Pit Bull off lease

Wow. An adult bully, using his dog and his interpretation of the law to blatantly intimidate children and adults. How lucky are we to have you as a neighbor?!

 

the bottom line imho if that there are enough moron pet owners- not just here, EVERYWHERE- that it's impossible to look at anyone walking a dog off leash and not be apprehensive. I've had a big dog ON a leash lunge at my dog, and little yappers off leash run up on us as well. both situations dangerous.

hypurman, I can appreciate a well trained dog, and know that stringent training can all but guarantee obedience, BUT IT CANNOT GUARANTEE IT. surprises, instincts, unknowns exist and neither people nor animals are immune to behaving out of character. I would submit that in a neighborhood is not the best place to take unleashed walks. unless you have a neon sign over your head advertising it, people will react badly because they don't know if you are a moron or excellent dog owner.

 

Ok, I don't have a dog in this fight (ouch, that was terrible, sorry) and I'm not going to personally care about someone who has dogs under their control leashed or not (regardless of the breed), but, for residential areas, the ordinance does not say leashed and your direct control (which I would agree would seem to include the loose-leash, leash on the ground, etc). It says "LEASH CONTROL", not direct control. I don't see how leash on the ground is LEASH control.

I've read about several municipalities that have ruled electronic leashes do not satisfy their leash ordinances/laws, but I have never seen a Loudoun County precedent or ruling. I'm not a lawyer, but my uneducated guess is a judge wouldn't convict someone with an e-leash with language as vague as it currently is.

 

The issue I have is not that your dog appears to be uncontrolled or dangerous when my child and I approach, it's your tendency to approach us in the common area to use us as walking props for your dog training sessions, without so much as a nod of greeting, nevermind an explanation or request for permission.

Your dog appears to be well trained and under control. I imagine you've suffered the inconvenience of people reacting irrationally to your dog's presence, as even I have with our small and unintimidating dogs, and there's no question that when there is a problem with a dog the owner is often at fault. The irony here, however, as your disparaging references to "spawn" and "rodent dogs" make clear, is that your lack of consideration for other people and dogs has likely made your and your dog's public experiences more problematic than maybe they otherwise would have been.

 

Well said Tim and unfortunately, Hypurman1's approach and choice of words has not won too many fans I think.

Now people are going to be looking for them in the neighborhood, but not with positive impressions... I love dogs (all) and with my kids around I am always very attentive to their interactions (potential) with strange dogs...and I would just urge all parents to pay close attention to their kids playing/approaching strange dogs, no matter the size and leash status.

 

I have owned at least one pitbull for the past 15 years. I personally feel as though they are wonderful family pets but I respect that other people may not agree. As a result, I am very, very aware of the perception of the pitbull (not my dogs specifically but the breed in general) and I make sure they are always leashed in public. Not because they have to be- they are very well trained- but because I want the opportunity to use them as ambassadors to their breed and to show people that it's not the breed, it's the individual dog. If my dogs are off-leash making people uncomfortable, I may not have that educational opportunity.

 

Flynnibus...You said it VERY well. I don't think anyone could have said it better than you. Very good analogies you've used and I totally agree with you 1000%! Thanks for posting your comments....

 

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/0...tack-children-playing-in-northeast-75167.html

 

We're not in the ghetto though.. that's where all this pitbull stereotype comes from... thugs training their dogs to be really aggressive... or at least I thought that was the origin =)

 

These dogs aren't Pitbulls, just for your info.

 

When I was a kid I was attacked by a neighbor's German Shepherd (this was obviously a while ago as you don't see them that much anymore (except K9 etc I suppose).

To this day it's stuck with me which is not at all justified as I've been around lots of big dogs since that were fine.

I was walking around at night and the neighbor around the block let it out to run in the field across from his house, i.e. unprovoked.

A little caution is not out of line with kids and big dogs. Not disagreeing with your point though.

 

I understand, caution is always the best policy. My kids were always told to ask first before approaching a dog and they grew up with dogs. It's just sad that there are people who train their dogs to be mean. In the end, the dog loses because of it.

 

I am wondering how you know for a fact the dogs responsible for the attack are not pit-bulls.

The reason I ask is, there are several conflicting news outlets who have identified the dogs responsible for the attack as; cane corso, pit-bull mix, mastiffs and/or pit-bulls, etc.

Since the MPD & DC Animal Control have yet to locate the actual dogs responsible for the 4/20 attack and the surveillance video is pretty grainy, I am just curious how you know that they are not Pitt Bulls.

 

I just read the article that the link posted took me to. If there were other news outlets saying different breeds, well, ok. I didn't take the time to read any other news. That's all.

 

Pitbulls don't get to be 190 pounds. Historically, when news outlets don't know the breed of dog and it is obviously a "bully breed", they label it a pitbull by default. Although in this case they've labeled them Cane Corso's.

 

To me, the defense that "large" dog owners use about more bites or attacks are from smaller dogs may be valid but WHO CARES! It is about the harm a dog can cause that is the story. I am not worried about a pekinese off its leash as much as a lab, shepard or pit bull.
I am sure more people are shot with a BB gun than with a 9mm or larger caliber gun, I just haven't heard of many people dying from it.

 

I have never in my life had any issues with labs. I have seen several instances where little dogs bit people. Bottom line is they should all be leashed when not on their property no matter the size.

 

My first pup was a German Shepard, adopted from the police dept. Was really young so don't remember all of the details, but he took someone down in pretty hard in front of our house, and 'ran away' soon afterwards. Wasn't agressive at all with the family, so thinking he sensed a threat and reacted to it. All it took was that split second off the leash... man I miss that dog.