Sad dog stories

[David Ayers]

Should be a thread for this, right?

Family Chooses Homelessness Over Abandoning Pit Bull

http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=22579320&ref=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F6D2bRbM3TV

[erwbol]

That Pit Bull should have been put to sleep. Fuck fighting breeds and the Neanderthals who own them and refuse to put a leash on them. Besides needing an apartment that was better isolated for sound, this was one of the reasons I moved to a better neighbourhood last year.

Edited February 20, 2014 by erwbol

[David Ayers]

[David Ayers]

This thread is for people who like dogs! Only!

[David Ayers]

Good story.

[erwbol]

How eating dog became big business in Vietnam

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pets are snatched in Thailand, then smuggled into Vietnam, destined for Hanoi's top restaurants and street stalls. Demand for dogmeat is so high that supply has become a highly lucrative – and brutal – black market

This Guardian article upset me greatly last year.

Edited February 20, 2014 by erwbol

[Justin V]

That Pit Bull should have been put to sleep. Fuck fighting breeds and the Neanderthals who own them and refuse to put a leash on them. Besides needing an apartment that was better isolated for sound, this was one of the reasons I moved to a better neighbourhood last year.

Although it sounds like you have had a bad experience with a pit bull in the past, you can't paint the whole breed with the same brush. I hear too many sad dog stories, so I doubt that I'll be visiting this thread often. Volunteering as a dog walker at a local shelter twice weekly for the last 3.5 years, many of these sad stories involve pit bulls. Prior to going to a local dog park, I was only familiar with the breed by its reputation. i quickly learned that the socialized, friendly dogs at the park defied that negative reputation.

Since I began volunteering, I've seen pit bulls come in emaciated, abandoned, scarred and injured, sometimes after being used as bait dogs in dog-fighting operations. Despite having no reason to trust humans, I've seen so many respond positively, recover and go to permanent homes. I've had too many pit bulls crawl into my lap and lick my face off to think of their breed as being bad. Are there incidents involving pit bulls? Yes. However, like any breed, it comes down to how the dog is socialized and trained.

I do agree that owners need to have their dogs leashed or otherwise secured. However, much like how no one believes their child is average, no one seems to believe that their dog will run up to a strange person or dog or run into the street if given the opportunity. there are too many variables involved to predict how two dogs will react to each other in such a situation. I walk my dog all over and have encountered a fair number of loose dogs. We've been approached by at least 6 pits, none of whom have attacked my dog. However, the last loose dog that approached us went after my dog. The dog in question was some kind of poodle-ish dog that my dog outweighed by about 50 pounds. That didn't prevent the poodle from going after my dog's back legs.

[erwbol]

I've seen a neglected trained to fight Staffordshire go straight for the throat of my Golden Retriever. In my opinion, these breeds have no reason to exist and should go extinct.

[David Ayers]

I'm a bit sad about how my sad dog story thread has gone .

[erwbol]

The Guardian piece is more than sad, and I feel more for the Dachshund whose snout the Pit Bull broke.

Do you have a dog and if so what breed?

[David Ayers]

Um...I find I can't safely answer that question...

[erwbol]

Why the brains of dogs and humans are more similar than you think.

[Dave Garrett]

Fuck fighting breeds and the Neanderthals who own them and refuse to put a leash on them.

Fuck breed-specific legislation and the people who vote for it. I'd be beyond pissed off if a pit or Staffie went after my GSD, but I also don't tar all such dogs with the same brush.

There's a special circle of Hell reserved for arsehole dog owners who let their ill-trained dogs with poor impulse control run around unleashed. .

[Dave Garrett]

I'm a bit sad about how my sad dog story thread has gone .

Here's my sad dog story. Our dog had to have one of her rear legs amputated this morning, due to a tumor that had taken away her ability to use the leg. The vet removed as much of the tumor as he could in October, but as is common with this type of cancer, it grew back quickly and much larger than before. If there's any positive aspect, it's that this type of cancer rarely spreads beyond the area of the malignant growth to other parts of the body.

We really struggled with the decision to amputate, even after it was recommended by almost everyone we talked to, as there's obviously no going back once you do it. But she has effectively been a three-legged dog for the past couple of months, and seems to have mostly adapted to it.

Despite being on pain meds, the vet said that the tumor was likely causing more pain than the meds could control, so hopefully she will get some relief now and be able to adjust to a "new normal" for the rest of her days. She is having to stay at the clinic overnight after the surgery. This is the first night in the 12 years that we've had her that she's not been at home.

