This story has been out for a short while, so please bear with me if you’ve heard about it. There are some new-ish developments for Kim Richards, the former child star and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member who allegedly got sober a couple of years ago after her third stint in rehab. Kim has a pitt bull, Kingsley, who has attacked humans in at least five separate incidents. (Only three incidents are detailed here, but reports claim there are five.)
In Kingsley’s latest attack, he injured Kim’s niece so badly that she needed two surgeries on her hand. Kim has half-blamed her niece, Kyle Richards’ daughter Alexia, for the attack, saying that “I already told [my nieces] my room was off limits.” Kim also downplayed the extent of Alexia’s injuries, stating that the first hospital visit was merely to clean the puncture wound on Alexia’s finger.
Back in March, the dog viciously bit one of Kim’s overnight guests, an 80 year-old friend named Kay Rozario. Rozario told Radar online that the attack was unprovoked, that Kim didn’t even tell her she had a dog, and that Kingsley “ripped my hand open down to the tendon..” Disturbingly, Rozario claims that Kim begged her not to report the attack, and quotes Kim as saying “Please don’t say anything. I might lose my show.” TMZ details yet another attack by Kingsley over the summer, but states that animal control cannot get involved until a family member or victim contacts them. As of yet, none of the dog’s victims has called animal control.
After a lot of public and family pressure, Kim is finally doing something about the dog. She’s sent Kingsley to live with a trainer.
“He’s in a good place,” Richards told TMZ on Saturday. “He’s safe and with a trainer.”
But the decision to send her dog away didn’t come easy, despite a total of five reported incidents where Kingsley attacked humans.
“At this point I am looking into options to what the next step is for Kingsley,” Richards, 50, said in a statement received by the New York Post after Kim’s sister, Kyle (who also appears on the show), confirmed that her daughter had been bitten.
“Regarding Alexia: She was attacked by a dog and has to have surgery. As always, she is trying to make the best out of a bad situation. Thank you for your thoughts & well wishes,” Richards posted on Facebook Nov. 4.
Despite the animal’s aggressive behavior, it doesn’t appear that the mom of four – who got the dog to be her companion once her children moved out of the house – has any plans to put him down.
“As many of you can relate, he is my best friend,” says Richards. “This is a very difficult decision and time for all of us, but the safety of my family always comes first.”
I disagree that Kim considers the safety of her family first. If this was the case, she would have sent Kingsley away the first time he bit anyone, not just after the first time he bit a family member. If this was the case she would crate the dog whenever she has guests, or at the least put him on a leash. She has continually coddled and protected that dog without standing up to him, which is how he ended up this way in the first place. I’m not saying it’s all Kim’s fault, I understand that some dogs have that kind of temperament, but she should have addressed it immediately instead of letting it get to this point. I have watched a few episodes of Dog Whisperer (which doesn’t make me an expert, and I understand that Cesar Millan’s methods are controversial) and if you watch the video below, you can see how Kim doesn’t lead that dog or take control of the situation. I get why she doesn’t want to put him down, she loves that dog and he’s protecting her, but Kingsley is her responsibility and he’s gravely injuring people.
Here’s the video from RHOBH in which a trainer visits Kim’s dog. Kim claims the dog has destroyed thousands of dollars of shoes and personal items, but he’s likely attacked people by that pointand she’s not admitting it. Kingsley tries to attack the trainer, who challenges him, leading Kingsley to back down. It’s unclear if this is the same trainer who is housing Kingsley now.
Kim’s Instagram is FULL of photos of Kingsley on her bed, sitting on top of her, getting into her purse, and laying on the furniture. In one video, Kingsley refuses to let her make the bed. She needs to show that dog who is boss.
Oh man…yeah this is on her.
Still, I have such a soft spot for Pits. I just feel so awful for how they are largely treated by our society. Still, this pup seems to have been begging for some sort of discipline for a long time and it sounds like she was just being an irresponsible (lazy?) owner.
The pic of Kingsley with the purse? Oh my god though…so cute.
Pits have the sweetest faces…but boy what we do to them…and then the way they can subsequently turn when abused or even not trained correctly is scary.
Even pit bulls that have been terribly abused can be wonderful, gentle pets – a Michael Vick dog just won an ASPCA dog of the year award for his work as a therapy dog. Many of the Vick dogs were re-homed without incident. So the whole “it’s how you raise them” thing is not strictly true – some pit bulls have endless capacity for forgiveness even after a lifetime of abuse. Then you get one like this that has been spoiled rotten and become aggressive. I know not all dogs can be saved but she clearly has not disciplined this dog at all even after it attacked people, it has no concept of right or wrong. Her attitude is all wrong and she should not own such a powerful dog if she is unwilling to put in the work to keep him and everyone else safe.
In this case…it’s her fault. Look at the pics with them together. It might seem cute and cuddly, but the dog clearly shows his dominance (which he is also showing by laying on her stuff). When a dog towers over you like that, it means he’s parlty dominant though he really doesn’t want to be, partly insecure. Both feelings result in frustration and subsequently aggression. He has no idea how far OR if he can trust her as a leader, so he takes the wheel and starts to “guard” and “control” and “correct” other people who he thinks are beneath him (pack order). Dogs need proper training and always need to know who’s the pack leader. If she doesn’t rise to the occasion, he will. And that means business. That this dog is a Pit is pure coincidence, it could be any other breed (at least ones that don’t tend to be submissive in nature).
@mrsdarcy I think it’s true that how an animal is affected by abuse depends on the animal. And dogs are like people in that some are prone to be more aggressive and abuse will bring that out more, and some are timid and submissive and abuse will bring that out more as well.
Our pit lab mix was a rescue, a year and a half old when we got him (11 now) and we definitely think he suffered abuse. He is terrified still of anything long and thin like the broombroom or mop, yelps when his ears are touched like he’s scared of getting them tugged, and never EVER barks. I’ve heard him bark less than ten times. He’s better now and less scared about his ears, but still very submissive. Around other dogs he had no idea about dominance in the least. Since having our now toddler daughter, he’s taken lots of “abuse” from her, and the most I’ve seen him do is get up and leave when she’s attempting to climb him. I always watch because I know she could hurt him possibly, but whether she’s pulling his tail with all her weight or laying on him (like right now lol) I just see a look from him that says, “help me please?” She’s only heard him bark once. He is the most gentle and patient dog I’ve ever seen in my life, and the dog that made me a dog person. I fully trust him to not snap, it’s not in his nature, but don’t trust her because she’s crazy and 2! Bit I think like people, it’s in the individual’s personality, and just magnified when abused.
Totally agree w/ Lilo. You have to be strong and in control with most Pitties, if not they will take control. She should of call Cesar Milan when KIngsley was a pup ( I remember from the show that she had no control over him).
This IS her fault – dogs (all dogs, but especially larger breeds) need to be trained. Also, as an owner you have a responsibility to take actions that keep everyone safe – people and animal. I have a rescue “bully breed mix” and she is not stranger friendly. She is kennel trained and when ANYONE she is not super comfortable with is in my home she is kenneled, and ANY CHILDREN in my home means she is kenneled the entire visit. She has never been aggressive with kids or gone after anyone, but I know she is uncomfortable and that little people can be unpredictable (hugging, kissing, laughing, poking – all things that may be okay with pets at home, but shouldn’t happen with unknown animals.) I care about my visitors and my dog is my bestie, and because of that I take extra steps. She should have as well. Simply putting him in a room that could be opened isn’t good enough – kennel, lock the door – you have to think that kids or guest may get confused or forget or ignore.
COSIGN this 100 times!
You are responsible for your dog
Exactly! If only ALL dog owners were as responsible as you are!
So crazy that people go through this just for an animal. Not downplaying the role animals play or their importance, but to have to do all this for fear of the grave, or even deadly, consequences if there’s one misstep? Insane these creatures are allowed in society. Honestly, having to LOCK away an animal for fear of what it may do to other animals, children, adults? No other animal with this kind of unpredictability, temperament, and ability to do such damage would be tolerated! Gah, dog people are nuts. I loathe that these animals are allowed to be kept as pets.
Well, Sam, as one of those “nuts” dog people (with a pit bull) it should go without saying that any animal can be violent, and it can almost always be dealt with appropriately. Exercise them, train them, give them attention, and don’t let them off leash in inappropriate areas. Know your dog’s temperment and make accommodations, because just like with our human children, we don’t get to force a certain personality on our dogs. If what you meant to say was, all people who own dogs should take these measures with their animals and keep them (and other people) safe, I agree. If that’s not what you meant… go pound sand, because my dog and I are not the problem.
@SteaminSam, I loathe your attitude. I suppose you support breed banning. It’s attitudes like yours that force Detroit to euthanize baby pitbulls whose tails are wagging as they die – simply for their breed. Gah, dog haters are nuts. I loathe that this attitude exists.
