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So tired of irresponsible dog owners

2K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  NothingbutGold 
#1 ·
It is so ridiculous that you can't even walk your dog in your own housing addition without worrying about vicious dogs. Today my mom and niece went for a walk with Chloe. The house about 5 houses down pitpull/bulldog mix snuck out the door when someone walked out. They were walking right in front of the house when he got out. First he just sniffed Chloe. But of course she loves dogs and wanted to play. Then things turned bad as the dog bit her several times and yelped. The lady couldn't even get her dog to stop because he had no collar on. The man a cross the street ran over and kicked the dog in the stomach. Then mom and chloe got away. Luckily she has no bite marks and was unphased by it. This is why she doesn't walk her much in our neighborhood and goes to the park to walk two miles everyday. So sick of irresponsible owners which vicious dogs. Can't wait to move and she has other Goldens to play with.
 
#2 ·
There are lots of ways for dog owners to be irresponsible. Today I was walking my 3 month old puppy and he came across another dog's poop that the owner did not pick up. How lovely it was for me to have to open my puppy's mouth and pull the poop out with my bare hand! Not as bad as being attacked by a pit bull, but pretty gross!
 
#5 ·
5?! That is horrible... I totally understand your mom's reaction, I've had that happen and it happens so quickly and you feel powerless. Gratefully a couple of young men saw the dog coming at us and drove quickly down the street, slammed on their brakes and grabbed the dog. The new place sounds like doggie heaven and so glad you are able to relocate and sure you feel like you can't get there fast enough. Enjoy the peace when you get there.
 
#6 ·
Ugh! I'm so sorry for all involved! Our community doesn't allow Pitts, but they're here- and often roaming the streets. We can't even let our kids ride their bikes because we fear they'll attack.
 
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#7 ·
We have a lot of them in our neighborhood. Our neighbor has one the same age as Chloe. He is a rescue in a house with small children. He is a pretty sweet dog. But even though we have a fence she can't go out if he is out. He always growls at her through the fence. One night he got under the fence when she was out. He didn't do anything. He just seems to not know how to engage a dog. But even though he didn't do anything we still don't let her out if he is out.
 
#8 ·
I won't hate on pitbulls because I do think it is the "deed not the breed", but I'd be lying if I said they did not scare me. Two pitbulls I know - well, one got into a vicious fight with a large GSD and does not come to the dog park any more. The other is a sweet girl, but she still has an edge to her. This in spite of her owners taking every class possible to instill obedience etc.

I worked on the strategy side of homeowners insurance a few years back, and it was alarming how many fatalities were caused by pitbulls. Most of the time the victims were young children, or older folks. And the descriptions of event leading up to the attack were so innocuous. Like "lady was out delivering Christmas gifts to her neighbors. Neighbor's pitbull saw her, jumped the fence, and mauled her." Can you imagine?? There were a number of these attacks.

Right now, there are a lot of proposed bills in various states looking to end breed specific legislation. It will be interesting to see what becomes of these proposed bills.

I am glad your neice, mum, and Chloe were largely unscathed. Have you spoken with the owner? Depending on where you live, there could be very serious consequences for both the owner and the dog. He/she needs to be very careful if his/her dog is predisposed to this sort of behavior.
 
#11 ·
You know what is sad. She hasn't even come down to make sure Chloe is ok. My mom has always gotten along with her. She has lived there as long as we have in our house. Mom said if Chloe would of had any wounds she would of called animal care and control.

Our local shelter never puts pitbulls down anymore. People who adopt them have to go through training classes and most of the time no small kids in house.
 
#9 ·
Buy Citronella spray - it doesn't hurt the dog, just scares it. I've used it too many times to to keep out of control neighborhood dogs away from me and my dog. Owners don't care that their dog is loose until they see a mystery substance shot at their dog.
 
#10 ·
I had an incident at the dog park recently. Bagheera might have gotten bit on the tip of one ear, there was a wound there but I didn't witness an actual bite. Saw this GSP bitch acting very aggressively towards him, including one of the most vicious snarl faces I've ever seen. I don't see many PBs around here. This is Iowa. We're mostly nice, unless you mess with our corn.

Around here it's always the bad dog owners, not bad dogs.
 
#12 ·
I am really glad that Chloe, your mom and your niece are all okay. I agree that it is the owner that is at fault. I don't think that any dog is inherently bad but there are certainly a lot of bad owners out there! It is inconceivable to me that a dog owner would see his/her dog injure another dog or a person and not check to see if they were ok. I had a dog who was attacked by a golden lab which used to live next door to us. As long as the lab was living next door to us I never allowed any of my dogs in my front yard again. It is very sad when owners are so irresponsible that they don't properly train their dogs. No matter what the breed is.
 
#13 ·
Glad Chloe is OK. I hate the idea of another dog attacking her. I'm glad you will be moving to a safer area for her soon. Its not right that you cannot safely walk Chloe around your own neighbourhood. I too think I am going to buy some spray for when I am on my walks with Rundle. I hear too many of these stories to be confident that owners will take responsibility for their dogs.
 
#15 ·
Really sorry to hear about this. I'm glad that Chloe is OK and that your Mom and niece are Ok too... Hang in there you will be in your new home soon. Hugs. Give Chloe a scritchy scratch from me.
 
#16 ·
Concern about irresponsible neighbor too!

So sorry you had to experience this. I have a neighbor who has a pit bull service dog and he let's the dog run free in the neighborhood. When I had my last dog, I would always walk my dog on a leash and the pit bull would come up to him and circle around him and snarl. It made me very nervous. The owner would always say she, the pit bull, won't hurt him (my dog). The owners wife had told me the pit bull was raped by another dog, and that is why she acts that way. My dog passed away last November. Currently, I am hoping to get a puppy this summer. I have decided before the puppy comes that I need to have a talk with my neighbor about my fear regarding his dog. Any suggestions would be appreciated about how to approach the owner. The owner has PTSD and that's the reason for the service dog.
 