[Jazzmoose]

It's funny how often the title of "most evil dog breed" has changed in history. I was surprised when I was young to discover that my German Shepard had been the Pit Bull of it's day early in the twentieth century.

[erwbol]

Aggressive German Shepherds can be a nuisance as well in an urban environment. These dogs are so powerful that I've seen owners bracing themselves to hold on while their dogs seemed madly intent on shredding my Retriever to pieces. Their dogs mature and they struggle to handle them in public.

One problem with out of control Pit Pulls is that the anti-socials who own them often have a pal who breeds them. No leaving it to the experts. In the wrong hands such dogs clearly are lethal. And why is it that so many alcoholics or drug addicts who live in dilapidated conditions and feel a little lonely take such loaded guns for companionship? Exactly the kind of people who feel rules are there for everybody else but not for them often feel attracted to these breeds. Dominating and controlling such loaded guns with the safety off gives them great satisfaction.

At least my 'boring', loveable, affectionate, fun-loving Golden Retriever is not bred to kill and go straight for the throat.

[king ubu]

Are they bred to do so or are they conditioned after birth?

Altough I have very little sympathies for such breeds, I'm more with Jazzmoose here. I grew up around dogs, never had anything serious (actually nothing non-serious either), even though one of them was an aggressive as hell small terrier. My parents tought us kids how to behave and how to treat the dog and it all went perfectly well. Growing up I was eventually even able to pat it ... and it was incredible sad to see the tough bastard make up his mind and slowly leave us (he just stopped eating, then drinking ... and it took days, weeks even, he still seemed kinda alright, but eventually there was nothing left to do but call the vet. Much sadder was fifteen years later (about ten years ago) having to call the vet to kill our next family dog, the one I picked ... glad I happened to be there with my mother when that day took place. Some sad cat stories, too, but I told them before, I think (and I'm afraid dog-lovers will bully me outta this thread real quick, though frankly it never got in my head why so many people seem to have to take an either/or choice .... that tough little sucker I just mentioned even lived along a cat for a few months, before she was run over by a car ... that was before my memory kicks in though).

And all the best to your three-legged companion, Dave!

[Guy Berger]

Are they bred to do so or are they conditioned after birth?

At least in some cases, they are bred to do so. I have run into plenty of really sweet pit bulls, but also some meanies. One of our former neighbors (a dog owner) got two of her fingers bitten off by one. They're particularly scary because they're so strong.

Worth noting that the statements "most pit bulls are sweet dogs" and "pit bulls are more likely to aggressively hurt humans or other dogs than most other breeds" are not mutually exclusive.

(But I'd actually guess that the share of meanies is higher for wienerdogs or chihuahuas than for pit bulls.)

[Dan Gould]

Make of this what you will ....

Senior year in college my next door neighbor (it was a development of duplexes, this wasn't the attached neighbor but the one on the other side) was a total douchebag with a young Doberman. Beautiful dog named Rusty, and while he could definitely be intimidating he could also be very friendly.

The guy left the dog chained up in the yard, rain or shine. Well there's plenty of rain in Tallahassee especially in the hot months and when I came home from classes one day I found the dog soaked to the skin in an ongoing downpour. Well my rental had an overhang by the entryway, and my attached neighbor had a female German Shepherd (really well raised and sweet natured) so he had a heavy duty chain attached to the front railing so ... I took pity on poor Rusty and went over in the rain, unhooked him from the chain, and walked him over to my house and chained him up again, so he could sit under the overhang and not get pelted with more rain.

Couple of hours later the douchebag shows up and raises holy hell, screaming at me about going near his dog and what if he had escaped and attacked someone, he'd be liable and blah blah blah. Total a-hole, but I didn't tell him what he was I just apologized and tried to avoid him as much as possible after that.

So, about a year later I am back in Tallahassee to attend the graduation of a close friend. I've got time to kill so I am driving around town, checking out my old haunts, and I pull in to the development. And there is Rusty, a year older and barking up an absolute storm when I parked the car in front of his house.

But when I got out and he saw me, he went from barking and growling to full-body trembling with joy, he was so happy to see me. I spent about ten minutes loving him up and it still wasn't enough, he started crying again when I had to go.

So ... some douchebags get the 'dangerous' dogs they want/deserve, and some douchebags get the 'dangerous' dogs they don't deserve.

[Dave Garrett]

And all the best to your three-legged companion, Dave!

Thanks - she is bouncing back quickly from the surgery. She definitely seems more relaxed, and after the fact it's obvious that the pain being caused by the tumor was worse than any postsurgical pain she may be feeling. Biggest challenge over the next couple of weeks will be to keep her from pulling out the stitches.