Serial Pit Bull killer in Houston on the loose.

[Rudy]

We also have a 1-year-old daughter, and not once have I ever feared for her safety. EVER.

Alot of those "aggressive" breeds are very loyal to family and actually very protective of children in their family.

By the way, the Pit Bull is widely considered an almost worthless guard dog.

My wife tells a story about a time when we were living in an apartment and I was away on business. She heard what she thought was violent knocking on our door. Rather than going into "killer beast mode", our 60-lb pit bull cowered underneath the coffee table, tail between her legs. Turns out, one of the legs on the washing machine got off-kilter!

10 Best Guard Dogs

[MeanGreenTexan]

Now I'm convinced that your fear of small dogs over big dogs is either a bit or some psychological hang up. That's like saying you're more afraid of a paintball gun than a barretta.

I'd be interested to see what the sample size is of killer Yorkies out of the entire population of Yorkies.

And so you know, I agree with you that pit bulls shouldn't be banned. However, I do feel there should be extra measures out there to make sure they are with the right owners. I certainly feel that you have the right to own one (or two or three, etc.), but to think that one can't be dangerous (even the most well behaved, best treated ones) is a bit foolish.

I think there's a disconnect between my point and yours. In general, are large dogs more "dangerous" than small dogs? Sure! The size of the dog obviously makes them more powerful.

I don't fear any dog. Yorkie or otherwise. There's no psychological hang-up. LOL!

My dog has not once ever snapped at me or anyone, so I'm not concerned about her at all. If your Yorkie has ever snapped at you or anyone for any reason, I would be more concerned about your dog than mine. Not everyone can reach into their dogs bowl while eating and take food away without at least getting a growl... I can.

Is your Yorkie going to kill my 1 yr old? Probably not, but the minor flesh wound is not something I would be happy about.

to think that one can't be dangerous (even the most well behaved, best treated ones) is a bit foolish.

This is what I'm saying is incorrect... and again, I'm no fool! Mine is not dangerous to any human, other dogs/animals? That's a different story. But when we walk her or let her around other dogs, it's never without a leash. I'm sure there are thousands of others out there just like mine. But, this is the stigma that they and people like me have to fight (no pun intended).

[FirefightnRick]

It is well documented as to the breeds that are the most agressive. This documentation doesnt appear out of thin air. It appears out of reports from actual attacks, not opinion. And the news reports on the attacks as they happen, again, not because of some negative public opinion, but due to actual attacks by Pits, Chows, Rotweilers and variable mixes of those breeds. Last I researched it( and if someone not typing on an iPhone would like to search for my postings on that and link to them here can do so), there were over 200 cities and towns across the country that had outright banned ownership of pits due to the carnage they had caused. I believe Denver was the first major city to do so, although I may be forgetting others?

Anyone choosing to turn their back on their pit and leave it alone with their small child does so at a good deal of risk.

I'm not harping on this subject to be an asshole. Please don't take it that way. It's just a pet peeve of mine that comes from several horrible experiences I have seen professionally and have spoken about with countless others who have seen it professionally, too.

I cant stress enough how much I don't want another parent to see what their child's face looks like after it has been degloved and flapping from below their ears by their lovable family pet.

Rick

Edited January 27, 2012 by FirefightnRick

[greenminer]

One source says Pitbulls (pure or mixed) accounted for more deaths than any other breed over 20 years in a canine-fatality study.

If you've got some studies that like to nitpick that like a GMG.com thread on UNT coaching success, I'm all ears. Even better if it could disprove it.

This is a interesting video about training regarding "pack structure".

I could agree that most attacks involving any dog have to do with owners not knowing how to handle their pet; but if every dog could have a "trigger", PitBulls seem to be the most sensitive or prone to flip it.

I think the education should go both ways: do owners with a history of no-problem pit bulls know why they haven't had any problems? Because we certainly don't need them telling us that PitBulls are just as safe as yippies. Seems to me a bit naive or misguided.

