Attacked by Pit Bull (Page 4)

The ignorance in this thread is over the top.  It's a good thing I'm in a decent mood today otherwise I'd have a few choice words with said ignorant individuals and probably get banned for it.

And to the insurance guy...you forgot to mention that the higher ups make sure they get their overinflated salaries and fat bonuses every year  why rates go up.  I rape the insurance companies as often as I can, as they have raped me all my life.  I call it "a little give and take".

d00d, I'm sorry this happened to you...it's an unfortunate event. I agree that owners have responsibilities when they have dogs. They should be held liable, lawfully and financially, for any agressive actions dogs may take due to negligence...

That being said, I know you're angry, but I doubt that statement has any validity. I've never seen an owner, sitting outside with his dog, ordering the dog to sic cyclists/runners as they rode/ran by. This is instinctive behavior that is more than likely not taught...Dogs have been doing this forever.

I hope you heal quickly...and since the dog displayed agressive behavior and physically attacked you, it should be put down.

Good luck!

Ok, I read the blog... is there a website you would recommend for parents with pets or people who have pets and have children visit their home that has good safety recommendations?

Do you ride the same route where you have the problem?  I know I ride the same routes all of the time.  Could it be that it is one or two dogs that you are constantly have a problem with?  Earlier you said you ride with a gun, have you fired at any of these "beasts"?  I would think that if I had been attacked 7 times the dog would no longer be a problem.

Sorry this happened to you!  Heal quickly!  And THANK YOU for getting this dog locked up.  Sounds like the poor thing was raised to act this way (many of that breed are) and now he will likely get put down for belonging to the wrong family, but you probably saved several people from enduring the same thing you did.  His owners make me sick !

Sooo....after he bit you, did he lick his butt to get the atste out of his mouth???

J/K, man, hope you "Heel" soon!!! I know you're feeling ruff right now. Getting bit while riding is a bunch of "bull!"

( Sorry just trying to cheer you up, I know this truly sucks!!!)

Aye...just the thought of it puts me it the pits!

No apologies necessary, I didn't take it personally or anything and yes the homeowners should definitely kick in unless there is a dog exclusion which is often the case these days.

Was just throwing out a general be careful when suing because it comes back eventually. The amount of money required to settle an auto accident in the state of Idaho was gone up 60% in the last five years. That money has to come from somewhere and it generally comes from people paying premiums.

LOL irony = one paragraph about how ignorant everyone is, and another paragraph full of ignorance.

It is small and easily fits in my hand a bit bigger than standard mace and the stuff that comes out is orange so you can see where it is going - a strong stream.

When I run from home I wear a specific running skirt that has side pockets in the under shorts. The can has a small clip on it and I clip it to my shorts so I can get at it easily. When I hear a dog or am running past a home I know has dogs (no other way to get out of my neighborhood) I hold it in my hand. Your finger can only go one way so you know it is facing the right direction. This product is the best $5 I ever spent, I feel so much safer having it.

Sorry, I don't want to start an argument, just trying to debunk some common myths.  By "raised to be aggressive" this can mean being neglected, not walked, beaten, not properly disiplined.  short story:

My aunt and uncle had 2 giant schnauzers when I was growing up.  Thea and Max.  Giant Schnauzers are known for being VERY protective (to the point of being violent) and Thea was just that.  She was not properly disciplined when she was a puppy.  so she would become EXTREMELY aggressive when people would come to the house.  On the other hand, Max was the biggest sweety in the world.  When my cousin had their baby, the baby would crawl all over max, you could do ANYTHING to him and he would not care.  Max was scolded for being aggressive towars people entering "his" space. 

I feel like not 100% of the story is given all the time in these dog "attack" stories.  I wouldn't trust any young child around a dog unsupervised, because, as someone had stated above, they won't pick up on the signs of agression from the dog. 

*****DISCLAIMER!!!! I am by NO means saying a child deserves to be bitten by a dog! A child should never have to suffer from something they don't understand.  Dog attacks are AWFUL!*****

 but it is VERY VERY rare that a dog will attack when unprovoked (and those few times are when they have been "trained" to do so).  Meaning that the child prabably did something the dog didn't like, pull on their ears, invade their personal space, etc.  Pits are powerful dogs, so they would do lots of damage.  Remember, animals default to "I'm more afraid of you than you are of me".  Dogs attack not because they are aggressive, they attack because they are unsure of what to do, and seeing as they were not taught otherwise, they are trying to "protect their family".  Wouldn't you do the same if someone was coming into your territory and threatening you?

