Grandmother of little girl attacked by pit bull recounts attack

[trumad]

Ahhh just a wonderful family pet.



Posted: Nov 27, 2009 9:48 PM ES
BELLMEAD - The grandmother of the little girl attacked by her family's pit bull saw the whole thing unfold in front of her eyes.

Lorna Keesling is 18-month-old Sadie Theriault's grandmother. She was helping her daughter Katie raise Sadie, as well as a three-year-old pit bull, all under one roof.

"I mean he's part of our family, you know, he sleeps in the same bed with me," Keesling said of the dog.

However, Wednesday night things changed.

Keesling said everyone, including Sir Muggsey, was in the living room setting up Christmas decoration. Sir Muggsey snapped, she said. The dog jumped on the couch and began attack Sadie.

"He freaked out," Keesling said. "He just ran over and grabbed the baby and we had to kick him to let go of her."
http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=11582905

[get the red out]

1. Don't know much about dogs

But shouldn't people with small children be cautious of the breed they choose in that situation? My parents have to watch their Papillion because she will snap at my 2 year old niece when my sister's family is visiting them. She's just not good with kids, she's also quite small and can do less harm than a much larger, more powerful breed.

[PeaceNikki]

2. No, they should be cautious of ANY dog around small children.

Regardless of breed.

[jody]

3. Agree, even Chihuahua's can be a major threat around very young children. n/t

[RebelOne]

5. I have a Chihuahua and she is a nasty

little bitch around anyone but me. I would not trust her around an adult much less a small child.

[pnwmom]

9. Yes, but a small dog is much less able to maim, much less kill a child.

The CDC says that pit bulls are implicated in 1/3 of deaths from dog bites, which is far out of proportion to their numbers.

[LWolf]

4. .

http://www.tristate-media.com/drr/news/local_news/article_1a7edf8c-8b7e-50ef-9efb-12ec97b3bcd0.html

[OnyxCollie]

6. *ALL* dogs *MAY* bite.

Whether intentional or not, dogs bite. I've been bitten by my own dog. He didn't do it on purpose. We were playing tug with a rubber stick and my finger was underneath the stick, out of his sight. He choked up and I screamed. It felt like vise grips on my knuckle. My dog dropped the stick and looked terrified. He couldn't understand what happened.

Now if I get my face close to a dog, I make sure to assess what is occurring around us and how the dog will react. Dogs think like dogs and they think like dogs all the time. Domination and submission are the pillars of dog behavior. It sounds like these people forgot that.

"I mean he's part of our family, you know, he sleeps in the same bed with me," Keesling said of the dog.

That's a warning sign right there. The dog is getting an elevated sense of importance. The little kid was encroaching on the dog's authority and the dog did what dogs do.

[VMI Dem]

7. Bred for violence.

[StarfarerBill]

8. I'm more of a cat person, so I've actually learned more about dog behavior from Cesar Milan...

...than from my limited experience with dogs; he really does seem to know what he's talking about.

[HamdenRice]

10. I'm a dog person, but I hate pit bulls. One attacked my Golden Retriever

fortunately, this happened when they were both young. My golden was also attacked by an off leash Rot, requiring stitches.

The pit lives at a house with a fenced in front yard and the owners obviously have no idea how to train the dog, which is outside all hours. When we pass on the way to the park, the pit goes insane with blood lust.

I've had German Shepherds, which require a lot of training to be social, but they are nothing compared to pits.

They're nasty dogs and should be bred out of existence. Shelters routinely test dogs for food jealousy and aggression, and those that don't pass are put down.

All pits should be neutered, the dangerous ones put down, and the breed allowed to die out.

[VMI Dem]

11. +1.