James Harrison's Child Taken To Hospital After Dog Bite

[ncguy2184]

How anyone can put their child in harms way having apparently a pit bull in the house is effing stupidity. Let's hope the child will be OK.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/19538321/detail.html

If you think it was done because it was a pitbull then you are stupid it's not the breed of a dog but how you raise it SH*t it could have been a collie if you raised it the wrong way.I have a pitbull that got beat up by the poodle next door this is no joke.Anyways do you know if the child was pulling on his tail or ears or anything like that?

[The Link]

pit bulls are bred to fight. it's in their DNA and only certain people should own them and those are people that are well trained to handle pits. they aren't just like any dog. if you are trying to say they are then you are very misled.

they can be nice and they can be safe but they are far from being guaranteed to be so. they are one of a few breeds of dogs who have in their nature be aggressive. even in their play they are aggressive and it's difficult for them to distinguish between the two.

they are highly sought after and used in dog fighting for a reason...they have a killer instinct and they are incredibly powerful. the good owner will know this and will try and get the dog to overcome instinct and will also be aware of those moments when they could go off and will make sure they don't.

pits have to be trained and the owners have to be trained to take care of them. there are other aggressive dogs that i wouldn't trust my children around, especially in certain situations. rottweillers, i wouldn't want strangers or new people coming to my house without them being introduced to the dog by me. huskies, i wouldn't want them to eat while my child is around or nearby. chows...they can be very aggressive and are probably more aggressive than a lot of breeds.

point is, you have to know your dog and it's breed's tendencies. with pit bulls, because of how much damage it can do whether playing or attacking, the owners need to know exactly how to handle them and monitor them closely when small kids are around. if you expect them to be a marshmallow dog like a collie without proper training, you are making a mistake.

Rottweilers and Pit Bulls are no more aggressive than a lab, in my experience with them. I was 6 or 7 when I had a huge Rotty named Bear. She was the sweetest dog. Never hurt me or anyone else. Very smart and playful. A sibling of mine has had nothing but Pit Bulls for a long time, and none of his were ever vicious, they were just very hyper because he never got them neutered. His two daughters 4/yo and a 2/yo have no problems with them. It's all about how you treat it. if you train a dog to fight, they will. If you train them to be a good dog, they will.

[mantal]

The three gentlest, most non-aggressive dogs I have ever known and I've known a lot of dog, were Pits. All three were female too I might add...

[tarheelblue89]

What was the kid doing to make the dog bite him????? Dumb kid.

[RWatson43]

Certain breeds have higher tendencies to do certain unprovoked behavior; PB's are one of them. They have more prey drive than most dogs. A lot of this has to do with what the original job of the dog back in the day. All dogs have it, some are not as pronounced as this breed and other similar breeds due to years of breeding. I have a 95lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever that I would not leave alone in a room with a small kid, small animal, or stranger. I can list a lot more breeds from personal experience. Handling and training of the any dog is important and responsibility should fall squarely on the shoulders of the owners that get dogs that involve a higher risk of aggressive behavior. What ever the kid was doing the situation should not have taken place. If there was a previous bite history on this dog or known to be more aggressive he should be charged and the dog taken.

[rayzor]

the stats don't lie...it doesn't matter how much you love pit bulls. they and rottweilers are responsible for well over half of all dog bite related fatalities and pit bulls on their own are responsible for a third of them all.

it doesn't matter how many of you weren't attacked by them and found them nice and friendly. they have killed more people than most other dogs.

[rayzor]

If you think it was done because it was a pitbull then you are stupid it's not the breed of a dog but how you raise it SH*t it could have been a collie if you raised it the wrong way.I have a pitbull that got beat up by the poodle next door this is no joke.Anyways do you know if the child was pulling on his tail or ears or anything like that?

you need to look at the research that shows how many fatalities were caused by pit bulls before you dismiss it.

