GOOD DOG

/ janpriddyoregon

And then the pit bull jumped up and hit me hard in the cheekbone.

I am used to dogs and can generally de-escalate most situations.

The couple were nearby, perhaps twenty or thirty feet away from me. Their unleashed dog ran up and sat in front of me. The owners said, “He’s friendly,” but owners almost always say that. “Good dog” is usually the best thing to say. Most dogs respond well to being told they are good. The owners were calling the dog and he was not even twitching his ears in response. He abruptly went from standing still to furious snarling and then he leapt into my face.

The owners gathered their dog, “Oh sorry” and walked on.

Did they say, Are you okay? to the elderly woman their dog attacked? No, they did not come up to me at all, but they did hit the dog when they finally got a leash attached to his harness. Stupid and useless. And if they have done that in the past, it might help explain their dog’s behavior.

But it is only part of the explanation. The dog failed to respond to his owners’ calls and instead focused on me, an older female human being in an open, neutral space who was doing absolutely nothing threatening or challenging.

What is the saying about it not being the breed?

Yes, it is the breed.

Their pit bull was bred for generations to fight and kill other dogs, to get a grip and hold on, to savage and main. That is the purpose for the breed. Owners take these dogs into their homes with no genuine understanding of dog behavior, much less of their breed.

I have seen Pointer pups on point at an age where they can barely stand. I have seen Dachshunds who are afraid of the neighbor’s cat go after a rodent with shocking fury. Don’t get me started on Doberman Pinchers and Rottweilers—which I admire but would not have in my home. Ever watched a Corgi trying to herd children in the back yard? Dogs were bred to a purpose and they are often highly functional in their job with no training at all.

Domesticated dogs were bred to do work, and for thousands of years, that is what they have done. Trusting that their behavior is purely a matter of how they are raised is naive and reckless.

Yes, my cheek is throbbing. And yes, I am disgusted with people making excuses for pits. Their dog is always nice. Their dog would never hurt anyone. Or their dog is a rescue and was abused by a previous owner. Or I did something to trigger the violent response. (No, I did not.)

According to the ASPCA: “A well-socialized and well-trained pit bull is one of the most delightful, intelligent, and gentle dogs imaginable.” I would argue that statement is probably true about nearly all dogs. Until it’s not.

Spay or neuter your pit, love it for its life, and get a different breed next time. If you feel you need protection, take self defense classes, or take classes on canine psychology and keep your dog on a leash.

I’m going to get an icepack.

11 thoughts on “GOOD DOG”

    • About half an hour ago. And yes, it seemed like a sweet dog. And no, I did nothing to antagonize the dog. Clearly there was something, but you know I have worked with hundreds of dogs. In this case: no warning and no behavior on my part that explains the dog’s reaction.

      Like

      Reply

  2. Ouch Jan, hope you are alright. Completely agree with you on dogs being bred for work and purpose, always more cautious with pointy-ear dogs than floppy-ear dogs, because it’s a quick clue to their nature. Always avoid pit bulls, but impossible on the beach

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Not all floppy-eared dogs are nice. A neighbor’s dog played with ours almost every day, but didn’t like that Yeti could outrun her, and one day Yeti needed stitches. The dogs were fine with one another after that too, but I kept a closer eye.

      The crazy thing is that we had turned north to avoid three pits running loose. If these owners had trained their dogs on balls, I would feel a lot more comfortable. If the dog has a ball, a genuine “ball-dog” focused entirely on the ball we never worry.

      And to be truthful, I probably did something, but I do not know what. Gary was coming from a distance, watching the whole thing, and he couldn’t understand it either. The situation just blew up, literally in my face.

      There is something about bending over a hound that I do not understand. A friend’s dog bit me for doing that probably 45 years ago and it’s happened twice since with people bending over our dogs in their yard. Dogs are not people and even domesticated they are not wired like humans.

      People love their dogs and that’s as it should be. But pits are scary because of their determination to hold and inflict damage. It’s in the breed snd it’s no good pretending it’s not.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • ‘pointy-ear, floppy ear’ comment is REALLY misleading. Pitties (and most other terriers) and dobes ARE floppy eared dogs. The upright ears are the result of a surgical procedure that we will likely be seeing less and less of. As of July 2019, Alberta vets are no longer allowed by their professional association to crop ears, dock tails or remove dew claws. I expect other jurisdictions will follow.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Too true! There are breeds with upright ears, but many breeds with pointy ears are not naturally that way. Altering the appearance in puppies is widely disliked as unnecessary and cruel by many vets and ordinary humans. North America is well behind the curve on this issue. It’s been outlawed in other countries for quite a while. The process of cropping ears is not gentle but it is nothing like as nasty the process of taping and scarring ears to ensure they remain upright.

        We removed the dewclaws on two litters after Manny (from our first litter) ripped a dewclaw half off and screamed for half an hour (traumatic for everyone) until the vet had me remove it (only traumatic for me—Many stopped screaming immediately). But then our Salukis used and wore down their dewclaws and I had to rethink the whole process again.

        Like

  3. The first time I met a pit bull, she was playing in a yard, acting goofy and downright adorable. I remember someone saying that they were, at heart, good dogs but with a strong instinct to protect, as do not get between that mama dog and her pups. Elsewhere I’ve read that they so much want to please their owners they will do anything, even attack and kill other dogs. I know I would feel the same as you if I were simply standing on the beach and was attacked like that, by any dog off his leash. I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of the owners. You can tell when someone has taken the time and made the effort to know their dog, to love him but also train him so acts of violence like that don’t happen. A well-trained dog would not have come up to you, no matter how curious he might be. (And then there’s some dogs, like a friend’s Akita, that behaves like a rebellious teenager and ignores commands to heel … hence the need for leash laws.) The fact that the couple seemed unconcerned about you and then hit their dog speaks volumes.

    Like

    Reply

    • I have to say that “she was playing … acting goofy and downright adorable. I remember someone saying that they were, at heart, good … but with a strong instinct to protect, as do not get between that mama dog and her pups” also describes wolves I have known. Coyotes. Bears. Deer. Raccoons.

      Dangerous or even harmless-seeming animals do not necessarily alert people in any way that humans clue into.

      I was bit by a raccoon (not tame but vaccinated against rabies) and that raccoon was sweet and charming and very, very smart. I did not make a move. I realized afterward that it bit me because it had watched me buckle my purse to keep it out. I thought I could outsmart it, and I was wrong. That was a very smart animal, but it was not a pet and was not treated as a pet.

      Like

      Reply

      • I would not want to be bit by a raccoon. Years ago, we had a face-off with about five raccoons that entered our campsite, lured by the smell of roasting hot dogs. We weren’t afraid of them but their lack of fear towards us was disconcerting. After we retired to the tent, we listened to them try and break into the cupboard where we had stored and locked our food.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment