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Signs Of Potential Pit Bull Aggression (Long)
How can you tell if a pit bull might attack a person?
Here's the deal. I had dinner at my brother's house. He has a son (my nephew) who adopted a fully-grown pit bull a few months ago from the pound. He claims it's a pit bull mix, but it looks mostly pit bull, with maybe a little bit of boxer. It's a muscular dog. Nephew says the dog is very friendly. He sleeps with family members. The dog was relatively friendly with both me and my sister, but it reacted badly to my elderly mother. He growled at her with a low growl, and fixed her with a stare. I got the dog away from her, and he was fairly obedient. My mom did nothing, and was friendly to the animal; she didn't pet it, but she spoke to it in a kind voice. When the dog was exposed to mom again, the same thing happened: low growl (for an extended period), and a piercing stare and stiff body posture. We got the dog to the next room, but when he wandered back to mom, same reaction. It was spooking out my sister and I, as mom is in her 80s and just having her knocked down by a dog wouldn't be a good idea, let alone have anything else happen. I can't think of anything mom did other than this dog just instantly took a dislike to her. My mom wasn't scared, but she couldn't figure out why the dog didn't like her. I insisted nephew put the dog in another room, which caused the boy to have a snit and say I was unjustly prejudiced against pit bulls. I should add that during all these little episodes of aggression, nephew was in another room and was not even attempting to control the dog. He is totally unconcerned that this dog has any potential of aggression, and thought we were blowing smoke about the growling and staring. His great aunt on the other side of the family insisted the dog was growling "because he just wants you to play with him." Again, this dog has no history, since being adopted, of aggression towards the limited number of visitors to my brother's house. But it was adopted as an adult, so they have no idea what its history is, why it was brought to the pound in the first place, etc. I don't know what the signs are of an imminent pit bull attack, but I have no idea how you get the dog to like someone they seem to so instantly dislike, or what form its dislike will take upon continued exposure. Many media stories about pit bull attacks seem to involve elderly people or small children. The attacks mostly seem unprovoked, and often it is reported that the dog had never attacked anyone before, had friendly relations with its owners, etc., and people are shocked by the horrible violence inflicted by a formerly friendly animal. Was I being paranoid? Or does this dog have the potential to be a time bomb? |
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Thanks for the input. I know I'm right about that dog, that it needs
to be controlled, and that my nephew is too irresponsible, IMO, to have this dog. And I'm afraid it may trigger a family feud. But I don't know what to do about it, other than not take my mom to visit my brother (I'm the one that has to drive her, and she rarely sees him anyway; he's more likely to visit her house, sans dog). My mom is a bit bent over, as people her age are wont to be. And has wrinkles, an older-type voice, etc. She's friendly with animals, but not assertive, is not strong, etc. It just scares me that a sizable number of pit bull incidents seem to involve elderly people, and have happened in family situations where the dog didn't have problems with other people in the family. The stooped posture might be interpreted as threatening, they are different than younger people, may smell different, tend to be less assertive, etc., as you pointed out. But in any case, my nephew does not take his responsiblity as a dog owner seriously, and doesn't seem to register that his new dog is different than the extremely friendly (this current dog is much more tentative with people, even though somewhat friendly), less-strong English retriever he used to own. And his family doesn't take it seriously enough, either. They have my sister-in-law's aunt living with them, and she's somewhat younger than my mom, but not much. Plus, they often babysit a friend's toddler. It's worrisome. And there's not much I can do about it, because they're close-minded people that won't listen. "Haley" Michael A. Ball wrote: On 27 Mar 2005 23:36:26 -0800, wrote: How can you tell if a pit bull might attack a person? ... Was I being paranoid? Or does this dog have the potential to be a time bomb? Your concern is well justified, because all dogs have a potential to be violent. The local shelter has been adopting PBT for a couple of years now. They must arrive with no history of aggression and pass a fairly demanding temperament test. I consider your nephew more dangerous than the dog, because he is an irresponsible and/or unenlightened dog owner, at present. When one of my dogs (formerly Chow Chows, now Shelties) show inappropriate aggression, we get to the bottom of it immediately. As an octogenarian, your brave mother might have a posture problem, her skin texture and voice might be different from the people around her; and her scent might be different--things that happen to all of us eventually. Besides that [which is only offered for consideration], the dog might have been abused by (or because of) an elderly person. As a volunteer, I sometimes encounter a shelter dog in the public area that dislikes me at first sight. Even if it is friendly to other visitors, I still spend time with it until it accepts me; or at least, tolerates me. If I can't get a good feeling about the dog, I report it to the front desk, so they will have some point of reference for any trouble the dog becomes. There are a lot of variables and possibilities here, but I believe this dog just wants to see if he can manipulate your mother. Dogs definitely test us to see what they can get away with! I suspect the dog has already been testing his "master". I wouldn't want to start a family feud, but seeing that your nephew is not controlling his dog, he should grant your mother the freedom to control the dog. She needs to speak to the dog assertively and her body language should tell the dog that she can't be bullied. She should never tolerate having her path blocked by this dog. Just as with humans, dogs have to respect us before they like us. Your mom can speed things along by offering the dog a few special treats. Thereby becoming someone that can not be bullied, but does have treats! One icebreaker technique is to have your mother sit next to a family member the dog does like, and encourage the dog to come visit. Let only your mother offer a yummy treat. If the dog is acting out of fear, this approach will help him to see that your mother is not dangerous. I've probably over simplified this, but it has become relatively simple for me. At the shelter, many growling dogs will actually change to a whimper, if I persist in approaching/touching them. They have no desire to harm me, but can't let go of their fear, just yet. Often, the instant their realize its safe, they can't get enough petting. Its thrilling to witness the turn around. I take more time and care with dogs that show me their teeth. I love them all and I'm not afraid. I do respect their right to be nervous and afraid, but I also know that can prevent them from being adopted. I speak to these dogs calmly and patiently while forcing them to pass close to me, if they want to move around in their run. Sometimes, I stand at their run gate and look out. The dog usually comes and does the same thing. Considering these are three-foot gates, the dog's joining me tells me that he's beginning to mellow out. It recently took my third daily visit before I got to hug a certain dog. He was put to sleep by the next day. Shelter dogs truly need to be as tolerant and predictable as possible. I hope your nephew will learn about his dog and control of his dog. It is very important because our dogs need to be safe around the general public and especially people we invite into our space. School - Four walls with tomorrow inside. |
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"during all these little episodes of aggression, nephew was in another
room " If the dog reacts to grandma the same way every time then it should be easy enough to set up a scenario where the nephew can see the problem first hand, right? Once he sees this dogs behavior he should be willing to listen to resonable suggestions. If hes not, then the answer is easy, get that dog away from him, he is to irresponsible to have it! Alan |
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