Narrow Escape (Pit Bull)

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dibbons

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La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
In my neck of the woods, two breeds dominant the neighborhood. If it's not a Chihuahua, it is a Pit Bull. My adult fifty-pound female Doberman is just a sissy, with the exception of chasing cats. Our morning walks on leash are 30 minutes through the dirt roads of this quiet residential area. I have never seen another person in this area walking their dog on a leash.

A few months ago, a white Pit Bull that runs loose in the fenced front yard and barks at us like crazy was out on the street and the gate to the front yard was wide open. The dog trotted over, and I froze while it began to sniff my Doberman. A man walks over from the house right away to recover the Pit Bull and assures me I have nothing to worry about.

A couple of mornings ago, the gate to the front yard is closed, but the same Pit Bull is running loose on the street and nobody else is around. I move as far away as I can from the dog and try to continue down the street, but it approaches us anyway. It barks and starts to circle around my Doberman while I yell and holler and try to pull my dog to safety. The Pit Bull decides to retreat and I breathe a sigh of relief, but the scare took all of the fun out of my morning walk. The next couple of days the dog is closed up in the front yard, so he only barks as we pass by him on the opposite side of the street.

Today, from a distance, I spot the white Pit Bull, sitting on the opposite side of the street in front of a neighbor's house along with a second Pit Bull (brown). You see, this other neighbor has THREE Pit Bulls--two are always tied up with chains in the front yard while the brown one is free to run around in the front yard loose, while the double gate to the street is normally closed. But this morning, for some reason, the gate that retains the brown dog is wide open and no one there to watch the brown dog.

So I stop with my leashed Doberman a long way before reaching the immediate vicinity of the two Pit Bulls. I see the gate of the white Pit Bull is wide open, but there is a lady out front raking leaves. From a distance still, I have to holler pretty loud to ask the lady if the white Pit is hers. She looks toward me, says nothing, and continues to rake. I holler one or two more times and it seems she shakes her head in the affirmative and then goes back to raking.

I stand there in the middle of the street, still a safe distance away, and the lady keeps raking. Now I ask her to put the dog away: yelling once-no response, yelling twice-no reaction, yelling a third time-she puts the rake against the cyclone fence and walks inside toward the house.

By now the white Pit Bull is alerted and begins to stalk us, while the brown Pit Bull stays seated to watch the action. When the white dog is almost within striking distance, I see a teen-age boy walk out from the front gate with the stupid lady standing there behind him. The kid starts walking toward us at a snail's pace while I begin to holler and ask him to pull his dog away from us.

Now the dog is chasing my Doberman in circles, while I holler and try to pull my dog away (with the leash) each time the Pit Bull lunges toward her. Finally, I pull so hard that my dog's leash and collar slide clear off. Now the Pit Bull has it's jaws around the neck of my dog. The dumb-***, slow-as-mud teen kid finally arrives on the scene and pulls the damn dog away.

My Doberman's neck is now covered in slobber from the white Pit Bull, but I don't see any blood. But can you imagine the scene if the second Pit Bull (brown) had decided to join the ruckus?

After I calm my dog down, I continue up the street. The white Pit Bull and kid are nowhere to be seen. The lady continues to rake leaves in the street in front of the house with her back to me, not a word, no apology, nothing. I'm guessing she is a maid or housekeeper or something.

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That seems to be happening a lot every where now days, kids want pit bulls and aren't responsible enough to handle them right.
 
Pit Bull terriers can be great dogs. They do have a strong prey drive though that needs to be controlled. They are often high energy dogs that NEED proper training. Responsible owners know the importance of this.
I don't think that dogs should be roaming freely in the world. They are animals and can easily revert back to "fight or flight" if they feel threatened.
There are too many lazy or outright negligent dog owners in this world. A dog with the strength and drive that a Pit Bull has absolutely needs training.In the wrong hands, They can become destructive and very dangerous in short order.
The media does pick on this breed though. So often, the headline will read PIT BULL ATTACK... then when they show the picture, it is a Bulldog, a King Corso or another Terrier that has some resemblance but is not actually a Pit Bull.
As much as I love our dogs, I would be the first to beat a dog if it tried to attack me. If I am innocently walking along the road and any dog tried to hurt the Wife or myself, I am reaching for anything to defend myself.
 
40 years ago it was a narrow escape from the Dobie, Rot or Shepard, just say'n. Glad you and your dog are ok.
 
That dog wouldda had a bullet for lunch.
In the oppressive country known as Mexico, personal ownership of guns is restricted. WHY give the citizens the ability to defend themselves? Thats why they have the Police, right?
 
In the oppressive country known as Mexico, personal ownership of guns is restricted. WHY give the citizens the ability to defend themselves? Thats why they have the Police, right?

LOL
 
Are we sure the white dog wasn’t just playing ? I’m thinking if it was an attack there would be a lot more damage then just some slobber on your dogs neck. Sound a lot like how my pities play. You would think they are killing each other. They play really tough. In dog parks some paleo pls get it and allow their dogs to play rough with them others just don’t get it. Either way if that dog was serious and had his mouth on your dogs neck I thing you hog would have been torn up.

Either way though the asshole owners shouldn’t allow the dogs to be loose in the street out of the yard. That’s just stupid
 
Are we sure the white dog wasn’t just playing ? I’m thinking if it was an attack there would be a lot more damage then just some slobber on your dogs neck. Sound a lot like how my pities play. You would think they are killing each other. They play really tough. In dog parks some paleo pls get it and allow their dogs to play rough with them others just don’t get it. Either way if that dog was serious and had his mouth on your dogs neck I thing you hog would have been torn up.