Sam,
In my state in Australia (NSW) there have been so many attacks – several resulting in death – by these dogs that strict laws now apply under our Companion Animals Act. This breed, and at least three others, have been listed as “Restricted Breeds”. Owners are not permitted to breed or sell such dogs, and must comply with a long list of rules under which they can keep these dogs. These laws were a long time coming, and tragically, several people were killed by these dogs before complaints about them were finally taken seriously.
http://www.lawsociety.com.au/cs/groups/public/documents/internetyounglawyers/420246.pdf
I agree that a lot of people go way over the top about their dogs, even though I’m a responsible dog owner.
Bored. They would be better off banning stupid people who shouldn’t have dogs in the first place.
I have been a victim of a two dog attack by a so called “dangerous breed,” and I don’t blame the dogs. I blame their dumbass owner for allowing them to run loose in our neighborhood, and failing to train them because “they’re so nice.” Don’t blame the dogs, blame the morons who don’t understand that dogs aren’t people and aren’t going to be predictable in every situation.
As much as I love dogs and feel for pit bulls and feel I am competent as a pet owner, I wouldn’t even trust myself with a Pit Bull. I would be so afraid of letting it down and letting it into a situation where it could be destroyed because of panic or aggression due me as the owner putting them in a situation where their instinct or ‘training’ took over.
it’s almost never the dogs fault.
I’ve heard horror stories and I’ve heard the happiest of stories but the huge difference in the stories is the owners.
I know you want to believe your Pit Bull is perfect and ‘survived’ whatever situation you may have saved them from by adopting them without being scarred or affected psychologically, but you never know. And to let your guard down and act like it’s just a beagle or a lab you raised from a puppy is wrong. You have to advocate for your dog, always, but ESPECIALLY when you have a breed that is known for aggression or being unpredictable or you know what kind of situation your dog comes from.
Most pit bull owners shouldn’t be pit bull owners. It would do the breed a favor if people would put more thought into the actual work it takes to have a rescued one as a pet successfully. If that means you can’t have people over, or take them to public events and costs you money in training and uses up your time because you have to constantly make sure they know you’re the alpha, then so be it. If you don’t want a dog like that, consider another breed.
I completely agree but I think people go into it with the best intentions. The shelters in Boston are positively OVERRUN with pit bulls. Good-natured and caring people think they can adopt a pit and with enough love, change it’s temperament, but it doesn’t always work out like that.
At our local Animal Rescue League the pit bulls are “retrained” for immersion back into society. If they cannot comply or are deemed “un-trainable” then they are usually put down. We’ve had pit bulls that were brought back to the shelter after biting their new owners within days of getting adopted. It’s heartbreaking but an imperative to put them down if they are a danger to society.
Amen.
When I realized that my girl was never going to just be a happy go lucky, take me to the dog park kind of dog I as worried that I was doing something wrong. The truth is that by controlling her exposers and keeping my guest and neighbors safe I am being the best bully advocate that I could be. She is an awesome dog, she loves me and my partner and our children and our other animals – but she is NOT a dog that should be roaming the streets, visiting with elderly or anything like that.
We took over a year to get comfortable enough to leave her unkenneled in the house with our other animals, my children are 12 and 10 and we have and older catahoula rescue as well. When we got him we talk with the kids intensely about animal safety and how to respect their space. They are not allowed to kiss or hug either dog in a situation where they could be face to face. When we rescued the bully mix I explained the new dynamic in that she doesn’t get a second strike, so following our rules was extra important not only to keep them safe but to keep her alive.
It is much bigger than save a large breed dog and continue, your life changes. Education and understanding is SO important.
Shelters in many city areas are overrun with pits. A shelter near me started labeling them as lab mixes, but they look like pits.
I was attacked by a pit. The family visiting with their pit to play with my roommates dog. (the sweetest rotterman!). The pit was a high risk rescue. He didn’t harm his adopted family though, but they gave him space.
Anyways the pit jumped to my lap and put his face next to mine. I froze the moment I took a breath he bit my nose/cheekbone and locked down. I didn’t report since the owners responded quickly (and were friends of mine). Dog later attacked a small child. Not sure what happened.
If a pit or any dog really shows a tendency to be violent? Or is you need to keep that dog in a closed off room in case it could harm someone you need to stop ignoring the issue. She’s a selfish owner.
Sonja
“Education and understanding is SO important.” Fully agree.
That could be said for any breed or any rescue dog. To single out pits as these crazy unpredictable pets makes me antsy, there are so many of them out there and so many of them are owned for the wrong reasons of course they’re going to be overrepresented in the attack stats. Anyone getting any kind of dog needs education and training on ownership, not just for pits.
This is definitely on her, all on her and that’s because she’s a bloody idiot. In every picture above that has both Kim and the dog, she’s allowing the dog to be in a dominant position.
I watched the first season and part of the second of RHOBH, and this woman is such a mess that she’s one of the last people who should have a pit bull or any animal that needs someone in control, because she’s not really in control of herself or her own actions — that’s apparent from the level of denial about the dog attack and blaming others for it. If she wants a pet, she should stick to a cat, she really can’t handle anything else.
+1 & 1,000 percent.
I used to watch the show, and when that dog was a puppy, I said this is going to be a disaster. Kim knows NOTHING about owning a dog, nothing about training or discipline. Whenever the puppy bit her or jumped on her she would just scream at it or say in a baby voice “bad, bad puppy!” That poor dog is only one of the pair with a brain and he knows it, so he’s trying to be the leader. She had no business getting a pit bull. Idiot.
A strong dog needs a strong owner…pits can be wonderful dogs and incredibly loving, but they need an owner who can provide them with consistent discipline.
I’m thinking that this particular individual would be better off with a beagle, or no dog at all.
I’ve seen fantastic pits. Because th owners are on top of monitoring them. They attack something, growl, show or attempt to dominate? The owner acts. Great you want a pit. They’re misunderstood animals. Just be prepared to not treat them like they’re still puppies,
I just had to put my pit down in August. He was 14, had cancer, could no longer walk or control his bowels. He was a wonderful family dog because he was trained well. We rescued him from a situation where a bunch of guys were buying him to keep with their other fighting dogs in an abandoned row home in Camden, NJ (the most dangerous city in America). We immediately established dominance and there was never a moment where I didn’t trust him around my kids or cat. Any dog is capable of biting. Judge the deed, not the breed. RIP Paxton.
I can’t believe she’s letting him sit on top of her! The dog thinks she’s his property! Unbelievable. It should be forbidden that people without knowledge own pitbulls. Like Cesar Millan says – a dog is not your friend until he realizes that you are in charge.
I think Kim’s previous dog was a golden, which you only have to look sidewise at and they feel reprimanded. This is not a good dog for Kim, but she did not choose him. It was her daughter’s dog and her daughter moved out. Kim has latched on to this dog because most of her children are gone and she seems to think he’s a symbol of her sobriety. He should be re-homed after he’s completed his rehab with the trainer. Kingsley already visited a trainer and came back well-behaved. It’s not the dog, it’s the human.
I like doggies, but after one attack, it would be worm food.
I love dogs but this one is dangerous even if as usual it’s not its fault and it should be put down. Sorry, sad but necessary.
i love dogs, and grew up with dogs, pit bulls included. having said that, any dog the repeatedly (like – more than once) attacks a human or another animal needs to go.
I love dogs as well and have had many over the years. I had one dog who was trained and loving on an ordinary day. Over time he began to develop aggressive tendencies despite our best efforts to control him. The day he bit my toddler son (at the time) on the face I immediately turned him over to a shelter. I couldn’t have an aggressive dog in my home that bit one of his family members. I just couldn’t trust him anymore. It broke all of our hearts to have to take him to the shelter but I will never regret my decision. However, It still breaks our heart to this day. I never thought I would have another dog after that but many years later I decided to adopt a rescue. She is by far the best dog I’ve ever had. Kim needs to face some hard decisions even if they break her heart.
I love dogs but part of me is terrified by them!! Read about one sweet lab who never hurt a fly for years and then had a nightmare while sleeping in bed with owner and panicked and tore owner’s face off.
The son of my boss has been attacked by his hunting dog when he was young.He had about ten of stichs on his face.His son thouched the dog’s full box when it happened.The dog never was mean before that
Is that duct tape on the dang furniture?! Thats ridiculous.
a dog who attacked once will again attack ( sadly)
I think that it really depends on “attack” this dog is big and could hurt people easily by being too rough, the biggest issue is that she does NOTHING to contain his behavior or burn off his energy. (I bring this up because it seems to be hands that he gets and MANY dogs who are not trained, or are played with incorrectly, will bite hands and feet, a behavior people think is funny/cute when small can be awful when BIG.) I have a rescue catahoula who gets VERY carried away in the kitchen and has on two occasions gotten my hand – while there was no malice it would still be “correct” to say he bit me. HOWEVER, instead of letting it continue we changed our behavior. He is not given treats in any room but the living room, and only if he sits pretty and stays. He is also no longer allowed to be in the kitchen unless he is laying on his mat.
