The Ongoing Dog Attack Mega-Thread

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

There's always a chance a dog could snap. I would never take that chance, even if it's only 1%, with my kids. You never know what could potentially set a dog off.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

There's always a chance a dog could snap. I would never take that chance, even if it's only 1%, with my kids. You never know what could potentially set a dog off.

Meh, there's a reason I ignored that post. Dog owners like that and that frame of mind are the people who end up saying "but he has never attacked a kid before" while the doctor stitches his child's lip back to their face. All because of selfish dumb decisions by the dog's owner there will be more dog attacks on kids and the same dumb excuse will be made and that dumb gif will be posted to Facebook groups that want to "save dogs". Dogs aren't the problem, it's the owners who think their dog is family and so is the baby so there is no way he'd attack a family member.

Your dog sees you as his/her master, you don't think a new person getting more attention doesn't stress the dog out?

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

There's always a chance a dog could snap. I would never take that chance, even if it's only 1%, with my kids. You never know what could potentially set a dog off.

Plus, a lot of dogs behave differently when they know a human is watching. They could very well know that hurting a human is "bad", but that doesn't mean they won't do it if they think they can get away with it. Like chewing on a shoe or getting into the garbage.

[CliffFletcher]

There are ways to introduce a new kid to the family while minimizing stress to the dog. Keep the dog's regular walking and play routine. Show the baby to the dog in calm settings. Keeping the baby completely away from the dog is the wrong way to do it - that just makes the dog more stressed and jealous. Basically, don't cause the dog anxiety by messing with its world anymore than you have to.

Once a kid is recognized as part of the pack, and the dog knows it still gets it walks and food and love, the dog should be fine with it. That was my experience, anyway. And when we went out in public, the dog actually became quite protective of the kids.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

"Oh don't worry, they wouldn't hurt a fly"

"How dare you judge me and my furbaby?!?!"

[wretched34]

The only thing I can say, is, I am sick and tired of this "fur baby" trend. There is a huge difference between a dog, and a "fur baby" and as someone who has been around dogs his entire life, the only times I've been attacked, it's always been by "fur babies".

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

This is a story from a few weeks ago but thought I'd share it here. I was looking at buying a used bike off kijiji and had an appointment set up and on my way there she texts me that her dogs had got into a fight and she was bitten by one of them so she had to cancel. A few days later she texts me to come look at it again and I thought ok the dogs are likely inside so no big deal. I get there and she comes out with her hand all messed up and she opens the garage and the god damn dogs are in there. The pit bull looking one is in a kennel and the other was trying to jump all over me. I am not afraid of dogs but that didn't make me comfortable at all not knowing what dog had bitten her just a few days prior. To make it even worse the pit bull had a litter so there will likely be 5 more crappy owners at some time if they are anything like her. Some owners just don't deserve to own dogs.

If you post a kijiji ad with pitbull puppies for sale, you'll get almost exclusively white trash losers looking to buy them.

[jeffporfirio]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

If you post a kijiji ad with pitbull puppies for sale, you'll get almost exclusively white trash losers looking to buy them.

They should give away a pair of white oakleys with each puppy

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by wretched34

The only thing I can say, is, I am sick and tired of this "fur baby" trend. There is a huge difference between a dog, and a "fur baby" and as someone who has been around dogs his entire life, the only times I've been attacked, it's always been by "fur babies".

Can something with the name fur baby even attack a human?

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

"Oh don't worry, they wouldn't hurt a fly"

Right up there with "He's just a puppy"

[CliffFletcher]

I'm not sure what the people riled up about kids and big dogs are advocating. People shouldn't own big dogs? If you already own a big dog when you have a kid, you should ditch the dog?

[wretched34]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Can something with the name fur baby even attack a human?

Absolutely, it's the "fur babies" that are treated like people rather than dogs, that aren't trained properly. They have no structure or pack mentality which leads to aggression and disobedience.
Dogs need structure and defined leadership, or they will naturally try to assert dominance. My wife is of the "fur baby" mentality, where as I am of the "it's a dog" mentality, and it upset her how I trained our Olde English Bulldogge. But now that he's 3. And weighs close to 90lbs. She's very happy that he knows his place in our family.

[wretched34]

When a dog, of any breed or size, knows where it stands in the "pack", (which should be at the bottom of the pecking order) it feels safe, and in turn is happy and calm. It knows it doesn't have to be a leader, and doesn't have to fight for survival. It knows it will be fed, and protected, and in return is loyal and protective of its family. It really quite simple.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

There's always a chance a dog could snap. I would never take that chance, even if it's only 1%, with my kids. You never know what could potentially set a dog off.

35 per cent of Canadians households have a dog. That's about 11 million households. An average of 1 child a year in Canada is killed by a dog.

The rate of dog bite-related hospitalizations in Calgary is 2 per 100,000, down from 10 per 100,000 in 1986. So despite horror stories in the media, this is a danger that is in steep decline. If a third of Calgary households have a dog, even if we assume every dog attack is in the home and every person hospitalized is a child, that's 24 attacks per 400,000 households, or a .006 per cent chance of a child being bitten by a dog and requiring hospitalization.

To put that in perspective, 60 children a year die in traffic accidents in Canada, and 500 are hospitalized with serious injuries.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

35 per cent of Canadians households have a dog. That's about 11 million households. An average of 1 child a year in Canada is killed by a dog.