We work with our dog Nadie (alaskan husky) CONSTANTLY to ensure this will never happen when she is around children.  We pull on her tail, fur, ears, stick our faces in hers, and if she EVER shows aggression towards the action, we quickly correct it.  I understand this is a very specific case and not all dog owners are like this, but what some have said is true, many people who have dogs should not have them.

I feel awful for the dog in this situation as they really didn't "know" what they were doing and it is going to suffer because of the owners ignorance.  But I feel even WORSE for EKH as this is putting him out of comission for some time, and I fear for his daughter's safety.

Anybody can quote the statistics, but they're skewed by the fact that a lot of terrible dog owners raise pit bulls to be aggressive.  Did you ever think that the reason more pit bulls than weiner dogs attack people is that a lot of bad people train pit bulls to do that, but nobody in their right mind would try to train a weiner dog to attack?  Honestly...the most aggressive dog I've EVER seen was a former neighbor's chihuahua.  That little rodent attacked me twice and attacked my dogs multiple times.  The reason there was never any damage is that both of my dogs were literally 5x the size of the stupid chinchilla posing as a dog.

I agree with the people that say it's on the owners.  Are pit bulls genetically disposed to be a little aggressive...yes, but proper training changes that.  My two sheepdogs don't act on a herding instinct anymore.  My old roommate's foxhound was trained to not take off after anything, and therefore never did.  My mother in law has a husky that wouldn't know what to do if you strapped a sled to her.

All I know is that when my dog was an itty bitty puppy (under 5lbs) his favorite playing companion was my neighbor's pure bred pit bull, who would let the silly little puppy jump all over him and chase him around and never once showed any aggression, while the other neighbor's chihuahua wanted nothing more than to attack any living creature in sight.

Think of it this way... a bad owner with a huge dog is like a bad guy with a gun.  A bad owner with a little dog is like a bad guy with a butterknife.  The only reason the gun shoots you is because the bad guy tells it to.

3 of them live in my neighborhood, and we went through the police first and they did nothing. I bought the gun, but I no longer run in my neighborhood because I don't want to use the gun, since the owners are crazy, if I was to shoot their dogs, they might come over to my house and shoot my dogs, or us.

The other 4 run ins were on Saturday when I was at a supported century ride event. I figured since it was "supported" I wouldn't need to bring my gun, plus I didn't want to make other riders feel uneasy, so I left it at home. Big mistake, I was alone out in the country for the ride, and could have been mauled.

So yes, it was 7 different dogs, and not where I always ride. I usually ride on the Army post, where pit bulls are banned. I have not fired at any dogs yet, but I would if one latched on to any part of my body.

Dude, seriously? This is pretzel logic.

I got it after that pitt bull cornered me a couple of months ago. Have not had to use it but I sprayed it on the ground so I would know what to expect. The thing is the night the dog came at me I was jogging along and didn't even see it until it was charging at me, it had come out of its yard and crossed the street. I yelled stop and heel and help but nothing worked. I stood there for minutes, no owners dog barking & growling. I finally had to start walking away and it followed me for a while before going back home.

The thing I worry about with a pitt is if I kicked it they are so muscular and short I don't think I could move it and would only pi$$ it off. My hope is the Halt would give me enough time to get away from the situation.

To the OP, I am so sorry this happened but thank you for sharing your story. I am terrified to get out on the roads mostly due to traffic and with this warmer weather, I  have been contemplating just how much outdoor riding I am willing to try this season ( I started late summer ’10). This has me seriously reconsidering. I actually enjoy the trainer (yes weirdo  ) and expect now that I will keep the outdoor rides to long group rides on the weekends and will be taking some sort of defense mechanism. Thank you for bringing awareness to all newbies!  I truly hope you get compensation for this!

 On a side note, I was attacked (unprovoked) at age 2, nearly lost my right eye…by the FAMILY dog who was a LAB. My parents in no way shape or form raised this dog to be aggressive. From what I understand, he did not like children and my attack was the last straw for my parents, he was put down that day. It can happen with any breed and while most often it occurs with ignorant and/or lazy owners, it is not always the case.

These pretzels are making me thirsty

 " I yelled stop and heel and help but nothing worked."

The only problem with the "heel" command is that is usually what you say if you want them to walk with you.  In other words, "get on my heel".  I usually will yell "sit", "no", or "down"!  As loud as I can, and freeze.  That puts me in a better position to fight if I have to.  Running, unless you are sure you can outrun the critter, is not a great idea imo.  

I usually say, "You want some of me?!  C'mon!  I dare you!"  I don't fear dogs.  I might get bit but I'd kill him with my bare hands.  I outweigh even big dogs by 200+ lbs and figure a well placed kick will break 3 or 4 ribs.  I've stared down many a dog.  Biking by them is difficult as we are at a definate disadvantate.