[The Link]

the stats don't lie...it doesn't matter how much you love pit bulls. they and rottweilers are responsible for well over half of all dog bite related fatalities and pit bulls on their own are responsible for a third of them all.

it doesn't matter how many of you weren't attacked by them and found them nice and friendly. they have killed more people than most other dogs.

I'll bet the majority of those dogs weren't trained right or trained for the wrong purpose.

[mantal]

Certain breeds have higher tendencies to do certain unprovoked behavior; PB's are one of them. They have more prey drive than most dogs. A lot of this has to do with what the original job of the dog back in the day. All dogs have it, some are not as pronounced as this breed and other similar breeds due to years of breeding. I have a 95lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever that I would not leave alone in a room with a small kid, small animal, or stranger. I can list a lot more breeds from personal experience. Handling and training of the any dog is important and responsibility should fall squarely on the shoulders of the owners that get dogs that involve a higher risk of aggressive behavior. What ever the kid was doing the situation should not have taken place. If there was a previous bite history on this dog or known to be more aggressive he should be charged and the dog taken.

Don't blame you, it's a cool breed, but best not to take the chance. There are a lot of different forms of aggression. I had a buddy who used to come over with his Block Head Lab and I had to lock our dogs up when he came over or the Lab would jump them with full intent to kill. The Lab loved all people completely, but hated other dogs. As soon as they would drive up, the cats would hit the barn loft as well...

My ex-wife had a Rottweiler. Though normally very friendly, if you looked it in the eyes for more than a fleeting glimpse, it would start to become aggressive. It sensed it as a challenge.

I used to work at a pet shop when a teenager and there was a Chow Chow puppy there that I thought was pretty cool, so I let him have the run of the store while I was getting ready to open. One day, he crapped on the floor and I decided to start housebreaking and put his nose in it and cracked him with a rolled up newspaper. He went into attack mode. Meanwhile, the same buddy as below had a wife that owned an adult completely white Chow Chow. She hated most people, but would follow me all over the place craving attention to the complete drop jaw amazement of her owner.

My buddy had a Pit named Gypsy that he took over to a friend's house when I was there. Their 3 year old chased Gypsy around for 4 hours pulling on her ears, he tail, hitting her, we couldn't stop him from doing it. That dog never once acted in any aggressive manner whatsoever, she just took it. She was raised right...

[Skew]

Did they take his child to the hospital by plane?

Some days, it's not even worth trying.

[mantal]

you need to look at the research that shows how many fatalities were caused by pit bulls before you dismiss it.

What all those statistics don't show is how many of those dogs guilty of fatalities were caused by people who got the dogs to be macho and raised them to be aggressive. I'd be willing to wager that the percentage would be extremely high. I've been around probably 100+ Pits, Chow Chows, Block Head Labs and Rotts, etc. and never found one to be in the least aggressive. But then again, their owners weren't macho types who raised them to be that way...

[nosuchthingasapanther]

certain people shouldn't own certain dogs.

it's never the animal's fault. it's the people who have no idea what it takes and aren't dedicated enough to properly handle certain breeds.

the same people who have pit bulls that bite are the same people who will have chihuahuas that bite.

to this day i still can't believe that there's such a thing as a vicious rottweiler. they're like boxers. they're like big kids that want to play with everything all the time and have no idea how strong they really are.

[RWatson43]

Mintal I agree,

I have had more dogs in the house and in for training and evaluations than most people could imagine. I have had most if not all of the black listed dogs at the house. They all have a trigger that would cause some type of aggression, but it is up to the owners to not allow that trigger to be pulled or put the dog in a situation that it can happen. Owners responsibility! With the above mentioned stats, it does not take into account like others have mentioned the owner/ handlers stupidity when dealing with a dog and the actions leading up to the incidents. They are just numbers and unfortunantly those breeds attract the owners that do not need them. If it was a toy breed or even a popular breed (lab/golden/collie) that bit a high profile players kid it probably would not be news or a big deal or be taken down as a statistic.

[PowerlessDan]

Some days, it's not even worth trying.

Don't give up we appreciate all your efforts.