New York: Woman attacked by pit bull blames herself and now says it's all about how they're trained. Yeah...

NEW YORK -- News of a dog attack Wednesday morning in Rochester brought back painful memories for one local woman.

She tells us she was also the victim of a pit bull attack. She says she has seen both sides: She was attacked by a pit bull, but right now she owns one and says it is all about the owner -- not the dog. How the owner is training the dog and caring for the dog.

So is she accusing her friends of abusing/mistreating the dog that attacked her? If it's all in the training as she says...

She agreed to share her story if we concealed her identity.

"I understand what that like," she tells News10NBC. "I understand it is scary if it is a pit bull because they have a lot of force behind their bite."

It was about three or four years ago when this woman was going to a friend's house. The party was on the far side of the home and while her friends didn't see her coming, her friend's pit bull did:

"I tried to confidently walk across the property and he met me halfway, and just his demeanor, the way he was standing, the look in his eyes, it caught me off-guard," she says. "And I just felt something wasn't right. I raised my right leg up into the air to protect myself a little and that's when he lunged at me. He did slice my leg open on my upper thigh and my leg on my lower left. It was terrifying."

She says, after researching, she realized she was threatening the animal, and also learned how protective pit bulls are. Today, she owns a pit bull herself.

Her dog was abused for the first two months of her life, and this woman had to work harder to make her part of this family.

"You have to teach them who the dominate role is in the house. If you don't teach them they will take it because they feel there needs to be -- dogs are pack animals. And if there is no assertive, not aggressive but assertive leader, they will become that leader and they will do it aggressively."

Some people refuse to accept the truth

She has advice for all dog owners out there. "It is not just with pit bulls, but it is more so. But also Boxers, Mastiffs, Dobermans, Rottweilers. They were all, at one point in their lineage, trained to be fighting dogs. So you have to keep that in mind. When you are getting one of these dogs, you are going to have to put in more time and energy."

So how can you tell if a dog is going to react to a situation? We talked to an expert who says watch their body language.

"If you are walking up to a dog and you can see the whites of his eyes on the sides, you may want to not stand so close," says Mike Skrynski, Brindle Posse Rescue. "Look at their tail, look at their butt."

Another piece of advice: Look at the hair on their back. If it is standing up, the dog is likely upset.

Well this works for most dogs, but not pit bulls because they have been bred for a hundred years to not show how they're feeling. This helped them in the fighting ring. That's why most dogs, when they surrender, put their bellies in the air to show submission to the attacking dog. Most dogs will stop the attack. Bully breeds will not. 

(WHEC - Dec 1, 2016)