How Not to Advertise Your Alma Mater

Parent Cafe
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<p>I had a dog that was a 25 lb lab mix that got out of our yard once (we have invisible fence and she was extremely well trained on it). She was a puppy and was teething and “bit” a woman walking in our neighborhood. A neighborhood kid (all of whom loved her and regarded her as harmless, even after this incident) brought her to our door and said that she got out. We brought her inside. The woman came up to our door and told me that my dog bit her (I was a 15 year old girl). I apologized and told her that she had never gotten out or bitten anyone before. She did not seem to understand that she was trained on an invisible fence, not just let out on her own. I apologized again and she had me give her my phone number. I did, and apologized again and she left. My dad’s girlfriend and I proceeded to immediately retrain my dog on her invisible fence. We brought her back in and soon after, the police were at our door saying that it was reported that our dog bit someone. The cops asked to see the dog and laughed when they saw her. They clearly didn’t believe our dog actually “viciously ran to, growled at, and attacked” this woman as she tried to claim. Still, our dog could have been taken away from us or put to sleep. In my eyes, this woman had no right to call the police for her extremely minor dog bite and the police seemed to agree.</p>

<p>Some of you seem to be completely disregarding anyone’s feelings in favor of your comfort. I don’t know how anyone can sleep at night knowing they were the reason a dog was taken away from a family who loved it. It seems like something that would take an awful human being.</p>

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I don’t think a dog bite is a laughing matter. Your cavalier attitude towards your dog’s behavior is disturbing.</p>

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<p>Well, I guess the law could look at it as assalt or battery? Technically…</p>

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<p>Not everybody views a dog as “man’s best friend.” I think it’s interesting how you’re putting yourself and your dog (especially) ahead of a human being.</p>

<p>But then again, I must be an “awful human being.”</p>

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<p>I am guessing that ashley is a hs’er and very attached to her dogs.So given her age I’ll cut her some slack. I am guessing, though, that she doesn’t grasp the seriousness of animal bites. When we had cats, one had surgery and had trouble coming out of anesthesia. She got spooked and bit me when I tried to hold her. I had to have the bite looked at at the urgent care facility and they had to call animal control. I had to prove that my cat’s shots were all up to date. This was my own cat. They were just following protocol.</p>

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<p>"Pit bull owners are particularly prone to being in denial about the substantial data about the prevalence of serious injuries arising from (unpredictable) pit bull attacks. (I guess you kind of have to be.) <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreation...ogbreeds-a.pdf"&gt;http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreation...ogbreeds-a.pdf&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I guess you see no problem with the category being “pit-bull type,” which can include around 25 breeds of dogs, if going by looks alone, some, all, or none of which can actually have American Pit Bull Terrier in them. Your ‘data’ would not be accepted in a single serious scientific study.</p>

<p>Also, the study clearly doesn’t take into account the fact that since pit bull is being labeled as the “bad dog,” all the people who WANT an agressive dog get pit bulls and TRAIN them to be aggressive (why don’t you look for a study on who gets the dogs and for what reason). This is no different than saying that because a racial or ethnic minority happens to be financially worse off than the rest of the population and, therefore, many kids grow up in high-crime areas, the higher crime rate within that ethnic/racial minority means they are genetically more prone to be violent.</p>

<p>There is nothing inherently violent about pit bull type dogs. In fact (and there IS an actual study on this - I will try to find it and post a link), pit bull type dogs scored some of the highest marks in a test that measured how well they interract with humans. They scored higher than dogs like beagels, etc. The test, of course, had aggression as a factor.</p>

<p>I know I will not change the minds of people who refuse to look at ALL the facts. I am not looking to do that. However, I do hope that those who are on the fence about this take the time to look at all the facts. Literally millions of these wonderful, loyal, kind dogs get put down every year, because they can’t find homes because of attitudes like these.</p>

<p>ashleysong, I absolutely agree. I do think a dog bite is serious, but I would go to the owner first. If the owner agrees to pay for all medical costs and has proof available of all the shots being up to date, I personally would never file a police report, because I would never want the dog put down (regardless of breed or anything like that).</p>

<p>UPDATE: here’s the link I was looking for <a href=“http://atts.org/breed-statistics/[/url]”>http://atts.org/breed-statistics/&lt;/a&gt; Judge for yourselves.</p>

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<p>Our neighbors have an invisible fence. Their two dogs get out fairly often. I have run THOUSANDS of miles in the last six years, and one of their dogs is the ONLY one that has ever bitten me.</p>

<p>When I called to let them know what happen, the husband apologized and said they would try to keep the dogs in more. Well, they weren’t successful. I actually avoid running near their house now, which annoys me. I called again, and the wife answered. I told her the dogs get out fairly often, once every week or two, and she said, “Well, those dogs wouldn’t hurt anybody! And I don’t think they get out that often.” What the heck?? She got VERY defensive. I told her I would call every time I see the dogs out, and I do. I’m about ready to call the sheriff. The wife is an elected official, but she’s not getting my vote.</p>

<p>Just because your dog seems friendly to you does NOT mean they are friendly around strangers.</p>

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<p>I would call, but I’ll bet you won’t get anywhere…</p>

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<p>I called animal control after I was bit on my bike.</p>

