harsh, harsh story. need opinions

Hi guys,
About a week ago, some pretty rough shit went down on my farm, and I really need some unbiast opinions, so please tell me what you think.
I had three dogs. I had a 1.5 year old pitbull Zues, his 7 month old puppy MOnkey, pitbull/wolf, and Chester this big old wierdo dog that was a shep/malamute/greyhound. He's about Zues's age, but we got him from the pound about 8 months ago.
Anyway, we also had 4 pigs. And these weren't some little bitch pigs either. They were just about to be butchered and about 250-300 lbs.
We went out for night and when we came out in the morning, our neighbour was in our driveway and said that our dogs had attacked and killed the pigs. They actually only killed one pig (b-bop), and fatally injured two others. The other pig we took to the vet, and six hundred dollars later is doing pretty good.... she barely has any ears left though...
This was one of the nastiest things I have ever seen. The one pig that was dead looked like it got shot with a canon. Seriously. They ate his brain... The spca said this was common when there are lots of dogs living together... pack mentality... so it hurt, but I got rid of two of my dogs. Now, I only have the pitbull. I want to know if you guys think I shold get rid of him. He's the sweetest suck dog ever, but.... I have a kid, and I'm not sure if I shouold trust him. This happened a week ago, and I serious can't ever see him do it again.... but I dont know. You see all this shit on the news about pitbulls. What would you guys do?
Do you think once they taste blood, they're changed forver?

 

well just to be safe, i would let him go. i mean, you can give him to a friend or someone you know so you can visit him every now and then... but your kid's life is more important than a pitbull..
hope i helped

 

we had to put 4 of our dogs down once because they got into the chicken cope and killed them all.

i do think once they taste blood like that they no longer are our tamed family pet , gotten more back to the wild. you cannot cotrol the wild.

 

Oh please that is just a bunch of bull.. Dogs eat to survive but they won't do that to other members of their pack, and they consider their human family and other parts of "pets" that are loved on to be part of that pack. They probably didn't see the pigs as your pets or part of their pack.

And that deal about pitbulls being aggressive just cuz they are pitbulls? That is bullshit too. Pitbulls are not aggressive just because they are pitbulls... it's how they are raised.

And if you don't believe me, I can set you up with several pitbulls and other "aggressive" breeds that are the sweetest things you ever met because they were raised right, and some of them are service dogs too!

And as for the meat thing, I can back that up too. My dogs are on a raw meat and bones diet because that is one of the most natural diets for dogs and the healthiest, and they are doing excellent. I am heavily involved in dog care and worked in a vets and I work with dogs all the time, and I know several other dogs that are fed a raw meat and bones diet. So I know what I am doing, I am not some backwoods white trash throwing leftovers to the dogs, their diets are carefully planned.

My dogs eat chicken parts. It's what they do, it's what is in their nature to eat. But they are in no way aggressive or "wild now" or "into the blood" or any of that bullshit, it makes me really angry when people say this kind of stuff becuase it is extremely untrue. I know that you guys just don't know any better, but please don't buy into this crap. If you met my dogs you would not find them to be ANY different from other "nice" pets. In fact one is my service dog and since they have both been raised right, neither one is agressive in any way and is safe to be around children and other pets.

Now I don't know what your dog is like individually, so I can't say if he is safe to have around your child, but I can tell you that just because he followed his natural instincts to feast on a pig doesn't necessarily mean he is doomed and he is going to do the same to your child. That has no bearing on it. If he is going to do something like that to your kid, he's going to do it anyway regardless of what he eats. So don't make the decision based on the fact that he ate a pig, base it on the dog's personality and what you know of him personally and his history.

 

P.S. If my dogs got into a chicken coop and killed the chickens and ate them, they'd just be saving me the trouble of having to go to the store to buy chicken parts. It doesn't mean they are aggressive or are going to do anything to anyone but chickens! Dogs know what they can eat!

 

Thanks alot.
Bree, I totally agree with you. I gave two of my dogs away because for a while I had known that I had too many dogs and they were getting pretty wild. That pig thing was just the final straw. I didn't give my pitter away because he was my baby. I've had him for so long and he's so good. When I used to put my newborn too sleep in my bed, I wouold always come up to check on her, and most of the times, Zues wouold be curled up beside her, and she'd be holding on to his ear. I think the reason pitters have such a bad name, is because usually, young guys get them who want nothing but a tough dog, so they train them to be mean and encourage violence.
I'm totally going to keep him.
Thanks guys

 

sorry i gave my experince. i was only 7 it was what i was told, my parents put the dogs down not me. besides one of the dogs that they did put down was a dovermen pincher(sp?) and he had been attacking people including my brother and i, we suspected he was the ring leader of the chicken killings.

 

No. Thanks for posting. I didn't disagree with that decision at all. I just know that in this case, the dog's good. The malamute was definatly the ring leader. HHe also killed my 70 meat chickens last year, but I kept him... and he progressed. Now that he's gone... well, life's alot easier. He was quite the hellion.

 

I agree with most of what bree said.

You know (at least you should know) your dog. Is it aggressive to people? No matter what happened I would never get rid of my pets. I certainly would never put them to sleep. There are always other options.

