When the two dogs — and their walkers — encountered each other on Friday on opposite sides of a narrow pedestrian bridge in Glen Burnie, Md., the difference between the canines must have been obvious.
One was a 180-pound Great Dane. The miniature Schnauzer weighed just 15 pounds…
I have a friend who had a couple of Great Danes. Occasionally one would come home with a neighbor’s goat, or a chicken. I was always kind of surprised that dog didn’t meet a similar fate.
Like most people, I don’t carry a gun (because it’s illegal for most of us) so to stop a Great Dane in that situation I’d have had to cut its throat with my pocket knife. Or choke it to death by shoving a small dog down its throat. “The gun is civilization”
https://munchkinwrangler.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/why-the-gun-is-civilization/
There is a certain type who frequent dog walks and particularly public free run areas, who enjoy watching their large breed dog use its natural aggressiveness towards smaller dogs – After an attack or near attack they smile and blow you off with one of those oh-well-it’s-just-his-nature shrugs. That doesn’t cut it with me.
I applaud this Off Duty Fed for making a clear and righteous point about owner responsibility, he did what many of us would like to do in the same situation – you wouldn’t let a 4yr old kid or irresponsible person have access to a gun, why is it responsible to give them a 190lb. dog which they obviously have no control over? In a more civilized world the owners of that dog would be charged with criminal negligence as well – but not in an era of weapons-grade stupidity.
In any event, I avoid public runs like the clap for just this reason – as the saying goes, the more I see of people the more I like my dog(s)
Damn aggressive mini-Schnauzers, should outlaw the suckers:-)))
We have 2 Great Danes. The 5 yr old male is 39″ high at the shoulders and weighs in at over 200 lbs. The female at 35″ weighs 175 lbs and has entered her 8th yr. Both dogs have been well trained and have never bit a human, although a few strangers saw close calls (served them right for approaching our rural home unannounced).
In general Great Danes have a good temperament and are excellent with small dogs. We had a small dog too (and the 3 dogs always played well together) but she was eaten by an owl.
Over the holidays my daughter brought her 13 lb Boston Terrier (9 months old) into our home. Bit of a disaster. The Terrier was constantly attacking our dogs, jumping up at them, nipping at their mouths and trying to mount the male from behind.
Eventually the female had enough of the Terrier (several growls didn’t give him the hint) and she put him down using her muzzle at one point with the Terrier’s entire head inside her mouth. She then let him go unharmed. The Terrier learned quickly that the female meant business and he never bothered her again. So he went after the male who, by this time, was hiding by the front door hoping to be let outside to escape that small bundle of relentless energy.
The Terrier was taken home after a few days and our dogs flopped back onto the couch and slept like the babies they are (for several hours as they usually do). We had a long nap too.
I wonder if the “gun-man” had left the two dogs alone what would have happened. There is no excuse for a large dog to attack another dog (let alone a much smaller one) but the reason is almost always a poorly trained dog. I suspect that if the man with the gun had as much experience with dogs as he has with guns he would have picked his dog up and walked across the bridge unharmed. But perhaps the gun provides a little more certainty that you will prevail.
I sense a great disruption in the narrative…
http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/12/30/global-sea-ice-breaks-all-time-record-high-antarctic-sea-ice-also-breaks-all-time-record-high/
As the attached article testifies it is about time that dog ownership should be as onerous to achieve as gun ownership is.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/100-dog-attacks-every-week-2345738
Can you imagine the hue and cry from the liberal left, socialists and greenies if their neighbour had a voice and an opinion that could prevent them from attaining ownership. Or how about a permit to convey to take Fido to the local park. Or how about producing ownership papers to purchase dog food. Yet as the article states with these numbers, attacks are far too frequent, and even one death is one too many, (where have we heard that litany before), so something must be done. I don’t imagine ‘doggy’ Britain is alone in these statistics, I think I’ll have to look into the Canadian statistics and bring it to the attention of my MP. It may be time to level the playing field since it appears that dogs are just as dangerous as guns.
“but she was eaten by an owl.”
