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Local Child Mauled By Pit Bull In Stable Condition

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May 14, 2009 8:12 pm US/Eastern

Local Child Mauled By Pit Bull In Stable Condition

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A 5-year-old boy who was mauled by a pit bull in Coraopolis is in stable condition in the critical care unit of Children's Hospital after undergoing surgery.

Tyler Williams was attacked by the dog when he and his aunt went to feed her boyfriend's pit bull in the backyard.

Williams' face was horribly mauled. The male pit bull was kept chained in the fenced yard of the house on Birch Way.

No one is clear on what set the dog off. He had never attacked before.

"And I hear these stories and it just breaks my heart because it doesn't have to happen," says veteran dog trainer Barb Levenson.

Barb, who has been training dogs for nearly 30 years at her Oakmont Center, says all dogs bite if the right buttons are pushed.

She adds that some breeds, like pit bulls, have been genetically programmed for aggression.

"And unless you do something to counter that programming than that's what you end up with," Levenson said.

Another problem is keeping a dog chained up for long periods of time.

"Most of these dogs that are left on chains have virtually no socialization," she said.

Barb Levenson also believes that no dog attacks for no reason.
 
On a chart, Barb describes how dogs who are not desensitized by training can act out when confronted by too many stressors, like protecting their territory, nervous around children, someone reaching out or coming into the yard.

"When all those stressors are stacked you reach the 'Bite Threshold.'"

The layering of stressors become more than the dog can handle.

But since it's not always easy to know when any dog is having a bad day, what's the bottom line?

"The bottom line is the adult who doesn't say to a child, 'Do not approach that dog.'"

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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