KEEP YOUR DOG UNDER CONTROL!!!!!!

Swank Force One wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: I wonder what kind of trouble I'd get into if I yelled at the wife "GET MY GUN!" the next time a neighbor kid walked onto the property?

I'll try it next time one of the packs of small children roaming the neighborhood my shop is in just shows up and starts poking around. I'll let you know the results.

Do I need to set aside some bail money for you?

I'll admit, and I think I kinda did in my first post, that my anxiety is unreasonable. But that is something I dealt with as those feelings came. It wasn't soo much the dogs I was afraid of, it was the anxiety that came from the experience. One second my family was having a normal Saturday, and in an instant I'm lifting my 9 year old off the ground and she's bleeding like crazy (faces and heads bleed a lot). Then off to the hospital. That showed me that I can't predict the scenarios where I have to protect or help my kids. It also reinforced that dogs are animals. They have prey drive, they had odd behaviors like not liking men in hats and sunglasses and such. So, for a few months I was always on heightened alert that a dog could come from behind that car and try to harm my kids. I knew in my head that the chances were slim to non that it'd happen, but fears can be irrational.
I worked through that. We've tried real hard to make my daughter feel comfortable around dogs. She's better than I am haha.

Back to the reason for this post. I've had three Akita's. They are usually lumped in with all the other dogs that eat humans all the time, pits, rotties, sheppards. But mine were very well trained and under control. If my front door was open (answering the door, carrying groceries in the house) they wouldn't go through that door without a specific word from my wife or I. I've seen our last dog sitting at the open door way, rear legs quivering because there was a squirrel in the yard. She did not go for it. If you can't control your dog, you shouldn't have it.

wrote:

"dave" said: The over reaction is seeing a threat in every dog.

wow, you seem to have all the answers, maybe you should start a blog or something............people could submit questions and you could charge like 5 bucks per answer, and how many baby girls did you say you have and how many times have they been brutally attacked?

Yeah, I'm the crazy one for not concluding that every dog on earth is trying to tear my kid's face off.

If I said "I was robbed by a black guy, therefore if a black guy ever approaches me I'm going to shoot him" I would rightfully be labeled insane and racist.

I'm simply saying to assess whether a threat actually exists before freaking out. If the dog is a threat - yes - do what you have to do. And if the best answer a grown ass man can come up with for dealing with a dog that is one fourth his weight is "kill it", well that sucks for the dog, but OK. In this case, other than being a bit scared, Doc's kid was fine. Playing in the yard 20 minutes later. It would suck to escalate the situation to the point of killing a neighbor's dog, using a firearm in a residential neighborhood, etc., all for a situation which 20 minutes later could have been ancient history. A snap judgement does nobody any favors.

EDIT - and I DO feel sorry for both Doc and his kids and that mauling incident. If I were in his shoes, I very well may be in the same place he is. berkeleying with a man's kids gets a man primal. I get that.

These are both wild city dogs. Born and raised wild. I'm comfortable around them, but if they attack, they wont survive. I wanted to take the top one home. If I got a choice, there is another running around with a damaged back leg. She would come home with me and have that one amputated. Unfortunately, most these dogs are probably way too sick for me to be able to afford any of that.

In addition, the bottom was taken home by a contractor. Funny as hell to see her riding around in a skid steer until they went home.

To an extent I agree with you Dave. But, have you ever had to deal with a dog that was attacking? They don't respond to reason, often they don't respond to the commands given by the owner. If a dog was attacking my kid (this one wasn't, thus it's still alive) I'm going to stop the threat in the most sure way possible.
If you are standing there, watching you kid getting mauled (mine was not in this case) how long would you reason with the dog? When it's clear the owner has no control over the dog how much control do you think you'll have?
And I didn't see every dog as a threat. I saw the unknown as a threat. If you were mugged by a black guy in an ally, at night, with no streetlights on and lots of hides for a perspective criminal, would you feel totally comfortable when you find yourself in that same situation? Either way, like I've said already. Those were my issues. I've dealt with them. This post wasn't about the evils of dogs. Did you happen to read the title of this thread? The subject isn't the dog, it's the control owners don't have over them. It's no different than "guns don't kill people, people kill people"

Swank Force One wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: I wonder what kind of trouble I'd get into if I yelled at the wife "GET MY GUN!" the next time a neighbor kid walked onto the property?

I'll try it next time one of the packs of small children roaming the neighborhood my shop is in just shows up and starts poking around. I'll let you know the results.

I hate those little bastards too......throwing rocks at the cars isn't cool.

I'm somewhat of a gun guy. I like guns, like shooting, etc, but I'm with Dave and Bobzilla here because I really don't believe lethal force is needed in the majority of dog incidents. Unfortunatly I've had to break up quite a few dog fights, one between a full grown St. Bernard and German Shepard. I broke it up with my hands and sure as hell didn't feel the need to "GRAB MY GUN OH LORDY HELP US!". I understand living with a traumatic experience can be painful, but staying calm and handling the situation rationally seems like the better course.

I also understand people like to say things like "I'll protect my family at all costs" "it's my job to project" etc etc, but if you start going around shooting peoples pets you may have one that starts shooting back at you and your family, so common sense is good here.

In reply to Cotton:

+1

DILYSI Dave wrote:

Duke wrote: What he said is that because of a legitimately bad experience, he's prepared to deal directly with further threat to his family. I'm having a hard time seeing that as an overreaction.