Somehow, today, I’m going to try to work that into a conversation.
e.g. We once had a small child too but…
I honestly cannot recall ever seeing an aggressive out of control Great Dane. They are gentle, calm and in my limited experience, friendly with other dogs. Same goes for the overwhelming majority of large dogs in my neighborhood. Same does not go for most small dogs in the neighborhood. Large dog owners tend to understand that these dogs need training and what they are capable off. On the other hand, small dog owners, much more often tend to believe that their precious toy is exempt from behaving properly, because it is so small, and precious, and cute, (and yappy and annoying as hell, and just pulled down the curtains, again, because I walked my dog on a sidewalk in front of their house))
I’ve seen an off leash Rattler attack attack a perfectly calm sleep walking Newfoundland. It took a second for the Newfie to realize that he was being attacked. But then he responded the way dogs respond to an attack. Of course the owner of the Rattler was not an FBI agent but an idiot screeching lady. Still she was outraged at what that evil giant did to her precious snowflake. I suspect that the same happened here, of course since the little dog belonged to an FBI goon the big dog paid the price.
Anyone has doubts that had the dog belonging to an FBI agent been shot the narrative would have been different?
When I lived In Surrey,B.C., in the 80’s/90’s, I noticed that all the drug dealers who frequented parks and other areas where young people gathered, were accompanied by a pit bull, usually two pit bulls. The dogs were NOT friendly and would growl menacingly at anyone who came close to their drug dealing master.
The look on the face of the dealer with his two attack weapons was enough to make me wish I’d had a real attack weapon with which to shoot the drug dealers four legged weapons, and him as an encore.
I never saw a dog licence on any of the pit bulls,either.
In this case, my sympathies are totally with the FBI agent, and the people who couldn’t control their dog should be charged, not the cop who shot it.
Just goes to show how smart miniature Schnauzers are. They don’t have owners, they have bodyguards.
We can all wonder what might have happened if the owner of the small dog had left it in the mouth of the large dog. Here’s one possibility: The large dog would have killed the smaller.
That Great Dane wasn’t either of your Great Danes, and the miniature Schnauzer was neither your small owl-feeding dog nor your daughter’s Boston Terrier. You will have noticed that every dog is an animal whose behaviour is founded on instinct, constrained somewhat by breed characteristics, and ultimately conditioned by the training it does or doesn’t get from its owner/handler. I suspect the critical factors in the behaviour of the two dogs in this incident include the conduct of the owners/handlers, and that neither of them got it entirely right. We are responsible for the control of our dogs even when other dogs are provocative. It is the dogs that will usually suffer the worst consequences when their people don’t get it right.
“…of course since the little dog belonged to an FBI goon the big dog paid the price. ”
I hadn’t realised the FBI agent is a goon. You know him personally? Perhaps you could communicate with him to get more details of the incident for us?
“When I lived In Surrey, B.C., in the 80’s/90’s, I noticed that all the drug dealers who frequented parks and other areas where young people gathered, were accompanied by a pit bull, usually two pit bulls.”
Yep, in most cases it’s the arseholes that gave certain breeds their bad names. In the 60s it was German Shepherds that had the reputation as junk-yard dogs. Then the druggies progressed through Dobermans, rottweilers, and then onto the pit bulls. A great pity that the images of these breeds were formed by sufferers of little man syndrome – because responsible owners who didn’t have to make personal statements were able to raise the same breeds as wonderful pets.
Sometimes otherwise good dogs do strange and out-of-character things I just can’t fathom. One of our dogs on the farm was a gentle, happy little Welsh Corgi who was a terror on cats and loved all humans…except for one of our gentle neighbours, a kindly old man whom the dog would have dismembered if given half a chance. The old fellow had never touched the dog nor had he been mean to it in an way. But the dog just hated him.
Oh, and keep your dog on a leash in public. I have 2 Scottish Terriers that I can well control, But, pitty the large dog that comes after mine to pick a fight. There’s a limit to what I can do to protect your dog.
Lifting 15Lbs out of harm’s way probably breaks Union Rules + a fingernail.
Well of course the FBI agent saved his dog, used his hand gun, he actually has one on his person.He is part of the class of “the only ones” While technically conceal and carry is available in Maryland it is almost always rejected. I am sure that we are so pleased that officers of every stripe feels secure ( so am i btw) that they are such excellent marks men that drawing a gun in public, over an animal, is just a wonderful idea. No issues with that at all.
Gee, I wonder who won that Kate would be linking to? I guess I’ll read the report now.
Oh. The Schnauzer cheated. That’s why.
What color was the Great Dane?
“e.g. We once had a small child too but…”
But the dingo took ‘im……
Picking up your small dog before someone else’s big one starts swallowing it sounds like a good idea afterwards. But if you didn’t think of it in time, there’s no free pass for the big dog to kill the small one. There is still an onus on the person with the larger dog to control theirs.
