Family pet attacks Steelers star Harrison's son

[State]

G-d, I'm getting really sick pitt bulls and the professional athletes who feel the stupid need to own dogs that require diligent care, constant companionship, and intelligent treatment that they are almost always unable to give by the demands of their profession.

And with a young son in the mix? I hope and pray things work out for the young son of Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who was in the news recently for not attending the White House ceremony as SB champions.

Get a lab or something safer. I own a golden retriever (my third) and a chocolate lab. Family safe for my four children 10 and under.

When I'm retired I hope to own dogs that I would never consider with small children. And my wife says I have no common sense!

Apparently on this I do.

How about a clause in players' contracts, like the common stipulation not to ride motorcycles--not that is worked for Ron Francis or Ben Roesthlisberger--to forbid them from owning dogs such as these?

 

[godef]

It doesn't say who's idea a pit bull was, so be careful about your generalizations. My wife insisted on a giant schnauzer, and he's actually friendly as all hell, but he is six years old and still acts like an excitable puppy. He needs a lot of attention. Would not have been my first choice.

 

[Fixit]

Better prepare yourself for a deluge of posts telling you something like, "I have a pit/rottie and it's the sweetest, gentlest dog you've ever met." And they can be...in the hands of the right owners. Unfortunately, the types of people who flock to the breeds that were bred for fighting tend to skew towards the irresponsible idiot type.

You'll probably hear something about those breeds getting a bad rep because of the media. There's a reason that you don't hear a whole bunch of reports about other breeds savaging babies/young kids, and that's because most other breeds tend to just bite, if they attack at all. The fighting breeds maul.

For the record, I have a lab and a lab/pit mutt (both rescues), and they couldn't be better with my son. I'm still going to be vigilant as hell, though.

 

[eom]

vick should should be posting in here any minute now.

3....2...1.....

 

[scout]

Better prepare yourself for a deluge of posts telling you something like, "I have a pit/rottie and it's the sweetest, gentlest dog you've ever met." And they can be...in the hands of the right owners. Unfortunately, the types of people who flock to the breeds that were bred for fighting tend to skew towards the irresponsible idiot type.

You'll probably hear something about those breeds getting a bad rep because of the media. There's a reason that you don't hear a whole bunch of reports about other breeds savaging babies/young kids, and that's because most other breeds tend to just bite, if they attack at all. The fighting breeds maul.

For the record, I have a lab and a lab/pit mutt (both rescues), and they couldn't be better with my son. I'm still going to be vigilant as hell, though.

I have a choc. Lab, the kids abuse the hell out of him and he just takes it. If he ever bit someone (exception an intruder) I'd put him down without hesitation. My niece was just bitten by her families dog and they are calling it an accident. There is no such thing as an accidental dog bite no matter how you color it. Any dog in which bites a child should be put down or be exiled from children. In addition, people who have kids and own dogs that have a reputation of attacking people are idiots.

 

[MetalBleachers]

I have a choc. Lab, the kids abuse the hell out of him and he just takes it. If he ever bit someone (exception an intruder) I'd put him down without hesitation. My niece was just bitten by her families dog and they are calling it an accident. There is no such thing as an accidental dog bite no matter how you color it. Any dog in which bites a child should be put down or be exiled from children. In addition, people who have kids and own dogs that have a reputation of attacking people are idiots.

So, you're not into the whole rehab/redemption thing, huh?

 

[Keegs]

this reminds me of the time that Joey Porter's pit bulls ate that giant horse

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

I have a choc. Lab, the kids abuse the hell out of him and he just takes it. If he ever bit someone (exception an intruder) I'd put him down without hesitation. My niece was just bitten by her families dog and they are calling it an accident. There is no such thing as an accidental dog bite no matter how you color it. Any dog in which bites a child should be put down or be exiled from children. In addition, people who have kids and own dogs that have a reputation of attacking people are idiots.

So when my 5 year old nephew cornered my dog, who has never so much as barked at anyone, and tried to take her bone away from her after several reminders from me to stay away from her, and she went after him, I should put HER down because the kid didn't listen? Makes perfect sense.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I'm suprised the hospital offered to treat his son, since if he was never injured by the bite they wouldn't have visited the hospital.

 

[eom]

I'm suprised the hospital offered to treat his son, since if he was never injured by the bite they wouldn't have visited the hospital.

burn



.

 

[alvinnf]

So when my 5 year old nephew cornered my dog, who has never so much as barked at anyone, and tried to take her bone away from her after several reminders from me to stay away from her, and she went after him, I should put HER down because the kid didn't listen? Makes perfect sense.

Yeh, you shoot the dog......get your priorities straight....J*ck*ss. Don't you have a fur coat to spray paint? Or are you homebound because of the inner conflict of having to replace the battery on your car starter for your Hybrid.

 

[unoriginal]

So when my 5 year old nephew cornered my dog, who has never so much as barked at anyone, and tried to take her bone away from her after several reminders from me to stay away from her, and she went after him, I should put HER down because the kid didn't listen? Makes perfect sense.

Not to put words in scout's mouth, but one of two options he gave was to keep the kid and the dog apart. I don't know why you concluded he was telling you specifically to put your dog down.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

So when my 5 year old nephew cornered my dog, who has never so much as barked at anyone, and tried to take her bone away from her after several reminders from me to stay away from her, and she went after him, I should put HER down because the kid didn't listen? Makes perfect sense.

I find it hard to believe you're being serious. This is just a sarcastic joke, right? Kids don't listen, kids don't understand the consequences of their actions - that's why they are called kids. You are an adult, a family member with an inherent responsibility to protect any children you allow around your house, your dog, your pool, etc. This is obvious. If after several warnings your nephew didn't stop trying to take away the bone away YOUR dog, then YOU should have interceded before something happened.

