2-yr-old girl, mother mauled by pit bull as mother tries to fight with her bare hands

[tinydancer]

Ok I've covered some of my favorite breeds including wanting an American Bulldog when my husband kicks the bucket . Lana lou's and various terriers, but there is this one breed of terrier I've always been fascinated by. Glen of Imaal. If I ever win the big one I'd like to die with one of these at my side.

 

[Unkotare]

Why all this discussion over breeds? Everyone should just get a Samoyed and everything will fine.

 

[tinydancer]

Bingo.

Not an aggressive bone in her body, despite being half Chow.

Wow what a nice looking cross!

She was 80 pounds of perfect.

I really miss her.

Looks like you got best of both worlds with her.

 

[auditor0007]

Still makes me wonder why people keep pit bulls as pets. Sounds almost like keeping a rattlesnake, and giving it the run of the neighborhood. I had a boxer, and he caused enough trouble, but he didn't attack or maul anybody. Nor did any other boxers I ever heard of.

But the other thing that occurred to me was... if the mother had had a handgun in her pruse, her daughter probably wouldn't be nearly as torn up now, as she is. But in this incident, the mother apparently had nothing but her bare hands, to fight off the pit bull. She sailed in and fought the dog, of course. But apparently the fight went on and on, until a cop finally arrived and used his weapon to shoot the dog, which ended the fight. Result: Mother injured, daughter BADLY injured. And either or both of them could have been killed, before the cop finally arrived.

If the mother had had a handgun nearby, and had practiced with it, the fight with the dog would have been over a lot sooner, and very likely the injuries would have been a lot less.

Firearms. They aren't just for fighting off bad GUYS. Too bad so many politicians and other leftists think law-abiding people shouldn't have them. If they weren't so hysterical on the subject, maybe that woman's little daughter wouldn't be in a hospital with half her face torn off right now.

------------------------------------------

League City police shoot dog as it mauls mother and child - Houston Chronicle

League City police shoot dog as it mauls mother and child

By Dale Lezon | March 31, 2014 | Updated: March 31, 2014 10:58am

A mother and her 2-year-old daughter were rushed to the hospital after a dog attacked them at an apartment in League City.

The attack occurred about 8:45 a.m. in the 2800 E. League City Parkway, said Officer Reagan Pena, a spokeswoman for the League City Police Department.

Pena said when officers arrived, a very aggressive pit bull dog was mauling the child and her mother was trying to protect her. An officer was forced to shoot and kill the canine to stop the attack.

Pena said preliminary information indicated the woman was pet-sitting the dog, which belonged to her boyfriend. It was not known what prompted the attack.

Pena said the child was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann hospital while her mother was taken by ambulance to the same hospital. The girl had severe injuries on her head and face. Her mother had injuries on her arms and hands.

Most pit bulls are very sociable animals and pose no threat to anyone. The vast majority of attacks that we hear about are from pit bulls who have been trained to be aggressive. That being said, we have to recognize that just like with people, some dogs have issues and are not stable, and when it comes to a pit bull, that dog is so strong that even adults can have trouble defending themselves against an attack. A child or toddler has zero chance against an attack from this type of dog. I am not at all against people owning pit bulls, but I think anyone who chooses to have one and has younger children should have their head examined.

 

[tinydancer]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

 

[tinydancer]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

 

[depotoo]

Still makes me wonder why people keep pit bulls as pets. Sounds almost like keeping a rattlesnake, and giving it the run of the neighborhood. I had a boxer, and he caused enough trouble, but he didn't attack or maul anybody. Nor did any other boxers I ever heard of.

But the other thing that occurred to me was... if the mother had had a handgun in her pruse, her daughter probably wouldn't be nearly as torn up now, as she is. But in this incident, the mother apparently had nothing but her bare hands, to fight off the pit bull. She sailed in and fought the dog, of course. But apparently the fight went on and on, until a cop finally arrived and used his weapon to shoot the dog, which ended the fight. Result: Mother injured, daughter BADLY injured. And either or both of them could have been killed, before the cop finally arrived.

If the mother had had a handgun nearby, and had practiced with it, the fight with the dog would have been over a lot sooner, and very likely the injuries would have been a lot less.