Clearly not all dog attacks are the humans fault, but many can be tempered by people actually thinking beyond how cute a puppy will be and into the full scope of the dog they are adopting. Big dogs need more training and precautions because simply their size makes the damage they can do more detrimental.
I agree. There’s a difference between a fearful dog biting thinking it has no choice, and a dog who bites out of just aggression.
My parents 100lb lab, golden, and shepherd mix was in a dead sleep once (sweetest, most emotional dog I’ve ever encountered) and I pet her head and she woke up, scared and clasped my hand. Not hard, didn’t bruise or cut skin, but it hurt. She immediately looked up at me, my hand still in her mouth and just had the most horrified ‘expression’ a dog could muster. She immediately dropped it, and tried to meld into my side and licked it, wimpering. I didn’t discipline, I didn’t growl at her. It was an honest mistake on her part. Has never bit anyone else before, or since.
Erinn – NEVER interacting with a sleeping animal is one of our rules in our house. The dogs sleep with us, but that is different. When they are in bed with us they don’t sleep the same and are aware of where they are. But when they knock out in their kennels it is a dead man sleep – and I have drilled the kids to talk to them and wake them that way instead of touching or shaking. Same if they are on their blanket on the floor. When our second rescue was still new one of the cats jumped and landed on her in her sleep. She woke up, screamed and snapped in one full movement. She got the cat but thankfully did no damage (in fact the cat did more with her nails when she landed on the dog.) Still, because she was new to our home and getting used to the activity in our home I began kenneling anytime she went to sleep. So if she was on the couch and fell asleep I would wake her and send her to her kennel (open door) to nap. Now, two years later, she does sleep in the house for light napping and she doesn’t react to anything but when she wants to really snore away she kennels herself.
I took care of a little girl just out of surgery for a dog bite to the face. As soon as she woke up she started crying and said – “I think I hurt my dog!”. It was heartbreaking. She told me the dog was laying on the floor, and she and her sister were wrestling, which caused her to fall on the dog who reflexively bit. She was more concerned for her dog than herself.
That actually is not true. But humans MUST know that any animal can bite. They’re not humans, they can’t control their impulses and emotions and instincts the same way humans do. If we can’t manage our own selves every single time, why would we assume animals can?
Kim is an idiot and a junkie. She has no business owning and living with a pitbull.
Im not going to talk about pitbulls in general, but who keeps a tempermental dog that they cant control? It could have been any dog, once it starts attacking people it needs to go. I would sue anyone that owns a dog that bit me.
I completely agree with everything you said, except that she shouldn’t even have a teacup yorkie, much less a large and potentially aggressive breed, because she is still so f#@&ed up in the head that she anthropomorphizes him into a substitute partner and lets him dominate her.
IMO she still displays user behaviors. Sad.
Right. Kim is still messed up in her head and the help she needs cant be fixed with a dog. I watch the show and she has no control over that dog whatsoever. When is she going to realize he is dangerous, when he rips someones throat out?
I love animals but I would never allow any pet of mine to destroy all my furniture and shoes. It just shows Kim’s mindspace at the moment, its like she is just floating by in life and nothing at all matters to her. She takes nothing seriously at all.
UGH a little off topic here, but that’s also something that really bothers me about dogs. Untrained, aggressive LITTLE dogs. Their owners think it’s cute, but it is not! It is no different than a large dog acting the same way. My friend has two very little dogs, and they aren’t aggressive in the least, but when “new” people are over visiting at my friends, the dogs are crawling all over them wanting attention. She thinks it’s cute, but it is irritating! How is it any different than a big dog doing the same thing? A misbehaved pet is a misbehaved pet. I am an animal lover and pet owner, but sometimes pet owners need to realize that just because they think their pets are cute and adorable, doesn’t mean everyone else thinks the same way.
@ littlestar,
I agree about tiny dogs being aggressive. I once roomed with someone who had three chihuahuas, and boy, were they ever ankle biters- just snarling little curs- to new people. Yikes…I like dogs- I grew up with many types of large breed dogs (mostly hunting dogs), and some crazy small terrriers, but a nasty pooch is a nasty pooch. I
No amount of training is going to stop this dog from biting again. It’s instinct is stronger than what humans can do to prevent the behavior. Having a bad owner makes it even worse. This dog needs to be euthanized. Biting five people is completely unacceptable.
*standing ovation*
@littlestar, my friend has 2 cocker spaniels and I went over to visit her with my 9 week old baby (who she asked me to bring) and these dogs were jealous and aggressive when my friend held the baby (jumping up and snapping at his feet, snagging the blanket and pulling etc.) she just laughed about how cute it was hat they were jealous and kneeled down to let them see him! I near lost of because those little sh*ts were growling and jumping as she bent down. I snatched the baby from her hands and told her she needed to crate those dogs if she wanted me to stay!
I’ve seen Cesar Millan train far worse dogs than this one, it backed off completely when the trainer stood up to it in the video. With the right training and an owner willing to reinforce it would probably be fine. But Kim’s attitude is all wrong and she should not be responsible for this animal.
srry for my late reply (just left work) but some small dogs are the worst! They bark nonstop with their annoying high pitch shrill barking! Its like they have to bark at everything and everyone. A large dog will not even look at you until you get in his personal space,but the tiny ones!? Ugh.
Omg ! I don’t watch any of the housewives shows so i googled her when you mentioned she was a child star and holy cow!!! I had no idea this was that actress!!! I vividly remember her com movies and tv. What has she done to her face? Now I kinda want to watch. lol
I started watching the Law and Order series about a month ago. I’m halfway through 2001. I just found out yesterday that Mariska Hargitay’s mother was Jayne Mansfield. No wonder Mariska is so pretty.
It’s appalling. We had a miniature dachshund who was aggressive and we made VERY sure that he was locked up when strangers were around and that people wouldn’t try to pet him when he was being walked. He recently died of Leukemia and it was devastating but when he was alive, we even avoided having people over because of his temperament, and this was a 10 pound dog. Kim’s dog has bitten before and the fact that she would put the comfort of her dog before the safety of those around her is incredibly irresponsible.
THANK YOU! You are an awesome small dog owner. Many people with small dogs think it’s okay because they can’t really hurt anything. YOU ROCK!!!!!
I must agree with Sonya. Lots of small dog owners in my area don’t discipline their dogs for aggressive behavior. Worse, some encourage it.
I have a 12-year-old cat. He has had a problem with small children since he was about 4 weeks old. I don’t know why, he has never been hurt by one, his dislike was almost instinctive. I put him away when children are around. I always have. I don’t know what his problem with children is but he is not going to get the chance to hurt one.
Your cat is reacting to the fact that children are loud (laughing, talking, crying) young children move erratically (bouncing, running, falling over) and are full of energy and unpredictable. Not really the kids fault, but those things put MANY animals into an uncomfortable place, even more if they are not living in a house with kids. You are doing the absolute best thing by removing him both for the safety of the children, but also his health as cats tend to be more stress sensitive than dogs.
You did the right thing, you’re looking out for the children as well as your cat. I used to have a cat who was so loveable that children always wanted her. Then they would keep her because she was too sweet to struggle to get away. I would have to be on the lookout to rescue her.
This isn’t on the dog, its on the owner. If Kim really loved that dog she would have taken care of him properly, and that includes making sure that he was safe for others to be around.
I want to like and promote this comment. All the way. As the person in the family, she’s got to be the alpha. She HAS to be in charge. She clearly hasn’t been in a long while. I have a Rott and also and Shepherd, and my Rott is sweet as pie. My Shepherd is a cranky ol’ lady who needs her space from dogs who are not her “brudder”. They both know that I am in charge. They know what I say goes. I sometimes let them sleep on the couch, but they know when company is over, they stay on the floor. With any dog, their person has got to be a good, confident and consistent leader.
The saying goes, Don’t have more dog than you can handle. This woman has way too much dog for her.
I have a rescue, a dog who’s breed could best be described as “from indiscriminate origin” and he turned out to be one big pile of neuroses when we brought him home. We were totally unprepared for a dog that was terrified of EVERYTHING (stairs, doors, hardwood floors, vacuums, you name it, he had to get over a fear of it) and was so terrified of being crated that we had to just take him everywhere or leave him in dog daycare. He was a lot of work, and he wasn’t even aggressive. I think of Kim Richards, who can barely even take care of herself making a commitment like that… and its not a shock that things didnt end well with her dog.
+1
I’ve believed it for awhile now, but a lot of people who own dogs…just shouldn’t.
and MOST people who own pit bulls….SHOULDN’T.
I have nothing against the breed, in fact, I believe it’s a human problem, not a breed problem.
That being said, there are some dogs that just can’t be rehabilitated, which is the saddest thing in the wrold. In fighting rings and situations, they are put down immediately at the first sign of people aggression. They are bred to be dog-aggressive, which, again, they shouldn’t be and humans who do this should also be put down (IMPO).