Edited January 27, 2012 by greenminer

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

It is well documented as to the breeds that are the most agressive. This documentation doesnt appear out of thin air. It appears out of reports from actual attacks, not opinion. And the news reports on the attacks as they happen, again, not because of some negative public opinion, but due to actual attacks by Pits, Chows, Rotweilers and variable mixes of those breeds. Last I researched it( and if someone not typing on an iPhone would like to search for my postings on that and link to them here can do so), there were over 200 cities and towns across the country that had outright banned ownership of pits due to the carnage they had caused. I believe Denver was the first major city to do so, although I may be forgetting others?

Anyone choosing to turn their back on their pit and leave it alone with their small child does so at a good deal of risk.

I'm not harping on this subject to be an asshole. Please don't take it that way. It's just a pet peeve of mine that comes from several horrible experiences I have seen professionally and have spoken about with countless others who have seen it professionally, too.

I cant stress enough how much I don't want another parent to see what their child's face looks like after it has been degloved and flapping from below their ears by their lovable family pet.

Rick

.

---Those dogs are absolutely crazy and unpredictable... A few years ago when I left town a big story in Midland was about a pit bull attacking some kids ... then I got to Carlsbad, N.M.... the news there was one one chewing up an elderly lady ... the next night we were in El Paso and one of the big stories there involved an attack by a pit bull... Three towns and a big story in every town... Every once in awhile you hear about a "tame" one deciding to chew up their owner for no reason. Amazes me that anyone would want one except as a junk yard dog to chew up people who break in..

---Another idiot pet story... a guy in Brownwood has lost his snake..... the problem... he somehow had a cobra about 18 inches long... they still have not found it. He is locked up ... maybe they should just make him sleep in his house.... it might still be there..

..

Edited January 27, 2012 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[SilverEagle]

You know, all the people who praise Pit Bulls as "misunderstood", and "really sweet dogs", remind me of all those neighbors/classmates of a person who suddenly goes berserk and starts shooting up their school, workplace, mall, family/neighborhood etc., and they get interviewed afterward and say "well, he was just a real quiet and nice guy".

Only, with Pitt Bulls, just about everyone has been forewarned. My feelings about those dogs are the same as my feelings regarding exotic pets(?) like boas or pythons. They have no business in neighborhoods.....especially neighborhoods with kids.

FWIW, if anyone brings one of those things into my neighborhood and it attacks (or tries to attack) me, or my wife and/or grandkids. After I beat it to death with my aluminum baseball bat, I'm coming after the owner.

[greenminer]

Silver's right, you're not going to hear the owner go, "Well, I saw that one coming."

[HoustonEagle]

I'm pretty sure a "trigger" would have presented itself within the 6 years we've had our dog?

What if there's no "trigger"?

I somewhat understand your position. I have been around several sweet Pit Bulls and that is probably the norm across the breed. The problem I have is the exception to the norm with-in that breed is horrific. The ferocity they show in a fight no matter the opponent (5 yr old, grandma, neighbors lab or fellow pit) should be enough to make someone reconsider ever acquiring one.

I mean no disrespect with my following statement. You are a green blood and by that standard alone, I know you are a good egg. Why does someone, amongst what might literally be a million breeds, choose a pit bull? Sure most are sweet loving dogs but as a I stated before there is a potential down side that is horrific. When factoring that into the matrix of thoughts you go through when acquiring a dog, how does one end up at Pitt Bull.

13 yrs ago I bought my first dog. I had been living in Houston for 2 years at that point and had become an avid duck hunter. I knew I wanted a retriever. So I began the research process and ended up at Golden Retriever. Not exactly an exotic. But, in the end, I got exactly as advertised. He has been an absolute bad-ass in the field. A loving loyal companion that has a magnetic personality about him around others. No one is scared to let their children play with him. No friends refuse to come over because we have one of those ferocious Goldens! Now he is in his latter years, can barely hear and has trouble walking. It is these older years that you must really keep an eye on your dog around children because the dog is more fearful and the tugs and hard pats hurt them. He keeps on as he always has. Lover of all things human, especially children. Regardless if they are hanging from his tail or have a finger in his eye. He is exactly as advertised.

I have just never understood how someone chooses a Pit Bull knowing there are so many other choices out there.