It’s funny reading some of the comments on here about small dogs. Where we talk our English Bulldogs, it’s always, always the small dogs starting crap and then getting hurt. Everytime there’s a commotion it is started by some little furball. My dogs purposefully avoid all small dogs now as a rule.
As for this guy, I don’t blame him but he’s sure lucky he’s part of the privileged bureaucratic class. If he wasn’t a LEO he would have already been charged with reckless endangerment or reckless use of a firearm or some such offense.
“I honestly cannot recall ever seeing an aggressive out of control Great Dane.”
I have seen it, close up. The Great Dane perpetrator was one of those blue ones, name of Charlie.
Charlie’s owner had just explained to us that Charlie had been going to some training classes because of ‘issues’ that Charlie had.
This was in an off-leash park.
Right after that statement, Charlie attacked my Olde English Bulldogge, Sirius.
Sirius still has Charlie’s teethmarks on his head, despite the fact that Charlie lasted about 4 seconds against Sirius.
We never did see Charlie in that park again.
Yet another good reason not to take your dog to an off leash park. There is always an idiot there with an aggressive dog attacking other dogs. Ages ago, with my first dog, I went three times to three different places, no thanks. I don’t want my dog to win a fight and hurt another dog just because that dog’s owner is a retard, anymore than I want my dog to lose a fight.
My sentiments exactly. We don’t know if the Dane attacked the Schnauzer or the other way around. I’ve seen more yapping little ankle bitters, out of nowhere launching at bigger dogs, and the little dog’s idiot owners then explaining that their precious “is afraid of larger dogs”, “she just does that”, all the time expecting that while their little goblin is desperately trying to chew through the harness (!, yes 10 ponds in a harness, that alone tells me everything I need to know about the dog and the owner) somehow my dog is supposed to just ignore it. She does, because she is very well trained and socialized, but you can’t fault a big dog that at one point loses patience.
How do I know he is a goon? And in idiot on top of it? Let’s see. Narrow pass, elderly woman, with a little kid, big dog, hmmmm, what to do, oh what to do? How about? I know! Make room because you have a tiny dog, you do not have to divide your attention between a dog and a (now traumatized) child, because it is a common courtesy that human beings observe. Of course when you are an FBI goon you prefer to shoot it out with the plebs.
That last comment on ‘Off leash parks’ was kind of interesting.
I find, up here, they’re the safest places to exercise a dog. The other owners won’t tolerate aggressive dogs (and their owners).
In the 12 yrs we’ve been walking in our park-forest I can only remember a very few instances of canine aggression; most owners know whether they can trust their dogs and avoid the trails if they can’t (trust them).
The ‘pitbull’ type dogs that do walk regularly in the park are all good natured.
What utter nonsense. You sure sound like a fool now. Previously I just thought you were a little daft.
Yet another reasoned response form a jackboot licker.
Then I guess your experiences are different than mine. Outside of my backyard she stays on leash unless we go to a cottage, friend’s farm or something like that. Urban off leash parks I avoid like a plague.
I thought you might be talking more than you know. Thanks for making that clear.
That elderly woman had no business handling or walking a dog she could NOT control. Blame is solely on her. Some dogs sense weakness and fear which causes them to go into over protective (aggressive) mode.
It’s not the dogs fault it’s the owners/handlers doing.
Sadly stupid people own dogs too.
For the record, were I him or had a C&C, I’d have shot the dog too.
In defense of the Great Dane, Schnauzers are delicious.
How do you know the little dog did not attack first? Even the most calm docile large dog will respond aggressively when attacked. And if the little dog launched towards the kid? You want the big one not to defend?
Yes maybe that woman was an airhead who could not control a hyper aggressive dog. Maybe, but that is not the most likely scenario. People who have large aggressive dogs tend not to take them to a public place with their four year olds in tow.
The most likely scenario is a an aggressive unsocialized little rat attacking first and the entitled owner then rescuing him by killing the attacked large dog. Nine out of ten cases it will be the ankle bitter that starts the fight. And I haven’t yet seen an owner of the vicious little thing ever saying that they are at fault, it is always the owner of the large dog that gets blamed.
If instead of the idiot expandable leashes, cutesy outfits and harnesses (because their dog likes to pull) the little dog owners actually realized that these are dogs and not fashion accessories and invested in some training and socialization most dog fights would not have happened.
It seems more likely that the 180 lb Great Dane broke away from the woman than the 15 lb Schnauzer broke away from the CIA agent.
