Pit Bulls

[Josie]

A neighbor of my parents had two pit bulls that killed the next door neighbors four year old grandson. They had no history of aggression, authorities think the dogs were just "playing".

Pit Bulls are the only dogs I can not chase off my off my property, because they won't budge.

 

[seedcorn]

My ONLY comment is make friends with it as fast as you can. That is your best defense.

ALL dogs can be a problem. What scares me about pits is when they fight, they fight to kill--killed my dog in front of my 5 yr. old and one of my friends just had to kill his pit. Why?, friend is as sweet as they come, dog was NEVER mistreated, raised around 2 other dogs. It got mad at the old dog, they have no idea why, 2X it had the death grip on the old dog..never got chance for 3X.

I'm done w/this thread. Good luck.

 

[SterlingAcres]

This thread's older I think, but I've never been to this section. LOL

My comments here... well, we had a pittbull mix and she was pretty laid back. She wasn't a great 'protection' dog, hell she'd help a robber carry the tv out. We had to move to a place where no pets were allowed and sadly had to take her to a shelter. I'm terrified that she might have ended up in some irresponsible owners hand just because of her breed.

I'd say if it's the 18 year old boys dog, secure your yard. I've seen way too many teens purchase these dogs thinking of them as a status symbol and the outcome is never good.

Good luck.

 

[fullhouse]

I would worry a lot more about the owners than the dog. We are on bully dog #2, and he is great. #1 died, was an angel, everyone loved her. We have 5 kids and 2 other non-bully dogs, my lab picks on him all the time. No issues with him ever, the lab is much more trouble and the setter more grumpy. That being said, he would eat a chicken if I let him. Luckily one "mom" stare and he backs off.

 

[Sparklecoon]

The thing with pits is that they were originally bred to fight other dogs. Dog on Dog agression is very common unfortunately there are still those out there trying to produce for the originally intended purpose.

That being said I've might dozens and dozens of pits that were perfect family pets (even if some had to be only dogs). Much of it breaks down to training, socialising, and control.

I have one pit mix now and will be fostering another soon until he/she can find their forever home.

No child should ever be trusted along with ANY dog.

Also percentage wise, more people are bitten each year by labradors and other "Family" breeds. Pits just get all the attention. Lucky them, ehh?

 

[fullhouse]

Quote:
Very true, I keep this link in my favorites just for when such talks come up.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/10/earlyshow/contributors/debbyeturner/main514774.shtml

 

[silkieboxerluv]

My sister owns two pits-one male and one female both fixed. One was a gift and the other was just passed off to her. We love these dogs more than anything. I trust these dogs-but I wouldnt be letting my kids 4 and 2 outside with out supervision anyways. You need to go speak to the owners of the dog-Get in good with the dog. You say its a puppy then make sure your family lets the dog become fimiliar with each other. I'd be nervous too but until there is a problem with him jumping the fence make sure you and your neighbor are on the same page of whats to be expected. Maybe with luck the 18 year old will move soon.:|

 

[Guitartists]

It all boils down to responsible ownership. Regardless of breed..... if your neighbors are bad dog owners, you're gonna have trouble. A small fufu dog is just as capable of digging into pens and eating birds. If they are responsible, it should be fine. My pit bull loves the chickens. I think the only thing he would actually try to kill if he caught it is a squirrel... but they taunt him daily. We are working with him on that and he is getting better about just ignoring them, even when they are right in front of the patio door. When we first moved here, they were into EVERYTHING! Our trash, gardens, bird feeders, garage, even the car if the windows got left down. I had to constantly chase them off and scream at them... Halo picked up on this and now he hates them in the yard because "mommy" hates them in the yard. Things have calmed down now and we are reaching a truce.

I hope they are responsible owners... the world cannot handle many more irresponsible ones.

 

[Josie]

I think that is an interesting point.
At the same time, most of the aggressive dogs listed, were miniatures and toy breeds. I would much rather be bit by an aggressive toy poodle than a calm pit bull. The intent of the dog isn't an issue, or even the number of bites. Its the death issue.

Between 1979-1998 none of the "family" breeds caused fatalities. (The years I could find data for) I would argue that even if labordors bit ten times as many people (which I doubt), they are still "safer" because they didn't kill anyone.

Unniversity of Minnesota gives a breakdown of the fatalities by breed and year.


By the way, I hope I am not offending anyone. I think good points are being brought up on both sides, and I like that kind of discussion.

 

[nutmeggie]

I think the major problem with pitbulls is that people think of them as mean dogs. So people buy this breed to train to attack and be mean. So there are more attacks on record with them because thats what people train them to do. They have powerful jaws and can do dammage. If they are raised to be friendly and nice and not allowed to be agressive at all as the puppy they should be fine. But with any child and dog you have to watch them. See I don't trust black labs, since I was little and one attacked my dog badly. Any dog can be trained to be agressive and hopefully your neighbors can be trained to be a sweet heart!! I hope they are good people who didn't get the dog to have an agressive dog but to have a friendly sweet dog. Good luck.