I have a good friend (known him for 15 years) who has a pit bull. He's raised him pretty well, given him plenty of attention and playing with him, and has taken him through obedience school several months ago. He's a pretty good dog all around from everything I've seen. He's great with people, and hasn't ever been aggressive toward anyone. I and my friends have all spent plenty of time with him, and he's always been great around us.
My gf and I went camping this weekend with another couple - we go all the time together when the weather is nice. They have a lab mix -- Baby -- who's the sweetest (and most spoiled btw) dog in the world, and pretty submissive. As everybody here knows, I have a year old rottweiler -- Metzger -- who's also been to obedience school, and is one of the best trained dogs I've ever personally known, because we've worked with him since he was 8 weeks old.
When we go to the campsite, we let our dogs off the leash and they love it (mine and the lab mix). They play with each other until they're worn out, but they never stray more than 40 or 50 feet from camp unless it's to walk with one of us. It's great, since we never have to worry about the dogs, they keep themselves occupied and practically ignore us for the most part, unless they just want a belly rub or a scratch.
Anyway, as I said we went camping last night, and my other friend decided he would come out and bring his dog too. I knew he was trained, and thought maybe Metzger would have somebody closer to his size to play with.
We had been out there for a bit before they came. My friend (J) drove down the road and asked if there was a way he could pull all the way down to camp, since our trucks were blocking the road. We told him he could go back out part of the way, and take a different road to come in around the back side of the property.
So for some reason he let his dog out of the truck and took off to go around the other way -- I have no idea why he did this, because I'd never do that with my dog whether there were other people/animals there or not. It just seems irresponsible to me.
So his dog -- John -- came down and was greeted by our dogs. They romped and played for about 10 seconds or so, all seemingly good-natured fun. But it only lasted a few seconds, and then John jumped in the air on my dog's back and started attacking him, leaping across two of the girls' chairs (my gf's and another friend of ours who is pregnant).
Of course I immediately ran over there (they were only about 10 feet from me), and had to grab two handfuls of skin on John's rear thighs, and lift him completely off the ground, before he would let go of my dog. My dog was snapping to try to defend himself too, but he stopped biting when he saw me grab John to pull him off. John just would not let go.
So, since J didn't have a crate with him, and I did, I put Metzger in his crate, and J tethered John to a tree with his leash (he pulled his truck around a couple minutes after it happened, and missed it).
John was whining staring at Metzger in his crate, and Metzger was whining looking at John, so I thought maybe they got off on the wrong foot, and they might be able to get along if both their owners were there when they met again, and could tell we were all friends and there weren't any rivals.
So about half an hour later or so, I took Metzger out of his crate on his leash, and walked him over near John while J was there.
They just sniffed each others' noses for a second, while their tails were wagging slightly, and it looked like they might do okay. But then, without warning, John went airborne again right at Metzger. I pulled him away before anything could happen of course -- no harm done, but it looked like they wouldn't ever be able to be off the leash at the same time with each other.
Just about a minute and a half after that, Baby -- the submissive lab mix -- walked back over to John to see him again. Again, after about 3 or 4 seconds, John leapt at her and knocked her down, but she got out of reach of his tether and was fine.
So by this point it was obvious that, for whatever reason, John wasn't going to be able to get along with either of them, and J was going to have to keep him leashed at all times. It could have been that John felt threatened by both dogs because he was thrown in the mix without his owner, and not knowing either of them at all. For whatever reason, he obviously felt a little threatened (at least that's what I assume).
Fine. Metzger went back in his crate before long, and stayed there while we ate. I put him on the leash and took him away to walk him for a minute, and then came back. J had John on his leash, and he was sitting with him by the fire, probably 12 feet from Metzger's crate.
So when I came back with Metzger, I was kneeling with him beside his crate and giving him a good collar scratch. He was sitting (as he usually is when he wants attention) facing me, and my back was to J and John.
I barely heard any commotion or movement before John was over my shoulder and latched onto Metzger. He had bolted straight toward us, yanking the leash out of J's hand, and pounced before anybody even knew what happened.
Within just a few seconds, he had his jaws locked on Metzger's neck and wouldn't let go for anything. I had John by the leash, pulling him as hard as I possibly could (my friend was pulling Metzger on the other side). It was quickly obvious that my dog wasn't doing shit except waiting for somebody to get this beast off of him.
As I said, John's jaws were locked on Metzger's neck, and was NOT going to let go. I'm not used to dealing with this kind of shit personally -- my dog was yelping like he was on fire, and here is a pit bull with his jaws around his throat. So I acted on my instincts, which was obviously not the best move I could have made. I started wailing on him with everything I had. I had his leash in my left hand, pulling like hell, and with my right hand I was slamming his head with haymaker after haymaker, possibly the hardest I've ever punched anything. I beat on him so hard and fast that I was actually starting to slow down a little bit after a few seconds -- and it wasn't doing shit. Nothing. He wasn't even noticing it. He was completely focused on squeezing my dog's neck between his jaws until he stopped moving, and to hell with whatever else was going on. Finally, somebody actually said something that made sense -- he's not going to let go until you choke him off. It was something we should have thought of obviously -- but I wasn't the only one slugging John either, 2 or 3 of us were.
