Like any other dog, as it pertains to containment

By: Jenny R

I've been cobbling together a document on the pitbull issue for quite some time now.  I've poured hours of reading and research into it, and it is FAR from being done.  Initially I wasn't going to share it until it was done and polished.  Given the events of this morning, I see just how critical it is to get the information out there ASAP.
I can go back with edits and more material in the future.  So I've decided to post it by topic. The first of which is an analysis of pitbull containment as it pertains to the "just like any other dog" myth.


The pitbull lobby is rife with hypocrisy and double standards. A popular motto is “they’re just like other dogs”, but they contradict themselves about that constantly.  If all dogs are the same, then it stands to reason that all dogs can be handled the same in every aspect of domestic pet ownership.  Containing your animal, for example…
Excerpts from a containment manual written for pitbulls, BY pitbull advocates.  There are a lot of telling contradictions to the constant waste falling out of nutter mouths.  The original formatting is tweaked a little (for emphasis; size, bold, etc.), and extraneous material is clipped (you can see the entirety of the piece via the link below), but is otherwise intact according to the original source document.
Personal notes and comments on the original material (which is indented) follow underneath the relevant section.
http://happypitbull.com/owners-manual/basic-care/containment/

Containment
How to contain your dog when you can’t supervise
Unsatisfactory Methods of Containment
Chaining or tethering
Cable run
Electronic, underground, or “Invisible” fence
Regular fence
Satisfactory Methods of Containment
Kennel run*
Crate and Crate Training

*though Susan Iwiki's dogs launched against their run's metal gate with such force they ripped it right off the hinges.  Without a solid, thick concrete foundation, the dogs will easily tunnel underneath it though.  Pit owners can't be bothered to responsibly handle costs for victims of their dogs, acquire liability insurance, or even invest in a mere muzzle, so the odds that they would fork over the hundreds of dollars necessary to construct a proper kennel run is infinitesimal.

It is important to keep your dog in a safe, secure environment where it can notinteract with other people or animals without your knowledge. While this is true for all breeds of dogs, it is especially true for pit bulls*.

*i.e. pitbulls are NOT "just like other dogs", right from the nutter source!

Many if not most of the negative pit bull stories you read about in the news occur because a dog has not been properly contained. In order to stop aggravating the pit bull’s current bad situation, it is essential for all pit bull owners to keep their dogs under control at all times.

If, by "not properly contained" you mean the hundreds of attacks in which a pitbull attacked a family member or owner in their own home, in the presence of other people.  Pit ownersfrequently encounter attacks in which everything from beating, stabbing, eye gouging,macing, tasering, hosing, strangling, and even multiple gunshots fail to end the assault.  Fact is, no one can keep a pitbull "under control"--only have the illusion of doing so--nonetheless keeping a pit under control at all times.

Never, ever leave a dog alone with a young child. If adults are not present, securely contain the dog where children cannot gain access to it.

Yeah, because being in the same area with the dog and child will prevent the pitbull from attacking, ripping children from laps, cribs, bassinets, bicycles, strollers, toy wagons, the arms of their babysitter, or even the lap of their caretaker.  Oh... wait... :(

Further, there is really only one acceptable method for keeping a dog outside – a secure kennel as described below. If you cannot manage it, do not keep your dog outside.
Your local containment laws are in place to make sure a dog physically survives and to ensure public safety.

That goes against all the "ineffective", "racist", "unfair", "genocide" arguments spewed by every BSL opponent.  In this one sentence, the author is a near extinct exception, leagues away from "the rule" that is pit lobby mentality today.

Chained dogs are responsible for about 1/4 of all fatal dog attacks. Dog bite researcher Karen Delise states that chaining a dog is the most dangerous way to keep a dog.

Source material for this faux researcher pit lobbyist is non-existent.  This estimate is nothing more than pure fabrication.  Karen Delise is among the team spear-heading to have pitbull-truth and public-awareness/safety sites like http://dogsbite.org torn down. Censorship, anyone?  Every report on the site can be backed by third party research, studies, statistics, images, and experiences.  The same cannot be said of the common pro-pit go-to claims and the sites championing them.