The rate of dog bite-related hospitalizations in Calgary is 2 per 100,000, down from 10 per 100,000 in 1986. So despite horror stories in the media, this is a danger that is in steep decline. If a third of Calgary households have a dog, even if we assume every dog attack is in the home and every person hospitalized is a child, that's 24 attacks per 400,000 households, or a .006 per cent chance of a child being bitten by a dog and requiring hospitalization.

To put that in perspective, 60 children a year die in traffic accidents in Canada, and 500 are hospitalized with serious injuries.

Love your point...so it doesn't matter that 35% of Canadian households is about 4 million households. Still a very valid picture.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Johnny199r

Right up there with "He's just a puppy"

"He really is friendly"


Dog owner to me today and he went nuts as I walked past.

[Eastern Girl]

I cannot stand when people take their dogs off leash outside of off leash dog parks.

"Oh don't worry, I have total control over my dog." No, you don't. I know this because when I walked by with my dog, your dog ran toward us and you called his name no less than five times and he never looked back at you. That's not control. That would actually be the exact opposite of control. Being able to take your dog off leash without it running away is not having control. Secondly, you don't know what my dog is like. My dog could be insanely vicious or completely skittish around other dogs, but yours just ran right up to him. It's not just about having control over your dog. It's about how much control other people have over theirs as well.

Secondly, the off leash people seem to think it absolves them of responsibility for their dog. Oh, is he pooping? Well, leash is off, don't care. Oh, he's jumping all over that guy over there, well, I'm looking at my phone, so deal with it.

"He never does this." My dog was bit by a little terrier dog last week and the owner said that he just never does that, must be something with my dog. Yeah, it must be my dog. Your dog bit him and he did nothing in response, but my dog must be the one to just bring it out of your dog. Bull crud, mister. Your dog is a stupid little piss ant and he probably does it all the time, most likely cause you suck. Oh, and my dog could have totally thrashed your dog. He's a pretty beefy Rottie/Shepherd mix. What bothers me is that if my dog had responded in kind, he would have bitched about my dog and wanted him put down or something.

I definitely find a lot of the little runt dogs are the ones biting people the most. They just don't do as much damage so we don't hear about it as much. The bigger dogs, when they bite, they hurt and even kill. And this is just my opinion. I cannot and will not bother backing that up with actual facts. This is a rant, dammit, not a dissertation, take it as such.

End rant.

[polak]

My neighbour has no control over his young puppy lab and keeps the thing cooped up in his one bedroom apartment. Watched him pull out a little whip thing once when the dog wouldn't listen to his orders to get inside. I don't really see an issue with a light smack of a dog when they don't listen but seeing him pull out a little whip thing and seeing how scared the dog was of him was a little concerning.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by polak

My neighbour has no control over his young puppy lab and keeps the think couped up in his one bedroom apartment. Watched him pull out a little whip thing once when the dog wouldn't listen to his orders to get inside. I don't really see an issue with a light smack of a dog when they don't listen but seeing him pull out a little whip thing and seeing how scared the dog was of him was a little concerning.

Hitting a dog is effing ######ed.

No wonder the dog doesn't come when it's called.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Eastern Girl

I cannot stand when people take their dogs off leash outside of off leash dog parks.

"Oh don't worry, I have total control over my dog." No, you don't. I know this because when I walked by with my dog, your dog ran toward us and you called his name no less than five times and he never looked back at you. That's not control. That would actually be the exact opposite of control. Being able to take your dog off leash without it running away is not having control. Secondly, you don't know what my dog is like. My dog could be insanely vicious or completely skittish around other dogs, but yours just ran right up to him. It's not just about having control over your dog. It's about how much control other people have over theirs as well.

Secondly, the off leash people seem to think it absolves them of responsibility for their dog. Oh, is he pooping? Well, leash is off, don't care. Oh, he's jumping all over that guy over there, well, I'm looking at my phone, so deal with it.

"He never does this." My dog was bit by a little terrier dog last week and the owner said that he just never does that, must be something with my dog. Yeah, it must be my dog. Your dog bit him and he did nothing in response, but my dog must be the one to just bring it out of your dog. Bull crud, mister. Your dog is a stupid little piss ant and he probably does it all the time, most likely cause you suck. Oh, and my dog could have totally thrashed your dog. He's a pretty beefy Rottie/Shepherd mix. What bothers me is that if my dog had responded in kind, he would have bitched about my dog and wanted him put down or something.

I definitely find a lot of the little runt dogs are the ones biting people the most. They just don't do as much damage so we don't hear about it as much. The bigger dogs, when they bite, they hurt and even kill. And this is just my opinion. I cannot and will not bother backing that up with actual facts. This is a rant, dammit, not a dissertation, take it as such.

End rant.

I hear you.

I have 2 dogs. I love them to bits. They are not good offleash. They don't listen. It's why I keep them on the leash. And when an off leash dogs comes running up to the kids, my dogs go apes_it. I get so mad when the owner is like "it's ok, my dog likes kids". The problem, as_hat, is that my dogs don't like other dogs going near my kids. I have to keep my dogs from starting a fight, but it means that i may not be as able to intervene quickly if the other dog does something dumb to my kids.

Put your dogs on a leash when you aren't at a dog park. Period. No excuse.