July 7, 2023
"Patrick Logue, master dog trainer... said it is a possibility that the animal acted out of fear of the holiday fireworks."
"'When dogs are in distress, when they’re adrenalized, that’s never a good combination... Then you add kids into the mix. Kids bring their own stress as any parent will tell you and their own sense of chaos. And it is just a bad situation, especially when kids are unsupervised with dogs.'... [Michael Groleau of the Suncoast Humane Society said,] 'Things are happening in the environment that are stressing the dog out and the dog can’t tell you or show you what’s wrong, so the dog’s going to use its mouth and that’s the apex of the situation where something bad is going to happen'...."
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So blind guess…pit bull?
Whenever somebody feels compelled to say "no history of aggression," I automatically think "pit bull," and of course I was right... again.
Seems pretty basic. Our dog goes absolutely batshit crazy during the firework nights that surround July 4, between the official fireworks and the neighbors just shooting things off. We used to love going out to see fireworks, before we got our dog years ago. Now we dread the holiday because there's nothing we can do about it other than keep the dog inside. Try to keep her calm, turn on the white noise machines in the other rooms, turn up the TV in the living room, and get used to an aggressive massively loud bark that just goes on and on and on. She eventually tires out.
Our dog is a 19 lb terrier. She doesn't attack us, but you can see she would attack something if she could- if it was not a human. I would not be anywhere near a pit bull during fireworks. But then, I would not be anywhere near a pit bull if someone was pouring milk over Cheerios.
My wife and I hate fireworks because of how they affect our dog (that also has some pit bull in 'em)
Our dog spent much of the past week cowering in the house. She's much happier now that the 4th is over. What a terrible thing for this dog-owner's family.
The wife of my husband’s cousin was attacked by their neighbor’s two pit bulls. All she did was walk out of their house. She survived but of course very traumatized. One of the dogs was ordered to be put down. The other was allowed back in the home. The cousin and his wife moved.
My husband was once attacked by his sister’s toy poodle. He bent down to pet it and brought his hand up with the puppy attached to his thumb. Size and jaw configuration matters.
Check the numerous humane society websites and their dogs up for adoption. I bet pit bulls and their various mixes are in the majority, especially in more populated cities. Do you believe there’s a reason for that?
We once had a half Rottweiler. He was fine until he was getting old. One night he walked past the grandson (toddler) and I heard a very low growl. I was devastated, but I knew we could take no chances. The dog suddenly suffered from acute lead “poisoning.”
I didn’t read all the comments in that article, but it seemed very few were on the side of the dog.
"Patrick Logue, master dog trainer and behavioral therapist at Bark Busters Home Dog Training, said it is a possibility that the animal acted out of fear of the holiday fireworks."
Don't tell me what's possible. I'm interested in probabilities only, nor should anyone else. The probabilities are all that matter because animals cannot explain their behavior. All that can be said with certainty is the number of apparently unprovoked fatal attacks on small children reliably attributed to pit bull and pit bull mix canines in the United States is significantly out of proportion to the numbers for all other dog breeds.
Our dog is 12. Never even nipped at a single person. We don't allow her her alone with kids.
Mixing her with strangers, kids, party, and fireworks? You can't fix stupid
I checked out the article just to confirm what any sentient reader already could figure out. Yes indeed, it's a pit-bull mix. They are always the culprit. I've got a pit bull chihuahua mix, and if he weighed more than 17 pounds, he'd have to be put down. Lovely and sweet, just not trustworthy.
"Then you add kids into the mix. Kids bring their own stress... and their own sense of chaos."
Don't just "add kids." You have to put kids first. If you know you have a stressed out dog, you can't add a kid. You have to first subtract the dog. It's obvious.
Blue, my 108lb Staffordshire Terrier with the 14” wide head was the most gentle animal I’ve ever seen. He was trained right and beloved, because he was just incredible. People of all ages and sex would fall in love with him on the spot. He never in 14 years attacked anybody or thing, the ONLY time he would get agitated and cower was lightning and assholes shooting off fireworks. I know the stories and I get that some people are just fucked up enough to want to destroy the entire breed. Well He’da gone to his death for your fear with that big goofy loving grin on his face amd loves you till you killed him. Me not so much. Everytime I read this tripe I wanna go get a bigger one. But I can’t. It totally broke my heart to lose him and I can’t do that again.
My lab and griff went out on the patio when the fireworks began, sat and waited for birds to fall. When they failed to appear they game me a reproachful look and sauntered off to their sleeping cushions. Breeding costs money but it is well spent.
Next up: trigger warnings for pets.
I hear hamsters are particularly vulnerable.