Firearms. They aren't just for fighting off bad GUYS. Too bad so many politicians and other leftists think law-abiding people shouldn't have them. If they weren't so hysterical on the subject, maybe that woman's little daughter wouldn't be in a hospital with half her face torn off right now.

------------------------------------------

League City police shoot dog as it mauls mother and child - Houston Chronicle

League City police shoot dog as it mauls mother and child

By Dale Lezon | March 31, 2014 | Updated: March 31, 2014 10:58am

A mother and her 2-year-old daughter were rushed to the hospital after a dog attacked them at an apartment in League City.

The attack occurred about 8:45 a.m. in the 2800 E. League City Parkway, said Officer Reagan Pena, a spokeswoman for the League City Police Department.

Pena said when officers arrived, a very aggressive pit bull dog was mauling the child and her mother was trying to protect her. An officer was forced to shoot and kill the canine to stop the attack.

Pena said preliminary information indicated the woman was pet-sitting the dog, which belonged to her boyfriend. It was not known what prompted the attack.

Pena said the child was flown by LifeFlight medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann hospital while her mother was taken by ambulance to the same hospital. The girl had severe injuries on her head and face. Her mother had injuries on her arms and hands.

Most pit bulls are very sociable animals and pose no threat to anyone. The vast majority of attacks that we hear about are from pit bulls who have been trained to be aggressive. That being said, we have to recognize that just like with people, some dogs have issues and are not stable, and when it comes to a pit bull, that dog is so strong that even adults can have trouble defending themselves against an attack. A child or toddler has zero chance against an attack from this type of dog. I am not at all against people owning pit bulls, but I think anyone who chooses to have one and has younger children should have their head examined.

I agree with what you said, but many have lines that have been bred for aggressiveness as well. Anyone ever putting a child within an area of children are just irresponsible.

 

[Asclepias]

Bullshit...
Just bullshit...
Yeah ok, the kid may have pulled the dog's ear....So what?...If the dog was a good breed is may have growled a bit or just yelped and ran away.
A good dog can be trained to never show aggression toward the children. In fact most good breeds immediately take to children and will protect them.
The one issue with dogs is identifying an "Alpha"....If the family dog is an Alpha, it is advisable to never place a non walking child( In diapers) on the floor with the dog in the room.
The reason....An alpha will look to dominate. In the dog's world, any animal that exposes it's belly and urinates in the presence of a dominant dog is viewed by the alpha as submissive. The alpha dog will become aggressive toward a baby that does not react in quite the manner a dominant dog will expect. In some unfortunate instances, the dog will attack.
The more aggressive the breed, the more likely it will attack. With ultra aggressive breeds, these dogs will attack children and adults at the slightest of provocations.

ONLY an idiot allows any dog to be the alpha. The human MUST be the pack leader - always. I don't care what breed of dog. I have a Dingo - LITERALLY a wild dog, but she is 100% submissive to me, and my wife, and the neighbors. She cannot be fenced, so the neighbors will yell at her to go home - and she does. Simple as that, she is submissive to humans. Yeah, she would sit to the side while burglars took everything in the house - but that's how it has to be with a civilized dog.

Thats precisely the problem. People run around laughing about how their dog growled at them and months later they are wondering why the same dog attacked them or a loved one. I was at a friends house one time and their dog walked up to his wife and bit her out of the blue. She turned and started giving the dog a lecture and the dog just growled at her. I was the only one that was concerned. They had a toddler at the time and she explained to me that they didn't allow the toddler and the dog to play together unsupervised. I was shocked that they thought even supervised that they would be able to stop an attack. I told my friend I hoped he would not have to shoot the dog later for attacking his child and left it at that.

 

[Asclepias]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Thats precisely the problem. People run around laughing about how their dog growled at them and months later they are wondering why the same dog attacked them or a loved one. I was at a friends house one time and their dog walked up to his wife and bit her out of the blue. She turned and started giving the dog a lecture and the dog just growled at her. I was the only one that was concerned. They had a toddler at the time and she explained to me that they didn't allow the toddler and the dog to play together unsupervised. I was shocked that they thought even supervised that they would be able to stop an attack. I told my friend I hoped he would not have to shoot the dog later for attacking his child and left it at that.

That is absolutely crazy. I have a 4 month old puppy, and I don't allow her to bite anyone - I certainly would never allow an adult dog to bite.