 

Well, I had to get rid of some of my dogs. I knew I had too many. They were more wild after a while than pets and the two I got rid of were not listening as good as they shiould. I live out on a farm and my dogs had been coming home with cow heads and shit. I knew if I didn't get rid of them it was just a matter of time till they got shot (which hapens all the time) or till they killed someone else's animalls and I goot charged.
Shitty situation though.
hey bree, how expensive is it feeding your dogs like that?

 

It's not really any more expensive than buying high-quality dog food like Eukanuba or the like, especially if you buy it in bulk. Depending on how many things you add with it, it can actually be cheaper.

 

took the words right out of my mouth!!!

pits have bad names because of irespponsible owners who let them run wild, and train them to be mean. I love pits and they r great around kids!
if raised with love and care wich i think you have done, or else he would have been the first to show aggresion. he sounds like hes wonderful with your kids,
if hes your babe, keeping him would be best for all of you!

please dont go on the attacks of other pits around the world, even those dogs i feel sorry for because its not their falt they were raised to be mean.

good luck and i hope all is well for you, and your furbaby

 

I'm not saying it's wonderful he killed a pig, but that's just dog nature. Dogs are pack animals, but usually regard family children as members of that pack if the dogs are in with the family. (Given, you may have a dog that would bite Grannie from out of town if she was yelling at the child.) Like people though, dogs need to be around people their whole lives, or from a very young age, and treated with care to learn social behavior. If a baby is mistreated, he or she will grow up with problems <www.radzebra.org>.

I kind of have problems with the story itself. These dogs never attacked the pigs before, and these are large pigs! I'm really shocked the pigs didn't kill the dogs. (Pigs will fight back and even little pigs offer a challenge.) Did your dogs even have blood on them? What kind of person is your neighbor, not to even go out and yell at the dogs? How is your neighbor sure it was YOUR dogs? Do you have a fox or coyote population, or a lot of hungry strays? Don't jump to conclusions, because getting rid of an animal is something you can't take back.

 

I agree, it does sound a little fishy to me too. I think the neighbor was tellin' a story...

 

I agree. I'd really evaluate how much my neighbor liked my dogs and me before I started thinking too seriously about it.

Of course, hurt pigs are a big problem. Maybe put up a chainlink fence?

 

I had the exact same thought. While a pack of wild dogs could and would take down a pig. I have a hard time believing that 3 (even pit bulls) could do so. The combined force of three pit bulls would have a hard time with just one pig of that size let alone 3!

Both pigs and dogs are territorial and if the dogs were not familiar with the pigs and vis versa I could see how a territorial dispute could break out. What is confusing is that you have had the dogs and pigs for some time now so, why would they attack the pigs. If they were hostile to each other you would have seen signs of that and (I would hope) take steps to keep them separated.

BTW- If it was in fact the pit bulls that killed the pigs, how do you know it was the dogs that “started it”? Pigs can be just as aggressive and territorial as dogs!

It’s always the poor dogs that get the blame.

 

Come to think of it, I had a potbellied pig as a pet once. She got really big and passed city ordinances so we had to send her to live with my dad on his farm. She would get out and go for joy runs a lot, and my dad said that one day she had a run with with a pack of wolves and came home pretty beat up but alive. She had lots of scratches and bite marks (they have tough skin!) But she was just a pot bellied pig who used to be a pet, and she escaped from a pack of wolves...

 

Yes that is what has me curious. Pigs are far from defenseless. Their weight+ strength + very big teeth= a formidable opponent. I can see how your one pig could escape a pack of wolves.

 

www.badrap.org

 

my two cents:

my parents dog (a big fat 'wish it was a kid' overly spoiled dackshund.. you know, the walking sausage) bit several people (neighbour, postmen, both of my parents) but is the sweetest dog in the world to me. Why? Because he knows I'm in charge.. if he even tries as much as not obey, he'll know. I was very strict and consequent with him in the beginning, whereas my parents where kinda holding back and letting things slide. The neighbour was actually kinda scared of him and I guess he took advantage of that.. the postmen was trying to get away and was therefor seen as 'prey'. To strangers he only barks, but as soon as they start petting him or whatever he is completely sweet.

However, I don't trust him around little kids and always keep'm tight on the leach (unlike my parents do.. *sigh*..)

Why?

1) Because kids may hurt the dog while playing and the dog will bite out of fear/protection
2) because the dog doesn't know those kids and probably doesn't see them as 'in charge'
3) because the kids may run away if scared and therefor act like prey

What I would recommend: depending on how old your kid is.. go through some rules with him/her.. I'd say:

1) no rough play with that specific dog, since it may go too far and hurt the kid
2) if the kid ever get scared by the dog, stand still, look away and scream like hell for you.. if necesarry.. poke the dog in the eyes or sth as defense.. if the dog really is biting, tell the kid it's ok to do whatever it takes.. kicking, biting.. whatever

Maybe put the dog with the kid as it's boss in a dog-obedience class thingie, so the dog learns to see the kid as 'master'. Further.. observe the interaction between those two and go with your gut instinct.. I can't imagine a dog that's friendly and protective towards the kid turning against it without a reason (as long as the kid doesn't tease it or hurt it!)

Good luck with it!