Man killed in dog attack at the home of Ving Rhames, authorities say

The Houston Chronicle ^ | Aug. 3, 2007

[Past Your Eyes]

Who in hell is Bruce Willis?

[Past Your Eyes]

"200 pound dogs can be difficult to control."

I'm sure they can. But I've seen a little kid control a pair of oxen that weigh a ton apiece.

[MotleyGirl70]

Who in hell is Bruce Willis?

He's a football player for the Green Bay Packers.

[IrishCatholic]

That’s what you get from the press. They weren’t mastiffs. Period. The breed has one of the lowest recorded bite frequency surpassed only by the Bernese Mountain dog.
Mastiff’s bond with the people that care for them and will often interpose between them and others to prevent conflict, even rough play.
They are also known as couch potatoes.

More than likely they were either bull mastiffs or Canary Island dog crosses (Presa Canario), the fighting dogs that are crossed with mastiffs for size but are fierce fighters. It was these Pressario dogs that mauled to death Diane Whipple in San Francisco.

The dogs are the rich man’s version of the pit bull. But they weren't English Mastiffs like the picture earlier in the thread.

[Yorlik803]

Same here. I have seen them be so funny to watch and so loving.
The only thing I dont like is the slobber,,,,,

[luckymom]

Thanks for the clarification. I searched for other stories about this after reading the mastiff reference. I have an ENGLISH Mastiff and although he is still very much a 180 pound puppy at almost 3 years old, I couldn’t see one (or four) of his breed doing somehting like this.

[IrishCatholic]

He will always be a big lap dog. Always. And you will never find a more patient and tolerant breed.

[SE Mom]

In the story I read at CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/08/03/people.vingrhames.dogs.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest

..it said “Four dogs, at least two of them mastiffs”...

So apparently it’s not known yet what breed the other two are.

[brytlea]

There are several mastiff breeds, and I find the media rarely knows the difference. I can, off the top of my head, think of:
Bull Mastiffs, English Mastiffs, French Mastiffs (also known as dogue de bordeaux), Neopolitan Mastiffs and Tibetan Mastiffs. There may be more.
Of course, the media also rarely knows the difference between a pit bull and a Bull Terrier. In fact, I suspect they don’t know the difference between a golden retriever and a yellow lab.
susie

[brytlea]

I completely forgot about Pressario. One killed a lady out here in S. FL this year.
susie

[brytlea]

On the news this morning they mentioned an English Bulldog. It is hard for me to imagine one of those doing much damage. I think one would have a heatstroke from the exertion.
susie

[spetznaz]

That has to be a photoshop. Am I wrong?

[IrishCatholic]

The latest update, or rumor, I saw from the news that two were bull mastiffs and one an English bull dog. They still haven’t said what the last one was. But they weren’t English Mastiffs.

[brytlea]

An English Bulldog. I’ll bet he just egged the others on...
susie

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

Now they are saying it wasn’t a dog attack after all.

[brytlea]

No kidding? I hadn’t heard that, do you have a new article you can post?
susie

[Sue Perkick]

http://www.hollywood.com/news/Rhames_Dog_Victim_Suffered_from_Heart_Attack/4534721

[Sue Perkick]

Another source

http://www.tmz.com/2007/08/03/victim-of-dog-bite-may-have-had-heart-attack/

[brytlea]

Interestingly, from the article:

three Mastiffs each weighing 160-190 lbs. and one English Bulldog weighing 100-150 lbs.

Wow, that does not sound like a Bull Mastiff, sounds too heavy, more like an English. And a 100 lb English Bulldog. I don't think so, as a male will weigh about 50ish lbs.

susie