When the Pitbull That Kisses Your Face Unexpectedly Attacks

Hands down, this was the scariest dog moment I've EVER experienced.

I have never really bought into the notion that all Pitbulls are vicious attack dogs. I firmly believe that any dog is a product of its owner’s handling and training. If you don’t believe this to be true about Pitbulls, just watch all 19 seasons of Pitbulls & Parolees.

They’re not the dogs you think they are.

In my entire life as a large-breed dog owner and lover, I’ve seen more German Shepherds randomly attack than Pitbulls.

However, in 2021, I experienced one of the most terrifying moments of my life.

During Covid times, I occasionally did dog walking and house-sitting through that app called Rover. One weekend I was hired to look after a Pitbull and a Mastiff in their home.

When I was hired for the gig the owner scheduled two meet-and-greets between me and the dogs. Both were lovely and sweet as pie.

The owner supplied me with a very thorough Google doc of both dogs’ behaviors, commands, and routines.

He let me know that the Pitbull wasn’t good with other dogs so walking him was optional, at my discretion. I noted it and decided for safety reasons, I would not walk him. I’d exercise them in the yard instead.

The afternoon I showed up I knew the owner would already be gone so I let myself in and again, both dogs were sickeningly sweet and ecstatic to greet me. The first evening, they both snuggled into the couch with me for movie night.

Around 8:00 p.m. I let them both out into the yard just as I had done several times earlier that day.

Their house backed onto a walking path and the fully fenced yard was chain-linked. The Pitbull had reacted through the fence to several other dogs on the path that day so I made sure to stay out in the yard with him at all times.

Then, along comes a couple walking their small dog on a leash and of course, the Pitbull went nuts at the fence. While I tried to recall him the couple began approaching the fence as if they wanted to chat.

I called out to them that it was a bad idea to come closer but just as I said it the Pit ran toward the gate which was fully latched and padlocked. The much larger Mastiff followed.

In a literal blink of the eye, the weight of both dogs against the gate somehow dislodged the entire latching system, padlock and all, and they were out.

They bolted straight for the leashed little dog and attacked before the man could even lift his dog off the ground.

The swarming happened SO fast it was blinding.

The Pit was the initial attacker and it seemed as though once the Mastiff saw, she thought she should jump right in. I was shocked considering the owner had told me the Mastiff was the one that’s great with other dogs.

But it was like mob mentality. One does it and the other joins in just because.

After what felt like an eternity, the frantic man was finally able to get a solid grip on his little dog and cradle it in his arms but the Pit had a firm grip and continued viciously shaking the poor thing.

I somehow managed to distract the dog enough to make him let go so the man could get on his feet but even so, this Pitbull stood his ground with laser-sharp focus on the little dog.

I was terrified that he would jump up and either bite the man or latch onto the little dog again.

The loud commotion drew neighbors out of their houses and into the pathway area. Neighbors on one side who knew these two dogs immediately jumped in trying to help me contain them.

I managed to corral the Mastiff back into the yard but since the gate was broken I had to stand in the gateway to keep her contained. The neighbor continued his attempt to keep the Pit at bay so the couple could escape.

I witnessed sheer terror in their eyes and voices and I don’t blame them one bit.

As they finally scurried away the Pitbull bolted and pursued them but thank the heavens above he got distracted by a Magpie on the ground and began chasing it.

The couple managed to vanish and so did the Pitbull, in the opposite direction.

Thankfully, a short while later the neighbor returned to the house with the dog in tow and promptly brought a tool kit over to rig the gate back together. I thanked him profusely for his assistance.

When all was said and done and I had a moment to collect myself I noticed blood on my hand, quickly realizing it was my own.

You know how you shake uncontrollably when you’ve just been through the scariest moment of your life? Yeah, that was me. I was completely paralyzed and numbed out by what had just occurred.

I can’t even imagine what the couple with the little dog felt like.

For the rest of that night, I sat in the house FULLY expecting a knock on the door by police or animal control. Believe me, I would have opened it without hesitation.

These two dogs were on the loose and out of control. Animal control would have been well within their rights.

Yet, only an hour later, the dogs were snuggled back up on the couch licking my feet as if nothing had happened.

I called the owner to let him know exactly what had occurred, secretly wishing he would scrap his weekend plans and head home immediately. But he didn’t.

I advised him that I had no idea how much or if any damage was done to the little dog and that I wouldn’t be surprised if an astronomical vet bill showed up in the future.

In the aftermath, I desperately wanted to locate the couple so I could find out how badly their dog was injured. Even without injury, surely the dog and its owners would be traumatized forever.

And there I sat the rest of the weekend, beside a Pitbull who looked at me with sad eyes because I would only take him out to the yard on a leash. There’s no way in hell I’d risk it again.

It made me sad that this dog had now validated what so many people assume about Pitbulls. I won’t lie, I was a little afraid of him, too.

This incident was not at all how I wanted a Pitbull to be portrayed, nor was it how I wanted my dog-sitting gig to go. And I certainly hated knowing that this dog probably ruined what was previously the confident little life of another dog.

How do you feel about this story? How do you feel about Pitbulls in general?

If you were the owner, would you have abandoned your weekend getaway to come home and let the dogsitter off the hook?

NOTE: I’m heading on a personal retreat to the mountains next weekend so there will be no Dog Snobs email until Monday, Oct. 7th.