Rednosered… hate to say but again because I do rescues… I have seen first hand aggression… the animals I rescue are still in the homes of the abuser. Most that I am called to help with are the more severe cases. The ones that are starved, beaten, kicked, chained, tormented, …. The ones “gang” members have… so when I go into the home/ yard to remove them… I get to see and handle dogs raised to fight or ones fighting for their survival. It is not just one at a time that are rescued. It is how I handle them and what I do that keeps the peace.

Have you ever heard of "Cesar Millan"?

Yes i've heard of him,i've watched his show.

http://www.askmen.com/toys/special_feature_100/101_special_feature.html

Ivy don't ignore what makes a Pit!

I can say made for TV!

What are you talking about? Its just the one that I shared about my sister and then the situation with my Great Danes that I had. Both were many years ago.

foosdog... Please read my past post before commenting … thank you.

I am so sorry to hear this story. My cat went missing and the suspect is a pit across the way who had killed another cat a few weeks ago. It so strange Jade, the pit, seems friendly but when walking my golden retriever around looking for our cat she jumped the fence and ran after us Cahrley my Golden laid down and peed allover the road in fear I let go of the leash and LUCKILY the owner of the pit came running and picked her up. I do not walk that way any more! We are a little scared because Jade is not the only Pit in neighborhood and we are running out of places to walk. so, we are getting a big fence and keeping our walks short and more time in th pool. So sorry again I can't imagine your grief.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog.It's very sad.

Nobody should have to be afraid to walk thier pets. It makes me so angry to hear people talk about these dogs that are able to escape thier yards and chase them. I dont care what breed of dog it is. Thats one of the reasons that pit bulls have such bad names. Because stupid people own them and dont contain them properly.

I have a rescued pitbull who thinks she is a lap dog very good with my children and loves other dogs. She is a very smart dog but she was neglected and has came around alot it is a respect for the breed itself they are all animals even if they are part of the family. We show her there are boundaries and that we are the head of the pack but still always remeber she is a pit. We have a english setter next door who charges my pit and pins her to the ground bitting and growling. He also does the same to people the owner leaves the dog inside all day and then we she gets home at night puts the dog out on a chain with no food and water in a broke refigerator crisper drawer. We just moved in 3weeks ago and she warned us that her dog might bite. It lunges on its chain and when being approached shows his teeth and tries to bite. I tried to give him some food. I am an all around animal lover. I volunteer at our local humane society and we have many dogs that bite and most of ours are from labs/mix, shepards/mix, chow/mix, then comes actually the rotts, pits and such. I would never own a dog that would bite and have had to put down a sharpei down about 8 years ago because after the 3rd time I saw agression that was the last he stood up on his hind legs and tried to bite me in the face. Thank goodness my doberman jumped up and knocked him down. I am very sorry for your loss and that neighbor of yours evidently is not capable of having any kind of a pet.

Moose I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. Just Tuesday evening our neighbors Pit Bull attacked and killed my cat. I did a search looking for the local laws on owning Pits and came across your post. Your families loss pains me greatly. Like you, my children and dog have played with the neighbors Pit Bull in the past. He showed no signs of aggression and hadn't chased either of my cats before. Tuesday he was out in the front with his owner and chased my cat, he chased her out of our yard (she was in our yard and was not provoking the dog in anyway) across the street and caught her, he bit her by her back legs and basically crushed her insides. She turned and bit him, digging her claws so deeply into him that they were ripped out her paws. My oldest daughter brought her inside (she witnessed the attack through the front windows and ran outside, I was in the bathroom at the time or the dog would likely be much more injured), we rushed her to the emergency clinic and she died in my daughters arms on the way. It was the most heartbreaking thing I've ever experienced in my life. I have 2 small children and they watched Rogue die, they were sobbing hysterically and it was the hardest thing ever. The vet told me that Rogue was so internally damaged that it looked like she had been run over by a car. The owners are very apologetic and would like to make it right but honestly, they can't. Nothing can give me my Rogue back. She was my kitty, my middle daughter picked her out for me, she was special and I will forever miss her. Much like Moose will miss his dog. This dog has killed in the past, he killed another dog where they used to live. I did not know that until Tuesday night otherwise my dog and my children would have been NOWHERE around that dog.

