9 m old GSD from Seeing Eye attacked by Pitbull

[MaggieRoseLee]

A 9-month-old German shepherd being raised as a prospective Seeing Eye dog was recovering at home Monday after being attacked by a pit bull.

NorthJersey.com: Pit bull attack may knock puppy out of Seeing Eye program

[LaRen616]

That's very sad. That puppy was going to become a blind person's eyes. He wasn't just a pet, he was an important pet and now his chance of becoming a Seeing Eye Dog is gone.

A comment from that story

"Pit bulls, rottweilers, akitas, and sheppards can all be terrific dogs. The question is why does someone really need to own one of these breeds? When I had small children I never let them go near any of these breeds. It's not that the dogs were any more likely to be nasty then a number of smaller breeds but because of the damage they could do if they did snap due to either their demeanor or because a child did something to incite the dog. There is a reason that home owners insurance policies ask if you own a dog and if so what kind. If you are looking for a dog to protect your home get a nice medium size mutt as they have less health problems and are usually less high strung. For those that live in a not so nice area and want that intimidating dog get yourself a gun instead. You can use it to shoot the robber or the poorly managed pit bull that lives next door if it attacks"

What a jerk!

[mehpenn]

Originally Posted by LaRen616

That's very sad. That puppy was going to become a blind person's eyes. He wasn't just a pet, he was an important pet and now his chance of becoming a Seeing Eye Dog is gone.

A comment from that story

"Pit bulls, rottweilers, akitas, and sheppards can all be terrific dogs. The question is why does someone really need to own one of these breeds? When I had small children I never let them go near any of these breeds. It's not that the dogs were any more likely to be nasty then a number of smaller breeds but because of the damage they could do if they did snap due to either their demeanor or because a child did something to incite the dog. There is a reason that home owners insurance policies ask if you own a dog and if so what kind. If you are looking for a dog to protect your home get a nice medium size mutt as they have less health problems and are usually less high strung. For those that live in a not so nice area and want that intimidating dog get yourself a gun instead. You can use it to shoot the robber or the poorly managed pit bull that lives next door if it attacks"

What a jerk!

What a horrible thing for that man to say... obviously not an educated dog person at all.
How about instead of blaming the dog.. blame the people who raised/trained or DIDN'T train the dog....

[APBTLove]

Very, very sad... I hope they hit the bulldog owner with everything and make her pay every vet bill.

But how can the pup's owner already say the dog is out of the seeing eye dog program? It's too early to say he's psychologically damaged beyond repair. And even if he does have fear aggression with other dogs it can be remedied - as the owner must know.

[Jessiewessie99]

how sad!

[selzer]

I hope the owner gets nicked with the shep's guardian's medical bills as well. He was taken to the ER and lost part of his finger. I mean, that will probably cost as much as 4 hours of surgery to his dog.

People have to be more careful. These incidents are piled up and counted when people go for breed banning.

I hope the puppy makes a full recovery. It would almost make sense to remove this puppy and put it with a different puppy raising family. i think that it is possible that between the puppy's memory, and the handler's fears of this incident, the puppy may not have a chance of getting over it.

It would be even worse if this was a seeing eye team and that dog attacked. Then a dog completely trained and a blind person trained with the dog would have to either move on from this incident or get another dog, or I don't know.

People have to be more careful with their dogs. they have to be responsible. this is simply inexcusable.

[MaggieRoseLee]

It would be even worse if this was a seeing eye team and that dog attacked. Then a dog completely trained and a blind person trained with the dog would have to either move on from this incident or get another dog, or I don't know.

Wow, that is a good point I hadn't even thought of. What a nightmare for that to happen with a working dog in harness with their blind person....

[selzer]

How do we stop it from happening?

I have had a pit bull -- yeah a little American Pitt Bull Terrier -- crash through a door and attack Arwen and I as we were walking down the street. Similar to what happened here.

The dog was not left in a shoddily fenced yard. The dog did not pull up its tether. It was not left to roam the neighborhood at will.

Luckily we were able to avoid injuries in my incident, and I figured no harm no foul. It did not go into any newspapers or police reports.

But how do you go about making people be responsible with their dogs? How do you go about reducing the number of incidents/tragedies?

[APBTLove]

I think the bulldog owner in this situation would think twice before leaving their dog with access to other dogs if they were hit with major bills. Hit them where it hurts the most - their wallets. Most dog bites/attacks are not first time things, the dog has a history because the owners have a history of letting it happen. If people start to really get punished for letting their dogs hurt others, it will lessen dramatically. I was attacked 4+ times by the neighbor's Minpin and their collie mix, AC came out every time and did not even fine them, though I said I wanted to. I can guarantee if they were fined a few hundred every incident they wouldn't let them out without a leash anymore.