My Neighbor Got a Pit Bull - What Do I Do?

[Koolblue13]

Pitts also have a butt load of energy and people don't understand how to handle it.

[GoSkins561]

I would take my child over to the house and introduce it to the owner. Better yet, I would have the kid meet the dog at your house. This way the dog will become comfortable with your kid, and your child will become comfortable with the dog. Often times dog attacks begin with someone acting strangely (because of fear) around the dog and this unnerves the animal and can cause odd behavior.

You should add, don't let his kids rough house with the owners kids, the Pit may take it the wrong way and defend his family.

[G-Prime]

Hello, everybody. My neighbor got a pit bull. as of now, both of our back yards are connected together. His other dog has never respected the property line between our houses, so I expect this dog to have the same mindset. I have two little girls (one and three years old), and I am very worried about their safety. What are my options? What can I do to protect them?

A fence, and if you happen to be in PG county, call the cops. Pitbulls are illegal there.

[GoSkins561]

another great ES Sig

[dockeryfan]

Some call my dog a "alpha female" she expects all dogs to bow to her, she is a good size dog and in very good shape. On a couple of occasions, she has got into it with other dogs in the she has gotten a little testy with certain dogs in teh past that do not give her the submissive body language she was looking for. Her scraps were no more than a couple of seconds with no more than a puncture wound to her or the other dog.

You think this OK behavior, but in fact, you really just have no control over your dog.

[GoSkins561]

You think this OK behavior, but in fact, you really just have no control over your dog.

Again you always assume, I can walk my dog off of a leash and run into zero problems, lets get one thing straight, you know NOTHING about me or my dog to make these types of assumptions.

[brianm23]

What the majority of the people fail to realize up here is that dogs are still animals. You cannot predict animal behavior. Even the most well trained animals in the world have turned violent. Ask Siegfried & Roy if anything drastic could ever happen. I've seen many cases of dogs that were considered friendly that attacked others for what appears no reason. It happens. All you can do is train them the best you possibly can, but still realize they are animals.

Talk to your neighbor and make sure they keep him chained up. With kids, this is something I would not tolerate as a home owner. He'd have 2 options.

1) chain the dog up or build a fence

2) get the cops/pound called on him

[dockeryfan]

Some call my dog a "alpha female" she expects all dogs to bow to her, she is a good size dog and in very good shape. On a couple of occasions, she has got into it with other dogs in the she has gotten a little testy with certain dogs in teh past that do not give her the submissive body language she was looking for. Her scraps were no more than a couple of seconds with no more than a puncture wound to her or the other dog.

You think this OK behavior, but in fact, you really just have no control over your dog.

Again you always assume, I can walk my dog off of a leash and run into zero problems, lets get one thing straight, you know NOTHING about me or my dog to make these types of assumptions.

You said yourself, your dog will get aggressive and has given puncture wounds to other dogs. You may think that is control, but it is not.

[GoSkins561]

You said yourself, your dog will get aggressive and has given puncture wounds to other dogs. You may think that is control, but it is not.

I disagree with the having control part, I will agree with you that is not the best trait to have in a dog. Alpha females tend to be ****y, there isn't a whole lot you can do about it, the difference is, she isn't acting like a ***** to draw blood, she is looking for submission.

[Dictator]

she isn't acting like a ***** to draw blood, she is looking for submission.

Well then. that makes it ok.

And the fact of the matter is that it's against the law in MD to walk your dog w/o a leash.

[GoSkins561]

Well then. that makes it ok.

And the fact of the matter is that it's against the law in MD to walk your dog w/o a leash.

Oh give me a break, I said it wasn't ok, i said the problem is she isn a slpha female, it's not that she is a out of control aggressive animal and BTW, it is not fully against the law (at least in hagerstown) to not have your dog on a leash or fenced in, if they are under control.

[Dictator]

Oh give me a break, I said it wasn't ok, i said the problem is she isn a slpha female, it's not that she is a out of control aggressive animal and BTW, it is not fully against the law (at least in hagerstown) to not have your dog on a leash, if they are under control.

If you cannot prevent your dog from attacking other animals, then yes, she is out of control.

[dockeryfan]

If you cannot prevent your dog from attacking other animals, then yes, she is out of control.

Bingo.

[GoSkins561]

If you cannot prevent your dog from attacking other animals, then yes, she is out of control.