There are some that come from really horrible places and end up OK, as long as they have a strong, confident, competent owner to watch them and advocate for them. They need humans, even if they can never be with strangers or other dogs, at least they have a safe home where their owners are making sure they don’t even get the opportunity to harm someone out of instinct/fear (ahem, “that room is off limits because my dog can’t control itself, but its your fault if you go in there”…that’s unacceptable to me). This lady is clearly not a good pit bull owner.
It’s a shame, because it’s not doing anything to help this breed get out of the hole it’s been put in my assh*le people who breed them for fighting.
Last week, I met a young woman at a vet’s office who was a huge pit bull advocate. She was waiting to see the vet with a young pit who had puppies three weeks ago. Her dog was beautiful and friendly — and had been a bait dog prior to being rescued.
My conversation with her was enlightening and a distraction from my own sad reason for being there (my dying chow mix of 14 years had to be put to sleep). I admired her dedication and commitment to helping abandoned pits.
So many breeds get a bad rap. My chow mix was a smart, loyal, sweet boy. I had people comment as if he must be mean because he was part chow, which simply was not true.
Christin, I’m so, so sorry for your loss. It sounds like he had a long and loving life, and it ended peacefully, so you should be proud you were able to give that to him.
I hope this isn’t insensitive, and please forgive me if it is — but maybe someday, you’ll be able to rescue a pit or another chow, in honor of your dog and the dog you met because of him.
Thank you for your kind words. He had hip dysplasia, but lived a happy life until the last three weeks when his body began rapidly failing. I rescued an abused Great Pyr last year, and my chow loved him and his other Lab brother.
I do hope to adopt another dog someday. My little guy was a shelter puppy and he brought lots of joy. The best tribute to him is to help another.
.Sincere condolences, Christin. There is no pain like the loss of your dog.
@LadyD – Thank you. It is painful to lose him, but I’m so glad we found each other. Maybe dogs don’t live long lives so we can have the opportunity to help more of them along the way.
I’ve always had dogs. I have two now. One a chihuahua mix who may be Hitler reincarnated, and a gentle mountain cur that hunts with my husband. They’re both good dogs, but from time to time we do have to assert ourselves as the alpha animals. My big dog will sometimes bark at me when I try to make the bed, and I make his ass get down and I don’t stop what I’m doing. And there’s other ways to assert yourself with making sure they know you are where food comes from, etc. The tiny dog thinks he’s going to stage a coup and take over the world. But he’s small enough to just pick up and stop his world domination. But if you don’t do those things, the animals will run all over you and be dangerous.
Your tiny dog has the Napoleon complex
My daughter has a yorkie – rat terrier mix along with her pit and the yorkie is the alpha dog of the two!! She thinks she’s the bomb and will go barking at all the big dogs in the neighborhood, but turns tail if they even look at her funny!!!
Any dog is capable of harming or attacking. The bred is not the issue. Yes pit bulls are dangerous but I also know labs that are. She is too weak an codependent to own a dog like that. She can’t even be her own boss let alone the boss of a pit bull. She’s an idiot. Hopefully the dog will get the training he needs. And she should have dealt with the issue the FIRST time, not the fifth. My God, the dog could have killed someone. And I am not judging the breed. Clearly he is a just an animal in need of rigid discipline and an alpha owner. She is too dense to handle it.
My neighbor’s lab bit my grandson when he was two. This was a dog that knew my grandchildren and let them pet him all the time and I would have never thought he would bite one of them.
I am NOT blaming your grandson at all, but often when this happens with a dog they know and have interacted safely with it is a simple case of a child being a child. Children are loud (laughing, talking, crying) young children move erratically (bouncing, running, falling over) and are full of energy. Sometimes a dog that is otherwise sweet is caught off guard, having a bad day or (often) having a medical issue the humans don’t know about. Tender ears due to mild infection or sore skin due to scratching can make them react. Due to their size it winds up being bad for the baby.
This is why I cringe when I see pictures of people putting their newborns right next to, or snuggled in paws of any dog (especially the larger breeds.)
agree with everything you said, Sonya.
i’m so very interested in reading these comments to learn from my fellow CB followers whose insight i always find enlightening!
i, too, love all animals, dogs included, although i did not grow up with dogs.
i rescued a badly abused dog who was most likely used as a bait dog.
he came with all sorts of issues…terribly afraid of anything that moved around him, barked insessantly, separation anxiety, chomping, pulling on walks.
a MESS.
it took nearly 2 years to get him to a point where he trusted us and follows our lead.
it was exhausting, but well worth it.
still, i would NEVER trust him around children.
not because he is aggressive, but he’s so frightened, still, in new situations with new people.
i’ve never understood how dog owners leave their children unattended around any dog.
i used to think that my lack of knowledge and experience was why i couldn’t do it, but i think now that many people simply aren’t responsible enough…and when i see pics of babies/children cuddling dogs, especially large ones, i crindge.
i’m please to read that i am not the only one.
Hell the only dog that ever bit me was a Golden Retriever when I was on my paper route as a kid.
This dog was vicious and I used to run away from the house as fast as I could after dropping the newspaper by the front door because the dog was always up against the glass, barking and bearing his teeth. One day he got loose and ran after me on my bike and bit my calf.
Just to say, even the most benign of dog breeds can be aggressive if not properly trained.
I agree with Sonya, sometimes dogs that have never bitten before will all of a sudden bite a child, and people are quick to blame the dog. Children also need to be taught dog safety and that they shouldn’t maul, pull tails and ears, and hit dogs, because the dog can turn on them if they are hurting or feeling threatened, especially if it is with someone they don’t know.
I work in a shelter that rescues dogs from county death rows. When I first started, I was surprised to learn that most of these people fear the littlest dogs. In fact, all of our red-collar dogs (known biters) were little dogs. I would actually have to leash the dogs for these people. A little Min-Pin named Monty was the tiny terror. He never gave me a problem because I showed no fear. I no longer make fun of them, because I was attacked by a dog for the first time. It was a long-haired Chihuahua and he was frightened by a bigger dog barking, and I was restraining him to take the leash off – he got me good, and I almost passed out. Big eye opener.
Two of my daughters have pit bulls. They are chewers and can destroy things quickly – especiallly as puppies. My one daughter just rescued her pit at 6 months and they kennel him when they are not home because he is such a chewer. The other pit is the sweetest thing that can be. Pit bulls like many dogs need exercise – especially larger dogs. So if she has him in an apartment and not taking him out every day for a good walk then he has a lot of pent up energy.
She probably never had him properly trained ( don’t know the backstory) but large breeds need proper training. Some dogs do have aggression issues and that exists in many breeds, not just in Pitts. The first attack she really needed to seek help.
That picture where he’s licking her? Dead giveaway of who’s in charge.
I know people think that those are kisses, but they are not; its a very telling sign of dominance. For dogs, this means Hey you, I’m in charge of you; look how close I am to your throat.
It’s not just the dog licking her, it’s how he places his paw across her that I find troubling. And she’s doing nothing to correct it.
That picture disturbs me immensely. It’s clear that he’s dominating her and considers her his property…. he’s holding her down in that chair! What an imbecile. I have a 120lb. Alaskan Malamute who outweighs me by at least 10lbs. and he damn sure knows that I’m the boss. Good lord, I can only imagine trying to handle him if I didn’t establish dominance…. he’d be a nightmare and it would be extremely unsafe for me, the dog & everyone else. I sincerely hope Kingsley can be rehabilitated since it’s the idiot’s fault he’s acting like this…
Huh that’s so interesting as I have a VERY submissive Half Rotti and she never tries to lick my face. I always thought she just knew I didn’t like it. She does sneak in the odd hand lick once every few months though haha. She is such a well-trained, excellent behaved girl. It really upsets and angers me when people don’t train their dogs. It scares me because I have kids and I worry about these untrained dogs that will bite. My dog has accidentally been hit very hard in the head by the kids with toys (not on purpose) and she very calmly will leave the room or just makes a surprised expression but she NEVER has even snapped or anything. Poor thing got whacked with a transformer toy the other day *cringe*. I do my best to protect her but sometimes accidents happen so fast. I just cannot imagine having a known aggressive dog and doing NOTHING about it. Shocking!
“Please don’t say anything. I might lose my show.”
Seriously?! If that’s true, her first concern was her image/income and not the LIFE of her dog. My cousin has a dog who snapped at her — it never happened before, and hasn’t happened again, and there were extenuating circumstances — and bit her face. She was covered in blood and sobbing, but we eventually realized she didn’t even know how bad it was, and couldn’t feel it yet; she was just afraid her dog would be put down. Because she loves her dog so much.
Not to mention, this going to give people more justification to fear pit bulls, when really it sounds like this woman completely neglected her dog’s behavioral issues. They usually stem from fear and insecurity, not pure aggression, and if he was locked in a room all the time and people didn’t even know she HAD a dog? That poor, poor thing.
I hope this trainer can finally break through and show the dog what love and discipline look like.