 

[Coyote]

Dog's very seldom attack out of the blue - there are usually warning signs that people ignore or don't recognize

Bullshit...
Just bullshit...

Not bullshit.

Yeah ok, the kid may have pulled the dog's ear....So what?...If the dog was a good breed is may have growled a bit or just yelped and ran away.

Kind of right. But here's the thing - most dogs give off signs for a long time that get ignored.

Puppy doesn't like someone messing with his food dish so he tests the waters with a puppy growl. Ah, how cute, especially when it's little. So it gets ignored. Pup becomes an adolescent - pushes the boundaries more...not so cute. But, still excused. Don't mess with his food. Pup pushes more - what's HIS is HIS and it can be anything. Starts to be problematic.

Maybe the owners decide not to put up with it and force the issue - they ignore his growls so he ups the ante and bites. Maybe a visiting child doesn't understand you aren't supposed to mess with Rover's "stuff" and picks up a bone - Rover corrects him for that. How hard and how firmly he does so depends on many things but it doesn't come out of the blue - stuff has been going on for a long time that gets overlooked. The dog seldom does a frankenstein and blow up - that's fairly rare, it's usually the culmination of a long chain of increasing behavior.

Another common scenario involves aggression based on fear. Dog is fearful of something, like say children - dog gives a warning, a growl (that's communication) - dog gets punished for it - don't growl. Ok, thinks dog I won't growl. So child approaches, dog knows he can't growl, but the fear is still there and the child has exceeded the dogs threshold - what's left? The next level - a bite. Now we have a problem. But it's not out of the blue.

Some dogs, and it has less to do with breed than with individual personalities very quickly escalate in arousal. A stable dog that is pushed to a bite level - will bite once, with inhibition the first time. Keep pushing it and the inhibited bite becomes a hard bite. Through out - there were many missed opportunities for intervention.

Once the bite reaches the level of deep repeated bites or shaking there is very little you can do to redeem the dog - it's a dangerous dog and will always have to be managed. Some dogs, start out at that level and escalate so quickly that the warning signs are missed. But those dogs are relatively few in number. I've only met one that truly scared me in that manner and it was a Cattle Dog, not a Pit.

A good dog can be trained to never show aggression toward the children. In fact most good breeds immediately take to children and will protect them.

I disagree - many good dogs do NOT automatically take to children IF they haven't been socialized with them. In addition, many children make the mistake of attempting to be "alpha" forcefully with a dog rather than through a relationship of mutual respect where the parent is involved and guiding interactions.

The one issue with dogs is identifying an "Alpha"....If the family dog is an Alpha, it is advisable to never place a non walking child( In diapers) on the floor with the dog in the room.
The reason....An alpha will look to dominate. In the dog's world, any animal that exposes it's belly and urinates in the presence of a dominant dog is viewed by the alpha as submissive. The alpha dog will become aggressive toward a baby that does not react in quite the manner a dominant dog will expect. In some unfortunate instances, the dog will attack.
The more aggressive the breed, the more likely it will attack. With ultra aggressive breeds, these dogs will attack children and adults at the slightest of provocations.

I don't think the "alpha" concept is as relevant as you think. Alpha is very fluid. I've had as many as 6 dogs at a time and who is alpha amongst them depends on the situation: is it a resource? Is it vying for attention? Is it decision making regarding an "intruder" (someone knocking at the door) - often, a different dog takes charge at different times. The only thing I'm clear on is that when I say enough, it is enough - I have the last word and I "own" all resources.

Amongst my dogs and observations - fear is the single most important factor driving aggression. Second to that is prey-based behavior which can come into play with small children and infants who start screaming, crying, or moving erratically especially if frightened or hurt. The other factor that is overlooked is that children are fragile, their skin is fragile, and they are often face to face heightwise with a dog - if a dog bites, it's intent may not be to do so severely, but it is much more severe on a child.

A good dog should inhibit it's bite - that can be bred in (for example breeds bred for a soft mouth like retrievers are less likely to clamp down hard) but it also must be taught through puppyhood.

Anyway - that's my opinion

Ps - edited to add, I agree with what you say about dogs reacting to a child not behaving in proper "dog fashion" - I think that is what comes into play over resource guarding bites. Also, because we're primates, we're hard wired to touch, pet, hug. To a dog - a hug is often rude, and while many dogs tolerate it, few really enjoy it.