President’s Choice, rabbit? 🙂
Hey colon, you’d be wise to STFU, as you’v more than proved you don’t know squat about dogs, or probably animals in general
Living beings are amongst other thing, chemical entities, and dogs have a pretty keen sense of smell. Many actions/reactions are to a sent.
He keeps digging and digging, lol!
As a rule, dangerous people have dangerous dogs! Those who have excellent control over themselves and their own emotions are typically good at taming dogs and other pets.
When in doubt, read the link.
“But then the Great Dane, a 4-year-old named Fynn who belonged to the daughter of the 62-year-old woman, broke away from the woman and her 4-year-old grandson and attacked the Schnauzer.”
Any dog must be under the control of its owner. A 180 lb Dane is too much dog to be controlled by a 62 year old woman or a 4 year old child. I am also surprised the Dane was aggressive, IME they tend to be very stable and even tempered. This suggests to me the dog was NEVER under the control of its owners, and had developed its aggression as a result.
As for dog parks, I have two dogs. One is a little old guy, who is fine at the off leash. The other is an 80 pound Pyr/Golden cross who is by no means ready for off-leash, so she is always on lead and we avoid the dog parks. The number of people who let their dogs run free in areas where they must be leashed continues to drive us away from the nicer areas to walk in Saskatoon, though. Very stressful for those of us trying to train.
There is no lack of irresponsible dog owners.
Yes I’ve read the link, that is one side of the story, and I find it highly unlikely, it does not pass the smell test.
As the comments following my first post seem to prove that there are a great many dog owners out there that should have to undergo as stringent a licensing procedure as gun owners have to. Recently a 16 day old baby was savaged by a Pit Bull/Rottweiler cross, this dog had been on a dangerous dog list for a number of years, if this had been an accidental discharged gun incident the MSM would have been all over it with four inch headlines but because it is a doggy incident it, as most of these incidents do, gets a pass. My point was not about the agent that shot the dog, my point was that there are, perhaps more than an equal number of traumatic incidents involving dogs in Canada than there are gun incidents yet the gun incidents get far more coverage. As noted above there are people that are incapable of owning a dog and as an all-caring society perhaps the answer to vicious dogs is to implement a registry on all dog owners, after all think of the children.
Sorry did I need the sarcasm tag?
My sympathies go out to the 4 year old kid who had to see this. Couldest the adults not have used the same bridge till the other was across?
Perhaps I’m overly cynical, but I shudder to think what would have happened to a non-FBI dog owner who shot a Great Dane in front of a child. Just sayin’.
I also have to say that at least 1/4 of the people in cities who own dogs have not a single clue, and are in fact -militantly- stupid. My underweight Golden Retriever Spike was set upon twice in St. Clair Park in Toronto by dogs not under the control of their owners. One was a Bouvier, one was some weird Malamute cross breed, looked about half wolf. Both dogs lived. Although one owner did threaten to charge me for his vet bills after Spike got done with his twice-as-big dog. He shut up after I explained the off-the-leash laws to him.
Spike was well named, let’s just say.
Quite frankly Colonoscopy, you don’t pass the smell test either.
The adult in the situation realizes that 2 dogs and a narrow bridge is an extremely stressful situation for any dog. Instead of shouting at each other about how to cross, the adult takes his or her dog aside and allows the other to safely pass. Totally agree with the agressive little dog comments. In my experience little dogs are not trained and people think the biting and bad behavior is “cute”. Had a chihuahua try out for the Darwin award by attacking my German Shepherd. He picked it up and did one shake and drop and that was enough for it to require emergency medical. If he had intended to kill it, it would have been dead. That dog could crack a lamb shank with his teeth. As for the woman – any young dog can pull 2X it’s weight on the flat. She’d have needed to be over 400 lbs to simply hold that dog if it really wanted to go. So yes, there is a burden on large breed owners to seriously train their dogs.
So we are learning more.
She had trouble controlling the dog (was clearly inexperienced and did not realize she should not be walking it in the first place), asked the FBI thug to give them room. Doing which is something that anyone not looking for an opportunity to practice dog shooting would have done. Instead he has chosen to approach her, after all a mighty FBI goon is not going to listen to the little people. She tried to control the Dane got pulled to the ground and before she managed to pick herself up the Dane was shot. Because the goon knew he would get away with it and the peasant needed a lesson on who is the boss.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-investigating-agents-dog-killing-maryland-park/story?id=27854511