I don’t want to be around Pitbulls, they freak me out, too many horror stories. My nephew is a police officer and one charged at him on the street, unprovoked and injured his arm….and A friend of mine was found passed out in shock in her kitchen as her boyfriends pitbull was biting her chest and shoulder. I will NEVER trust pitbulls no matter how much an owner guarantees me, the dog is trained and non violent. Screw that….I won’t go to a house where pitbulls are and the children in our family are NOT allowed to go to the homes of people who have them.
Don’t trust them ,never will.
If you’re so worried about your children being bitten by a dog, don’t be around ANY dogs then, because pit bulls aren’t the only dogs that bite – breeds that are traditionally “family” dogs like labs and shepherd are statistically responsible for a lot of dog bites as well. In fact, the likelihood of an attack has way more to do with the owner than the dog breed – you’re more likely to be bitten by a dog that is male, is intact, and spends it’s day chained. And guess what? The types of owners that would do that are simply more likely to get a ‘masculine’ breed like a pit. For the most part, its the owner, not the dog breed.
+1.
We do tend to keep them away from most homes with the bigger dogs anyway.
I will never be convinced Pitbulls are safe. I also had a neighbor who had to grab her pit in mid air as it was going for pouncing on her few month old baby. She was told the pit would get use to the baby as part of the family and after a few months,they assumed the dog was use to baby,….one day it grrr,gritted and pounced dirctly at her child…..a baby…..thank god she was within reach and grabbed the dog mid air. They no longer have the dog, took it to a farm, a lady who cares for dogs.
NO thanks…..no Pitbulls for me…,I will never like them or want them or want them anywhere near.
Don’t like them, don’t trust them, don’t believe they are safe and I don’t believe all of it is an owners fault. The dog who jumped on my nephew police officer had no connection to him, was not provoked but went for attack.
I’m sincerely not trying to be rude here, but again – this is stuff that’s the owners, not the dogs.
1) some dogs simply aren’t appropriate for families with small children – some pits can be like this (though remember that pit bull is actually a catch-all phrase for several breeds, so its hard to make blanket statements). High strung dogs tend to do badly around children, like Weimeraners, greyhounds, etc. Hell, my in-laws had a corgi that continually snapped at their children. While you’ll always have someone or other that will tell you that they had [fill in the blank] breed as a kid and it was just fine, its important to do your research when getting a dog for the right animal that fits your family now and in the future. Because again, some dogs simply don’t mix with children.
And 2) of course your police officer friend was attacked by a dog that didnt know him. And again, chances are that dog attacked him not because it was a crappy breed but because it had crappy owners that didnt care for it appropriately.
To add 3) Some dogs are awesome. My sweet boy (who’s a wiry 55-60 pounds) used to sleep under my son’s crib when we were out, to make sure he was safe, even when the babysitter was someone he knew well and liked very much. He’s also well cared for and well exercised. Dogs can make fabulous additions to families, but people need to make sure they get the appropriate dog for their family. Don’t get an Aussie shepherd if you live in a tiny apartment and can’t get out a lot. Don’t get a chihuahua if you plan on having a baby any time soon. Don’t get a husky if you don’t want to have to clean up dog hair all the time.
A pit bull “bite” tends to be VERY different from other dog bites. Pit bulls are much more likely to grab, shake, and tear, rather than grab and release as most dogs would. The wounds they inflict have been quite reasonably compared to bear, lion, and shark attacks. Regardless of how it is raised, owning one is not worth the risk, IMO.
I will also say, of the most terrifying dogs I know, not a single one is a pit and in fa c the 2 worst are a doodle and collie. My parents’ neighborhood have 4-5 dogs at a time and allow them to just roam (they’re in the country so there’s not a lot of neighbors or cars). And these dogs have gradually gotten more and more vicious – I worry that if I were to take my dog to where we’re not fenced in that they would literally rip him to shreds. One of them has actually taken down a faun. And you know why? Because the owner doesn’t train them at all.
I came close to being mauled, or worse, by a loose pit bull. I was walking in an area where there are no sidewalks, looked over, and saw a pit pull standing in a front yard and thought to myself, ‘I hope he doesn’t come running over.’ Instantly, he ran toward me and started snapping his jaws and charging closer and closer on two legs, trapping me up against a parked car. I thought I was going to be killed. Luckily, a car turned down the street and the driver started honking the horn, and the dog backed off and I was able to get away. Now, whenever I go walking I carry pepper spray. I honestly don’t know why anyone would want to own a pit bull when they are obviously dangerous animals as I did nothing to incite the reaction I got from that dog.
Horrible.
Yikes, thank goodness you weren’t hurt.
I’ve been bitten more by smaller dogs than large dogs. Cocker Spaniels, yorkie mixes. And the reasoning is often the owners. Owners of small dogs tend (not always) to think that when they ‘act like a big dog’ it’s funny, and they get away with dominating, and aggression a larger dog wouldn’t get away with. They don’t see the signs of dominance because the dog is so small.
I think really, instead of just blocking one breed – make sure your kids know that they shouldn’t trust ANY strange dog. Teach them to respect boundaries of dogs. Don’t ever put their face up to a dog, no matter if it’s a lab, or a poodle, or a pit. Don’t pull on the dog. Don’t rush at a dog. Just general safety tips – because I worry that people who put a focus on certain breeds, tend to not realize that a dachshund, or a yorkie can still do quite a bit of damage to a kids face.
Jack sparrow, I wouldn’t advise pepper spraying a pit. Mine got loose and approached the mail man in a friendly manner and the mailman emptied a bottle of pepper spray on my dog who was unaffected. Had he been aggressive I’d imagine that would have sent him into defense mode.
Bridget 🙏
this is to morticians, if you were the letter carrier being approached by a pit bull you probably wouldn’t think it was friendly. why was your dog loose when you have a letter carrier obligated to come into your property? you are not a responsible dog owner. letter carriers do not have an obligation to tolerate your dog.
We had a super aggressive cocker spaniel when I was a kid. His previous owners had abused the poor thing terribly, he had cigarette burns on him among other things (to the end of his life he wouldn’t be anywhere near a cigarette). Naturally this led to a very angry and unhappy dog. We desexed him and pumped him full of female hormones which helped a lot, as did just being around a family that loved him and treated him right. Nobody would have looked at him and instantly thought he was a threat but he absolutely was at first, you never know.
i remember the first episode Kim acquired Kingsley. This was just before her final rehab. I’ve been afraid the dog would attack her or worse because she was so overwhelmed by it, physically and emotionally.
Kim lives in denial of most things even when confronted so i am not surprised at her reaction.
yup, the dog was too much for her already when he was a puppy. i just cringed when i saw that episode. i didn’t think it would attack her, but definitely overwhelm her and run rampant with all his energy and her lack of experience and lack of balance.
it’s too late for her to train the aggressiveness out of kingsley. dogs have a window of socialization when they are a puppy and they’re way past that now. kingsley doesn’t appear to have been born with a naturally balanced demeanor where he can overcome that lack of socialization with current training and exposure. she can only manage his behavior now, but she’s not responsible enough to do that. I know the former trainer mentioned rehoming the pit to a more responsible owner, but who is going to want a people and dog aggressive pit bull? i volunteer with an all breed dog rescue and there’s so many people friend and dog friendly pit bulls that have a hard time finding homes.
Yep, and when she does “stand up” to him she does it laughing and then rolls on the floor under him!
i just saw the clip above where the trainer is visiting kingsley and kim in their home. after he enters and then walks into the living room, kingsley goes after him. after grabbing kingsley, kim starts PATTING him on the head! she just rewarded his behavior. YIKES.
Wow, what a terrible time to get a new dog, right out of rehab.
I’m glad she’s doing something about it. I do like pits, but they need to be handled by strong, confident people who are familiar with dog behaviors. This dog knows it has Kim in the palm of its paw, so to speak.
I know this thanks to my pit having some odd triggers that have resulted in him biting me in the past. He’s a perfect gentleman to everyone else though. 🙁
This makes me SO ANGRY!
I hate it when people blame the dog for the owners lazyness and wrong behavior. I have a dog too (it is a Duck Tolling Retriever) and what I have learned during our training is that not every dog learns the same way or can be teached the same way. Some breeds have a brain that developes a bit slower, so they also learn stuff different.
Depending on the breed, their character and how sensitive the dog is you have to find a way to comunicate with it in order to train it. So not setting boundaries is a BIG problem and of course it is totally necessary to consult a trainer. Even more if it attacks somebody. However, I think people should learn more about the bodylanguage of the dog and their behavior, befor they put their pet down. Seriously, she is petting the dogs head after it attacked the trainer!!!! What kind of sign is she sending to the dog with that, huh? I’m sorry, she is just incapable and does not know shit.
Over and out.
I love and adore my gorgeous mixed-breed pitt bull but I’ve had people grab their children away from her on the street and old ladies yell out, “KEEP YOUR PITT BULL AWAY FROM ME!” at the vet. Other people remark on her beautiful face and ask if they can pet her. I understand both behaviors.