So the other 2 guys grabbed his neck like they were trying to choke him, which wasn't doing much because his entire neck is pure muscle. I reached under his chin and grabbed and squeezed his throat for about 10-15 seconds, before he finally let go long enough for J to grab him, and me to get to Metzger.
Metzger is fine, thank god. He only has a couple of small cuts on his neck where John's teeth were, and we tended those and he'll be okay.
My hand had a little of John's blood on it from repeatedly slugging the shit out of him, but after he got home and cleaned up, he didn't really suffer any injuries aside from scratches and really minor cuts.
After we broke them up, Metzger walked away with me and just sat while I touched his neck, checked his cuts, and made sure he was okay. He wasn't even as worked up as I was, and was being pretty damn calm all things considered -- he was barely breathing heavy.
John, however, was staring at Metzger and kept trying to find a way to get to him again for a few minutes after it was broken up.
I feel bad for the way I reacted too of course -- it was not productive in any way, and was pure instinctive reaction. I can imagine a parent might do something similar if they saw their child in the jaws of a pit bull.
At any rate, regardless of causes (lack of training, feeling threatened, irresponsible decision by J, etc...), I got a firsthand look at one aspect of pit bulls for the first time last night: their genetic, instinctive behavior.
You have to understand something -- my dog does not become aggressive when he feels threatened (unless he is backed into a corner probably, but I've never experienced that scenario, and don't plan to allow that to happen). I remember taking him to the dog park a couple months ago, when there was another rottweiler there that was very poorly trained. It horded toys - it would gather all 4 tennis balls in the park into its mouth at once and lay down with them, and if another dog approached, it would growl and bark, and even snap. This is indicative of complete neglect on its owners part to check that kind of behavior.
Metzger was there and wanted to play with a tennis ball, so he walked toward where one was lying on the ground, and the other rottie beat him to it. He already had all the other balls in his mouth and couldn't pick it up, so he just laid on it and dropped all the other balls between his front legs. When Metzger got within 5 feet of him, he barked at him loudly and started growling. Metzger had never ever seen anything like that behavior before, so he just stared at the dog for about 10 seconds without moving. Then, he turned around, walked about 10 feet away, and then sat down facing the other dog, just looking at him.
That may seem like a tangent, but the point I'm trying to make is this: My dog, when he feels threatened, and he has no training basis on which to act (i.e. we've never given him training for that specific scenario), will revert to a wait-and-see kind of bearing, and will not aggress toward another dog.
Pit bulls on the other hand, were bred for dog-fighting. That's the reason they were bred, and it is in their blood. Of course, that behavior can be removed through lots of training. But what happens when they get put in a situation for which they have no training experience on which to act? This dog, when it encountered something that seemed like it might be threatening, and was not trained to act a certain way in that specific situation, immediately tried to kill my dog, as quickly as possible. It went straight for his throat first off, and once he locked on jaws on it, would not let go until my dog stopped moving. Remember, my dog stopped fighting back, and was holding his head straight up and yelping. Yet John was not going to release his jaws for anything.
So I firmly believe that a pit bull's innate behavior, for the most part like any other dog, can be adjusted through lots of training. You can see what the Dog Whisperer has done with pit bulls, and they certainly are capable of getting along with other dogs just fine.
All dogs get fearful, threatened or otherwise out of sorts at some point or another. When that happens, the intelligent breeds revert to what they've been trained to do, if they've been trained. Other dogs, that either haven't been trained, or aren't as intelligent or impressionable through training, will revert to instinctive reactions.
With many dogs this isn't a problem. It's a fight or flight scenario, and unless they are in a corner, or forced to defend themselves, many dogs will choose flight. Some other dogs may even bark, snap and jump, because that is the instinct of their breed, genetically speaking.
Pit bulls will immediately go for the throat of whatever is threatening them, and will not let go until it is dead, because that behavior has been bred into them over generations. That is the same way they behave in dog fights.
For that reason, I obviously don't blame the dog for the way he reacted. I blame J for not controlling his dog, and not socializing and training him the way he should have (although he really has done quite a bit of work in this area while raising him), and letting him out of the truck on his own with two other strange dogs running around. John just acted on his instincts. But, those instincts being what they are, I will never own a pit bull, and I will never let another one anywhere near my dog, or my kids if I ever have any.
I have always had a "to each their own" attitude toward people who own pits. I probably wouldn't have one, but if they like the dogs and are responsible, then who cares if they want one -- just like any other dog?
Now I'm starting to question why dogs that were bred for dog fighting even exist any longer. I don't think there is any place in our society for mean dogs, which is why I've set out from the beginning to make sure Metzger never becomes one. So, why would we even have dogs that were bred to fight?
Even more puzzling to me though -- why would anyone want a dog bred for fighting, if they don't want their dog to get in fights?
I'm not trying to pass any kind of judgment here though. Just sharing the story, and how it made me feel.
