Attack dog in Fishtown...Alert! - Page 3 - PhillyBlog

MayfairMeat · #21 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 02:40 PM

So sorry to hear that brooke. If it were me, and with Max... Max would have been killed immediately with one chomp.

I would have bludgeoned her dog to death with my baseball bat until I was certain it was dead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooke

This happened to me on Thursday night and I posted it on fishtown.us. Hoping to get more information about this dog/owner:

Has anyone else had a problem with the Pit Bull who lives at 1813 Memphis Street? Last night the renter there apparently left her door open or the door was open somehow and her dog barreled down Montgomery Avenue and attacked my 14 year old Australian Shepherd/Collie Mix/love of my life, Walden. She claims this dog has never biten anyone but yet screamed out when she saw her coming out of the house...and when I asked her why she would scream, she said because she saw me and my dogs right around the corner. It doesn't exactly add up.

We spent the evening in the Penn Veterinary ER and they had to amputate half of Walden's ear in addition to obviously taking a huge risk of anethesia with such an old dog (the older the dog, the more the risk) but luckily he did fine. I picked him up at 6am from surgery and it's noon and he still can't keep his tongue in his mouth, he's drooling, he's whimpering and just keeps looking at me like I failed him. He's going to have to be on opiates for a week...and he has so many sutures that he will require sedation again to have them removed in a few weeks.

I'm beside myself...missing work today and god only knows for how long...he's mad about being hurt and bumping into walls...took off when I got him out of the car and ran 5 houses before collapsing. It's just so sad for something that didn't need to happen.

Does anyone else know this dog, this woman or the situation? I have no doubt in my mind that if Walden was a child that the dog would have bitten the child and probably killed the child. As it was, it took 3 adults to get this dog off Walden.

MayfairMeat · #22 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 02:46 PM

The same goes for Rottweilers. With a Rottie, you have to socialize the dog a LOT while it is a puppy so that it grows up to be the cute/affectionate housepet you expect it to be. If you raise a Rottie correctly, you won't need to spend hours a day breaking his aggression and you'll have a pet that's just as loveable as a retriever or a lab. Without lots of socializing and love/affection by strangers and introducing the Rottie to lots of different dogs, the dog will become attached to certain members of the household (usually the kids) and will become protective and defensive.

When folks are looking at getting a large dog, I try to push them away from Pitts and Rotties and urge them to get Great Danes instead. Danes don't need to be socialized b/c they already have an awesome temperament, and they won't bolt off and attack. Rotties and Pitts (especially) are not good first dogs for a new dog owners. If you've got a thing for a big dog, you might as well get the biggest one there is. Danes are awesome in a house with youngsters who might be a bit rough with animals with the hugging and squeezing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooke

Sorry--but I don't mean to demonize the dogs but I do believe that Pit Bulls of questionable origins have to be viewed as higher risk than other dogs but I'm not really concerned about that at this point. Just concerned about my baby...

...Who had to go into the ER again this morning at 6am when he managed to get his bandages off his ear..had to get him there before he tore out his stitches. There until 9am when we got the news that there was no way Walden was going to resist fighting the bandage and he now has to wear the Elizabethan collar. He is SSOOOO mad about it. He was purposefully bashing his head into the wall and bearing down in the vets like he wasn't going anywhere until I removed it. Well, he's gotta deal. Now he's laying in his closet at home in my office and refusing to look at me, take food, anything.

It's not the Pit Bull's fault--it's the owner's and let me tell you, I am getting more and more mad about it looking at my poor baby.

teri614 · #23 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 02:52 PM

You know there are several types of collars that you can get that serve the same purpose.
They probably gave you a stiff plastic collar that is really awkward. There is also a softer version of this collar that might be more comfortable for him.
They make inflatable collars that look like something you would use on a plane, and also a collar that looks like a corset but they would be more to prevent a dog from licking a wound than scratching ears.

brooke · #24 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teri614

You know there are several types of collars that you can get that serve the same purpose.
They probably gave you a stiff plastic collar that is really awkward. There is also a softer version of this collar that might be more comfortable for him.
They make inflatable collars that look like something you would use on a plane, and also a collar that looks like a corset but they would be more to prevent a dog from licking a wound than scratching ears.

The inflatable one would have been great. Penn had a soft one that isn't going to work now that they gave up on trying to bandage him (it would have required sedation because his ear is stitched up all over it so touching it isn't a possibility otherwise)...so they gave him the hard plastic one.

I agree on the Rottie assessment. People around here long enough know what happened to the stray Rottie I brought in...had to put him down after he nipped 4 people and then turned on me one day...found out after having him for a couple months he was abused and neglected. It wasn't exactly shocking and turns out he was going through separation anxiety when I left. Rotties can be amazing dogs but I can't imagine there are many dogs that would be super trusting and trustworthy after humans betrayed them so.

There was a beagle in the ER on Thursday evening that attacked two large dogs and apparently IS always super aggressive...so I don't think we can blame a breed or two. Luckily with a beagle, it's pretty hard to hurt another dog and indeed, the two large dogs he attacked walked away unscathed after puncturing him.

teri614 · #25 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 03:48 PM

I believe the Chic Petique on the walk has the inflatable collar, but she is closed on Mondays.
Did they tell you to put anything on the stitches to make it less irritating without infecting it? Aloe or Vitamin E?

epoxy · #26 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teri614

I disagree, with socialization and training they can be dog friendly.

I haven't seen one yet, it must be a rarity.

Annie Hall · #27 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 09:23 PM

brooke, i know exactly how you feel:

http://www.phillyblog.com/philly/old...g-tonight.html

so sorry for you & your poor baby

teri614 · #28 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 11:46 PM

epoxyQuote:
Originally Posted by teri614

I disagree, with socialization and training they can be dog friendly.

I haven't seen one yet, it must be a rarity.

And I am sure you have looked , it is always nice to endorse stereotypes.

snailgem · #29 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brooke

Hoping to get more information about this dog/owner:
Has anyone else had a problem with the Pit Bull who lives at 1813 Memphis Street? .

ideally there should be an online database for such aggressive dogs that have attacked other dogs or people (just like there is a sex offenders database).

lacking such thing, the address and the name of the owner of these dogs should be on all the online forums frequented by dog people (pictures too, if one has them).

trisarahtops · #30 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 11:40 AM

Sorry to hear that, Brooke. Hope he gets better soon.

I hate it when guys say that Pitbulls make them feel macho. I know a few guys who keep pitbulls only for that reason. I love dogs, all kinds of dogs. But when certain breeds attack other dogs, I hate it, and therefore, I'm not a huge fan of rottweilers and pitbulls. rottweilers almost made it to the uk list of banned dogs! And pitbulls, well, they're already on the list.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6222689.stm

I love my peaceful, lazy, stocky british yellow lab