Dog attack (GRAPHIC)

That was not a dog attack. I've seen many dogs attacking with all sorts of intentions and this was not an attacking dog. Grabbing and tugging on a pant leg doesn't constitute an attack and is most certainly a game to lots and lots of dogs, especailly untrained ones. The close up shot of the "bite" to the head was nothing more than being mouthy and playful and being instigated in play by everyone overeacting.

i dont think that looks like a proper attack either. i also have no sound but still.

Buddy's, you can add me to your hubbie's fan club!

And Demetrious, thought you'd like to know, there really ARE underground dog railroads

I think you are putting some human emotions in there. The tail wagging in a dog doesn't have anything to do with "merriment" it is excitement or nervousness. A dog will wag its tail for a whole host of reasons. I have seen dogs wag their tails while being submissive and scared.

Pit Bulls also will throw their tail back and forth for balance like you and I will waive our arms up and down while walking a plank.

That dog was in prey drive. Running around, chasing the boy (biggest mistake when being "attacked" by a dog, running away), tail wagging. And if you notice the dog never grabbed the boy, but the boy's pant leg. Many people mistake play and prey drive as agression. My GSD puppy grabs my pant leg all the time and I can drag him around the house, but does that make him agressive? No.

So dogs can't be merry? Or dogs can't be merry about being aggressive? I didn't say there weren't multiple reasons for a dog to move its tail, I just said that one reason is that the dog enjoys aggression and wags its tail because it's having a good time being aggressive. I disagree that merriment, viciousness and the off-putting combination of the two are singularly human emotions.

But we don't wave our arms wildly unless we're about to fall. A gentle motion that attempts to maintain a steady balance is pretty obviously not the same as the vigorous sweeping motion that we call 'wagging.'

I don't think dogs are "merry" during an attack, I think they are excited but I don't believe it a form of enjoyment. IMHO. Sadistic behavior is mostly a human trait, I sure hope dogs have not gotten that from us.

When a dog is running and diving back and forth the throw their tail back and forth to maintain balance and enhance direction change. There are good reasons why Dog Fighters never dock the tail of their dogs. I have spoken to people who fight dogs (I used to be a correctional officer) trust me on this one.

I think the video is real. Probably because I have seen similar videos where someone was attacked.

It doesnt show the dog being shot because it was edited out. That video was put on a tv show, and they cant show a dog being shot.

The dog bit the boys leg, because that was the closest thing he could get to. Looked like the dog was trying to rip the boys leg off.

At this point it's all a matter of perception and biases. Lets look at this in a different light. Regardless of whether the video is a fake or not, when this kind of thing happens (I'm not making a statement on the frequency at which these things happen I just know that they *have* at some point and *will* again at some point. I'm also not making a statement on the breed and their genetic predisposition (or lack thereof) to be a participant in such an event) where does the blame lie?

My point of view (remember, perception is always shaded by point of view, and bias (which is just the sum of past personal experiences)) is that the sum total of the dogs aggression plus the dogs opportunity plus the lack of apparent control of the situation is entirely on the owner and not the dog.

Lets face it we all, as owners, have to iether shape out pets behavior into something suitable for integration into our world or limit the amount of the world that the dog is exposed to.

The (extenuating circumstances aside) bottom line is that a dog will only ever be a dog. But an owner can be many things, negligent/careless/cruel included. We're sitting around arguing the merrits of the reality of the video as if it needed proof positive one way or another. Which it doesnt. It is what it is.

What really needs addressing is the ignorance of the portion of the general populace who've never raised a dog. They attribute, when seeing something like this (fake or not) the status of visciousness or cruelty to the dog, when they should be attributed to the owner.

Look at it this way... imagine in your mind all of the different types of people who can be drug junkies. Now, again in your mind, pick out the type of person most likely to commit crimes because of their addiction. Imagine that type of junkie, every one of them, caught and removed from society. Does the drug related crim go down? Probably, but not for long as other groups move in to fill the void left by the recently removed group. In another scenario picture removing the drug from the scene altogether. What happens to the drug related crime now?

The dog is the junkie... the owner is the drug (and real root of the problem)

So when they go beserk when we come home, are they just excited and not happy? Basically, do you believe they can be happy, and if they can, why can't that be related to a negative behavior like killing? I'm not saying that dogs are guilty or sadistic in the same way a human would be. But isn't happiness part of what we're talking about when we say that drives or instinct leads a dog to behave in certain ways - to attack other dogs, or to 'point' birds or to herd sheep? I often hear that humans are ultimately responsible for dog behaviors - that we created various breeds which are unusually good at various activities - running or tracking or killing, etc. Well, part of that enhanced physical and instinctual ability is the desire to put extra energy into that particular activity, and part of that desire is the enjoyment of that activity.

