dog attack on child in NY - Page 3

I saw the video on Youtube and that is what it said there. It does look like it has a bully-type head, but who knows. That could've just been the caption added since everyone assumes if its mean its a pit, any more. Definitely wasn't a GSD though.

A responsible owner ( which this guy is definitely not ) would have the dog put down. If it were me and my child, I would be suing his sorry ass for everything he has. I can`t believe all he got was a summons for having his dog off leash. I thought it looked like a Mal but I am so glad it wasn`t. I haven`t heard about a german shepherd attack in a long time.

Too wide to be a Mal, and the ears were wrong. I also thought maybe Lab mix, like Blitzen said, due to the tail width and the coat looked too thick to be a Pit, though it was definitely a short coated dog, but didn't look slick enough to be a Pit, Boxer, etc. coat.

I would not trust a Youtube caption to determine breed accurately. The news vid I saw didn't mention breed, which is another reason I thought it couldn't be a Pit! No one lets a Pit attack go by unannounced! 

I don't care what the hell the thing was...that was an insane video to watch. Can you even imagine how scared of dogs that little girl is going to be? Walking down the street with her mom, and out of nowhere, she's being mauled by a dog she no doubt never even saw coming?! OMG. 

Jonrob
I have to agree with you to a large degree, and I remember that thread and believe I responded to one particular poster.  I do feel that sometimes we are losing sight of what a GSD should be, and foremost he should be a safe and trusted companion. Working and protection drives should not mean unsafe or out of control in any circumstance.  There is no reason that a GSD should not be child friendly and still be ready to protect you in the event of a real threat.  If the GSD is unable to do that, we are going badly off the rails IMO.  A child can the pull the tail of my GSDs and not expect any retaliation .......I would expect no less. I would be horrified to contemplate anything other than simple evasion.

I think it is 'people' in the equation that are misunderstanding the temperament required for GSDs to do their job, and believing that dogs have to be 'harder' and more overtly aggressive, rather than allowing for the natural temperament to predominate and maintain that rather than 'enhance' or amplify it. Would my dogs protect me? I would like to think so, my girl does a superb natural bark and hold to strangers that have surprised me in some situations, without ever having been trained to do so. I could be totally wrong. If I am, I would rather that than lose her when she mauls and ruins somebody's life and loses her own in consequence.  If that is heresy, so be it, but I trust in her natural abilities, and I have always socialised my GSDs to the max, because I do not want them or me to be in that situation.   They are already at a disadvantage by virtue of their breed. In the UK ScH is even looked at a bit sideways, and protection is not looked at in the same way as the USA for sure. However, I don't believe it compromises the dog's natural instinct to protect if necessary, but the proof of that pudding will be the day I need it, which I hope never arises. 
 

This might be a bit off topic but I going to share it here. I met a very interesting couple with a male GSD. The dog is a pet virtually untrained to do anything but fuss and he doesn't do that very well. He is one of those dogs that never met a stranger. One evening his "mom" was walking him in the neighborhood when suddenly his hair stood on end and he barked and lunged at some guy standing in the shadows; the first time he had ever done that in his 5 years of life. She apologized to the guy who never said a word. A month or so later this stranger's photo was on the front page of the local newspaper - he was a fugitive from the law, wanted for murder a few states away and had been on the run for several years.

I watched the vid several times and really... it resembled  a dog on the "Send Out" in the Sch vids I have seen. With all the people on the street, it just seems odd that the dog would single out  and initiate an attack on its own from such a distance, conveniently waiting for that speeding car to pass by first, to attack a child walking with an adult.

That's what we're losing, Blitzen. IMO, anyway. 

We've changed out training methods thus now want more and more prey + stubborn hard headedness, + aggression sooner or later = disaster

Hi Shandra

I can't see anything "Schutzhund" in the dog's behaviour at all, nor anything to indicate defensiveness either, the speed and focus as it shot across the road and grabbed the child was more like the manner of a coursing greyhound catching a hare.  I found it terrifying to watch to be honest, especially as I have no doubt from the dogs attitude that it would have killed that child if not prevented from doing so.  

Margaret N-J

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Not another sweet loving Pit Bull that wouldn't hurt a fly.