Saying that a large dog in the hands of a dangerous person is more dangerous than a small dog in the hands of a dangerous person is illogical.  My point is that any dog can be made vicious...it's just that nobody give a flying crap about a vicious hamster.

To OP- Sorry about your encounter & I hope outcomes are good (medical, animal control, expenses (inc. bike damage) paid, etc., etc.).  I've been bit before (though not while riding) & it's no fun.  Fortunate you were not injured more severely.  Heal quickly!

I view ALL dogs as potentially can be dangerous to riders, even with playful behavior.  Several years ago a good friend of mine suffered serious injuries (inc. broken pelvis) in a crash caused by a small dog running into the peloton.  Dog was not being aggressive but ran towards the bikes & got caught under a wheel.  Heck- this kind of thing even happened in the TdF a few years ago (though neither dog nor rider injured in that one).

IMHO- The aggressive dog is a different matter.  When I've been threatened by a dog while riding, running, or whatever, I never bother to ask if it's a pit bull.  I do NOT believe breed makes a big difference at that point since any large dog can do major damage in an attack.  And mis-ID's happen a lot.  A significant dog attack/biting happened at a cycling event I rode a few years ago.  The large dog was initially ID'ed as chow-lab mix but by the end of the afternoon riders were saying it was a pit bull.  Dog was impounded that day by local sheriff's dept & it was chow-lab mix.

Tough to know what to do in a dog encounter.  A playful or only semi-aggressive dog can often be distracted by shouting (e.g. NO or GO HOME).  Sometimes a squirt in the face with your water bottle can make dog slow/stop.  More than once I have unclipped & popped a chasing dog on the nose with my cleat, although that requires some practice, speed, &  fairly smooth road.  Sprinting away is judgment call (your ability, conditions (uphill, into wind??), dog's speed).  If you know you cannot escape & have sufficient time, dismounting & putting your bike between you & the animal can work.  Grabbing your bike by the fork & seatstay (seat towards you) points the chainrings at the dog.  FWIW- I am not a fan of HALT.  While it works sometimes it is a relatively weak chemical formulation & (like all sprays) is blown by wind- sometimes even back at you . 

Cyclists carrying a pistol for dog protection is an idea over 100yrs old (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velo-dog).  But riding armed is obviously not a perfect solution.  Many places this is illegal, and even where legal shooting the gun may have ramifications (legal & otherwise) that make dog bite seem like the lesser evil.  Accurately shooting a pistol is not like TV or movies.  Besides having the restraint to know when NOT to shoot, it takes MUCH practice & skill to hit moving target like attacking dog.  You are responsible for every round fired wherever it happens to go, and many "self-defense" shootings have injured an innocent bystander or even the shooter.  And many handgun rounds will NOT instantly stop an attacking dog, as law enforcement officers have often discovered when they try to dispatch an attacking hound.

IMHO- best we all can do is report aggressive animals to local authorities & press for action.  Otherwise it's best to avoid their known locations if possible. 

(D@mn that got to be a long post....)

Wow. . .that sucks.  I hope you fully recover soon.

My Rhodesian Ridgeback as never been outside of a fenced area off-leash.  I wish I could let her off, but I'm always too nervous her prey-drive would take over and she'd bolt after a squirrel or cat and end up in front of a car.  She does associate bikes with my wife and I though and wants to run with them. . .but I would hope she wouldn't act agressive towards a biker.

To address the issue of APBTs being kind and gentle dogs unless they're trained to attack. . .stop being naive.  Yes unsavory people are generally attracted to that type of dog, but our RR had a chunk of her ear bitten off by one that had a decent owner.  Decent owner + APBT = my > 1 year old pup having a chunk of her ear torn off.  Judging by this thread, it's all too common.  (Not to mention I was chased by two pitbulls when I was a kid until my lab came to the rescue and stood her ground until they wandered off.)

What really sucks is that someone showed the type of turds that seem to love APBT's what a Rhodesian Ridgeback is and now they're starting to cross them with pits.  I can just imagine their thought process, "Wow!  My sick pit plus a dog that "kills" lions?!?  Awesome!!"  It's something that is really worrying responsible Ridgeback owners and especially breeders.  More and more RR/APBT crosses are showing up in rescues especially in the south.  *sigh*

I believe someone in this thread spoke of carrying a gun while riding their bike.  WTF???  This isn't the wild west.  Annie Oakley couldn't hit a white whale on a black background while riding a tri bike away from a pitbull.  You should probably leave your piece at home before you shoot yourself or someone else in the area.  At least if you mace yourself of someone else in the process it'll wear off.  Bullets don't.