[Rudy]

You know, all the people who praise Pit Bulls as "misunderstood", and "really sweet dogs", remind me of all those neighbors/classmates of a person who suddenly goes berserk and starts shooting up their school, workplace, mall, family/neighborhood etc., and they get interviewed afterward and say "well, he was just a real quiet and nice guy".

Only, with Pitt Bulls, just about everyone has been forewarned. My feelings about those dogs are the same as my feelings regarding exotic pets(?) like boas or pythons. They have no business in neighborhoods.....especially neighborhoods with kids.

FWIW, if anyone brings one of those things into my neighborhood and it attacks (or tries to attack) me, or my wife and/or grandkids. After I beat it to death with my aluminum baseball bat, I'm coming after the owner.

Premeditated Assault/Homicide is always a good thing for a forum.

Oh, and if you are going to use a bat, use a wooden one. Aluminum bats are hollow.

Edited January 29, 2012 by Rudy

[MeanGreenTexan]

...

Why does someone, amongst what might literally be a million breeds, choose a pit bull? Sure most are sweet loving dogs but as a I stated before there is a potential down side that is horrific. When factoring that into the matrix of thoughts you go through when acquiring a dog, how does one end up at Pitt Bull.

I've always loved bigger dogs. We went to the pound one day... and she found us. We played with her on site for a while and decided we wanted her. That was it. No research necessary. That was almost 6 years ago.

13 yrs ago I bought my first dog. I had been living in Houston for 2 years at that point and had become an avid duck hunter. I knew I wanted a retriever. So I began the research process and ended up at Golden Retriever. Not exactly an exotic. But, in the end, I got exactly as advertised. He has been an absolute bad-ass in the field. A loving loyal companion that has a magnetic personality about him around others. No one is scared to let their children play with him. No friends refuse to come over because we have one of those ferocious Goldens! Now he is in his latter years, can barely hear and has trouble walking. It is these older years that you must really keep an eye on your dog around children because the dog is more fearful and the tugs and hard pats hurt them. He keeps on as he always has. Lover of all things human, especially children. Regardless if they are hanging from his tail or have a finger in his eye. He is exactly as advertised.

This is a great story! I'm not a hunter, so I'm not looking for a specific skillset in my dog... just a great companion to share with my family, who loves my family as much as I do. I have that dog. It sounds like you have it too.

Our friends are not scared to come to our house. LOL! Several of our friends have small children as well, and we've changed tons of minds on the breed; something I was hoping to do here, but I keep forgetting I'm on GoMeanGreen.com, home of iron-clad opinions.

I really happen to think (and pre 1970 American society also thought) that Pit Bulls as a whole are a lot more like mine than the ones that everyone is so scared of.

I have just never understood how someone chooses a Pit Bull knowing there are so many other choices out there.

There are tons of people in your boat. I suppose I don't know what to say that I haven't already said, or you want to hear? I've been called a fool a few times in this thread. There are probably several more who thought it.

I can tell you this: When the unfortunate day comes... , I know I'll choose a Pit Bull again.

[SilverEagle]

Premeditated Assault/Homicide is always a good thing for a forum.

Oh, and if you are going to use a bat, use a wooden one. Aluminum bats are hollow.

Premeditated Assault/homicide? A sympathetic jury might call it "natural and/or logical consequences". Besides, I just said that I would be going after the owner. For all you know, I intend to hurt their feelings with unkind words.....

And as to the bat. Maybe I'll use my wife's "bubba stick" instead..... http://www.walking-canes.net/bubbahikingstaff.aspx

[Rudy]

Premeditated Assault/homicide? A sympathetic jury might call it "natural and/or logical consequences". Besides, I just said that I would be going after the owner. For all you know, I intend to hurt their feelings with unkind words.....

And as to the bat. Maybe I'll use my wife's "bubba stick" instead..... http://www.walking-canes.net/bubbahikingstaff.aspx

You can defend yourself or a third person from immediate danger. To then turn aggressive towards the owner AFTER the threat was subdued, would be illegal.

Just saying.

[Eagle1855]

A large reason the breed accounts for so many fatalities is the assholes who raise the dogs to be aggressive. So I think it's probably hard to say whether the breed is genetically prone to being aggressive or if the gross number of fatalities is merely a function of it being a breed with a great number of owners that train them to be terrible.