I know that not all Pits are bad, but obviously my neighbors is. I would like the city to handle this but I doubt they will. It will be up to me and my family to press the issue to have the dog put down. IMO when a Pit attack it awakes the natural instinct to attack again and they will do it over and over. I don't want to wait until it happens to one of my children.

I have a dog, if he ever attacks another animal he will be put down. I love my dog with all my heart but no family should ever go through the pain my family did. For the record, my dog is a German Shepherd mix and we got him from a rescue.

Moose, again, you have my sympathies on the lose of your dog. He will forever be with you in spirit.

I think its due to genetics.{Aggressiveness} I hate to see people throw a label "aggressive" on any breed, but especially these guys! ~JMO-they are just so misunderstood, and I do believe that its a form of racism to condone an entire breed, for the mistakes of some irresponsible owners made!~sad....

And sorry to hear about the dog that was attacked! I would be crushed!

***Edited By: 763melani on 7/14/2005 7:52:37 PM***
Reason: add

When are we humans going to learn? It is not a matter of "trust", it is a matter of instinct...

If you own a chihuahua or a pit bull you must realize that that animal can react at anytime.. no matter what!

I am very sorry to hear about your dog. After the pain of what happened to you, I can understand why you'd hate whatever breed of dog did it. If a Saint Bernard killed my dog I probably would never want to look at another one again either.

Your neighbors were totally at fault, particularly since there had been a problem in the past with the dogs getting loose. They should not have been left out in the fence unsupervised.

We just had a thread similar to this. Maybe you could check out that thread, as I don't want to repeat things I just typed a few days ago. I don't mean that in a smart aleck way, it's just there's a lot to type on the subject.

http://www.terrificpets.com/forum/21853.asp

***Edited By: shinyblackpit on 7/19/2005 11:10:41 PM***
Reason: asdasdfasdf

I own a six month old American StaffordShire Terrier (pitbull) . I also owned another AST before this. The one thing I have learned from my experience with this breed is it needs obedience, but you can't be mean to them either. Pitbulls are alot of work. They should know all basic comands and do them with no exceptions. I don't suggest this breed to anyone who dosen't have time to spend training the dog. You need to provide the right enviroment for these dogs. If you anyone wants to know look up top 25 dogs most likely to turn on their owners. You may be surprised.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, Pit bulls are breed to be fearless monsters??? So you are saying that a pit bull is raised by its mental capacity not by its physical capacity??? The bottom line is that "Pit bulls" have a physical threat not a mental threat. The problem with American Stafford Terriers are that they were once an expensive breed, but because of over breeding and the wrong owners owning them, the whole breed has been punished. What about Presa Canarios? They ate the ribs out of a woman in New York? You ban a Pit bull they’ll breed another dog, the problem is the owner. I was at the Cherokee Humane Society Fund Raiser and a Golden Retriever attacked my vicious pit bull who ran away beneath my legs. Now that’s a vicious killer. There are many breeds that were used for fighting and attack dogs, and if you do not raise them properly or if you do not take care of them they could hurt and kill someone. We need stricter laws on the idiots who have these dogs, not punish a specific breed of dog. Lets outlaw guns they were raised for generations too for killing, lets ban them and what about knives, they kill to, lets ban all knives as well.

IMO when a Pit attack it awakes the natural instinct to attack again and they will do it over and over. I don't want to wait until it happens to one of my children.

Not true. Ive seen a pit attack my dog first had and the dog gets along with other dogs and animals great. The fight was started over her bing in heat and 2 males not being nueterd. Long story. The pits involved in the attack on my dog were great house pets. Loved the owners 2 children. They were great dogs.

