Serious Situation-Family pit bull kills family terrior-Your opinions please

[Pattycat]

I just received a sad and disturbing call from my sister - she [was] owner of 3 dogs; pit bulls Apollo 12 yrs and Rosie 6 yrs and small terrier mix Lucy, age unknown but old. These dogs have been living together for the past 6 years. The pit bulls have always been fantastic loving pets that love people and to play; Lucy the terrier was rescued from an anbandoned building and has always been a pretty grouchy little dog with everyone and everything except my sister, who she adored. Lucy, small as she was, sort of ruled the house, the pits would try to play and be met with growls and snaps. So they pretty much left her alone. We don't know how old Lucy was, but she was an older dog - she's been getting a little grouchier & cranky as time passed. Anyway....my sister came home yesterday to find Lucy dead, mauled/throat attack, done by Rosie. The pits have never shown agression to humans - they are agressive with strange dogs -.
My sister is frantic to know the right thing she should do. She has a 3 year old daughter (who the pits love and play with so much. But now she is wondering if the proper thing to do is try and adopt Rosie out, have her put down, or keep her. My sister loves her dogs so much...but doesn't know if keeping Rosie is the right thing to do, no matter how much that is what she wants to do. Your opinions would be appreciated. Sorry this is so long.....

[Pam]

I might receive some flack for this answer but I would try to re-home Rosie ASAP. As the mother of a two year old grandson I wouldn't want any animal to have the potential to put him in harm's way. That said, I realize that Lucy may have caused the attack, but it shouldn't have led to retaliation leading to death. I am quite sure that my Bella would never in 1,000,000 years hurt anything even if she was being attacked. She is at times even overly condescending to Ripley (our mini), letting him have things that she had been playing with, and I know she would never harm a hair on my grandson's head. Temperament to me is first and foremost, especially when it comes to dogs and children.

I would love to hear that Rosie has found a new home in a family without small children. Just my humble opinion. Either way, this is so very sad all around for dogs as well as people.

[binka_nugget]

Sorry to hear about this attack on Lucy. I would try to find a good home for Rosie but I'd never turn to a kill shelter since it seems like alot of people fear pits and she would probably end up euthanized. Maybe an exclusive pit rescue where the rescue people know about this breed and understand that it's all breedism. Until I found such a home or rescue, I'd try to limit time together if I wasn't home. Maybe confining the dogs to seperate rooms while she is out will help and only when she's home that she can be assured she can watch over them to settle any potential fights. Another alternative is maybe just doing the seperationg while out but not rehoming her. I can understand that it'd be hard to give up a dog and as long as they're supervised when together (both dogs or with the daughter), everyone can live peacefully. Good luck to your sister.

[wolfsoul]

I don't think rehoming her is nessecary, since Rosie is only dog-aggressive. There are tons of dog aggressive animals that can be fine with a child.

BUT I will tell of the importance of keeping an eye on a child when around a dog, whether it be a kind dog, a small dog, anything.

I agree that the dogs should be seperated when your sister is away to avoid any fighting that might happen and contribute to any worrying.

If you sister feels that her dog should really be rehomed, I wish her good luck, and I hope that she finds a good no-kill shelter or puts out ads. I'm sorry about her Lucy.

[Karen]

I would keep Rosie, unless you knew someone without small children who wanted her. I would, however, never leave the three-year-old alone and unsupervised with Rosie, as we do not know what provoked the attack, and three-year-olds can be quick and unpredictable.

Is there someone you know, maybe an empty-nester, who might want her?

[cloverfdx]

why re-home a dog that could easily be a threat to other animals/and maybe small children also (although you have said rosie is good with the child) why take the risk of passing on the problem to someone else.

[Pattycat]

I can say that if we were to try and re-home Rosie, the entire history would be provided. For six years, Rosie lived with her two siblings. We are contacting a vet to discuss evaluation for agression. It is just so difficult to understand how such a people love bug of a dog would do this after so many years?!?! If the instinct for dog agression is something that grows stronger as the dog ages, perhaps she could be happy in a home where she is the only dog. As mentioned in the first post, now is a time of shock, and the next action taken is one that will be carefully considered. It has been nice hearing from everyone. Thank you.

[Angeleyes31191]

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I think personnaly that you should keep the dog. The older terrier probably provoked Rosie so she retaliated a little too hard. I don't think she would do something like that on purpose. please consider keeping Rosie

[lovemyshiba]

That is really a tough situation.
I would definitely have Rosie checked at the vet, and by a behaviorist, to rule out any problems. If she gets a clean bill from both, keep her, but don't leave the 3 year old alone with her.

Since she has been a member of the family for so long, and such a great dog thus far, excluding this incident, it may very well have been a one time thing. She may have been provoked. Unfortunately, we will never know.

Please let us know the outcome of the situation.

[QueenVee]

Wolfsoul wrote:
I don't think rehoming her is nessecary, since Rosie is only dog-aggressive.

Actually, Pattycat said that previous to this attack, Rosie had only been aggressive towards strange dogs, not the other dogs in her “pack”. So Rosie’s behaviour has significantly changed from the “usual” and therefore her future behaviour is unpredictable.

Angeleyes wrote:
The older terrier probably provoked Rosie so she retaliated a little too hard. I don't think she would do something like that on purpose.

Yes, probably. But what if the 3-year-old “provokes” Rosie one day? In almost every case of a child mauled by a pit bull, the animal had “never been aggressive towards humans before”. Remember, the dog sees both the dogs and humans in its environment as being part of it’s “pack”; therefore, it is a small step from attacking one member of the pack to attacking another.

I wouldn’t expose my child to that kind of risk, myself.

[iceyshiver21]

It depends. It's a tough decision. Everytime a child is near ANY dog they should be watched with utmost care and a watchful eye. Try finding someone who can give her an aggresive test...like they give to dogs before they are adopted out...know what I mean?

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[Tonya]

In my opinion, and it looks like a few others opinions, Rosie has deemed herself unpredictable. She can never be trusted again. I wouldn't trust her with a child anymore then an animal. If there isn't a good home for Rosie, I would give her ONE more chance, but use great caution. My Rosco was good for a year, and then snapped again. -That was what scared me about rehoming him, I was afraid that someone would think I was exaggerating about his aggressiveness since he was a sweetheart 99% of the time. I'm sorry to hear about that, that is such a hard decision. I've been there and it still hurts.

If she cannot find a home that is 110% responsible, and understands that this dog is not trustworthy; I have since found out about dog havens. These rescues keep known agressive dogs for the rest of their lives and they treat the dogs well. They are specially trained to deal with dogs of that nature.