Neighbor's Dog got Loose and Attacked Our Dog

Steve_Jones said:

• From 2005 to 2019, pit bulls were involved in 66% of fatal dog attacks in the U.S. (source: DogsBite.org).
• Pit bulls make up about 6-8% of the dog population in the U.S.
   

Defend them all you want, but make sure your insurance is up to date, and more importantly, covers the dog. Many companies will not. 

That is interesting, Id love to see the raw data there too.

Unfortunately I think the reason is people think they are "badass" and train them that the aggression is good and it's what leads to the problems. Personally the most aggressive aszhole dogs ive been around are chihuahua's and a Chow.

Also there's this data which is also interesting 

In reply to Antihero :

My point is pretty much all dogs have sharp teeth and can do serious damage if they want to. Don't glorify/demonize/sensationalize pit bulls as being the only ones to do serious damage.

I never demonized or sensationalized them. I just stated what I thought was obvious- stronger, larger dogs can do a lot more damage when they bite than smaller dogs. A cocker spaniel may bite you, but it is incapable of doing anywhere the level of damage as many other dogs. I'm not  singling out pit bulls, that just happened to be the breed that someone else referenced and I observed killing another dog and trying to remove the arm of a man. It also successfully resisted the efforts of a group of men to stop the attack. 

Dogs are carnivores with sharp teeth and millennia of practice using them with only the love and respect of their family/pack standing between them from using it.

 

That is why punishment rarely works well in dog training.

Yes, and the results vary greatly from breed to breed and dog to dog. But the risks from an obedience or training failure are much more severe from some breeds. I love dogs. Some of the greatest, gentlest dogs I've know have been German Shepards, Rottweilers, and Dobermans. I have family in law enforcement including a K9 officer. Dogs with tens of thousands of dollars in training. Even then, some of those go wrong. The odds of that happening are much higher if the dog ends up without the training and instead becomes a fashion accessory. 

In reply to Boost_Crazy :

Fair, it seemed like you were singling out pitbulls but it looks like instead you and I agree on dogs.

The dog in question is a German Shepherd dog.

Our dog is a total mutt that we legit don't know what all breeds, but most likely has a significant portion of American native dog.

There are no pitbulls involved in this situation.

ddavidv said:

Get your wife some pepper spray for the inevitable next time.

Just making sure this doesn't get lost in all the noise. Not just for the wife either. Might be good to take a pepper spray class too.

In reply to Driven5 :

She already knew to do that. She got a canister of citronella dog deterrent spray.

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Citronella spray is fine and all, but I wouldn't be without actual OC proper spray too. Citronella is mild enough that many people regularly use it on their own dogs as a mere training aid. Sure it might get most dogs to pause their attack, and might get many dogs to abort their attack, but that's far from guaranteed... And what to do then?

Pepper spray also works on human attackers, including those that might be upset that their 'friendly' dog got sprayed by anything they reacted to in the first place, even if just by some citronella.

Driven5 said:

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Citronella spray is fine and all, but I'd recommend carrying actual OC proper spray too. Citronella is basically just a mildly irritating training training aid, that many people regularly use on their own dogs. Sure it might get most dogs to pause their attack, and might get many dogs to abort their attack, but that's far from guaranteed... And what do you do then? Pepper spray also works on human attackers, including those that might be upset that their 'friendly' dog got sprayed by anything they reacted to in the first place, even if just by some citronella.

"One eye on the dog, one on the owner". 

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Driven5 said:

In reply to Beer Baron 🍺 :

Citronella spray is fine and all, but I'd recommend carrying actual OC proper spray too. Citronella is basically just a mildly irritating training training aid, that many people regularly use on their own dogs. Sure it might get most dogs to pause their attack, and might get many dogs to abort their attack, but that's far from guaranteed... And what do you do then? Pepper spray also works on human attackers, including those that might be upset that their 'friendly' dog got sprayed by anything they reacted to in the first place, even if just by some citronella.

"One shot in the dog's eye, one in the owner's". 

Fixed that for you 

Antihero said:

Also there's this data which is also interesting 

 

That's not what the data shows, because of the testing methodology. What it really shows is the homogeneity of individual dogs' behavior within their breed. So if someone were able to de-extinct the Old English Bulldog and every one of them tried to kill anything they saw on sight, that breed would score 100%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperament_test#American_Temperament_Test_Society

From my experience pitbulls don't seem to be notably ill-tempered if they weren't raised by shiny happy people (although they are the #1 breed of choice for shiny happy people who want a big mean dog for some reason or other), but obviously they're capable of dealing an unusual level of damage if something does set them off.

Both times I've been seriously bitten by a dog, it's been a German Shepherd. The first one that bit me left a scar on my leg that doesn't look to terrible these days, but when you're a wee kid, it's pretty damn big. I didn't want to go outside for a while, since the people that owned it lived under us. That dog eventually turned on the owner's child, and was put down. The second one happened when I was delivering pizzas. No barking, no warning, it just came out and grabbed my arm. I was in college, and defended myself aggressively.

I have *zero* tolerance for aggressive dogs, but I also agree that the owners are the problem.

I'm glad you reported it- documentation is important. Like somebody else said, people can have blind spots when it comes to their pets, but a paper trail cuts through that.

 

The whole Pitbull thing seems pretty clear to me. A: They have a disproportionately high percentage of asshat owners, and B: They are large caliber weapons. I read somewhere that the two dogs most likely to bite a human are Cocker Spaniels and Chihuahuas. Whether that's true or not, the general concept holds. The little guys simply can't  do that much damage, regardless of intent.

Apologies to any owners, but I berkeleying hate Chihuahuas. They are evil little creatures pretending to be dogs. And I say that with my own mother having had a few.

Sometimes there are just dogs that are bad. It's usually the owner, but our go-to trainer (who is very experienced with GSD's) took in a German Shepherd that even she cannot control. It's been frustrating and heartbreaking for her, and impossible to find someone willing to take it on. Granted, she did not have it from a pup, but when you have an experienced person unable to bring a dog under control with assured safety, it's a problem. Now place that dog in Mr. Common Idiot's hands...