#18 ·
So sorry you had to experience this. I have a neighbor who has a pit bull service dog and he let's the dog run free in the neighborhood. When I had my last dog, I would always walk my dog on a leash and the pit bull would come up to him and circle around him and snarl. It made me very nervous. The owner would always say she, the pit bull, won't hurt him (my dog). The owners wife had told me the pit bull was raped by another dog, and that is why she acts that way. My dog passed away last November. Currently, I am hoping to get a puppy this summer. I have decided before the puppy comes that I need to have a talk with my neighbor about my fear regarding his dog. Any suggestions would be appreciated about how to approach the owner. The owner has PTSD and that's the reason for the service dog.
If you live in town, many cities have rules about dogs running at large. You could anonymously report them so as not to cause a riff in your relationship. If you are in the country, most country folks let their dogs run loose. Usually its not a problem in my experience, but occasionally it is. I don't know what to do about it. We had a neighbor about a mile down the road with 2 NASTY boxers. We just didn't ever take walks past that farm. They moved away now though, otherwise I was going to try to look into what to do about nasty loose dogs in the country (besides carrying and shooting them if they came out-which is what I was VERY tempted to do!)
 
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#17 ·
I'm sorry, but I don't buy the whole "pitt bulls are sweet and don't deserve the bad rap" thing. Statistics don't lie-they are far and away the cause of most fatalities (of people and animals) in dog attacks. Years ago when my youngest brother was a baby we were camping at a horse campground. My sister and I are the riders so we were out riding, my dad and older younger brother (if that makes sense!) were out fishing, and my mom was pushing my youngest brother in the stroller walking our golden on a leash. Campground rules are all pets MUST be leashed. Out of nowhere a pitt bull was suddenly attached to my golden's neck, only inches from my brother in the stroller. This was a completely unprovoked attack, neither my dog nor my mom saw the pit coming. This was a crowded campground with lots of children running around and this pit was NOT leashed and vicious! Fortunately, some friends were also camping nearby and saw the whole thing and came out to help pull the pit off my dog. Some people claiming to be "friends of the owner" (we think they WERE the owners, just to scared to admit it) came and took the dog away. When my dad got back he was livid and went to look for the people and the dog, but they were nowhere to be found, I guess they left in a hurry before they got in trouble. My dog was fine thankfully!
Another reason I don't trust pits is that I'm a groomer and work at a vet clinic. Just don't see to many I'd trust, they all have that "look" that tells me to be wary. Course, I've also seen my share of labs and goldens who are nasty, but most goldens are sweet. Labs, well lets just say I put them in the same category as pits for breeds to be wary of. Sad cause they're supposed to be nice.
I feel like people who own pits are in denial that their pit could ever be mean and so they try to prove it by having them unleashed, claiming they'd never hurt you, etc, etc. If they would only admit a potential problem and do something about it rather than waiting til someone gets hurt....Actually this applies to people who own ANY breed...part of responsible ownership is knowing & admitting behavioral problems!
Anyway, sorry for the long rant. I'm glad everyone was ok and sorry this happened to you. :(
 
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#20 ·
I completely agree with you. Personally, I think Pit Bulls are a breed that should be phased out ... not killed or anything like that, just not bred any longer. Our neighbor has a Pit Bull. My husband and I went outside one day and they were out there with him. My husband said "hey killer," just out of habit because he always says that sarcastically to dogs that would never hurt a fly. I don't think it hit him that he was saying that to a Pit Bull till the second after he said it. The owner said "don't worry, he's OK as long as we keep an eye on him." Then my husband went over to pet him and the guy said "just don't get your face too close to him." I'm sorry but a dog that you have to be that careful with has no business in a neighborhood situation. These people moved here from a large piece of property. I guess if you have no neighbors it's not a problem. Not acceptable here in my opinion. I understand that they already had the dog when they moved here, but I certainly hope they don't replace him with another Pit when he is gone.
 
#21 ·
Our direct neighbors pitbull is pretty sweet. We just don't let Chloe out at the seams time because he growls through the fence. The night he did come under the fence he didn't even care Chloe was out there. They have four kids. 11, 8, 6, 4. It's really sad how people have ruined a good breed.
 
#22 ·
We have a family just down the street (we live on a U shaped street, not a lot of houses) have 4 Pitts. The mother and one of her 3 puts stay in the back yard. The other 2 pups do not get along with the 3rd pup nor the mother and have to be kept in separate areas. By the way, the pups are now about 2 years old. Now comes the unbelievable part. They have a chain, about 20 feet long I would guess attached to something in the garage. At the other end, they have two chains about 6 feet long--forms a Y. The two pups are on that Y chain. When the family is gone, the pups are shut up in the garage. I understand they have a fan in there to "cool them down".

When hubby walks our Great Pyrenees, now about 9 1/2 years old, those two pitts chained in the garage (but they can get about 6-7 feet out of the garage onto the driveway) they are straining t the end of their chain snarling, barking, etc. Jerry has started walking Sir Moose the other way. The dogs also act like with most people walking down the sidewalk--and our mailbox is at the end of that leg of the U.

Other neighbors hae said those two chained out front get into it once in a while. Also, they are scared of the dogs. Like me, they think being stuck in a hot garage for hours at a time when the family is gone, being chained ALL the time would make dogs mean, especially pitts. I don't trust them one bit--even tho my nephew had one that was the sweetest girl who let their 13 inch Beagle boss her around. Lost her to cancer.
 
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