Pit Bulls

[GSD Woman]

My niece had adopted a pit bull from a local shelter. She was told the dog was good with cats. He wasn't. They should have returned him then.

I went to bring her stuff and for her fiancé to look at my car windshield wipers. We went in through the back gate and she said the dogs will bark and then sniff me. I've met the lab mix many times with no trouble. The pit bull sniffed, took a step or two backwards and launched at me. He tried for my gut first, thank whatever gods there might be that he didn't connect. Then he went for my face. I felt his muzzle hit my face. I think that's when I must have thrown up my arm. He latched onto my arm. It's pretty nasty. My niece managed to get him off of me. I swore at her and told her she needed to put the dog down.

Just from things she has said I didn't think this dog belonged in a home. Now I'm convinced of it. Last night my sister went upstairs to tell her he needed to go back to the shelter. I believe at this point he would be euthanized. I also think they would be taking the coward's way out. Niece has been stressed and depressed and said the dog has been the only thing keeping her going for the last 7 months. She has been under a lot of poop from her job. I do wish I could swear like I have been about this whole thing.

They now realize that the dog needs to be in a crate or on a leash when people come over. Niece also bought a muzzle. I just keep thinking that denial is more than a river in Egypt.

I did tell my niece that I wouldn't report the dog. She realizes that if he bites another person he has to go visit doggy Jesus.

Oh and after he bit me she told me that he "snapped" at a friend of boyfriend. A snap that broke skin because friend who had met the dog bent over the dog to pet him. SMDH.

Thank you for letting me get this all out.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Crap, are you OK? Puncture wounds? Will your insurance cover it?

Thing is, if he really badly hurts someone or worse, she knows his potential to harm and has done nothing.
For sure the dog has helped her through a lot but she already sounds a bit laissez-faire about keeping him under tight control and this is just a lawsuit waiting to happen which will be a lot more stressful than what she is going through currently.

 

[GSD Woman]

CC more tear and crush wounds. I haven't had to seek medical help thus far. My insurance will cover it if I need it.

My niece was so upset about what happened yesterday I ended up being the calm one and calming her down. My sister is having kittens because she thinks the dog needs to go get a syringe full of the pink juice but is more worried about her daughter. She doesn't trust the dog with the cats and told me today that if the dog gets her cat he's gone. it is a huge mess.

At least my sister realizes how much they have to lose. What a mess.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Yikes! I hope you heal and recover as swiftly as possible {{{{{{Vibes}}}}}}

I'm sorry for your niece that loves her dog, but the control such a dog needs to be under, is for me just not compatible with a good quality of life, and a happy dog.

 

[Archangel]

Denial is the worst thing because the next thing will happen for sure, because they are not on high alert for the unexpected.

They are still keeping their cats in a house with a dog that hates cats but they are going to wait until disaster strikes before making a decision - are they mad?

I am in the put down camp for that dog, but would they go to a trainer at the very least or rehome to someone very, very, experienced with challenging dogs.

 

[asmp]

But it could be a child next time ?. Your niece will be more depressed and stressed if it badly injures someone. There are other nicer dogs out there that need a home.

 

[SAujla]

I hope you are okay but I echo the post above, that could be a kid or someone who didn't know how to react like you did. Giving him your arm at least got him away from your face. If he snapped at someone he knows (boyfriends friend) then how can anyone really be safe

Well done for staying calm

 

[CorvusCorax]

CC more tear and crush wounds. I haven't had to seek medical help thus far. My insurance will cover it if I need it.

You probably know this already, but a Dettol bath will really help, if you can get the plain antiseptic where you are, plus arnica. If you present to a hospital with a dog bite, will it automatically be reported? That's what happens here. 'Just saying'.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Here, I'm just coming back to this, I don't mean to teach granny to suck eggs, but if you don't get medical treatment, you could suffer further complications with your arm and that will affect your ability to work in your field. Then you may have to sue niece for loss of earnings in order to keep your head above water.

Just thinking of all the variables. Something has to/is going to happen, one way or another. One is that the dog is gone from this world and knows nothing about it.
The other is that something awful happens and the people who were in a position to stop it, didn't act when they could have done and have to deal with all the legal implications of that....and the dog is gone anyway, probably after a lot of stress and via a bullet.

