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DemureCynosure t1_itpf6h4 wrote

I saw a pitbull run across the street in front of my vehicle to chase a tiny dog. The tiny dogs owner picked her dog up and luckily was tall enough that she could keep it out of reach of the pitbull that was jumping up and chomping. The missed chomps sounded exaggerated like a cartoon.

I just stopped my vehicle in the middle of the street, left the door open, and ran over to help. But I mean, what can you really do? This pitbull had to have been every bit of 70 pounds. I kept kneeing the pitbull midair when hed jump to keep him off of her, but both the woman and the pitbull kept turning in fast circles. I tried to grab his collar a few times, but it was just too hectic with the circling, and then it dawned on me that a stranger grabbing an aggressive dog by the collar is probably a bad idea.

The owner and her roughly preteen/young teenage children came over and were absolutely no help -- and they didnt exactly sprint over either. I kept yelling "Grab your dog", and she argued it was her husband's dog, not hers -- like anyone in the world cared about their obvious marital problems at that moment. The young girl kept apologizing and saying "oh my god" and the boy started circling, following the dog.

You'd think the boy would have been more helpful, but he wasn't. He'd half heartedly try to get the dog between jumps, but he mostly just got in my way where I couldn't knee the dog anymore. I think he just didnt know how serious the situation was or how to react. He's a kid, and reacted like a kid, and thats normal and I dont blame him. Then the mother/owner started circling the small-dog-owner, following the pitbull, and bumping into the son, which pushed me to the outside of the "crowd", and it just descended into uncoordinated chaos.

But me kneeing the pitbull as it jumped was what was keeping him away from the small dog. When i got pushed out, that's when the pitbull jumped and sank his teeth into the small dog. The shrieks were indescribable.

My adrenaline spiked and I started punching the pitbull over top of everyone. The pitbull was dangling midair, holding onto the screeching dog, and the woman was holding both dogs in the air screaming for help. Most of my hits weren't landing just because of everyone in the way, but then I got an opening and landed a haymaker on this dog's jaw; and I saw it close his eye and open it looking directly at me. This dog looked at me the way Thanos looked at the Hulk. My world shrank. It let go of the small dog, I think to try to bite me, and that's when the boy pulled him away and wrestled him on the ground.

So today I'm just so frustrated for multiple reasons. One, and least importantly, this dog ate my punch like I was nothing, so my fragile male ego is shattered. Two, I still have no idea what level of violence is the appropriate response? I don't know these people. It's not my dog. I don't even know the neighborhood I was in. I was just suddenly thrust into a situation. I don't know what I could have done differently but I'm so frustrated in knowing my response just wasn't enough. But if I would have done more and the pitbull would have attacked me, then I'd be in a probably life or death situation where I'd be "trying" to kill the dog before he kills me.

Three, I've never been an anti-pitbull person; I love big dogs; I have a big dog. But holy fuck. I just can't describe the way the muscles in this dogs jaws looked as it bit down. I feel guilty for constantly thinking "why are these dogs allowed". And by the look of the pitbull, I mean it was just another Monday.

Four, I'm so fucking frustrated at the woman who owns the pitbull for just being trash, and using the temperament of the pitbull as some kind of "dig" against her husband instead of helping or doing more. I feel so bad for her kids.

TL;DR: Saw a pitbull attack a dog. At the time I felt there was nothing I could do to help. And the owner is trash.

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skiwhatwhat t1_itpvl20 wrote

Never try to grab the collar - it puts your hand/arm by their face. Instead, the prevailing advice is to grab both back legs and wheelbarrow the dog so that the back legs are both off the ground. It forces them to stop jumping, keeps you away from their head, and makes it so they can’t turn and start on you. Also, it’s a move that can be done on most dog sizes regardless of strength of the person. I’ve done this three times with success in high stress situations like you’ve described (and I’m a fairly small woman).

(I offer this as advice to anyone reading this, not as a criticism. You did a tremendous amount by stopping to try to help to begin with, much less how you kept doing whatever you could think of. You did an amazing thing by helping like that.)

Also, for owners, lifting a dog up is a pretty much guaranteed way to rile an attacking dog up even more (and put yourself at increased risk) because of how dogs react to the confusion of a dog being held aloft above them. So if it’s a situation where someone needs to lift their dog up, they absolutely have to also try to remove themselves in any way possible from the situation. I’ve seen so many times owners of small dogs at dog parks lift their dog up when they felt another dog was playing too hard, and all of a sudden a bunch of dogs would react and start jumping, but the owner would just stand there or shriek around in circles and not even try to leave - like at that point every second they stay, the situation is made worse. Harder to leave the situation when it’s not a fenced-in dog park so the other dog can more easily follow, so that may not have been possible in this situation, but just want to flag this because I think a lot of owners aren’t aware of the effect that lifting a dog up will often have on other dogs.