<p>Not because I wanted the animal put down, but because I wanted to make sure that he didn’t have rabies. It’s fatal for humans if we contract it. Had it not been verified, I would have had to undergo a rabies vaccination treatment which costs a couple thousand dollars and is rather painful (rabies fatal for humans if we contract it).</p>

<p>In my county, they don’t put an animal down for a single bite incident. But they do mandate putting it down animals that have a vicious nature and have attacked a lot in the past.</p>

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<p>I have an incredibly vicious dog. He is a Jack Russell and loves my daughter, tolerates the rest of the family, and is consumed with rage at the rest of the world because every person he meets is not my daughter. The only person who takes him out on a leash is my husband and only at off times or to visit the vet. We have a fully fenced yard with a meticulously maintained 6 1/2 foot privacy fence with a lock on the outside. </p>

<p>Earlier this year a new family moved in next door with two kids about 12 and 10. In addition to coming over and removing some of the pavers from my retaining wall without permission, these kids apparently play soccer and kick their balls over my fence multiple times a day and then bang on my door to have someone get them back. If my dog sees the balls, he pops them immediately. If we aren’t home or don’t respond, the kids have taken to piling things up beside the fence and climbing over to get the balls. To put a stop to this, I told the father we wouldn’t be retrieving anymore balls and the kids were not allowed to come on our property. Of course we don’t know what they do when we aren’t home and, if we ever make a mistake and let our dog out when one of the kids is out there without our knowledge, the kid will be seriously injured. Dogs need to be contained, but sometimes humans do as well.</p>

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<p>I am not advocating suing people, but I remember my mother said the reason they stopped having a dog was because her insurance broker told her it was too expensive. Apparently, the dogs we had when I was young would snap or even bite and then people would file a claim. I haven’t seen any of the posters mention this, but are dog bites covered by homeowner’s insurance?</p>

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<p>Ashley–“an extremely minor dog bite”–are you for real? Sorry, you weren’t the one bitten. Maybe you got used to it.</p>

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<p>*ashleysong, I absolutely agree. I do think a dog bite is serious, but I would go to the owner first. If the owner agrees to pay for all medical costs and has proof available of all the shots being up to date, I personally would never file a police report, because I would never want the dog put down (regardless of breed or anything like that). *</p>

<p>At what cost though? I’ve had to put a dog down (a beloved lab) that became aggressive and bit my D, twice. It was a terrible thing we had to do. However, human life and safety is more important than keeping a beloved but potentially dangerous pet around. I could not have forgiven myself if this seemingly happy/loving dog seriously hurt someone. Perhaps you might want to reconsider the “I will never file a police report for a dog bite” in light of future damage that a biting dog could do.</p>

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<p>Yes, they are covered by homeowners insurance, and insurance companies will often not insure a home where a pitbull or german shepard resides because of their high insurance claims.</p>

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<p>We had an electric dog fence when our sweet doggie was alive. However, the lawn guys would occasionally cut it and the battery in the collar would poop out, both of which cause the fence to be useless. Then, when he got older, he lost his hearing so couldnt her the warning clicks. </p>

<p>There are also many breeds, like hounds and such , that would consider the electric fence a minor inconvenience as they went running after something.</p>

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<p>Zoosermom–why would you keep such a dog? He sounds like a liability from the get go. Heaven forbid he changes his mind about your daughter. Not worth it in the least.
And as stupid as the neighbor’s kids seem to be, their safety should be more of a priority than keeping a vicious dog.</p>

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<p>What if there was a 2 year old child living next door?</p>

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He doesn’t bite his family, but he will bite any trespassers. If he growls or barks at us, we just stare him down and that’s it, but if someone tries to get into the house or yard, they are in trouble. He doesn’t go around acting angrily all the time, only if he thinks he is threatened like if you accidentally step on him or try to take away his bowl while he is eating. We have reason to need the protection and we keep him away from other people. It’s our decision to have this dog and the parents of those kids should keep them out of my yard.</p>

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<p>As I said, I apologized to the woman at least 3 times. We had proof that shots were up to date. We offered to pay all medical bills without any question. Our dog never got out again. I don’t have an issue with her confronting me, however I have an issue in her involving the police. Her bite was very minor and didn’t even completely break the skin. I understand the seriousness of animal attacks, but in this case the police did not need to be involved. They seemed to agree. I think saying that I don’t care that my dog bit someone is a little excessive. I really did care and make an effort to correct the situation in as many ways possible.</p>

<p>What I’m trying to say is that people should think before reporting minor dog bites because a dog being put to sleep is not something that should be taken lightly.</p>

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<p>People should be able to report an incident to the police without fear that the animal will automatically be put down because of their report.</p>

<p>There are a lot of good reasons to report animal bites to the police: data for county officials, documentation for insurance / liability, being able to force disclosure of shots, or to establish a history of a potentially vicious animal. </p>

<p>Reporting to the police with the intention of having an animal put down because of a very minor bite is unreasonable, but that may not have been the intention of the person.</p>

<p>In any event, your family was negilgent for not restraining your animal, so I don’t have much sympathy.</p>

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<p>Zooser… you have reason to need the protection, so you bought a jack russel?</p>