You are assuming she has acted dominate outside of my house, when she gets ****y, it is when a freind brings his dog over to my house. Aside from her showing dominance on occasion, which is all she is doing and if you understood dogs or owned a dominant female you would know exactly what I am talking about.

She listens to my three year old, she knows her boundry in our yard, she only goes to the bathroom in one section of my yard, and yes I can walk her without a leash and she doesn't get more than 10 feet away from me at any time. Dogs can walk on the street in front of my house, and she could care less. She is very well trained aside from having this little dominance issue when other dogs are on her turf.

To get back on track, she isn nothing like having a Pit Bull as a neighbor, which is the OP's issue.

[Kilmer17]

You'd be nuts to let your kids outside in a yard with that dog.

Put up a fence.

[GoSkins561]

You'd be nuts to let your kids outside in a yard with that dog.

Put up a fence.

Exactly, I swear our neighbors Pit, especially after the attack on my dog, held my wife and my son hostage for several months. We were so happy to see them move.

[Dictator]

Exactly, I swear our neighbors Pit, especially after the attack on my dog, held my wife and my son hostage for several months. We were so happy to see them move.

Did you call animal control after the pit jumped your fence?

[Kilmer17]

Also, if my neighbor got a Pit, and didnt put up a fence, I would shoot it the moment it wandered onto my property.

There is simply no redeeming value for those types of animals.

Get a ****ing lab.

[GoSkins561]

Did you call animal control after the pit jumped your fence?

Yes, we filed a report, did the whole 9. Basically it was one strike out of 4 against the Pit before they would consider her a dangerous animal.

[Stophovr6]

I've seen too many "Pittbull escapes and maules three year old neighbor" stories on the nightly news, that I would build a fence.

In general these owners seem to be irresponsible and can't handle a pit, but that would seem to account for a lot of people when you see how many pitts and rotweilers are up for adoption. Sorry, I know they can be good dogs, but I just don't trust them(read: their owners).

[GoSkins561]

Also, if my neighbor got a Pit, and didnt put up a fence, I would shoot it the moment it wandered onto my property.

There is simply no redeeming value for those types of animals.

Get a ****ing lab.

I can see why people like the dog itself and it's protective qualities. The problem is, they rip the ever living crap out of what ever they attack and can be unstoppable when they have their mind set on killing.

[sleazye]

Upon reviewing the entire thread again, it seems like this neighbor will be one of those individuals who will not be good owner to any dog- let alone a pit. There is a lot of unnecessary pit bull hate in this thread.

As for redeeming qualities, every responsible pit bull owner that I've ever met has nothing but great things to say about how loving and obedient pits are. I agree that potential owners should be handled more selectively because they are giving a great breed a terrible image.

[GoSkins561]

Upon reviewing the entire thread again, it seems like this neighbor will be one of those individuals who will not be good owner to any dog- let alone a pit. There is a lot of unnecessary pit bull hate in this thread.

As for redeeming qualities, every responsible pit bull owner that I've ever met has nothing but great things to say about how loving and obedient pits are. I agree that potential owners should be handled more selectively because they are giving a great breed a terrible image.

The Pit bull hate is coming from 6 different people who have experienced some type of an attack from a Pit Bull, being one of them, I understand the hate.

[zoony]

I don't know, every conversation about Pit Bulls or other agressive breeds always come down to statements about the owners.

"Responsible owners :blahblah: "

Yah, we know. We're not talking about responsible owners. Fact is, I'd say less than 10% of dog owners out there are truly responsible. Maybe not even that high.

The difference is that if you have an irresponsible owner of a ****er spaniel, said dog doesn't wander into your yard and maul your family.

To which I'm sure someone will quote this post and say something about how Labradors bite too- well yah, every dog bites. But some dogs were bred to bite. And if not properly socialized or trained, that is what they will do naturally. But it won't end with a bite or a nip, the dog won't stop until whatever it just attacked is not moving.

I had a golden retriever. Never had to teach it how to retrieve. It just did.

[Kunia5]

Just looking at Craigs List and the newspaper ads, don't see as many ads for Pitbulls anymore. Seems to have been a fad that hit its peak in the late 90s. Most ads are for small dogs.

Many of the people I knew who bought them (back then), were insecure guys, and they wanted to make a statement about their macho personalities. Then they'd get the Nissan Pathfinder, with the music blaring, driving slowly down the street with the dog in the passenger seat. I think we've all seen the picture.