-15T01:15:24Z")
I’d be petrified and angry. I just don’t get some people. _Who lets a non-compliant dog with a breed reputation for ferocity off the leash in a public park and then hits the poor animal?_ Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/3 "2008-03-15T01:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=Savannah] I’d be petrified and angry. I just don’t get some people. QUOTE] I’m still shaking a bit. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/4 "2008-03-15T03:09:40Z")
I feel your pain. I walk my beagles every day in the park. We have been attacked 3 times. Every one was a pit bull off leash. The owners apologized always saying it never did that before. I got beagles on a leash. They walk pits without leashes. The fine is 225 bucks but a cop is never around. Once I walked past an opening and 3 loose pit bulls came running. At that time I had 1 beagle. I shoved him in a trash can and jumped up on a picnic table. I was kicking at them when the owner caught up. He explained they never did that before. ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/5 "2008-03-15T05:48:00Z")
I am terrified of other people’s dogs. I grew up in a rural-ish area where a lot of people, despite a leash law, just let their dogs roam the neighborhood. Every once in a while there’d be a strange dog circling the house. When I was young, this freaked me out, as barking frightens me and I always imagined being attacked. Ditto for walking by a house and the dog runs out of their backyard at you. As far as I am concerned, the definition of “good neighbor” is “invisible fencing”. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/6 "2008-03-15T16:15:46Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] I shoved him in a trash can and jumped up on a picnic table. [/QUOTE] :eek: What did your beagle think about being in the trash? I think my dog would have thought it was a game! ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/7 "2008-03-15T17:06:27Z")
Quincy is big on his doggie dignity. He was not happy and as they walked away he barked in victory.\ He hates to be picked up. Once when a dog ran up to us I picked him up and held him til the dog was retrieved. As soon a s it was far enough away he growled at me for picking him up. He was abused and I think he was thrown against walls as a puppy. He has issues. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/8 "2008-03-15T17:26:19Z")
This same exact thing happened to me last summer. I took my dog on our usual walk, and walking by a house where the dog has always been on a lead, a little boy had him off the lead and was playing with him. He rushed us at warp speed. I tried to pick up my dog before he got to us but was unsuccessful and wanted to get my face out of biting range. Fortunately he wasn’t aggressive (mean), but he was all over my dog, and that kid had NO control over him. I finally got my foot between the two dogs and kicked him as hard as I could, enough to pick up my dog. I shook for an hour. If not invisible fencing (expensive) at least a 20-30 foot lead. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/9 "2008-03-15T17:39:10Z")
I’d say the definition of a good neighbor is _visible_ fencing. I like to know that the dog is restrained _before_ it gets within lunging range. ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/10 "2008-03-15T22:32:43Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] I’d say the definition of a good neighbor is _visible_ fencing. I like to know that the dog is restrained _before_ it gets within lunging range. [/QUOTE] Well, that just takes the fun out of it. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/11 "2008-03-16T05:19:34Z")
I feel your pain–I often walk Widget off his leash but he’s just a little border collie and very obedient, stays right by me, whereas SpaceDawg is onleash only unless we’re at the dog park. Unfortunately there’s this stupid woman in the neighborhood who goes out with five to eight big, stupid, disobedient and aggressive dogs that she doesn’t have a single leash for any of. They come rampaging up to us and I’ve gotten tired of yelling at her about the goddamned pack she has so now I just start hollering and kicking the shit out of them as soon as they get in range. I will be damned if I’m going to end up paying for vet bills either for my small dog getting savaged or one of her 'tard dogs getting savaged by the Malemute. Since I don’t have health insurance I’m not too sanguine about getting into the middle of a bigass dog fight either. Every single time this has happened the moronic cunt just stands there shouting ineffectually at the equally brain dead dogs that pay absolutely zero attention to her. That dumb broad is a disaster waiting for a spot marked “X!” Gah, the things you see when you don’t have a gun… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ice\_Cream\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Cream_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/12 "2008-03-16T05:29:29Z")
I think the worst is the owners who get mad at you for defending yourself from their aggressive dogs. Once my dad was going for a jog when a dog came running up to him and tried to bite him. He kicked the dog to protect himself and the dog’s owner started yelling at him! Clearly, my dad yelled back with some pretty angry words. It’s just astounding how people can be so blind about their animals. ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/13 "2008-03-16T07:12:32Z")
Aggressive nasty dogs can be any breed. I know a person who has two labs that are so big and strong that she “can’t” walk them herself and needs to pay someone to do it. I know another person with an Italian mastiff that wasn’t really wanted in the first place, wasn’t socialized, and now isn’t exercised properly. I once saw a rottie mix tied up beside a drum circle by her owner who moved over to sit somewhere quieter; the poor thing was terrified and barked and snapped at everyone who walked past. I knew a Rhodesian ridgeback that _bit_ several of the owners’ friends but was never put down or otherwise legally sanctioned. Accidents waiting to happen. It’s terrifying. My sweet pit bull has twice been attacked by off-leash dogs of other breeds while he was leashed and muzzled. Please can we leave the breed out of the discussion before this turns into another pit bull thread? The common thread seems to be irresponsible owners, a question upon which I think we can all agree. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/14 "2008-03-16T08:09:10Z")
