Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Pitbull encounters…. What to do?

Bummer!! I have been attacked twice by large dogs.(not pits) Got away with little damage so I feel pretty lucky. I know the rage and the hate. Its hiding now but I'm sure it will come out again someday.

With that said I like to tell you all a little story.

My son had a Rednose Pitbull. He had to leave for a while so he asked my wife if we would keep it. My wife being the loving mom she is said ok. When I came home that night I about crapped my pants. There was a damn pitbull on my sofa. I woke my wife up and asked her what the hell she was doing, thinking and not thinking.

Don't you watch the news or read the paper. That is a killer on our sofa. All the kids in the neighborhood and the kids who come over are no longer safe. I freaked out!!

She new I would freak and that is why they didn't bring me in on the decision.
Its such a sweet and gentle pup. It loves us.

Right up until it eats us damn it.

Well the dog stayed but I wouldn't even look at it or pet it or even give it the time of day. I was scared of her and she knew I didn't like her.

My wife would ask me to walk the dog and I would tell her Hell no. I not taking that killer out into the streets where it could harm someone.

Take her on a hike honey.

Are you crazy? Not only do you want people killed you want wildlife done in the same way. No way!!!!

Then the dog started doing something wierd. I would come home from my hike and put my boots away like normal but then the Pit would bring them back out and just start smelling them, rolling around on them and then she started to sleep with them. Now when I would get my boots back from her she would be waiting at the front door. So now I had to find ways of slipping out of the house.

Well after weeks and weeks of fighting with my wife about the Pit I gave in. I was going to take the dog on a hike. But it was going to be someplace where no human would ever go.

The day arrived. I pulled my truck into the garage so she couldn't run out and eat anyone. It was so wierd. She jumped up into the passengers seat, looked over at me as if to say, lets get to steppin dude.

That day about 10 years ago was the start of a once in a lifetime relationship. Since that day I don't know how many peaks, passes, hikes or miles we have logged together but they have been awesome. She plays with anyone who doesn't mind gettin licked. You throw a ball and your her friend for life. The neighbors feed her and play with her. She has gotten free food from just about every junk food place in town and I found out she is sweet and nice.

When my son got back it was to late. The Pit wasn't going to go home with him and he knew it. She has been my hiking pal since that first hike. It takes her a little longer to recover now days cause she gettin old and has a lot of miles on her but she is always ready to go when she see's me grab my boots.

When my Pitbull passes on I will be heart broken. Will I get another Pit? I don't know. I have been blessed with this one.

I guess the reason I wrote this is to say that my Pitbull showed me that they aren't all bad. Just like most people aren't.

Later

Im sure not EVERY Pitt is a loaded weapon. But the statistics prove that your playing Russian roulette with a lot of them. Im from Colorado where Pitt bulls are illegal, and for a reason. There have been many attacks that I have read about in and out of towns.
Then I move to LA. It seems that every Raider or Laker jersey wearing thug has this dog on the end of his leash. And wearing what?? A f'ing chain with a f'ing padlock on its collar. Why...Because you cant show your gun anymore. So this is the next best thing. If you want a dog, you get a Golden retriever, or a collie. If you want a un-concealed weapon you get a Pitt-bull. You want to show how bad you think you are, you get a pitt bull. Then you want everyone to see how bad it is against every other pitt in you 'hood, so you make it snarl and pull you with its chain. Yeah your bad, you use this poor animal to make you look tough coming down the street. The owners are the real idiots to blame. This dog is not a natural breed. So what do you expect??
Im sorry but this breed of dog needs to be outlawed and the owners need to be held responsible for everything it does. Shits on the lawn, eats your roomates furniture, EATS YOUR NEIGHBORS KID!! You want a threatening dog, then dont be surprised when it does threatening things!!!!

I remember when I was 12 and I subbed for a friend on a paper route. There was a house with a porch that was about 50' or so from the street and I would throw the paper on the porch from the street as I rode by on my bicycle. One day there was a child about 2 years old playing on the lawn in front of the house with a very big German Shepherd. I threw the paper on the porch from my bicycle like I always did and the German Shepherd went after me and sunk one of its canine teeth into my leg. I believe it was a brave sweet gentle dog that thought it was protecting the child.

So even if a powerful dog is sweet and gentle, it may still attack someone because it misunderstood a situation.

The more powerful the animal, the more chance for significant injury. For example, remember Siegfried and Roy and their tiger act in Las Vegas? They loved their tigers and their tigers loved them. However, one of their tigers mistakenly thought Roy was in danger and dragged him by the head off the stage, causing severe brain damage.

I don't get it; for a bunch of tough mountain men and women who don't mind sleeping in a place where you know a bear is going to be in few hours, there sure are a lot of people that seem to be pretty easily frightened.

All this talk of gangsters keeping killer dogs for their egos? Sure they exist, but I don't remember the last time I saw some dude with baggy pants and diamond studded dollar sign around his neck heading up the switchbacks. I lived in a really, really bad part of Los Angeles for a few years while I was in school. I've seen more than a few bad looking guys with mean dogs, and what is true there, is true on the mountain too; the people are much more dangerous than the dogs.

For every dog that has ever acted aggressively toward me, there have been a hundred that roll over to get their belly scratched or drop a tennis ball at my feet and wag their tail, waiting for me to throw it. If you want to be afraid of something, the two-legged threats are much more likely to give you problems.

There are a lot more fatal dog attaks than bear or cougar attacks. A major reason, of course, is that there are a lot more dogs. But I will try to remember, if I am ever attacked by a vicious dog, that most of his canine compatriots just want their bellies scratched. I will also try to remember that I was much more likely to be attacked by a human.

Those should be comforting final thoughts.

Thanks again for the constructive advice.

Just to put things in perspective: Ursacks, which will prevent a bear from getting to your food, will not stop a dog or wolf. To quote from their website:

"It should not be considered wolf or dog resistant. That's because they have sharp teeth and strong jaws. Bears have great strength, but their teeth are not sharp."

This is not intended to be a slam of Ursack, but rather I thought is a testament to just what a dog is capable of.

I thought this an appropriate followup to this discussion.

http://cbs4denver.com/topstories/local_story_193163218.html

"The woman was lifeless and in critical condition when she was taken to the hospital but was upgraded to fair condition later Thursday evening. The granddaughter was also taken to the hospital with bite wounds."

odd choice of word - cuz I was wondering how you get upgraded from "lifeless"

How do you get downgraded from lifeless?

An example of how tenacious a dog can be when attacking.


"Inca apparently did not know when to quit when she encountered the porcupine on Victoria Day, May 23rd. These are the pictures the vet sent before the long (and expensive) procedure to remove the quills. She had thousands of quills, and her tongue was so covered, she could not close her mouth."
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/porcupinedog.asp