My girl wouldn’t hurt anyone or anything but the breed (understandably) provokes reactions one way or another.
It’s so sad that people judge by breed and not behavior. Like I mentioned upthread, I have a Rottweiler, and he’s a big boy at 125lbs. People walk to the other side of the road to avoid us. People ask me how hard is it to control such a vicious dog, make snide comments, etc. Even finding a place to live is difficult due to breed specific restrictions in my area.
But: my Rottweiler regularly lets chickens, cats, and the little pug down the street “beat” on him. He’d rather snuggle with a person than bark at one. You could break into my house just by saying Hi guys! (Both of my dogs are useless as guard dogs, which is just fine.)
However, we are regularly charged at by dogs under 30lbs. Last week, three corgies tried to drag their owner over to us as we walked quietly and casually passed. Chihuahuas have, on multiple occasions, gotten free and actually attacked my rott, who just keeps walking while the little dog’s owners FREAK OUT. (Worse are the ones who encourage it by saying, “Aw isnt that funny?!” WTF NO IT IS NOT FUNNY.)
Tl;dr: All dogs have the potential to be dangerous. All dogs have the potential to be “good” pets. Judge an animal by its behavior, not its looks.
I was at my vet with my bully mix when a toy chihuahua came in. It was on an extend-able leash. My girl is already scared at the vet, so she was huddled between my legs. That little dog went bananas and came at us, the lady let the leash out until it was inches from my foot. At that point my girl got a little antsy, this dog is snapping at my foot after all. I am holding my 50+ pound dog around her neck and talking to her, “It’s okay girl. You are doing fine girl.” and I am using her attention command to distract – all the while the lady is laughing with her daughter and saying things like, “That big dog is actually scared of Daisey! lol” Um, yes, she was and if she would have snapped at this little dog who was doing everything in her power to get at us she could have KILLED Daisey. I was dumbfounded that a owner would act that way!
Sonya, I can’t believe the vets staff didn’t intervene.
I have had words with owners who allow such behavior. They’re not usually nice words. Or calm. Sometimes, you have to be your dog’s advocate, and say whatever you have to in order to drive the point home that this behavior is unacceptable; stop, or there will be repercussions.
LMAO I’ve had the same experiences with my old great dane. A great dane! They are the biggest sooks out there lol. I had her in an off leash park once and a man came with his mid sized dog and refused to come in until we left. Just shows how little knowledge there is about dogs even among dog owners.
The only time I have ever said something was one day when a pre-teen boy brought an intact pit bull to the dog park. Now that’s a recipe for disaster. I was ticked, and even then someone still came up to me and said I shouldn’t have said anything.
A lot of dog parks have rules against intact dogs of either gender entering the park. And those people should be ashamed— the rules are in place to protect both the dogs, and their owners. You were absolutely right to say something.
If I had to live with a Real Housewife cast member, I’d be violently attacking people too.
LOL!
Every pit bull for sale or adoption should have a big sign beside it saying ” experienced dog owners only”.
Those breeds scare the hell out of me. i would never own one, and I honestly have to wonder about people who do…..
That’s an unfair statement and a very sweeping negative generalization. I own a pit bull that was a rescue. I didn’t seek out the breed. The animal was abandoned and I chose to open my home and heart to it.
I am a college educated, full-time employed professional, mom and wife with a “normal” middle class family and home life. Honestly, it is people’s attitudes like this that perpetuate fear and hatred among the breed.
You don’t need to defend your decision. This commenter’s attitude is not going to be swayed. Live your life. Love your dog. Everyone else can go fry ice.
They don’t wonder about you: Whether you drink coffee or tea, and why. Whether you have long or short hair, and why. Whether youre a vegetarian or not, and why. Some things are good fits for some people, and those same things aren’t for others. Life is not one-size-fits-all.
I didn’t write about it because it would have made the story too long, but I have known some sweet pit bulls. My son’s friend had one that was just the sweetest, most friendly dog and my neighbors have one that is always so excited to see you. I agree this isn’t on the breed, it is on the owner.
I won’t go near them either. They scare the crap out of me.
I’m around them daily. As I mentioned up thread, I just lost mine to MAST cell cancer. My Pilates instructor rescues them and owns three and I’ve never been worried around ANY of them because the owners are responsible and the dogs are well trained. After being responsible for 42 pit rescues my instructor had the lower half of her lip bit off by a Shepard/Greyhound mix in an unprovoked attack at a dog park. I was bit by a chihuahua, a chow and a Shepard (3 different dogs) and am still not afraid of any of those breeds because I know it’s the owner that shapes the animal (much like the parent who shapes the child).
Poor dog. My heart goes out to the thing – dogs deserve better. Maybe he’ll eat her and we’ll be done with the whole thing.
I love animals, but to all the people saying, ” my dog wouldn’t hurt a fly and is safe with kids.” Just remember this: no dog ever attacks until it does.
True dat!
But that’s like saying “people don’t murder until they do”.
How many times have you heard about a crime that occurred and friend and neighbors of the perpetrator claim that they would never hurt a fly and they’re shocked that they would do this?
Animals can be unpredictable, humans can be unpredictable. LIFE is unpredictable.
I think the point is that painting any one dog breed with a large brush stroke does a disservice to the dog and in the case of Pits, it only ads to their inability to get adopted and encourages people to use them as “fight dogs”.
Any good dog can have a reactive moment when they are fearful and frightened, just like people.
I agree with what you said kitten, I don’t think your point is contrary to mine.
I had a tiny pom, light of my life (he passed away last year and I still haven’t gotten over it) but I rescued him when he was 7 yrs old. I think he’d had a rough life because he would react to certain things. Whenever he was woken up he would snap and bare his teeth, we knew this but my (adult) sister woke him up one day and he snapped at her. He got her apparently but there were no marks on her hand, he had not broken skin or anything. And this was a defensive snap not a playful one. Anyway the point is if that was the exact same scenario, but with a bull terrier or something, she could have ended up in the hospital or worse. It is people’s responsibility to act appropriately around animals but there’s no denying the risk with larger, stronger breeds of dog.
My wife was mauled as a child by a lab/chow mix. She has insane scars on her arms and legs thirty years later. She was scared of bigger dogs and of bringing a bully into our home. After LOTS of education I started rescuing/helping find homes for stray “bully” dogs – and there were two she fell in love with instantly as they stayed with us and I searched for their families. When we took our girl in it was as a foster, but we adopted in the end. When our girl had surgery and was stuck in her kennel for weeks my wife climbed into it with her to cuddle. She was like, “I absolutely never thought that i would be in a kennel with a pit bull.” lol She has also now had the opportunity to interact and help other large dogs on work sites due to being educated on dog behavior and body language.
Don’t get me wrong – not ALL dogs are friendly – but out of the dozens and dozens I get called about to help find homes or I come across on the street there has only been ONE that after careful interaction I decided I wasn’t willing to move forward and try to help because she was just TOO freaked out and unsafe for me to approach. In the end while I was sad to do it I did involve animal control with that one.
My husband is a massive advocate for Bullies. We live in the UK on a farm my husband acquired. He works closely with local police and RSPCA to take in ex-fighting and baiting dogs and abused breeds a rehabilitates them before finding them new homes. He’s an angel. I never really liked Bullies much until my husband got into that line of work and now, I see some of them arrive to us with their faces hanging off or scars all over their bodies, muzzles on and my husband still has absolute faith that he can give this dog a second chance at a better life.
We also have three kids (2, 1, 11 months). They’re not allowed around the rescue dogs but my hubs also has a small pack of Huskies which are family pets and they get on so well with our children to the point where they helped us raise them. Bringing us their bottles, nappy bags, the shoulder bag with stuff in for going out with, watching over the kids while our backs were turned. My husband believes it is not the dog, but more the owner. To own strong and stubborn breeds, you must be a strong and stubborn dog owner. I’m happy to say that my husband has only ever euthanised two ex fighters/baiters since he started doing this in 2011 and he’s successfully rehabilitated 165 dogs.
I’ve only ever seen RHOBH a few times but Kim is NOT the kind of person who should be owning any kind of dog. She doesn’t have the mentality to look after herself, never mind a puppy. The dog shows such dominant traits in some of her photos. It’s sad. This dog needs a better owner, but since it’s been blooded (had a taste for blood) and remained undisciplined, I don’t see a bright future for this pup. And he’s so gorgeous too 🙁
Your husband sounds wonderful and I’m sending him an internet high five 🙂
A lotta comments on this one…huh? Frankly, I watch the show season after season…and poor Kim is a train wreck. She is the one who needs to be sent to a trainer’s…. This dog is clearly dangerous and she is too weak and vulnerable emotionally to make a calculated decision on putting the dog down. IF she can’t do it…she should just turn the dog over to someone else who will. The dog could easily turn on her in a heartbeat too….so perhaps if she gets that new nose ripped off her face…she might rethink the whole putting the dog down thing!