Whether made of chain link or wood planks, a fence is often not as secure as many owners believe. Many of the loose dogs collected by animal control are dogs that have somehow escaped from a backyard while the owner was away. It is not safe to leave your dog alone loose in your backyard, even with a physical fence.

Yet, the majority of pitbulls reside in domiciles in which a fence is the ONLY method of containment, despite the inherent pitbull tenacity presenting in videos, pics, and memes everywhere with the "tree dog".  Wooden fences are easier to break than a crate (from which many pitbulls also tear through, even unto great self-injury), chain link fences just offer plenty of "footholds" for the climbing pitbull, and both can be tunneled under with frightening speed.  Other dog breeds are, for the most part, just fine with only a fence. The exception is incredibly rare.  But with pitbulls, fences are jumped/shattered to facilitate a grievous attack with disturbing frequency.  Almost business-as-usual.  Pitbulls "are just like other dogs"?  Then why does it take such drastically different measures to handle them, then? What's even more frightening is the author's leap of logic conclusion on fences, which other nutters share in spades;

A fenced yard is acceptable as long as the owner is outside with the dog.

A lot of deceased, mutilated, and horribly disfigured men, women, children, pets, and even livestock would beg to differ.

The outdoor kennel should not depend on the backyard fence for walls. Chain link walls are recommended (rather than wood). For diggers, you should extend the kennel walls into the ground several feet down, or use railroad ties or a concrete footer to discourage digging out. Pit bulls are athletic and many can jump or climb out, so you should put a chain link lid on the kennel.

See? Pitbulls are “just like other dogs”. Containment measures need be no different because they’re just like other dogs. Oh, wait….

“Inside the kennel, you will need… …an indestructible toy like a Kong toy.”

Because toys for the average dog should be adequate for a dog that is definitively just likeother dogs. Oh, wait…

Outdoor kennels should be locked and lidded.

…because the high walls and latch-gates adequate for other dogs doesn’t quite cut it for this “just like other dogs” dog.

Loose Indoors Unsupervised
If they bark, the neighbors don’t that don’t share walls might not care. …strangersthe dog would have to actually break into out of the house to interact with the dogattack people, things, and animals. 

Oh yeah!  On that note, you need to chain up and “lid” your balcony, too, so your dog doesn’t join its comrades in launching aerial assaults. In June 2012 a Milwaukee man walking his dog was assaulted by a pitbull leaping off a second story balcony; bystander rescue attempts and even hitting the animal with a car wouldn’t end the attack. So, if you’re a total socio-path and don’t give a shit about anything but your own self and your pibbles, at the very least think about these possibilities in terms of liability costs.
13 months after that attack (July 2013, Mississippi), John Truitt’s own pibbles—following the pit tradition of “never showing aggression before” and therefore baffling nutters and those in the dark about pitbull nature—leapt off a second story balcony to assault him—for 20 minutes until the animal was put down--into serious condition, requiring hospitalization and surgery.
NEVER let your wigglebutt be exposed to open air, keep it lidded at ALL times.
That’s not too much to ask, right? Since bullies are “just like other dogs”? Surely you have a smorgasbord of every-dog balcony containment options, because they’re so… “normal”.  If a pitbull is just like other dogs, it stands to reason that other dogs are just like pitbulls.  Dogs proliferate our society so pervasively they’ve even developed their own doggie “classes”.  You know, the white-trash dogs, the ghetto dogs, the middle class dogs, the hippy dogs, and those snotty rich pooches with diamond studded bowls and filet mignon every night…  So you should have no problem finding balcony containment solutions since every dog needs them… or at least, so pit-nutter logic dictates.

There are some disadvantages to leaving a dog loose indoors when you are not home.

• The dog can act destructively, chewing on inappropriate items, getting in the trash, and so on. This can also cause injury to the dog.
• The dog may interact with other household pets, potentially harming them.