Just because a dog attacks another dog doesnt mean its going to go on and attack a human next. Pit bulls were bred for dog agression not human agression. They are two very different things.

I have a dog, if he ever attacks another animal he will be put down. I love my dog with all my heart but no family should ever go through the pain my family did. For the record, my dog is a German Shepherd mix and we got him from a rescue.

I agree with you to an extent. If my pit bull attacked another dog than she would just be doing what she was bred for. If she attacked a human unprovoked than she would be put to sleep on the spot. Dog agression i can handle. I can handle cat agression too. No big deal. Human agression is an instant death penalty.

I own a dog but shes not living with me right now that hates cats. Despises them. She attacked and killed a stray cat and left it in the yard for me one day. She also tried to kill my cat Chester. She is not allowed in the house at all. The cat learned not to bother her. Momma is an awesome dog she just cant be around cats. But because i know that and i love her i take the precautions of keeping her out of any situation that can get her into trouble. Animal agression is easy to deal with its just depends on how much effort you want to put into keeping your dog.

I am truely sorry for your loss. Losing a family member in such horrible fashion must be one of the saddest experiences anyone can go through.

Imagine instead your loved one was ripped from your home and killed as a result of BSL. What some of you fail to see is that at some point, your dog, reguarless of breed will be nex on the list. It may take many years for this to happen, but, it is the reality of allowing such legislation to exsist. First pits, then chows, then rots......and so on until everyone own a Lab. And what happens if there is a dog attack then? Well, it will have been caused bye a Lab and so we must destroy the breed.

BSL is exatly that, BS! It is nothing more than legislation to protect insurance companies. While it may be sugar-coated to make you believe it's for your own safty, it is only to cut the insurance companies a break.

This attack, as many others, could have been prevented. Unfortunately, your neighbor is not an responsible dog owner. The first time their dog got out, something should have been done to make sure that it never happened again.

My APBT figured a way out of the back yard and ran to a local elementry school.............guess what, nothing happened. One of the teachers actually invited her back tot he school since the children had so much fun with her. I declined, and you know what I did the next day, I secured the fence to make sure it would never happen again.

I am truely sorry for your loss. Punish the deed not the breed.

I was reading the original post and the poster said the dog first attack when she was in heat....is there any relation between the two?

The CA attack on the 12 year old boy was when the male was protecting the female who was in heat.

Could it be that dogs are more aggressive during this time?
Or some dogs or just Pits?

I've always had altered animals and no very little about unaltered and their personalities during the cycle and such.

Moose I am very sorry for your loss and what you had to go through! If a dog came into my yard and attacked my car and wouldn't let me out, there would be BIG TROUBLE with the owner of that dog! I would have called the police and made a report and told the owner of the dog he better keep the thing inside until he gets his dumb fence fixed and he better up in homeowners Ins as I would be contacting a attorney over the matter to resolve the problem ( new fence, dog inside while owners are gone) so it NEVER happened again if the dog was still alive and I had not killed it myself . ( I have never sued anyone , but thats over the top). No matter what the breed , if a dog attacks another dog or person, unprovoked, and tries to kill it, I think there should be HUGE fines and compensation, fencing policies, etc, so the owner thinks twice about owning a dog ( any breed) that could do such a thing. Leaving a agressive dog in a fence while the owner is gone it nuts. Most fences are not fool proof. I own yorkies and they can be VERY agressive towards each other at times. Dogs fights are one thing but attacking a person not on the dogs property is totally different. Most of these attacks seem to happen while the dog is running loose or the owners don't have control while walking them.
POPE, your comment to Moose was really rude and I think ALPA knows that you were not speaking about ALPA! Her/his point was just because he/she has only posted a few posts here, dose that make his/her comments any less valid? I assume you think that Moose might be a troll or the story untrue as they only posted for the first time. Whatever...