Absolutely her fault. That dog will probably be put down and it’s absolutely her fault. No one should just get a dog breed because it’s cute or cool or edgy. That goes for pugs to pitbulls. The breeds are unique and have different needs. Certainly no one who is this much of a hot mess should ever have a dog, let alone a dog with the potential to really hurt people if untrained and unchecked. It’s so infuriating.
That being said, I’ve rarely met large breed dogs I would be afraid to leave my kids or anyone alone with. On the contrary, I’ve found that a lot of owners of toy breeds allow their dogs to be aggressive and dominating. I would sooner leave a baby with my 95lb lab mix than my FIL’s awful yappy dog which DOES bite.
badrap.org
Everything you could ever want to know about the maligned pit bull. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I owe my life to my pit. My pit bull saved my life. Don’t see that in the news too often, do ya?
Look up the story of the pibble in Massachusetts whos owner suffered (I think) a seizure, and she pulled the woman off of the traintracks, and got hit herself, but saved her owner. The pibble lived, and is a shining example of what lovely creatures they can be.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/pit-bull-rescues-unconscious-owner-oncoming-train/story?id=16311409
Oh yeah, I read that story! Sorry, was being a bit tongue in cheek about the pities (and bullies) getting most of the bad press and not so much of the good stuff. Thanks for linking tho. 🙂
omg so sweet!
When my husband and I were engaged, we got a dog from the ASPCA. I wanted a golden retriever and we found a retriever/something mix. I tend to believe it was a spaniel of some sort because Murphy was *not* a relaxed retriever type but more high strung. We had our daughter about 4 years later and, while I’d done everything the books said about getting a dog prepared for a new baby, she never really took to her. Not aggressive but not fond either. As Kate got older and began walking and being on the dog’s level, Murphy got more aggressive. She didn’t bite her but she would bark and snap. Then our son came along and the combo of both kids was too much for Murphy. She got more aggressive and I was afraid she would bite one of them and then maybe get put down. Since we were making an overseas move anyway, it seemed the best time to find her a new home. So we found one with older kids who wouldn’t be on her level and being rough but would play with her–she really was a naturally sweet dog but she needed a different environment than we could give her at that point.
THIS is awesome because what you did was consider what was best for the dog and you did it. You didn’t dump her “Cause a baby is coming” or because rehoming is a hassle. Sometimes things really don’t workout even when you try your best BUT you still owe the animal you took in the love and respect to find it a better situation. I had a rescue cat (he would have been number six) that we tried for over a year to integrate into our pride, but after a year it was obvious that the older cats were too stressed and he had grown SO BIG that he was hurting the small cats. I began looking for a home and found the perfect one. He has a dog brother and no kids in the house. He is better off and my kids and cats are better off as well. 🙂
My dog was great with people (except the mailman of course), great with small kids. As he got older, he got aggressive towards bigger dogs, it was the weirdest thing. He was fine hanging out with dogs his size (he was a bichon frise) but big dogs he would growl and snap at. Some big dogs he was fine with, others he would snap at unprovoked so I had to start warning big dog owners to stay away or to keep their dog under control. As he got older, Milou became a grumpy grandpa and did not appreciate the large puppies getting into his personal space.
Otherwise he never bit us unless we accidentally stepped on him while he was sleeping in the dark (which happened a few times since during the summer he liked sleeping in the bathroom to cool off on the cool tiles when it got hot).
why do you think it’s acceptable for your dog not to be okay with the mailman? do you not have your dog restrained during working hours? why do you think the mailman should tolerate an aggressive dog? being attacked by an animal is not part of anyone’s job. ” otherwise he never bit us”. you have a problem.
This upsets me because people always automatically assume it’s the breed when it has alot more to do with the owner and training (or lack of). Dogs are pack animals and need an alpha. If you, as an owner, are not the alpha…than the dog will be. Kim should not have this dog if she does not know how to be consistent and strong with her training and care over him. I own a pit bull, as do many friends of mine and my dog (or theres) are some of the sweetest I have met. My dog won’t even bark at people, let alone do anything like Kim’s dog. However, my fiancé and I give her lots of love, set boundaries, and are consistent with her.
I have a boxer-boston terrier mix. He is very strong, all muscle. But he looks to me for my permission for everything. If he can run outside, if he can start eating, if he can jump up on chair with me. He firmly knows that I am the alpha among our pack of three. He’s such a good boy.
Dogs are very forgiving. 6 years ago my hubby rescued a gorgeous white German shepherd from a guy in Atlantic city. When he got to the guys house, the collar was imbedded in his neck, he had ribs sticking out and sores all over his body. My husband took him then and there with out knowing anything about him or his temperment. Little by little he began trusting us. When we got him at 9 years old he was 75lb. When we had to put him down at 15 because of severe hip dysplasia and he was in pain he was 115lb. He was 30 lb underweight. We had no clue if he was good with kids or other animals so we always took precautions. He was my buddy and I miss him every day. Take a chance on a rescue! I feel he saved us more than we saved him.
This is wonderful. I fully understand your sentiments. A rescued dog asks for so little, yet can bring so much to our lives.
I’m sure he was very happy to be part of your family.
5 times the dog attacked people??? Kim should be held legally responsible for the attacks. I understand a sudden attack by an otherwise docile dog but 5 times clearly demonstrates that either the dog or the owner or both have problems. I would tell Kim either get your dog trained correctly or put him down. I love animals but people come first in my book.
1: Cesar Milan is an idiot and is doing a huge disservice to dogs with his wacko training methods.
2: Her dog does not need to be shown who’s the boss. Negative training techniques instill a sense of fear, anxiety and low confidence in dogs.
3: This dog is a liability and a danger not because it’s a pit bull but because it’s owner has made it so by lack of socialization, training and confidence building. She can send her dog to every gosh darn trainer from here to Hong Kong but she is the real problem not the dog. Her needs to feel wanted and protected are being meet by her dog so she continues to allow the dangerous behaviors. Its incredibly selfish and unhealthy for both parties.
4: A confident dog doesn’t bite. A confident dog doesn’t worry about strangers coming over. A confident dog knows it’s boundaries and respects them i.e. not chewing up purses, getting off the bed. It’s very clear this dog is insecure.
5: There is truth in the idea that some breeds need specific owners and home environments. German Shepherd’s are a PERFECT example. They turn into neurotic idiots when their owners don’t build their confidence or make it clear what the boundaries are.
I suspect this dog will continue to be a problem until he is deemed too dangerous and euthanized. Poor Kim will say it had to happen and their was nothing more she could do. She has no business owning a high drive breed when she is such a lazy entitled lady who lunches.
+1000
+ another thousand for a very sound & logical post.
@meowuirose
Totally agree about German shepherds. When we rescued an abused, neglected German shepherd, we definitely had our work cut out for us. He had been abused for 9 years and did not know what love and kindness were. Even when he was unsure or confused, he never ever bit any one. If he had been brough to a shelter at 9 year old, he would have been put down. No matter how long or severe the abuse or trauma, they CAN come back from it. But being a strong, confident owner is key. Dogs speak a different language then us. Once you learn the language, they are at ease and you can enjoy each other. After he warmed up to us, I thought it was so cute when he would put his paw on top of my hand. I was like, aw honey look he’s trying to hold my hand! My husband was like no, he’s trying to assert his dominance over you and see how far he can push it. Don’t let him do that. It was hard at first but the dog and we were much happier in the long run. Good dog owners are informed dog owners. They are a direct reflection of their owner. Remember in 101 Dalmatians when all the dogs appeared similar to their owners?? It was not such a far fetched concept.
Bad ownership! Dogs are not born violent. We lead them, so they don’t lead us. Owners need training along with dogs!!
dogs can be born with fear and some aggression for example dominance aggression. how a dog turns out is about training, but it is also about genetics which is why legitimate breeders only breed dogs who are stable and with no medical issues. shelters remove puppies from their mothers as soon as the puppies are able to survive without her if the mothers are aggressive with either people or other dogs. this way shelter workers can then give the puppies positive exposure. the mother’s aggression affects her hormones which in turn affects her puppies.
What’s wrong with her? She looks like some sort of puppet. I pity that dog.
That dog is way too big to be a pit.
Ugh. Bad dog owner.
For anyone who says that “all dogs bite, and pit bulls are just like any other dogs”, I have two words for you: Break Stick.
There is a reason these things were invented.
