Whoa!  Sorry to hear that, Bob.  Best wishes on a quick and complete recovery.  

My sympathies buddy! I hope everything works out for you Bob. That is a nightmare come true. Keep us informed about your progress! Best wishes!!! now my wrist hurts 

Sorry to hear that. I hope you fully recover. Remember that even if you do suffer some kind of permanent damage, as a guitar player you'll work around it. Look at Django Reinhardt and Jerry Garcia. 
 
I know pit bulls are a controversial topic with a lot of emotion on both sides. I've worked with dogs for over 10 years, including dozens of pit bulls, and my take on them is this. They can be the sweetest dogs imaginable and very often are. But when they do snap, they can do a lot more damage in a far shorter time than other breeds. They have a lot of power. I've seen and experienced a lot of "incidents" with pit bulls and my personal feeling is that they do tend to escalate things more than other breeds. Like if two non-pit bulls are playing and it gets a bit rough and there's a lot of growling going on, they tend to keep it within a certain limit. But I've seen pits get into play fights and the growling starts and they just don't know when to stop and before you know it they're savaging each other pretty brutally. Bear in mind this is a generalization and a statistical pattern I've noticed - there are exceptions. 
 
Personally I think they're unsuitable as family pets if there are kids in the house. Any dog is capable of snapping if provoked enough - the difference is that when a pit snaps, the potential for serious injury or even death is much higher than with most other breeds. If a chihuahua goes for your kid's neck then you're going to be able to get it off fairly quickly without much serious damage done. If a pit goes for your kid's neck there could be life changing injuries or worse before you manage to get it off - if you can. You might even have to resort to stabbing the dog with a knife, although there are other ways to get a dog to release its prey (nip the base of its tail hard or lift its hind legs up). 
 
To tell you the truth though I'm more frightened of chihuahuas - lol! They can be horrible vicious little creatures and they have been responsible for more biting incidents among my employees than any other breed. They never do much damage in the way of injuries, but once you've been bitten by one, they make you nervous. Like when you're reaching for their collar to put the leash on and they're giving you the stink eye and their lip is curling up. Once bitten twice shy! 
 
But pits...always be very careful around them because of their strength. 

I'm glad to hear she was both surprised and responsive. And excuse my lifelong kinship with dogs...but they do not belong at the end of a chain. And it is only due to mean spirited and feeble minded humans who breed or train them to live at that chain's end. Again, hope you mend quickly, ol pal.


PS: agree with Sharke that many other smaller breeds need to be watched as well. The meanest dog I ever knew was a Boston Terrier. And now we have one...but she's a sweetie.

Hope you recover quickly and fully.

yorolpal
I'm glad to hear she was both surprised and responsive. And excuse my lifelong kinship with dogs...but they do not belong at the end of a chain. And it is only due to mean spirited and feeble minded humans who breed or train them to live at that chain's end. Again, hope you mend quickly, ol pal.


PS: agree with Sharke that many other smaller breeds need to be watched as well. The meanest dog I ever knew was a Boston Terrier. And now we have one...but she's a sweetie.

My take on Boston Terriers: total instigators! 

Very true Sharke. In most situations, you have 15-20 seconds to size up the situation. That may not seem like much, but it's enough for you, the owner, and the dog to establish a position. If it's going South, most owners put the dog in a room, or otherwise contain him. More often than not, the dog picks up on the vibe from its owner that I should be there. Some get a little too comfortable, and it is difficult to work because the dog wants to put its head in my lap. On many occasions, dogs that don't normally agree with strangers have been incredibly comfortable with me, and shocked the heck out of their owners.
Pits can go either way, but as you say, they are very strong. If they are comfortable with you, it's probably an ok situation. If not....
I don't do Dobies, period. They are predictable and not good. Same with Rotts.
Labs, Collies, etc are fine. If you get on the bad side of those, you probably deserve it.
Little dogs are generally more scary. You're right again, Chihuahuas can be a real pita.
Fortunately, boots and loose fitting pants are a good defense.
On  positive note, I played for about 30 minutes tonight. It hurt like hell, but it felt good.

On  positive note, I played for about 30 minutes tonight. It hurt like hell, but it felt good.
 
Thanks for the info Bob! 

Yup...Boston's do seem willful and "alphas". Ours was a rescue from a puppy mill. She was destined to be a "momma". In fact she'd already had a litter when she was just a year old. She had multiple medical and social issues which took us a couple years to sort out. But now she could not be a better companion...except for how she bosses our totally sweet, compliant Boxer, Buss. Pip, the Boston, as you might expect, runs the show. But now, with constant "parenting" they are best pals and playmates. But, Buss knows who's boss. Pip's nickname is the tiny terror. Instigator is just about right:-)

Maybe this is just the universe giving you a sign that you should go out and buy a Pit Bull amp?