The over reaction is seeing a threat in every dog.

He's NOT. He's seeing a threat in an uncontrolled dog that came onto his property and physically pushed his 6-year-old around. Again, overstating your damn case isn't helping it any.

wrote:

"dave" said: The over reaction is seeing a threat in every dog.

wow, you seem to have all the answers, maybe you should start a blog or something............people could submit questions and you could charge like 5 bucks per answer, and how many baby girls did you say you have and how many times have they been brutally attacked?

I'm reminded of the South Park characters that say shooting is justified so long as you say "it's coming right for us!"

Being brutally attacked is bad. Assuming every approaching dog is going to brutally attack is ALSO bad. You shoot my beagle because she wants to be petted and you die, MF. or if I'm walking her on the sidewalk and she is sniffing back and forth and walks on your grass... or...

Cotton wrote: ...if you start going around shooting peoples pets you may have one that starts shooting back at you and your family...

Duke wrote:

DILYSI Dave wrote:

Duke wrote: What he said is that because of a legitimately bad experience, he's prepared to deal directly with further threat to his family. I'm having a hard time seeing that as an overreaction.

The over reaction is seeing a threat in every dog.

He's NOT. He's seeing a threat in an uncontrolled dog that came onto his property and physically pushed his 6-year-old around. Again, overstating your damn case isn't helping it any.

Well that's one take on it. I think the key here is assessing wether or not there is a threat, as opposed to panicking. Panic can cause things to escalate out of control. You may see an uncontrolled dog pushing his kid around, while someone else may see a happy go lucky lab trying to play. Man, if my Dad freaked every time, as a kid, I got knocked over by a dog I'd probably be a nervous wreck by now.

In reply to Chris_V:

If he's on my property not on a leash with no owner around, gone end of story. Gun, shovel, hammer whatever is available.

In reply to Cotton:

This. The only thing my dad taught me about aggressive dogs is how to fight them.

nicksta43 wrote: In reply to Chris_V: If he's on my property not on a leash with no owner around, gone end of story. Gun, shovel, hammer whatever is available.

Thats ridiculous.....even worse than Beer Baron's "kicking stance" on a Dachshund.

yamaha wrote:

Swank Force One wrote:

Bobzilla wrote: I wonder what kind of trouble I'd get into if I yelled at the wife "GET MY GUN!" the next time a neighbor kid walked onto the property?

I'll try it next time one of the packs of small children roaming the neighborhood my shop is in just shows up and starts poking around. I'll let you know the results.

I hate those little bastards too......throwing rocks at the cars isn't cool.

Nope. Damn breeders not payin' attention to their little snot nosed brats.

It is what it is.

Wow, after reading the last two pages, I'm glad some of you are not my neighbors.

It is pretty damn ridiculous. People's dogs get loose, run out the door after a squirrel before they get a leash on etc. killing anything that moves mentality is, well, ridiculous and you give the rest of us reasonable gun owners a bad name. How would you feel if I told you the next time your kid stepped foot on my property I was going to pepper his ass with rocksalt?

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Wow, after reading the last two pages, I'm glad some of you are not my neighbors.

Amen. There's some pretty berkeleyed up people with absolutely no common sense in this one.

I think I'll adopt a new response to any car stopped in front of my house. I shoot it, strip it and sell the carcass.

Nah, I'm just trolling now. I love dogs and would more than likely take them in if they don't have a collar. We have had one aggressive dog that wouldn't let my wife out of the house, I ran that one off.

Plus I don't even have a gun.

Everybody has been so sensitive around here lately.

I think people are going waaaaay off the deep end here. As it is, I didn't do anything to the dog. After the second charge I saw that it wasn't attacking, but was still a threat to my small son. The owner was able to eventually get some semblance of control of his dog. Sorta. No harm done. Had there been harm done to my son and the owner wasn't able to get control, there'd have been a different outcome.
This dog wasn't just pushing him around. He was attempting to bite my son in the head. A nip from a large dog on a small boy is a bite. The people making the stupid analogy of kids walking around close to his property are totally missing the point. I'm not saying I'm going to shoot your small dog that's sniffing my grass getting ready to drop a deuce. Since my daughter was bitten, there's been a number of dogs (dogs we don't know) that have jumped on/around my kids. There was no reaction other than to reassure my daughter that it's fine, and me telling the dog "down" in a firm voice. Nobody freaked out, nobody shot a dog, no kids "over reacted".
If you're one of these people that thinks your dog should be able to jump on a little kid, nip at his head and hands with no repercussions, well, one day you're in for an unfortunate reality. You are the only ones that would allow your small child to get bit by a dog while you stand there and asses the situation, asking the dog to take a time out and interviewing the owner about the dog and it's behavior history.
Let's assume you weigh 200 lbs. How would you feel if a tame 400 lb lion was "just playing" with you? Heck, even if it had no claws or teeth it could still mess you up.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Wow, after reading the last two pages, I'm glad some of you are not my neighbors.

This thread makes me want to punch kittens and kick puppies......

In reply to yamaha:

You forgot about clubbing baby seals.

yamaha wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Wow, after reading the last two pages, I'm glad some of you are not my neighbors.

This thread makes me want to punch kittens and kick puppies......

Make sure to get in your "kicking stance" first....you need to be prepared for that crazy puppy charge.