If i took away the sound and hadn't read all the other posts here is what i would think...........

When we go to the fields with Bailey and the children, that looked exactly the same as how Bailey plays with my boy.

However when Bailey is upset or scared (can't say aggresive b/c he has never been aggresive) his ears are back and tail between the legs.

Now the sound and Narration do make it look alot worse.

I thought it looked like a family playing with thier dog and then dubbing the clip to make it look like an attack.

Oh and where did that other dog disappear to?
If they were attacking, would one leave the other to attack alone?

Also it looked to me like the dog was pulling on the boys trouser leg (not his leg).

Just my opinion..............

But unless any one of us were there to witness this 1st hand we will really never know.

Greeting, I think that yes they are happy or relieved that the pack leader has returned. I have read a lot of stuff on K9 behavior and most of what I have found is that when you come home they are affirming their submission to you and they are relieved that the provider has returned. Much like young wolves respond when the pack members return.

IMHO, I think they preform their "Natural Duties" because of instinct and training. While they preform these duties it triggers excitement. Does a Lab enjoy fetching....I guess in a sense he dogs, does a pit bull enjoy killing a squirrel, I guess in a the most basic concept of "joy" (Excitement meets satisfaction). They are very excited but I don't think they enjoy it in the same way they enjoy a good belly rub.

I have never understood the appeal of the behaviorist's vision of the world. Observing that some of a dog's behavior around a certain event possibly due to relief at the return of a pack member or leader is one thing; extrapolating that this is the wholeness of the dog's experience, that the emotion we call joy in ourselves cannot exist in the dog, is an awful big leap for a purportedly unbiased branch of science. Alternatively, though, 'excitement meets satisfaction' is one way to describe joy, so maybe we agree despite ourselves.

I think we agree more than either one of us wants to admit

For the video: I have seen dogs attack, and it doesn't look like that. I have seen dogs PLAY too aggressively because of lack of training/assertivness and it looks very similar to that. Chasing excitedly, perhaps even knocking down (My parents bull mastiff has done this to my 5 year old nephew) and maybe even pulling on clothing. (AFV had a video of a poodle ripping a young boys pants off, it was funny when it was a poodle and totally acceptable).

The other thing is that, if my dogs ever attacked a young child I would boot my dog, in the head, in the ribs or any dog for that matter. Not grab the kid and run around like an idiot.

Ok, so who was taping this? They just happened to be at the right spot at the right time? It's happened before but they didn't help? How did the cop show up so quick? Was he even a cop? That's debatable....

Without the sound it barely looks scary to me. As someone mentioned there were 2 dogs at the beginning of the video, where was the other one? Typically if dogs attack they attack together, my analogy: 1 little boy is cute and sweet and polite, get 5 or 6 of them and they'll get into trouble...

I just closely watched it again, the kid isn't limping after... if a pitbull grabbed you and BIT you, a normal adult would be limping....JMO, and the other thing is after the first kid jumps the fence, they show a short clip of the dog, the owner is about 10 feet away, the dog looks placid and calm, why didn't the owner grab the dog??? BECAUSE IT"S A FAKE!!!!

casablanca1 I don't think aggressive dogs enjoy being agressive, I believe they can feel happiness or joy, but when it comes to being violent/aggressive it's usually instinct or something innate. Ex) If a dog growls/attacks because it feels threatened by someone who is yelling/violently waving arms/threatening their owner. Just like people, Ex) If a someone is breaking into your home, and you grab a pipe and hit them in the head because your home/family is threatened, do you enjoy it? Or were you just acting on basic instinct? To protect yourself/loved ones/property?

Well, yes, but that's not the only times dogs (or humans) act aggressively. When I say some dogs enjoy aggression, I'm not talking about a dog who attacks from defensiveness or fear or within an acceptable limit like a guard dog biting a leg as it comes over the windowsill at midnight. I mean dogs who chose to attack despite having a very clear opportunity to simply avoid the situation. The classic example, in my mind, is the dog who sees another dog or a human a block away and charges them; sometimes the victim doesn't even see the dog until it's on top of them, sometimes the victim (if another dog) had barked in that direction. In either case, the attacking dog has no reasonable, sane justification for a violent attack, and yet launches one. It's a bizarre behavior - expends energy uselessly and puts the attacker in danger of being injured - so I'm thinking that either the dog has a biochemical screw loose, or is a physically normal dog whose loose screw is psychological - it enjoys aggression so much, the pleasure of attacking overrides the normal imperative to be cautious.

While that may be true in some cases, I can say that this dog does not suffer from that deranged lust for violent aggression. There is no attack in this video and for it to be passed off as one is almost comical.