[QUOTE=cowgirl] My sweet pit bull has twice been attacked by off-leash dogs of other breeds while he was leashed and muzzled. Please can we leave the breed out of the discussion before this turns into another pit bull thread? The common thread seems to be irresponsible owners, a question upon which I think we can all agree. [/QUOTE] No, fuck that. Any breed CAN be aggressive and nasty, but some are a lot more likely to be. There’s a reason that violent and nasty people prefer the breed more than others. Assume that every unknown Pit is a nasty piece of shit, because enough of them are to justify it. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/15 "2008-03-16T08:16:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] Assume that every unknown Pit is a nasty piece of shit, because enough of them are to justify it. [/QUOTE] Cite? Really, can you back up this bullshit? Because otherwise, you’re just another ignorant motherfucker spewing garbage at random. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/16 "2008-03-16T08:23:21Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Cite? Really, can you back up this bullshit? Because otherwise, you’re just another ignorant motherfucker spewing garbage at random. [/QUOTE] First Google hit for [“dog bites by breed statistics”](http://www.dogbitelaw.com/PAGES/statistics.html) > [@](#): > > Merritt Clifton, editor of Animal People, has conducted an unusually detailed study of dog bites from 1982 to the present. (Clifton, Dog attack deaths and maimings, U.S. & Canada, September 1982 to November 13, 2006; click here to read it.) The Clifton study show the number of serious canine-inflicted injuries by breed. The author’s observations about the breeds and generally how to deal with the dangerous dog problem are enlightening. > > According to the Clifton study, pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks that were included in the study, 68% of the attacks upon children, 82% of the attacks upon adults, 65% of the deaths, and 68% of the maimings. In more than two-thirds of the cases included in the study, the life-threatening or fatal attack was apparently the first known dangerous behavior by the animal in question. So Pit Bulls are nasty pieces of shit, who are perfectly kind and nice and sweet until they tear your fucking arm off. > [@](#): > > Clifton’s opinions are as interesting as his statistics. For example, he says, “Pit bulls and Rottweilers are accordingly dogs who not only must be handled with special precautions, but also must be regulated with special requirements appropriate to the risk they may pose to the public and other animals, if they are to be kept at all.” There you go. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/17 "2008-03-16T08:40:13Z")
I missed the edit window, but I thought I should throw in another cite from the Center for Disease control, via [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_bull). > [@](#): > > The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a study concerning deaths from canine attacks in 2000. [35] According to the study, between 1979 and 1998, one-third of all fatal dog attacks were caused by Pit Bull type dogs. The highest number of attacks (118) were by Pit Bull type dogs, the next highest being Rottweilers at 67. So one type of dog caused almost DOUBLE the fatal attacks of the 2nd most dangerous dog over a 20 year period, according to the CDC. Pit Bulls caused one third of ALL fatal dog attacks. What the fuck is wrong with people who can see statistics like this, including the fact that 2/3 of Pit Bull attacks were the first time the owner had ever noticed dangerous aggression from their dog, and still insist that there’s absolutely nothing inherently wrong with the breed. Pit Bulls are a menace, and I will always assume an unknown one is capable of attacking, because they all ARE. The breed is known (and proven to) go from complete compliance and obedience to ruthless killer with absolutely no warning. There’s no way to tell which ones WON’T snap and try to kill you, because there’s no warning before it happens. There’s no way to separate the “good” Pit Bulls from the “bad” ones. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/18 "2008-03-16T14:17:11Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] There’s a reason that violent and nasty people prefer the breed more than others. Assume that every unknown Pit is a nasty piece of shit, because enough of them are to justify it. [/QUOTE] I prefer to assume every unknown dog is a nasty piece of shit until proven otherwise. Pits don’t have a lock on nastiness. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/19 "2008-03-16T15:21:09Z")
**cowgirl** , let me say that in my earlier post, though I did specify it was a pit bull, I didn’t mean to single pits out. We have been rushed by any number and variety of dogs. In the end, none of them hurt us, thankfully. My point was strictly that dogs should be restrained. I know there are well behaved dogs out there, all over the place. But there are at least as many that aren’t, and you can’t know, unless it has happened to you, what it does to my heart when I see a dog hurling at us. Ice runs through my veins. I will second the vote for _visible_ fencing too, but I sure don’t see much of it where I live. There is a leash law in the village where I live. It’s as simple as that. It isn’t enforced, and that pisses me off. Can someone tell me - what are the rules in dog parks? Are there even any rules? Do you have to have proof that the dog has had its shots and all that other stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428/20 "2008-03-16T17:18:54Z")
What’s a Presa Canario? Other than one more thing I need to be scared of… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-dog-owner/441428.md?page=2)