 

[Coyote]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

Very much so - a human mob is very similar. Individually, those dogs would never take down something, but as a pack - it's very different and much more frightening.

 

[tinydancer]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

Oh for true regarding the pack mentality, I was just surprised at the breed. I wish they had done an autopsy instead of just euthanizing them.

When my JimDandy was a young pup out of the blue a very affectionate shepherd I'd known for some time just attacked Jimmy. Now being a catahoula, he handled the old shep with ease and neither dog was left with injury.

But the owner did the right thing and took the dog to the vets to get him checked out physically because he had never ever shown any aggression before.

Turns out the dog had developed epilepsy and was then put on medication and voila, no more issues. Lived another 5 years.

YAY! A smart dog owner doing the "right" thing.

 

[Asclepias]

Up north of me we just had the craziest dog attack that I could never have foreseen in a quizzillion years. Two Alaskan Malamutes killed a seven year old girl that was by all accounts a family friend and had grown up with the dogs.

Truly this makes no sense at all. Breed has never been popular hence no heavy breeding and are known to be as child friendly as any breed could be. Heck Inuit specifically kept them that way as guardians of their children.

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

Oh for true regarding the pack mentality, I was just surprised at the breed. I wish they had done an autopsy instead of just euthanizing them.

When my JimDandy was a young pup out of the blue a very affectionate shepherd I'd known for some time just attacked Jimmy out of the blue. Now being a catahoula, he handled the old shep with ease and neither dog was left with injury.

But the owner did the right thing and took the dog to the vets to get him checked out physically because he had never ever shown any aggression before.

Turns out the dog had developed epilepsy and was then put on medication and voila, no more issues. Lived another 5 years.

YAY! A smart dog owner doing the "right" thing.

I've never worked with Malamutes before. I live where it gets hot so not too many around. i didn't know the Inuit used them to guard their children. I assumed they were working/sled dogs. I had a pit I had to put down and now you have me wondering if he may have had something curable. He went from a confident pup to one that was afraid of his own shadow. One day he would not stop growling when I was feeding him. Got spooked over something. I thought he had lost his mind.

 

[depotoo]

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

Oh for true regarding the pack mentality, I was just surprised at the breed. I wish they had done an autopsy instead of just euthanizing them.

When my JimDandy was a young pup out of the blue a very affectionate shepherd I'd known for some time just attacked Jimmy out of the blue. Now being a catahoula, he handled the old shep with ease and neither dog was left with injury.

But the owner did the right thing and took the dog to the vets to get him checked out physically because he had never ever shown any aggression before.

Turns out the dog had developed epilepsy and was then put on medication and voila, no more issues. Lived another 5 years.

YAY! A smart dog owner doing the "right" thing.

I've never worked with Malamutes before. I live where it gets hot so not too many around. i didn't know the Inuit used them to guard their children. I assumed they were working/sled dogs. I had a pit I had to put down and now you have me wondering if he may have had something curable. He went from a confident pup to one that was afraid of his own shadow. One day he would not stop growling when I was feeding him. Got spooked over something. I thought he had lost his mind.

Daughter in laws family always has 3 or more dogs. Two years ago another daughter brought home a pit puppy 6 wks old. She was fine for about 6 months then suddenly bit a friend walking thru the room. Did nothing. Then attempted to bite someone else. Never had growled at anyone before. Decided to keep her up when others entered the house, but not when family was there. Tore into one of their other dogs one day, in front of our granddaughter. Kept her up around her now. The other dog recovered. Another month goes by she turned again on the other dog, which steered clear of her. This time the dog died. They had the pit put down. All their dogs have always been the best behaved around any other animals and people. This was a first.

 

[tinydancer]

Pack mode. One dog flips and the other follows suit. Sort of like humans.

Oh for true regarding the pack mentality, I was just surprised at the breed. I wish they had done an autopsy instead of just euthanizing them.

When my JimDandy was a young pup out of the blue a very affectionate shepherd I'd known for some time just attacked Jimmy out of the blue. Now being a catahoula, he handled the old shep with ease and neither dog was left with injury.