To try and place the blame on the child or on the nature of dog is unfair - they can't reason or think - you can. The same goes for Harrison, double if it was a situation where he knew the dog was trouble if it was running free. Adults take the blame, not the dog, certainly not the child.

 

[holyredeemer]

And after all that has been said, my biggest concern after all of this is why in the hell, with all of the things the moderators move almost instantly, this is still somehow here. GG!!

 

[alvinnf]

I find it hard to believe you're being serious. This is just a sarcastic joke, right? Kids don't listen, kids don't understand the consequences of their actions - that's why they are called kids. You are an adult, a family member with an inherent responsibility to protect any children you allow around your house, your dog, your pool, etc. This is obvious. If after several warnings your nephew didn't stop trying to take away the bone away YOUR dog, then YOU should have interceded before something happened.

To try and place the blame on the child or on the nature of dog is unfair - they can't reason or think - you can. The same goes for Harrison, double if it was a situation where he knew the dog was trouble if it was running free. Adults take the blame, not the dog, certainly not the child.

That is a great post...
People forget their priorities...

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Not to put words in scout's mouth, but one of two options he gave was to keep the kid and the dog apart. I don't know why you concluded he was telling you specifically to put your dog down.

Perhaps I misunderstood, if so, apologies.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

I find it hard to believe you're being serious. This is just a sarcastic joke, right? Kids don't listen, kids don't understand the consequences of their actions - that's why they are called kids. You are an adult, a family member with an inherent responsibility to protect any children you allow around your house, your dog, your pool, etc. This is obvious. If after several warnings your nephew didn't stop trying to take away the bone away YOUR dog, then YOU should have interceded before something happened.

To try and place the blame on the child or on the nature of dog is unfair - they can't reason or think - you can. The same goes for Harrison, double if it was a situation where he knew the dog was trouble if it was running free. Adults take the blame, not the dog, certainly not the child.

A few points here:

1. We did intervene, several times, he kept going back to the dog. The final episode happened when the dog was under the table and the group of us were doing dishes. The last we knew our nephew was watching tv in the next room. He came back in unnoticed, crawled under the table and the dog tried to get away. He forced her into a corner. She panicked. It should be mentioned that the worst that happened to him was the bump on his head from hitting the table as he tried to get away from the dog.

2. He has been around dogs most of his life (including this one) and learned very early on when to leave dogs alone when he tried to pet his own dog while he was eating. Nothing horrible happened, just a loud bark and him ending up on his behind. It was enough, though, for him to recognize that it was a bad idea to go near a dog who has food. In the dozens of other times he was around our dogs during feeding time he never went near them, nor when they had a treat or bone. This was an isolated incident.

3. Kids DO listen. I work with kids every day, some younger than this one, and 99% of the time, they will listen if you ask them to not do something. Is there curiosity? Sure. This child and dog have known each other the child's whole life. It isn't like he was around her for the first time.

4. The priority of anyone is safety, I get that. However, sometimes all appropriate steps are taken and something bad does still happen. It is hard to find fault there. It happens in all walks of life, not just this argument.

5. I agree with what you said about Harrison. If he has a dog which is difficult to control, then he has to do something to prevent anything which could possibly happen. Separate the dog and child, not have the dog, give it up to someone who can adequately care for him. Someone posted earlier that later in life, he wanted (wants?) a dog which he could not have while having small children around. That is the perfect solution, just wait until the right time. My wife and I want a husky in the worst way, however we A. live in a condo and that isn't fair to that kind of dog and B. have a newborn, we are not going to bring a big dog, as well behaved as they may be, into this home, right now. We cannot give it the time and attention it needs to train it correctly. That is when incidents like this happen.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

When I got my rott, I wanted him to be a puppy when I got him so there wouldn't be a history because in the wrong hands, they can f*** someone up, and dogs don't forget.

See: this story. People don't realize the raw ability of these dogs and what they were bred for. On the off chance that this story is totally different from how it looks, I apologize.

 

[Scouse Patriot]

In the hands of a loving, disciplined master these dogs can be extremely intelligent, loyal and obedient dogs. A friend of the family has a staff and it's very, very caring and protective towards the kids, beautiful dog.

Real shame these plastic gangsters only get them to present an image and have them aggresive and unsocialised. Poor dog ends up getting destroyed and the happy human carries on with his life. Owners have a duty of care, if you can't do whats required then you shouldn't have dogs or atleast a dog like a Bull Terrier.

He has been around dogs most of his life (including this one) and learned very early on when to leave dogs alone when he tried to pet his own dog while he was eating. Nothing horrible happened, just a loud bark and him ending up on his behind. It was enough, though, for him to recognize that it was a bad idea to go near a dog who has food. In the dozens of other times he was around our dogs during feeding time he never went near them, nor when they had a treat or bone. This was an isolated incident.

Thats one of the disciplne tests they do in the shelters. They give the dog a bowl of food and use a fake arm to stroke the dog or take his food. If the dog become aggresive in any way it's considered not suitible at that time for adoption. A family dog shouldn't become aggresive when somebody goes near his food, he has to be taught to be patient.

 

[Patjew]

Thats one of the disciplne tests they do in the shelters. They give the dog a bowl of food and use a fake arm to stroke the dog or take his food. If the dog become aggresive in any way it's considered not suitible at that time for adoption. A family dog shouldn't become aggresive when somebody goes near his food, he has to be taught to be patient.

Exactly.

We have 2 dogs (a tiny Jack Russell and a huge Husky/Retriever mix) and you could pull food from their mouths and they wouldn't be aggressive. It's just not in them.

Any other kind of dog need not be shot, but it should not live in a home with small children