Either way though the asshole owners shouldn’t allow the dogs to be loose in the street out of the yard. That’s just stupid
Would have been target practice for me---------nuff said!
 
Cary a stick.

Just the confidence knowing you have the upper hand if necessary is usually enough.

Dogs can sense that.

There was a pit mix occasionally loose down the street from me for a while.
The first time I encountered it, it stalked me.
I found a stick on the side of the road on the way back, and just knowing I could get the first lick from a relative safe distance caused me to not show any fear or apprehension.
The dog kept twice the distance as the first time passed.

I do agree, if you see the dogs out, go the other way.
Why risk it.
 
I was walking a Great Dane puppy in a local park when a woman lost control of the Pit Bull she was walking. The Pit ran up to my pup and first just stood next to it. I realized this was an aggressive move by the Pit. I grabbed its collar just as it went for my pup's throat.

Getting my hand under the collar, I gave it a twist to tighten and choke the Pit while pulling him up and away from my pup. I still had my pup's leash in the other hand. I started yelling for her to get her f-ing dog, but she was scared. With no hands free to reach for my carry, I had no choice but to hang on until my wife got the pup's leash and got him away. By now, the woman has realized that I'm going to kill the Pit. I twisted harder on the collar and the Pit was choking. She finally picked up the Pit's leash and I told her to get the f... away with it right now. She tried weakly, but finally after me yelling at her enough, she got the hint that she needed to pull harder on the leash.

My pup was shaking but unharmed.

Lesson learned by me... I started carrying pepper spray attached to the leash. I realized that a dog would be hard to shoot and the possibility of injuring someone behind the target is a major concern. I'd have a good chance with pepper spray with the bonus of being easier to say "I pepper sprayed the dog" rather than "I shot the dog" to the police.

I've had other encounters with Pit Bulls... The rest have been controlled by the owner enough that I didn't have to do more than tell them to get control of their dog. While I have seen some that are very sweet dogs, some are just aggressive towards other dogs. A bigger dog, like one of my Danes, seem to be a threat to them even though the Dane isn't even paying any attention. I blame the owners for having dogs that they can't or won't train and control.

I've had many different dogs, including some German Shepards and Rottweilers... Never had one act like that. I always spent some time with training and they understood who was boss... and it wasn't them.
 
Cary a stick..

Yes... a Thunder Stick ;)

Kidding aside, it really erks me when owners don't take responsibility for their pets. Often times the pets get screwed (impounded, put down etc) due to the owner's ignorance.
 
Seems the white dog is becoming more aggressive with each encounter. It knows that it is the dominant dog in the match, and wi continue to escalate the situation with each encounter. An aggressive approach by you is the only answer. I am not a gun person, don’t own one, but if the dog is continually roaming free, a gun may be the only answer. You are not dealing with the dog here, the dog is doing what dogs do, dominate, and in this case, an attack is imminent. You are dealing with the owner here, or more accurately, the owners lack of controlling their dog, out of sheer negligence. If on the next encounter, the dog comes at you aggressively, I would have no problem shooting it. The problem will not go away until the dog is eliminated, as it is obvious that the owner is not going to remedy the prob. The dog will always see your dog as prey, and can’t get that out of its mind when it sees your dog.

And before anybody jumps all over my post, yes, I have a dog, an aggressive dog. She is very well trained and under my care at all times, in and out of the house. But, she is still a dog and I know full well what that means.

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Cary a stick.

Yep, carry a walking stick AND pepper spray.

Some areas you can protect yourself against a dog attack with a firearm some places you can't. In my county I can use deadly force to protect against it, and I do carry everywhere I go. That said, for the ease of repercussions, I would opt at using pepper spray first.

My Malinois is not very intimidated by other dogs as a rule, I had a pit come at him in a park (the irresponsible owner had him off leash) and the pit actually made contact and my Mal just stood there, looked down at him as if to say, really? Then he looked at me like WTF?

One thing we need to remember is that we have our dogs back no matter what, and will do what's necessary to protect them, and it's important they know that..
 
I have used pepper spray. Get SABRE RED Magnum Size 110 gram has a 17 foot stream.You can find it on AMAZON. If you are down wind or it comes back on you it may bother you a bit but spray it right between the eyes ,on the nose and in the mouth.Takes there breath away , and they Run off. I go in the opposite direction , Get outta dodge!!
 
As a long time owner of a German Shepard I fully recognize the prejudice and unfounded on occasion distrust and dislike of a breed of dog. My Shepard is a European large one at 100 pounds. While she is very well mannered and highly trained in the end she is still a Shepard and is not always appreciated. I try and be cognizant of that when we are out and about or have guests. I think it is simply part of dog ownership. The folks with the the three pits could easily have three Shepards or Rotts. Clearly they are POS people who have no business owning dogs. You will never change them they suk period. Sadly something bad will likely have to happen to get a change in behavior from them. I hope the OP is not involved. These situations never end well.
 
I’m thinking if it was an attack there would be a lot more damage then just some slobber on your dogs neck.

Maybe my description was mis-leading--the kid pulled the dog away at the same moment the dog put his jaws around my Doberman's neck. That is what I mean by "narrow escape"--saved by milliseconds!
 
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