But the owner did the right thing and took the dog to the vets to get him checked out physically because he had never ever shown any aggression before.

Turns out the dog had developed epilepsy and was then put on medication and voila, no more issues. Lived another 5 years.

YAY! A smart dog owner doing the "right" thing.

I've never worked with Malamutes before. I live where it gets hot so not too many around. i didn't know the Inuit used them to guard their children. I assumed they were working/sled dogs. I had a pit I had to put down and now you have me wondering if he may have had something curable. He went from a confident pup to one that was afraid of his own shadow. One day he would not stop growling when I was feeding him. Got spooked over something. I thought he had lost his mind.

I found this situation with the shep really interesting. I'd never been big on going to the vets unless absolutely necessary, but this case really changed my mind on waiting for a physical symptom/ symptoms to show up.

My old bitch RubyStarr started behaving really strangely, trying to hide in cupboards, under the bed; bizarre beyond belief and certainly out of character. Off to the vets. Cancer. We had one tumor removed and blessedly she was with us for a few more months and in pretty good shape until the cancer came back and hit her with a vengeance and it was her time to leave us.

 

[Coyote]

I always figure with unexplainable behavior changes - it's always good to get a vet check before making any decisions. Pain, for instance can cause or increase aggression, declining eye sight or hearing can lead to exagerated startle reflexes. There are a lot of hidden diseases that first manifest in behavior.

 

[MikeK]

We often hear from pit bull fanciers that this breed is no different from others but the statistics do not support their position. The obvious conclusion is if a potentially lethal dog is needed for personal or property protection the pit bull is a good choice -- but specialized training and exhaustive safety measures (isolation, restraint, preventive supervision, etc.) are essential and should be required by law to prevent attacks on innocent parties.

If the need for personal or property protection is desired but not acute, I haven't heard about German shepherds going off the way pit bulls do and they seem to be an effectively protective breed which is exceptionally receptive to obedience and constraint training. So if the pressing need for protection is not an issue I believe keeping a pit bull is an unnecessary and potentially ruinous risk.

 

[Asclepias]

We often hear from pit bull fanciers that this breed is no different from others but the statistics do not support their position. The obvious conclusion is if a potentially lethal dog is needed for personal or property protection the pit bull is a good choice -- but specialized training and exhaustive safety measures (isolation, restraint, preventive supervision, etc.) are essential and should be required by law to prevent attacks on innocent parties.

If the need for personal or property protection is desired but not acute, I haven't heard about German shepherds going off the way pit bulls do and they seem to be an effectively protective breed which is exceptionally receptive to obedience and constraint training. So if the pressing need for protection is not an issue I believe keeping a pit bull is an unnecessary and potentially ruinous risk.

Which statistics are you speaking about? The ones where people are calling dogs pitbulls that are not pitbulls? Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 breeds frequently mis identified as pits that are not pitbulls.

German Shepherds were bred to be guard dogs. They have indeed attacked and killed people. Any dog strong/big enough to be a guard dog can seriously injure or kill an adult or kill a child.

Girl, 13, savaged by German shepherd puppy which tore chunk out of her nose and left her needing 50 stitches | Mail Online


Pitbulls excel at obedience training. Anything you train them to do they do extremely well and give it their all. Thats one of the reasons I know owners are a large part of most accidents with incidents where the dog is actually a pitbull. I would say that and unstable dogs account for 99.9% of attacks pits are involved in.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Which statistics are you speaking about? The ones where people are calling dogs pitbulls that are not pitbulls? Off the top of my head I can think of at least 4 breeds frequently mis identified as pits that are not pitbulls.

German Shepherds were bred to be guard dogs. They have indeed attacked and killed people. Any dog strong/big enough to be a guard dog can seriously injure or kill an adult or kill a child.

Girl, 13, savaged by German shepherd puppy which tore chunk out of her nose and left her needing 50 stitches | Mail Online


Pitbulls excel at obedience training. Anything you train them to do they do extremely well and give it their all. Thats one of the reasons I know owners are a large part of most accidents with incidents where the dog is actually a pitbull. I would say that and unstable dogs account for 99.9% of attacks pits are involved in.

German Shepherds were bred to be...

Sheep herding dogs. They turned out to be good guard dogs, but as the name shows, they were bred for sheep herding.