Seems pretty normal, right?  Except for the dog injuring itself during destructive acts.  The pitbull is unique in that, when destroying furniture, objects, fences, crates, cages, and so forth… it will rip out its own teeth and nails, suffer deep lacerations, and even strangle themselves to death before they cease their destructive attack.  The only other instances in which non-pitbull and non-pitbull-type dogs come close to doing the same is either when they are infected with rabies, or desperately trying to escape fire/drowning.  Consistent and idiopathic self-mutilation is a pitbull-specific neuroses.
Most dog owners don’t have to concern themselves too much with caged pets or pets with an ‘escape’ (such as a high area or “pet tower” for cats, in which a dog cannot reach) while absent.  But pit owners, by admission, do. More discordance with the “just like other dogs” party line.

In a multi-pet household, dogs should not be allowed to run loose indoors unsupervised. Allowing pets to mingle can result in injury or death. It is not acceptable to allow pit bulls to run loose indoors unsupervised with other dogs due to the risk of dog-aggression.

Other breeds thrive in a “pack environment”.  A dog “just like any other dog” should be fine in a multi-dog household.

“This is true even if your dog seems perfectly fine with the other pets. Dogs are natural predators…”

…predominantly of mice, rabbits, and other small game, and supplement their diets with plant-food as they are omnivores—they do not hunt and consume other dogs or animals large enough and equipped enough (domestic-sized cats) to cause grievous damage. Most domestic dog breeds follow that template.  There’s really no biological compulsion to do otherwise.  It is within fighting breeds that these “natural predator” traits are exaggerated enough to defy sense and sensibility.
Additionally, all this natural, inborn-predatory-nature stuff flies in the face of nutter proclamations that only specifically trained, abused, or neglected pitbulls attack, and that pitbulls are not born with any inherent aggression!
Which is it? “Animals will be animals” or “the animal is a noble and innocent creature until perverted by human hostilities”??  That depends on the situation, to a nutter.  Double-standards heavily at play; if a person is horrifically mauled, the blame is placed upon people—often the victim him/herself, even when facts prove they were not at fault.
 If an animal is horrifically mauled, nutters try to blow it off as “animals will be animals” and “it’s no big deal”, because the life and death of animal matters only when it comes to considering euthanizing a “misunderstood” dangerous/killer pitbull.  THEN it’s something to get upset about and fight against.  Useful, valuable livestock and cherished, “part-of-the-family” pets never matter if a pitbull is in the equation.
Pit nutters play judge-jury-executioner in the realm of which lives should be spared and which should be preserved.  If it’s the animal they champion, fuck all else, includinginnocent and helpless infants, toddlers, children, and senior citizens just sleeping, walking within the vicinity, checking the mail, taking a walk on the sidewalk or other public area,outside the pitbull’s yard/territory/fence, walking home from school, playing in their own front yard, riding their bicycle, riding in a wagon or stroller, hugging their caregiver’s hip, sitting on grandma’s lap, or otherwise existing.  They deserved their death sentence and the pit should live again to maul another day. These animals matter more than any other, including people. So sayeth them (nutters) all.

“…and when you are away from the house, the household dynamics change.”

Unless, you know, they decide to change things right in front of your face.  Or TO your face. http://occupymaulstreet.blogspot.com/2012/12/darwin-dogs-pit-bulls-killing-and.html

The dog will make its own rules.

Translated through human teen-speak: “f*** YOU! I do what I WANT!”
But following YOUR rules is necessary to make possible the great and noble “loyalty” pit nutters brag about.  Spur of the moment idiopathic defiance and intense loyalty do not good bedfellows make.  They are mutually exclusive.  A truly loyal animal would give at least some credence to your “pack law”, not completely ignore/destroy it the moment you step out to take a dump.*
*I mean, according to pit-nutters, any child mauled by a pitbull with a parent outside a four foot radius of presence was horribly neglected and the parent was just asking to have their child destroyed—it’s their fault!! So of course, even though being in the same home, even just a room away, is legitimate cause for explosive canine misbehavior.  Ergo, it’s no stretch—according to nutter logic—that animal misdeeds start (and have started) the moment you step into the john.
 Hell, the nutters blamed the mother of a three-week-old girl partially decapitated by a pitbull.  The mother was IN THE SAME ROOM, but her back was turned. (Disgustingly—but typically enough—the original article penned to skirt knee-jerk nutter rage, misreported that the dog was in the home; it was not, but broke in to get the baby and that the mother had stepped out of the room.)  In a flash, the dog was through the screen door and had the infant’s face shorn into his jaws.*
The mother’s only “crime” was merely not looking squarely at the child when the assault initially started. But, according to nutters, that is enough to excuse a full-fledged violent revolt against “family rule”.  (and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why they are coined “nutters”)
* http://blog.dogsbite.org/2012/10/2012-dog-bite-fatality-pit-bull-kills-3-week-old-detroit-girl.html
As an aside, I strongly encourage you read the included excerpts from Alexandra Semyonova’s scientific journal on canine behavior and breed traits.  This is a credentialed scientist with no affiliation to dogsbite.org nor other pit-awareness sites, but her compelling and objective work is often quoted and shared among them.  Subsequently, she has been open to answering specific questions from these venues, in a journalistic capacity.  Her work precedes, and is neither funded nor directed by either side of the pitbull debate.
This inability to so much as step outside the cloud of re-breathing canine exhalations without inviting catastrophic assault is why the claims of loyalty are beyond ridiculous—they’re beyond feasibility!