Anyways, this debate is a lot like trying to argue politics- everyone already has an opinion that is likely deep-rooted therefore unlikely to change.

You like dogs? Yeah, I like dogs.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

A large reason the breed accounts for so many fatalities is the assholes who raise the dogs to be aggressive. So I think it's probably hard to say whether the breed is genetically prone to being aggressive or if the gross number of fatalities is merely a function of it being a breed with a great number of owners that train them to be terrible.

Anyways, this debate is a lot like trying to argue politics- everyone already has an opinion that is likely deep-rooted therefore unlikely to change.

You like dogs? Yeah, I like dogs.

---You are correct....But there are a lot of incidents where the dog was a treated as a kind family pet .... then decides one day to chew on people... maybe the owner or his kids or neighbors for no obvious reason. An aunt of mine had a chow that I was scared to death of as a kid... He did fine with the owners but not with any "outsider" and he had not been trained to do so.

--My wife obtained a "cute" miniature doberman... He liked her and hated the rest of the family and would bite us if we got too close to him.... he got out and ran off.... I refused to go look for him..... He was strictly a one person dog.

Edited January 30, 2012 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[UNT90]

Lies.

Your dog ate Ray, and stole Nathan Tune's hat.

Impossible.

Pit Bulls like meat, not skin and bone.

[UNT90]

I blame you guys for this.

The power of GMG.com to influence future events should be studied.

Oh, and a child getting maulled by a dog always makes the news, regardless of the breed of dog that did the maulling. Pit Bulls jut do a lot of the maullings.

Good to know Grandma is so concerned about her Grandson that she gets in a fight over the dogs being quarantined.

[gksmith]

Shame on the people doing this. Senseless killing of any animals is wrong.

[UNT90]

Shame on the people doing this. Senseless killing of any animals is wrong.

Sensible killing of these animals is right (the ones in the story):

Edited February 1, 2012 by UNT90

[FirefightnRick]

I blame you guys for this.

The power of GMG.com to influence future events should be studied.

Oh, and a child getting maulled by a dog always makes the news, regardless of the breed of dog that did the maulling. Pit Bulls jut do a lot of the maullings.

Good to know Grandma is so concerned about her Grandson that she gets in a fight over the dogs being quarantined.

I just saw the video on the news tonight. I didn't see any Boxers as mentioned in the report above, but I did see three Pits on the end of an animal control stick being hauled off.

Rick

[Green Mean]

Looks like the 4 dogs have been euthanized

DMN

[gksmith]

Sensible killing of these animals is right (the ones in the story):

Nope.

The ones in the original story happen to be pitbulls but were pets and not fighting dogs.

Any breed of dog can be made into a fighting dog.

With proper training, a pitbull can be a normal, non-aggressive, household pet.

Rick's original story from google is that someone in Houston is killing innocent dogs. Regardless of the breed, cruelly killing any dog is wrong.

[UNT90]

Nope.

The ones in the original story happen to be pitbulls but were pets and not fighting dogs.

Any breed of dog can be made into a fighting dog.

With proper training, a pitbull can be a normal, non-aggressive, household pet.

Rick's original story from google is that someone in Houston is killing innocent dogs. Regardless of the breed, cruelly killing any dog is wrong.

Putting down dogs that attack humans, especially children, is the right thing to do.

In some communities, it's also the law.

[HoustonEagle]

have to admit.....did not see this one going 4 pages

[gksmith]

Putting down dogs that attack humans, especially children, is the right thing to do.

In some communities, it's also the law.

I agree with that. In what you are describing, unfortunately it is a "tombstone" law. The action has to happen before the consequence. The dog has to attack someone before the law says to euthanize it. The law is not “kill all dogs that potentially can attack people.”

But that is not the case in this story. In the original story from Google, someone is randomly killing pit bull dogs for no reason. That is cruelty and whoever is doing that needs to go to jail.

[Coffee and TV]

have to admit.....did not see this one going 4 pages

It's funny because if you used Rick's argument but replaced "pitbulls" with "guns", he'd flat flip out, and so would most of this board.