LafayetteLady
Posts: 7683
Joined: 5/2/2007 From: Northern New Jersey Status: offline
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First and foremost, let me express heartfelt "Get Well Wishes" to your dog. I'm glad it will be ok. I totally agree that Pit Bulls can be really scary dogs. However, as others have said, it is typically the training that they receive that makes them bad dogs. I have a friend who owns 2, Duke and Duchess. Duchess is a smaller dog, but with a great temperment. Duke is about 90 pounds and a complete and total dork. I lived with this friend for a while and Duke would sleep with me at night. He was a bed hog. But even when he was in a dead sleep, I could grab him by the collar and move him without worry or problem. I also had a toy poodle when I first moved in. Neither Duke or Duchess ever went after her. The problem we had was that Duke wanted to play and didn't understand that he could break her leg if he so much as stepped on her (he nearly broke my toe once on the way to the bathroom by stepping on my foot). My cousin also owns 3 pit bulls (I have only met the 2 older ones). The larger, Cheyenne (she is colored like a palamino pony) is a big gush. That doesn't stop me from hating when her face is in my face since her head and mouth are huge and it looks like she could swallow me in one gulp. But that is MY feelings, not the dog's temperment. In reality, she is very docile and friendly. The poor thing is allergic to everything it seems that results in what looks like psoriasis between her toes, her ears, and all over her belly. She is constantly itching and her skin irritated and STILL she is not vicious. I'm glad that you realize that an individual dog may not represent the entire breed. Regardless of the owner's "claim" that their dog was not like that, I have no doubt they were completely aware their dog was overly territorial and would go after other animals without hesitation. I'm also willing to bet your dog wasn't the first one it attacked. Please follow through with a complaint to the police and the local animal control, as well as making sure that the irresponsible owners are required to pay your medical costs for your pet. Sadly, there is a good chance this dog will be euthanized if this is not the first attack. It is possible to rehabilitate even pit bulls that were raised and trained for fighting (many of the dogs for that football player were), however, the dog should be removed from the care of it's current owners. To adopt a dog these days from some shelters can be extremely difficult with all the checks they want to do. Sadly, any idiot can buy from a breeder as long as they have the money. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to prevent some of these idiots who owned dogs who attacked other dogs, people, etc. from ever owning another? Better for the dogs, that's for sure.
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