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giscard78 t1_itqudzj wrote

> Never try to grab the collar - it puts your hand/arm by their face. Instead, the prevailing advice is to grab both back legs and wheelbarrow the dog so that the back legs are both off the ground. It forces them to stop jumping, keeps you away from their head, and makes it so they can’t turn and start on you. Also, it’s a move that can be done on most dog sizes regardless of strength of the person. I’ve done this three times with success in high stress situations like you’ve described (and I’m a fairly small woman).

Wow, I am not sure that I would have thought of this. I have several neighbors with aggressive dogs, one of which has gotten off leash multiple times. I also ran into someone a few weeks ago with a pair of off leash Newfoundlands. One of them left the bank of Rock Creek, climbed up a small hill, and tried to attack one of my dogs. All the while, the real dodo brain of an owner was yelling “he’s friendly! can you catch him for me!” We were yelling and retreating and it still never registered that their bear of a dog was coming to attack and had back up on the way. Only at the last second did the owner appear to take the situation seriously. Very, very fortunately we managed to pull our dogs back and basically run backward while they barely caught their Newfoundlands. I had many crazy thoughts while wondering “am I gonna have to fight off two newfoundlands while my partner runs our dogs away?”

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Significant_Comb9184 t1_itprzws wrote

You are a hero. Neighbors pit bull escaped and did this exact thing to an elderly neighbor walking her small dog, but sadly the dog did not survive. The blood stains on the sidewalk were haunting.

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NPRjunkieDC t1_itpkgek wrote

You were a big help..How is the little dog ? And how can a pitbull be off leash ? Wtf?

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DemureCynosure t1_itpo270 wrote

It all happened across the street from the pitbull's house. I didn't see what happened but my assumption is that the dog wasn't being walked off leash. I assume, best case, that the dog bolted through an open door. That would explain the slow reaction time by the owners, at least. For all I know, she was upstairs, a kid opened the door without paying attention, and the dog bolted.

I'm frustrated that it happened, but I'm trying to be as fair as I can in acknowledging accidents happen, especially with kids.

I don't know how the dog is doing. I gave them a ride to get them away from the dog right after it happened, and when they got out, my seat was covered in piss and blood. The whole ride, the little dog was there just locking the air, trying to kiss me I guess in a state of submissive panic/shock. The entire back leg was in the dog's mouth for a minute or longer. It felt like an eternity. I just assume, based on the circumstances, that the leg is shattered.

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NPRjunkieDC t1_itpp18a wrote

Our not so mini Schnauzer was attacked when he was a puppy and at age 8. Both times in dog parks

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mjc6290 t1_itq3ysg wrote

Just stopping by to say thank you. My dog was attacked my two pitbulls that got loose in the neighborhood and the only reason he wasn't more seriously hurt or killed was because of the kindness of a stranger who helped control the pitbulls so I could get my dog home.

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beleafinyoself t1_itr8h0s wrote

Thank you for stepping in. Dog fights are terrifying and a lot happens so fast. I'm not sure how it works in DC, but you might be able to report the incident to the police or animal control if you can remember the address

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BlueCollarGuru t1_itpwo21 wrote

If there ever is a next time, two options. Wrap arm around neck and choke it out til it passes out. Or grab both hind legs and lift em in the air.

Choke it out is best option esp if it already has mouth engaged.

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DoorHingeDeliveries t1_ittsho2 wrote

The wheelbarrow option isn’t bad but I vehemently disagree with the choke out option. If I wrestle a pitbull to the ground in a headlock, that thing’s just going to start squirming and freaking out—I have zero confidence I’d actually be able to hold it down for any substantial amount of time. At least with the legs in the air one, it’s incapacitated.

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DoorHingeDeliveries t1_ittsbjr wrote

Thanks for being such a good person, man. Don’t let your ego be shattered…it’s a sad reality that these fuckin things were bred for combat and now we have them walking around like they’re Golden Doodles. I’m sincerely in favor of municipal-level ordinances that are heavily enforced to keep any large dog (German Shepherd, Pitbull, Rottweiler, so on) on a leash or, frankly, not in the fuckin city. I know it’d never get passed, I know it’s a pipe dream—but my neighbor’s daughter was mauled by a shitbull and ended up with a lifelong limp because of it. Owner just fuckin up and moved. Good for me, but where’s that monster now?

Pitmommies need to get it through their thick fuckin skulls that these animals shouldn’t be owned.

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