It does not take much for a dog to injure or kill another animal. Do you really want to take the risk of coming home to a tragedy?* Remember—an ounce of prevention will save you from a ton of anguish and heartache.

*Apparently this tragedy applies only to animals, because pit lobbyists fiercely oppose that same exact amalgamation of words when it is used in the context of humans and BSL.
That “another animal” should include members of homo-sapiens.  Ounce of prevention… then why such abject hatred and defiance for BSL? …which is all aboutpreventing tragedy!  Or do humans not fall under the umbrella of those that should be protected from vicious attack?  Isn’t that…. SPECIEIST!? (Fraternal twin to “breedism”, the most abhorrent form of “bigotry” to pit-nutters.)

Doors and Baby Gates
Although some dogs do well with these methods of containment, they are usually only effective for puppies, small dogs, calm dogs, and elderly dogs.

i.e. any dog but the pitbull

There are some disadvantages to closed doors and baby gates.

• The dog can destroy objects in the room.
• Dogs have been known to claw at closed doors and the floor under the door… It can cause significant damage to doors and floors.
• Baby gates are easy to jump over or knock down.

i.e. effective for the majority of dogs but not pitbulls, who “are just like any other dog”

Crates should probably be plastic, or in the case of a determined escapee or highly anxious energy dog, metal wire.

Pitbull experts rally around the irrefutable high-energy trait of the breed.  Unless diseased, heavily drugged, or deceased, all pitbulls are high energy dogs.

“…if you’re concerned about cost, its best not to experiment with the mesh. I lost a $150 mesh crate to Dozer after he chewed through the door on the third day…”

Chewing through wire-mesh can be devastating to lips, teeth, and gums.  Most animals willdesist, or decrease the frequency of the orally destructive activity… not continue it with such furor that they eat through wire-mesh in merely three days!  This is a pitbull specificneuroses.  Pain—even unto self-destruction—is never an effective deterrent.

“I believe that daycare is NOT an appropriate option for most pit bulls. This is due to the breed-type’s risk of dog-aggression and the potentially devastating consequences of such behavior…”

A final contradiction to “just like other dogs”, straight from a pitter’s mouth!! [er… pen… er… keyboard… or smartphone… or Dragon software… you know what I mean! right? god I hope so… nutter reading comprehension—lack thereof--has decimated my faith in the literacy of the modern populace]

examples of how pitbulls handle containment methods effective for all those other dogs they're just like:

As a final aside, pitbull attack history revisionism aside, portions of that article make a lot of sense--because it addresses pitbulls for the unique breed it is.  It confirms the canine status quo is not enough, and that pitbull traits require going above and beyond when it comes to containment.  Why is that necessary? Because of those traits.  Those traits are universal among pitbulls.  Ergo, they are an inborn characteristic, just like the animal's defining physique. There is no mention of training a pitbull into accepting lesser containment methods.  There is no specific aim that these containment methods are for problem dogs only.  They are universal, because, as indicated in the article again and again and again... these are just natural factors that must be considered.  Ergo, a powerful counterpoint to the "it's all in how you train them" delusion.