Agreed that the dog doesn't sound very happy in the head anyway and every time this happens, the behaviour is reinforced.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Goodness!
None of that sounds good. I have been known to say that it's not the dog that should be banned here but the irresponsible owners that allow them to get out of hand. I'm afraid that your niece and the 'rescue' are the irresponsible ones in this sorry tale.

Do keep a close eye on your wounds and head for the ED if things don't go well, in any way.

 

[Clodagh]

Ouch and OMG. You poor thing. I think that as your sister and you are having to be the grown up’s here you need to push her to a decision. She can get another dog, but she can’t replace a neighbours child, for instance.
A terrible situation.

 

[ihatework]

OMG. I hope you are ok.

I’m afraid I don’t think you can now leave this up to your niece. You have to ensure this dog is destroyed before something more serious happens.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Ouch and OMG. You poor thing. I think that as your sister and you are having to be the grown up’s here you need to push her to a decision. She can get another dog, but she can’t replace a neighbours child, for instance.
A terrible situation.

This!
How will she feel when the PB attacks her other dog? I can almost guarantee that will happen eventually, if the PB hasn't had to be euthanised for attacking a person first.
The safest and best solution here is planned pts of the dog at home asap, imho.

 

[NinjaPony]

How horrible, that could have been very very serious and sounds nasty enough as it is.

I’m a real softie with animals, but I have to say I agree that the dog should be PTS or at the very least taken to a specialist for some hardcore training.

My little dog was nearly ripped in half by an aggressive Pit, and whilst dog aggression is not breed specific, the damage those jaws did was incredible, she’s very lucky to be alive and it launched out of nowhere.

If you hadn’t put your arm up, that would have been your face. Imagine if that happened to a child, or an elderly person. It’s an accident that’s already happened.

I’m very sorry to hear about the situation though, really upsetting for everyone involved.

 

[stangs]

Sending healing vibes your way, must have been horrifying to be in your position.

Has she gotten a proper behaviourist out to see him? She's understandably attached, but dog sounds like a ticking time bomb.

 

[Caol Ila]

Yeah, that needs put down. There are a lot of nice, friendly dogs out there who need homes. I am not sentimental about keeping aggressive ones around for the sake of it.

Like everyone above said, it's only a matter of time before it bites someone else, and your niece could end up in a morass of legal trouble to boot if it can be proven that she knew the dog was dangerous and did nothing.

 

[Antw23uk]

This post has made me so angry. This dog should be destroyed and you are keeping it alive for what reason? A cowards way out? what does that even mean? Honestly, tick tock on the watch as it counts down to being a child in the firing line!

 

[Nasicus]

This is going to sound awful, but by not reporting this when your niece is refusing to take action, you are just as guilty when it inevitably bites someone else, gets out and kills some innocent persons dog, or savages some child.

She realizes that if he bites another person he has to go visit doggy Jesus.

He's already bitten another person, you! After it bit her boyfriends friend! And I can guarantee it's bitten in a previous home too. Someone needs to take responsibility and put this dangerous dog down. This isn't some narky chihuahua, this is a dangerous animal that is more than capable of killing an adult human, and it could bloody well have been you!
It's only a matter of time before 'management' fails and an innocent person or animal pays the price.

 

[Antw23uk]

This is going to sound awful, but by not reporting this when your niece is refusing to take action, you are just as guilty when it inevitably bites someone else, gets out and kills some innocent persons dog, or savages some child.


He's already bitten another person, you! After it bit her boyfriends friend! And I can guarantee it's bitten in a previous home too. Someone needs to take responsibility and put this dangerous dog down. This isn't some narky chihuahua, this is a dangerous animal that is more than capable of killing an adult human, and it could bloody well have been you!
It's only a matter of time before 'management' fails and an innocent person or animal pays the price.

This will be falling on deaf ears I fear Nasicus!

 

[Lurfy]

There was a case in my city in 2018 where a woman was killed by her pet dog as she was trying to protect a visitor from an attack. It was a staffy pit bull cross and it turned on her with fatal results. The police ended up shooting the dog after tasering and pepper spray didn't deter it. The dog had bitten people before this fatal day. Such a horrific outcome in this case.

I think when a dog is a known biter it should be taken very seriously. The owner sadly didn't survive.

OP I hope you make a speedy recovery and your niece deals with her aggressive dog so it doesn't happen again. it must have been a horrendous experience, take care xx

 

[CorvusCorax]

This will be falling on deaf ears I fear Nasicus!

Ant would you calm down and read the thread properly, it's not the OP's dog and she's been badly hurt herself.

