The day wasn't good, but could've been a lot worse.

All in all, my day was going pretty well. That is until I got a call from my sister. It started off as, "Mom and Dad had an accident in the park." At this point, I think my heart literally dropped. More information slowly started to come out, that before they headed off to their cabin, they brought their little maltese pup out on a little walk so she could do her business. While they were there, a guy let his pitbull off the leash and it went straight for them. My mom quickly picked their dog up, but the pitbull jumped and ripped into her arm. She let out a blood curdling scream and hit the ground losing her grip on the dog. The pit quickly went after theirs grabbing it by the rear end, and my dad jumped in forcing his hand into its mouth giving it something else to rip into. The owner finally dragged his dog away, and didn't even stay to find out if anyone was ok. Good news is that their dog is ok, just some bruising, and no punctured skin or internal injuries. The blood that covered the dog was their own. After the emergency visit to the vet, and finding out their dog was ok, they went to the hospital to check themselves out. Mom ended up with several stitches in her arm, and my dad ended up with several stitches in his hand and a broken finger.
I've got nothing against pits, but what I do have a problem against is owners that don't know how to handle their own pets. For anyone that is afraid they might run into a similar problem, a can of pepper spray can stop a rabid dog pretty quickly, without doing too much harm, and stopping things before bad becomes even worse.

Sorry for the rant, just had to get that off my chest.

Glad everyone is OK. The owner of that pit needs his a$$ kicked real bad

Irresponsible dog owners should be prosecuted.

I am not against pit's either, but I am against most owners that have them. I believe if you own one you should at least take a course on how to raise them. I hope the other dog and owners gets what is due them. I hope that what happened was not intentional.

Stories like this piss me off so fuc#ing much. I am better than most trainers and I can tell you that certain breeds are not for amateurs. I married into an Akita family and with my skills I was too late to socialize this dog who would just as soon kill you. But like Crothcipt I have to say that the people who choose these types of dogs without the skills to train them from day one are just stupidly irresponsible. And if you own a dog like this you need to know where and when they can be trusted; if ever. These breeds can be unpredictable even when well socialized. If you want a pet, get a ***** dog like a golden retriever and have fun and a family member not a miserable experience. Occasionally, I will have some tiny women ask my advice on getting a protection dog or just a scary dog and without fail the answer is if you want protection get some type of device, not an animal. The breed vs. nurture is an issue with political implications as well. What people fail to understand is that regardless of breed, each dog is an individual and some are just cranky. Statistically, however, you rarely hear about dangerous border collies...

Having said all that, I am glad your parents are okay. It could have been worse, and I hope the owner gets properly socialized in jail. Now I will tell you how I really feel...

I'm the funny looking 6'4" 220lb guy with chihuahuas from an ex girlfriend.

Couple years back a drunken neighbor let his dogs out and then mauled and killing one of my little guys... vet bill was something like $2500 after the failed surgery.

He was eager to help and paid all the bills, but kept getting drunk and letting the dogs out to run unattended.

One night I told him, if it happened again he'd be paying for his own surgery, and he promptly moved the next month.

Dog will get crazy without proper supervision...people think that with the tragic number of animals being put down that anyone and everyone with a roof over their heads should take one home. Its just not always true.

Truly sorry that happened. That's a really upsetting story. One of the reasons I don't take my dog to dog parks. Just takes one idiot with his dog. My Border Aussie wouldn't hurt a fly, but he could get hurt by the wrong dog.

They should have pressed charges against the guy!! Also, pepper spray doesn't always work, but it's a good start.

Wow. I am glad things sort of turned out OK, but that owner needs to be leashed or lashed. And the reason he left so quickly is that he knew his dog would probably be put down if he stuck around. Also of note is that because of dog attacks house insurance companies are putting pressure on owners of certain breeds. I had a half lab chow that was very neurotic and though she was sweet 90% of the time that 10% was very unpredictable. I had to train her a lot to keep that 10% under control, but she eventually mauled my other dog in my house while I was gone (and now she is gone too). My trainer said that if she ever bit someone near my yard that I might have difficulty getting house insurance or paying more for it. Throw that threat at the next bad dog owner you see.

k.

Seth said:

I married into an Akita family and with my skills I was too late to socialize this dog who would just as soon kill you.

Click to expand...

An Akita?!?! They can be great dogs, but I would NEVER consider raising one, and we've bred and trained dogs my entire life. But I fully agree that there are no bad dogs or breeds, just incapable (or oftentimes ignorant) owners. With that said, I think there are some breeds people should need to actually qualify for to own. I'm a big believer in responsible dog ownership, much like responsible gun ownership.

And speaking of dogs and guns, the owner of that Pit needs to be shot.

That kind of irresponsible behavior is just what gives all dog owners a bad rap. I have good friends with pit bulls and they have never had issues because those dogs have been trained since day 1. Then this weekend I find out that one of my foster children's father fights their pit bull. Just disgusting that this is so prevalent still.

Glad your parents are OK.

I think those of us who own guns can relate. Some people are responsible, but then there are people who own things they have no business owning. Sometimes I trust pimps and drug dealers more than I trust this kind of people.

Guns get a bad wrap, dogs get a bad wrap. But stupid people don't get enough if you ask me.

A similar story happened to my Mom except she never saw the pit coming at her from behind and her dog actually pushed her out of the way and got between her and the pit. Luckily he's a 90lb shepherd with a lot of thick skin and hair and neither dog was hurt. The female owner proceed to swear and threaten my mom, telling her that she better not call the police.

My mom immediately called it in and then went to the police station the next day and talked to a detective, who instructed her to shoot the dog if it was off leash again and hinted that the same action taken against a physically threatening owner would also be understood / appreciated. By the time the court that deals with animal control issues got around to dealing with the situation, the owner and pit had moved.

Problem with shooting a dog is that it's not easy to hit a 1'x3' target at ground level moving at 20mph+ when you only have a couple seconds at most to react. Also, don't forget that you're also responsible for what / whomever else you accidentally shoot in the process.
Standard "self defense" pepper spray actually requires fairly close range and puts out a fairly small and short lasting spurt of the burny stuff - think "squirt gun filled with hot sauce." Plus, because the lawyers have to be OK with it being used on humans / not permanently blinding anyone, it can only be so strong. Bear spray, on the other hand, is a whole other story. Think "small, high-pressure, fire extinguisher, filled with the most potent, eye melting stuff possible" It requires much less fine motor skills than a gun and also less legal risk.

So, my mom ended up going with a canister of the best bear spray available for the 4-legged threats, a chief's special for the 2-legged, and of course, the 90lb shepherd counts for something too.

the "music" is horrible, but the video is pretty good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARtDI7Ggd_g
[video=youtube;ARtDI7Ggd_g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARtDI7Ggd_g[/video]