"The child, whose name has not been released, was at his North Port home on Tuesday when he entered a bedroom and the dog, a 3-year-old pit bull mix, bit him on the chest and head, WINK News reported."
Pit Bull Mix - that's the only mix that matters. Pit Bulls are genetically flawed animals, due to human tweaking. There are plenty of dog breeds. We don't need this one.
My dad's late Samoyed was at my house alone during a thunderstorm, split open the zipper of a sofa cushion somehow, and bit or tore off big chunks of foam. She'd start pacing half an hour before a storm rolled in. Very effective barometer.
So what, put it down and find the parents for any pain and suffering the child occurrred. IT"S YOUR PET!! CONTROL IT!!
Get a dang crate for your fireworks stressed out animals. They need a crate anyway.
"Kids bring their own stress... and their own sense of chaos."
It's almost as if they're (at least partially) blaming the kid. "Don't bring your own sense of chaos around the dog, Junior."
Pit bull mix was all needed to see. Another criminally foolish dog owner.
Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes are loaded guns. It's another statistic people ignore because the dogs are everywhere.
The fireworks getting a bad rap on this one...
donald said...
Yes, there are good ones. The problem is, the breeds of dogs that get called "pit bulls" in the media have been so over-bred, with no concern for temperament. That is a recipe for disaster. It gets worse when some people will intentionally breed for aggression. If you want to save the breeds and their reputation, something needs to be done about the backyard breeder. I'm not sure what - maybe heavy fines for unneutered/nonspayed dogs? I doubt that would work, I don't see it how it could be effectively enforced.
When I was a kid, we had the most lovable Husky/Shepherd mix. He was big and intimidating looking if he didn't know you but otherwise a total muffin. July 4th fireworks sent him over the edge. He would dig up my mom's flowerbeds trying to make a hole big enough to crawl into to get away from the noise. After figuring out the issue, we put him down in the basement for the duration. It was enough of a barrier that he was able to cope.
Not surprising. Tuesday night, we caught the first minutes of the fireworks in Las Vegas, and streaked for the door of the building we are living in right now. Put that out to a dozen friends, and several had similar responses - the fireworks very often freak their dogs out.
I would not be anywhere near a pit bull during fireworks. But then, I would not be anywhere near a pit bull if someone was pouring milk over Cheerios.
Exactly. We went to the Tucson pound after a dog of ours died. We were thinking we could give a stray a nice home. The pound did not have a dog that I saw that was NOT a pit bull. We drove hours to adopt another basset hound.
My GSD was born in January 2013. For her first Fourth of July, we went into the backyard with treats, and when the fireworks started (and gunfire, which is really big here), I acted super-happy, made her do some tricks for treats, and then started playing puppy-rugby, which is her favorite thing to do. Because I completely ignored the bangs and booms (and pop, pop, pops) she did to.
Did the same with her first thunderstorm the month prior. She is impervious to loud noises. And that is a very good thing. Anyone can do this and it's free, except for the cost of the treats
The pit bull, the Dog of Peace, so unfairly maligned, and all they're guilty of is 65% of all fatal dog attacks on Americans.
There is no other breed that gets anywhere near that (the Rottweiler, #2 in fatal attacks, is only 10%, and German shepherds, #3, are 5%).
I don't think you can conclude from those numbers alone that pit bulls are the most dangerous dogs. There are some extremely rare dogs implicated in disproportionate numbers of fatal attacks. But pit bulls are not all that common either. Labs are the most common dog breed, and they're responsible for about 2% of fatal attacks--if pit bulls were as common as Labs they'd be causing like 95% of deaths. Presa Canarios and wolf-dog hybrids are responsible for a much larger share than Labs despite being quite rare, and so I'd presume they are more dangerous than pit bulls.
Many seem to be "good ones" until suddenly they aren't and someone is "unexpectedly" mauled or killed.
So what is your answer? Drive the breed into extinction? So we protect bears and alligators but not pit bulls?
Convince me.
"Many seem to be "good ones" until suddenly they aren't and someone is "unexpectedly" mauled or killed."
I have a friend who had a pit bull mix. The dog seemed friendly enough whenever I was around but I was still hesitant to get too close. My friend ended up with stitches in his lip when the dog bit him.
I'm sure there must be some pitties somewhere that are harmless but I'm not going to test that theory myself or with my dogs. If any show up at the dog park, we're leaving.
We have a boxer/pibble mix, and she's a gentle doggie soul. And goofy. Fireworks terrify her, and we've had to giver her Benadryl (in cheese) every night this week because of neighborhood fireworks, just to help her sleep.
No one's ever been killed by a retriever or a poodle. Pitbulls should be outlawed.
"So what is your answer?"
Kind of like with alligators and bears, I avoid them.
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