 

[Odyssey]

I'm so sorry that this happened to you OP, it must have been terrifying. I'm very glad that you weren't badly hurt, you could so easily have been.

I can't believe the irresponsibility of the kennels in rehoming a Pitbull! The owners obviously weren't responsible enough to have the dog pts as they should have done, and doubtless lied about the reason for offloading him, but you'd hope that someone more sensible would know that you can't take a chance with a dog that can easily kill a person. They don't have the reputation they've got without good reason.

A local kennels rehomed a Cocker Spaniel to someone I worked with. He'd been given to them because he'd shown aggressive behaviour to his owners, but the kennels wanted to give him a second chance. Maybe they didn't believe that a spaniel could be aggressive to people. After a couple of worrying incidents, he went for his new owners face. Thankfully she was wearing glasses, which saved her. She returned him to the kennels, who presumably had him pts. If only people could do the right (but very hard) thing for everyone, including their dog, and have it pts rather than handing the problem on to someone else, and continue to put others at risk.

 

[Antw23uk]

Ant would you calm down and read the thread properly, it's not the OP's dog and she's been badly hurt herself.

If there is one thing i am today, its calm. Dont be so silly!

 

[GSD Woman]

I know the danger. My sister and I have been discussing how to get the niece to put him down.

One of the things that makes me angry is they have been working with a trainer. They sent him to be trained and worked with that trainer. I think they're working with a new trainer. They have ordered a muzzle that hasn't arrived yet.

Some idiot with a pit on a retractable lead charged the dog in question. Apparently the dog got within 3 feet of Link and Link behaved.

Sister just said niece is asking for a month. I've also suggested sending him to a friend of mine who is one person who could straighten him out but she is expensive. I can't afford to pitch in since I've had to apply for disability and I'm waiting on the decision.

 

[GSD Woman]

And I agree with all of the people saying the dog should be put down ASAP. It is a mess and my niece is severely depressed. I know if the dog gets his teeth in another person she's gong to be more depressed. I plan on going and talking to the rescue tomorrow. It is a holiday in the US so I doubt they are open today. I'll check and go today if they are.

 

[GSD Woman]

Here is a link to the website. As you can see they mislabel a pit mix as a shepherd mix. Read the descriptions all the dogs. IMO the majority need to go to doggy heaven.

https://www.rva.gov/animal-care-control/adoptions

 

[Nasicus]

Check out the reprehensible rescues page on facebook. You'll learn all about the wonderful world of rescues, pitbulls and lies. And the absolutely baffling lengths pitnutters will go to in order to 'save' poor misunderstood Fluffums who only bit the previous owner, the owners kids and then ripped the family cat apart because they didn't raise Fluffums right, genetics and piss-poor backyard breeding be damned.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Here is a link to the website. As you can see they mislabel a pit mix as a shepherd mix. Read the descriptions all the dogs. IMO the majority need to go to doggy heaven.

https://www.rva.gov/animal-care-control/adoptions

Haven't looked at the info on all the dogs, but the dogs I did read the description on seems to have one thing in common = energetic. Even poor Oswald, 8 years, blind, liked to run around in the foster home's backyard. But even though it sounds as if he finds living in the shelter's kennel scary, and did much better living in a foster home, it still sounds as if he's currently living in the shelter's kennel.

Sorry to go off topic, but poor dog. At 8 years, and blind, if the original owner couldn't keep him, why not take him to the vets, give him a whole package of sausages, and let it be the end.

 

[Books'n'dogs]

I'm sorry GSD Woman that you had that happen to you, I hope your arm heals and you don't have any complications. I do think that the dog needs to be destroyed, it could be so much worse next time.

Check out the reprehensible rescues page on facebook. You'll learn all about the wonderful world of rescues, pitbulls and lies. And the absolutely baffling lengths pitnutters will go to in order to 'save' poor misunderstood Fluffums who only bit the previous owner, the owners kids and then ripped the family cat apart because they didn't raise Fluffums right, genetics and piss-poor backyard breeding be damned.

And that is why I will not adopt, too many American rescues are the same and the others go the other way in being extra cautious (which is fine by me, I just don't have the lifestyle suited to those rescues).

 

[GSD Woman]

Books'n'dogs,

I agree with the rescues. I have a friend with 2 nice GSDs that were foster fails. I worry that I would get the GSD equivalent of my niece's pit bull. At least I know enough to give the pink juice.