Well said @Meowuirose. It’s probably too late for this dog, and yes, Kim Richards is a complete idiot with respect to this situation, but not because Kingsley needed to know who is boss. I followed this from the beginning – early on, Kingsley exhibited mostly normal challenging issues – chewing, jumping, essentially being a completely annoying adolescent dog. NEWSFLASH – This is NORMAL dog behavior that can easily be addressed without the use of hash tactics. However, Kim went and hired a dominance-focused nut job who kicked Kingsley in the side repeatedly and grabbed him and held him down over and over. They showed parts of this on TV. It was highly disturbing and extremely hard to watch. You could see the absolute fear in Kingsley – whale eyes, lip licking, turning his head away, etc. And what did this man do – he created or exacerbated a highly INSECURE dog. Did his methods work? Quite the opposite – Kinglsey became more and more aggressive. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (among many others) has spoken out publicly advising dog owners not to use any trainers that use dominance-focused methods. Why? Because it is PROVEN scientifically that the use of aggressive force escalates and in many cases even creates violent behavior. Victoria Stillwell who has a popular show on Animal Planet has written a blog about Kingsley and this very topic. Read it at her positively.com blog. I am certainly not saying that Kingsley didn’t have the potential early on to be aggressive, but the way Kim dealt with it from the start – using a physically aggressive trainer and then sending Kingsley away for boot camp with that trainer – clearly sent Kingsley to a whole new level. Yes, Kim helped to create what Kingsley became – but not by not being tough or forceful enough or not standing up to Kingsley – but by her incredibly poor choices in attempting to deal with what was initially minor problematic (and normal adolescent) behavior. Dominance Theory has been flat out disproven at this point – and its dangers, including aggression, are well documented by animal SCIENTISTS (Patricia McConnell, Sophia Yin, Jean Donaldson, Ian Dunbar, the list goes on), not WHISPERERS and MYSTICS!
Exactly so Jojo. All of this dominant talk makes my eyes roll straight back in my head. I’ve a 2.5 year old intact ( gasp) male GSD who is an absolute delight: he lives with a small cat, is good around dogs, loves children, intelligent, licks me, lies on my bed in the morning, goes out the door before me, and guess what, I’m still the boss by dint that I feed and exercise him (daily, 90mins – 120 mins, because, hey Kim, big energetic dogs are actually quite well behaved when ALL their needs are met, both psychological and physical). Every thing he’s been trained to do has been through some form of game ( he’s raw fed so not really food driven). He does long distance running with me in a harness and he knows a multitude of commands, is livestock proof and recall responsive. A confident dog, he would be completely confused by harsh handling, side kicking, or the VERY worst thing in the word ‘the Alpha roll’- which is bad science based on the behaviour of captive wolves. NEVER roll an aggressive or fearful dog, you could shut him down or get bitten. Submissive dog can roll themselves if they feel they need to do so ( because my dog is intact I notice a lot of younger dogs roll under him on meeting). They also exhibit all kinds of submissive calming behaviour when stressed. Avoidance, paw up, lip licking, whale eye. Dogs want to please SO badly, it breaks my heart that we treat them so badly through ignorance. Here’s the thing, if a dog does not know what is expected of him, he will decide himself how to handle a situation, if you TEACH a dog how to react he will do that. It’s not rocket science, it takes patience and consistent behaviour from the owner. I don’t doubt Cesar Milan’s heart is in the right place, but some of his techniques are nonsense.
I (as the owner of a beautiful 5 y/o pit whom I have had the pleasure of having for the last 4 yrs) would just like to thank most people for not demonizing the dog but rather the owner. My dog is no fan of other animals (deers, bears, etc) but has NEVER attacked a person or other animal for that matter. I raised her w an iron fist & she knows who dominates the household but has never been abused to do so. It makes me LIVID when people stigmatize these sweeties when the fault in large part lies on the owners.
Perhaps you could just say “violent dog” instead of “violent Pitbull”. If this dog was a lab or any other dog you wouldn’t put “violent Golden Retriever” as your headline. I get that this website is all about the click bait but take a moment and consider how you are helping perpetuate a stereotype. I have a pit mix and volunteer at a shelter that is 90% pit mixes and it’s crap headlines like this that mislead people into thinking that this all pits.
I will say though, that as much as I love them, they are not the right dog for all people, and that seems to be the case in this story. Hopefully his training works.
If you watch the shows where the trainer is dealing with the dog, he actually already TOOK the dog from her for an extended period of time (I think it was 2 weeks) to train him. The trainer was VERY stern with Kim, telling her she had to be the lead with this dog. Kim is an idiot that thinks it’s okay to treat this dog like he’s her baby. She didn’t change the way she treated the dog when he came back into her home, even when her own kids told her they were scared of the animal.
Like in most cases, the problem isn’t actually the animal – it’s the PERSON that owns the dog. I think this dog would do well with a person that understood his personality. Kim is NOT that person. She needs to get a little yappy dog that doesn’t mind being treated like an accessory. My concern is that the trainer only took the dog for more training …. I hope he doesn’t release the dog back to her.
The idea of “showing the dog who’s boss” is WRONG and is exactly what led to this predicament and shaped this dog’s bad behavior in the first place. Using Cesar Milan’s all wrong style as an example shows how ignorant people are of proper,”positive” methods of training dogs. The “trainer” Kim used was aggressive to Kingsley, kicked him and had him shaking in his presence. You do NOT lord it over an animal in such a way and expect a gentle, well behaved dog as an outcome. It’s ABUSE, plain and simple. When this was first known by the public, several reputable trainers came out on the side of the dog, called out the abusive methods used to “train” him and and ripped to shreds the “trainer” that cause Kingsley to be an aggressive biter. You can read the interview with well known certified dog trainer Jonathan Klein here: http://www.thedogbehaviorexpert.com/face-dog-trainer-top-real-housewives-beverly-hills-faint-chance-episode
“Any training based on violence or attacking a dog just isn’t right. Plus it’s actually the cause of aggression in so many cases. Though I would take it one step further and say that abuse is any treatment of animals that doesn’t give the animal a chance to ever learn to make its own good choices. Teaching fear is abuse. Suppressing behavior by intimidation is abuse.”
and a statement from Victoria Stillwell of http://positively.com and the television show It’s Me or the Dog here:
https://positively.com/victorias-blog/my-take-on-the-real-horror-of-beverly-hills/
“As I’ve said time and time again, while suppression of behavior may look glamorous and ‘like magic’ on television, it can be the precursor to even more devastating behaviors. Unless the family can look to other training solutions that do not use force, fear, or intimidation, the future for Kingsley looks uncertain. I’m sorry to see that the use of these dangerous methods has resulted in more negative press for pit bulls.”
I used to be wary of pitbulls, I had heard they were dangerous. well, before I got married, I started dating this guy that had two pitbulls. I was scared to be around them. but i went to his house and met them eventually. they were very well-behaved. he got his whole house fenced in with a chain link fence so the dogs could run around. those dogs ate better than a lot of humans. he would feed them baked chicken, steaks, and take them for a walk in the mornings and evenings. plus let them run around the fenced in yard. i got to where i would play with the younger, friskier one. the older, daddy’s boy got to where he would lay in bed with me at night. talk about a big mofo! i couldn’t move him if he stretched out over too much of the bed, he was so big. a couple of times, he laid his head on my lap while we watched tv. all this led me to the conclusion, bad owners make bad pit bulls, not the dogs themselves.
Very interesting comments. I used to have a border collie growing up, beautiful, smart dog who unfortunately didn’t have a big enough backyard and consistent enough training so was a bit neurotic and eventually had a brain tumour and had to be put down, he never bit anyone though.
I realise everyone is saying it isn’t the breed but the training, but surely some breeds are more appropriate than others depending on your situation? Who can recommend a good family dog for a medium – small backyard? I don;t have kids yet but as soon as I have a house I will be getting a dog – they make it a home I feel.
Go to your nearest animal control or shelter and choose a dog that speaks to your heart and has a personality and activity level that is compatible with yours. You will gain a companion and save a life.
@catlady Great post. I had already read Victoria’s blog and just read Jonathan Klein’s from the link you provided. As I said above, and Jonathan says also,this trainer was called to fix a CHEWING problem, and by the time the trainer left, Kingsley was then also exhibiting signs of AGGRESSION. then, Kim proceeded with more training sessions with this trainer and even sent him to boot camp. And yet, look at all the posts above rambling on about how Kim needs to be tough, rule with an iron fist, show dominance over the dog. It was not KIM that caused this problem. It was the TRAINER she called. She sought help. She was uneducated about where to go, and because of that, she will likely cost him his life. It was unintentional, but it was her choice in trainers that turned Kingsley from a destructive chewer to a fully aggressive, dangerous dog after this guy entered the picture. I’m actually really disappointed in Bravo, especially since there is a major dog lover at the helm of the RHOX franchise.
I too am disappointed in Bravo, and also saddened that so many people here are duped into thinking that aggressive, intimidating and violent “training” tactics are the norm and go on to recommend them! I fear for the dogs in their “care.”
Recent reports say that Kim has sent Kingsley to live with a “trainer” and, not knowing who it is, I fear for that dog’s safety. This is a mistake and one I really despise seeing. Sending a dog off for “training” is a ridiculous premise. The owner of the dog is completely uninvolved which is contrary to developing a bond and trust between them and their dog that will result in good behaviors. It also removes any ability to monitor the situation and there are countless instances where dogs are severly abused by these “trainers” and come back even more damaged. If a person has to send their dog away for “training” they should just not have one.