I know this topic pops up frequently, but I was pretty angry reading about this recent dog attack in San Diego county here.

Four pit bulls attack a group of siblings out for a run on a trail. Two brothers, 21 and 20, then two sisters, 18 and 15. And finally, a 9 year old niece. The dogs attack the second runner, one of the brothers, and the other brother comes to his aid but the dogs are attacking both of them.

The part that really gets me is this part of the article:


Walked? I sure hope the neighbor is like 95 years old, otherwise you gotta wonder about the character of a guy who walks over when a pack of his pit bulls is mauling two grown men.

Fortunately, the younger girls were not attacked, but the article says they were traumatized. Poor things. Grrrr, there really isn't need for this to happen.

There are so many attacks by Pit Bulls that the press and the public has gone numb. In Idaho, many attacks never hit the media. The public has their heads in the sand. It doesn't matter what kind of dog - be prepared.

Protect yourself by whatever means you are comfortable with.

My wife was attacked by three "cow dogs" while jogging our six llamas in Eagle, Idaho. She sprayed all three with high grade OC Pepper spray. One drowned in an irrigation ditch. One was never found. The third hid under the owners house. It was shot a week later.

I asked my wife why she used the OC Spray. She said the .357 was in her other hand and she didn't need it. The dog owners were quite polite. Their new dogs are well fenced. We don't exchange Xmas cards.

A friend of mine with two Samoyeds was alarmed by a pit bull attack at a park near her in which three pits were being walked on leash, two got loose and the owner ran off with the third while a jogger was hospitalized after they mauled him. Police are still looking for the pit owner.

I've known some very sweet pits, terrible shame that they became popular with bad people.

http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/region/anne_arundel_county_/jogger-attacked-by-pit-bulls


I've long carried pepper spray when walking my dog to protect her from off-leash dogs. Never had to use it but did once threaten to when an owner failed to call back his German Shepherd who was approaching aggressively.

Many people who have only seen the gentle side of the pit breeds think they have been unfairly labeled as killers. They obviously don't understand what the 'pit' part of the name indicates: dog fighting pits.

The Greeks used them as war dogs, the Romans used them in their arenas and coliseums for their grisly 'blood sports', the Normans fostered the sport of the prolonged torture called 'bull-baiting', which advanced to sports of using the dogs on bears, boars and horses, and finally, dog against dog. The dogs were bred for their strength and tenacity, but especially for their viciousness.

Now we have the drug-and-pitbull 'aficionados', who have been redeveloping the pit breeds (and mixes) for the same ugly end. This trash breeds only for strength and viciousness. The individual dogs that aren't strong enough or mean enough for their purposes are either used as victims, or simply dumped alongside the road.

These dogs are then often picked up as strays by Animal Control or by well-meaning dog lovers and turned into the shelters. Some shelters simply put them to sleep. Others make gallant attempts to rehome them. But the breeding is still there, often not obvious, but it's there. And all too often, the sleeping demon is awakened.

The first of the pit breeds I knew was Rudy, an American Staffordshire Terrier. He was well-mannered, obedience trained, very sweet, loved children, the perfect pet. Until... he got within reach of another animal. He literally would try to strain himself through chain link fencing to kill another dog. He was the perfect Jekyll and Hyde dog.

I know a woman and her adult son who did some pitbull rescue, and kept four of the dogs for several years. Then one day she came home and one of the dogs was dead, it's head nearly ripped off. A few months later, two of the dogs attacked the old female right in front of her son, who dived in to stop the attack and got both his arms badly mauled. The human and dog medical bills on that was well over $5,000 after insurance.

I don't like breed bans, because politicians always overdo things like that. But the problem is there, it's escalating, and I don't even pretend to know how to control it.

Sue

One thing Sue left out is the Locking jaw,Yes!Pitbulls have Locking Jaws,& when they are puppies like any other puppy,tug o'war is a very popular game to play with any pup,however pitbulls learn early that they have the lock jaws,& If the owner trains their dog to attack,that locking jaw will be utilized,Each & Everytime.Now factor in the bloodlines,& you have a potential 4-legged Killer! They are short statured dogs,so if they do attack another dog,especially larger than themselves,they will home in on anything at their level,usually the throat & stomach,then they shake their heads back & forth till it rips/shreds,they then bite deeper till the threat is neutralized.Ex-cons have these dogs,as it is against the law for them to own certain Knives & All Firearms,there are many ex-cons so there are many of these dogs with the same mindset as their owners,not to mention the scumbags that raise them for the sole purpose to fight other dogs.I had a Pitbull for 16 yrs,I'm proud to say he was family!

Sorry no - there is nothing unique in the jaw mechanisms of the pit bull compared to other dogs and it does not contain a locking mechanism of any sort. This is well documented as a myth.

A similar myth is a exaggeration of the jaw strength of the pit bull. While pit bulls may be on the upper end of canine bite force they are not unusually strong compared to other dogs with strong jaws.

- Eric

Eric,Do you have documented proof,for or against the locking jaw of a Pitbull?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pitbull+locking+jaw

Thanks Eric!Speed racer,sorry Speed Demon's got yer'six! I apologize for misleading the readers of this forum! One thing I'm very sure of is,the Pitbulls tendency to not let go when those jaws clamp down on something!No other dog exhibited that behaviour or capability that I am aware of in my lifetime!

No problem - that is why this is a forum - a good place for discussions. Thanks to speedemon for the link since I don't get back here as often as I'd like to.

Pit bulls tend to have a crushing and tearing type of bite where they get a very solid grip and then try to shake or tear things loose. This and along with what I would call stubbornness is what makes them so intimidating. To get a pit bull to release its bite is not easy and if it has a hold on you the circumstances don't exactly promote thinking through the problem rationally.

No offense intended to any pit bull fans out there but I'll stick to my German Shepherds, Labs and Samoyeds.

-Eric