PITT BULL takes 3 shots to protect his family - Page 2

Mystere-- If he was just doing what he always did, I think the first shot would have changed his behavior.  Veronica

Well lets see, MS. Obvious (Mystere)

The Intruder felt threatened enough, to actually  SHOOT  the charging dog, that was..... intent on just licking their face?   Yea, thats it, Im sure thats exactly how it happened.  We all know, bad guys only shoot dogs with wagging tails,  that are there to greet them. 

Now it makes better sense. Thanks Mystere

Pits have proven time after time, they are efficient watch & Guard dogs.   Not sure why you want to piss on the dogs parade, but why would we expect any different from you?.....

  Im still working on setting up you & Helser by the way, a Match made in Hell but perfect for one another,  as youre both Spawn of Satan.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/12/10/dnt.dog.saves.family.kwtv

in the video it clear says the dog was in the other room and came running and was shot before he got to the intruder.

 justcurious,,

But, how was he approaching the intruder any differently than he may have approached other strangers in the house?  If he always came out on the offensive,  "going for" the stranger in the room (whether invied or not) wiothout provocation, .I don't see heroics in his actions.  If, on the other hand, this actually was a stable temperamented dog that would ordinarily have just greeted in a friendly manner, or been aloof, AND if there was something to indicate a clear and present threat, then I agree, hero dog.  But , nothing I've seen indicated that the behavior of the family actually gave the dog any indication that they were threatended or a reason to go on the defensive/offensive. 

The mere sight of a gun, even if the dog watches a lot of "Law and Order," wouldn't be an indication that his protection was needed. 

I'm so sick of these Pit Bull threads, I have only one thing to say. PLEASE spell it right! ONLY ONE "T". Sheesh.

Deathrow Dogpack...your Pit looks eerily like mine! Gorgeous.

Maybe the dog smelled fear. pheromones  ???

I have a pit bull, 3 yrs old now, that eats/sleeps and lives with 2 housecats, 2 Italian Greyhounds, and 2 adult Shepherds.  All these dogs co-exist in perfect harmony. We've had her since she was 5 weeks old and rescued from a horrible situation.  She has, by far, been the best dispositioned dog we've ever had, always is calm and stable,  licks any stranger's face as long as they are welcomed in by us.  Her tail never stops. They truly are great dogs as long as they are raised properly.

very rarely do i post these days but this it getting out of hand. here is all you need know about the dogs temperment.

He came in to the room, got shot 3 times and didnt leave.  the intruder then left.  Now the majority of people on this board dont ownd dogs that would take 1 bullet and not leave.  so it doesnt matter if he was going forward and was gonna bite w/ a full grip then out correctly and clean.  he did his job.

if you dont believe me, go down the street and ask Ralphie to come over w/ his Red Rider BB gun, ill bet if he shoots your dog 3 times your dog wont fight thru it.

Dear God... he was shot 3 times and didnt run.  

not  to generalize, but i just discovered that the term "D boy" is a term to mean corner drug dealer.  dope boy.  saw a shirt today that said pilsbury dope boy.  like i said befor, not the dog for everyone. 

well the dog was at the very least a deterrent or distraction, which is one of the reasons most of us like having dogs in our homes. so i would think you probably could agree with that much - the dog was a deterrent or distraction.  so the next question to consider is:  did his behavior go so far as to be heroic?

so mystere you're saying it could easily have been a happy accident that the dog took 3 bullets for it's owners. or that this dog might be aggressive all the time and this time it paid off for the owners. these both may be true but after looking at the cnn footage i think i could make a different case. let's assume that every time the dog heard the door open he came running (i know my dogs do), now he could be acting out of curiosity/boredom, being offensive, being defensive, being friendly .... .   so if we look at the footage we see him in a room with his family and strangers - i would assume the cnn footage was taken by strangers;  and if you note the dog's body language he looks fairly stable and comfortable enough in the video.  e.g. he is allowing his wounds to be looked at while a stranger is wielding a camera; while exhibiting neither overt aggression nor overt friendliness. 

he does look like he is calming himself e.g. the licking; but given what he's been through and the surrounding commotion who could blame for needing a little soothing particularly with strangers are in the room.  it's important to note that many dogs do not have this ability to calm themselves so imo this attribute points to the probability that he has a more stable temperament.  also pointing to a more stable temp is the fact that the dog is not growling nor showing any signs of aggression toward the interviewer, camera crew; nor is he bothered that his collar is being held. so i would hazard to say he is not overly prone to offensive or self-defensive behavior, but i would not necessarily rule out protective or even somewhat friendly behavior - check out his ears, eyes, leg - to me he seems alert yet controlled and receptive.

also from watching the video i would guess he's not formally trained meaning he's a pet so probably doesn't have the instinct to protect developed or put with a command like sch training would do.  but he is imo what most pet owners want i.e. a dog who is family friendly yet when a threat is present will act to protect his family by moving towards the danger and putting himself between the threat and the family instead of running away or hiding.  whatever motivated the dog, the dog did go toward the unknown/danger and took 3 bullet for it, and then in the presence of strangers is able to remain laying down without undue restraint or growling or giving warning signals. from what i've gleaned this dog's actions appear to in effect be protective, and his natural temp. appears not to be overly aggressive nor overly friendly.  there is no way of really knowing what the dog was thinking but his actions influenced the outcome in a positive way.

but is this heroic? i'm not sure it depends on you definition of heroic. i do believe this is the kind of natural behavior we would all hope to see from our dogs and the kind of behavior i have known my dogs to exhibit.  maybe the standard for heroic deeds should he higher, more sophisticated, but for me i would expect no less from a companion and applaud it when i see it. also i believe this family is truly indebted to this dog for if he were not there things could easily have been deeply tragic.  so is it a heroic deed, i guess the fact that the dog's behavior directly brought about a happy ending is enough for me - isn't this the standard for giving out the purple heart, 'being wounded or killed in any action against an enemy ...'.