vicious pitbull

[Cara]

I'm with Seedcorn on this. Dangerous dogs don't growl the whole time and threaten to attack, or nobody would get bitten. People would know to keep away, and chances are even the thugs wanting to look tough wouldn't want them. The danger is in the sudden change in mood, and the propensity to react aggressively when challenged, and some breeds in a bad mood can inflict a lot more damage than others.

 

[Crunchie]

Pitties were bred to be dog/dog aggressive, never dog/people aggressive. They often can't be kept with other dogs; they often have very high prey drives. But with a responsible owner, they can be wonderful dogs. They are very intelligent and if you give them a job, they will be 100% comitted (pitties make great working dogs for law enforcement and such). The key here is responsible ownership.

I have 3 pit bulls/pit bull mixes. All shelter rescues. They break the mold of the stereotypes; all 3 live together happily without aggression toward each other or my other animals (though I would never leave them alone with any of my other animals. It is natural for a dog to want to eat chickens!) such as my goats and chickens.

Here's our youngest, Wednesday. Her and her littermates were scheduled to be euthanized at 3 weeks of age because the shelters here are over run with cast-off pit bulls. Again, irresponsible owners breeding these dogs is a huge problem.

 

[hsm5grls]

I love pit bulls, they are wonderful dogs when cared for properly by there owners. Just my opinion. My boy slept in bed with me every opportunity he had and was a big teddy bear and I still miss him. My pomeranian is way more aggressive and has to be watched around children. I never had a problem with my pitt being aggressive. He would kill everyone with kisses and that's as aggressive as he ever was.

 

[seedcorn]

Quote:
Agree with this. I have no problem with any pets, just owners need to know what they are getting into and accept all the responsibility that comes with it. I have no sympathy for them when their pet does what it's bred for and their response is "I didn't know".

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
Agree with this. I have no problem with any pets, just owners need to know what they are getting into and accept all the responsibility that comes with it. I have no sympathy for them when their pet does what it's bred for and their response is "I didn't know".

Yep--or the dog is blamed for its actions--as if it were intelligent enough to overcome its genetics.

People will be people, and therefore will be stupid.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
Yep, you see people on the news whose children have been mauled by their dog, and the first thing that comes out of their mouth is "I never thought he could do this, he never acted this way before." Well no ****, it only takes one incident to cause serious injury or death. A dog is an animal, not a babysitter, regardless of breed. The key to responsible ownership is accepting that aggressive behaviour is a possiblity from any animal.

 

[crazy4chicsinBC]

I'm a firm believer there are no bad dogs but there is bad owners.
My son (who has 2 small children) also has a pitt who is a lap loving big suck.
I raised my kids with a big rottie, one of the most beautiful, loving dogs we have ever had. I remember some parents of my kids friends not letting them come over because of our rottie. It just burned me up! BTW my rottie was blind from birth and lived to be 13.

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
Just as a side note...
This also applies to people, you just never know...

 

[scorpy01]

Hi all! A friend pointed me to this thread, knowing about my love of Pit Bulls.

I just had to register so I could post here.

Besides what has been said about Pit Bulls being animal aggressive rather than people aggressive, let me give you the (very brief) history to back it up. The American Pit Bull Terrier was bred to fight Bulls in the farm lands, rats in the city or other dogs. These dogs had to be handled by their owners as well as a referee.

Imagine a pit with two dogs fighting. The humans did NOT stand around the outside or the pit. Both owners as well as the referee were INSIDE the pit, ready to grab one of the dogs and use a break stick to seperate them. All three humans had to feel totally safe in stopping the fight.

For this reason, any dog that showed even a slight aggression toward people was considered defective and was put down. In other words, American Pit Bull Terriers were bred to be more human passive than any other breed of dog.

Now, I believe that dog fighting is cruel and I don't condone this activity at all. However, the nature of the activity totally destroys the myth that Pit Bulls are "naturally" human aggressive. They do prey on small animals, thanks to the terrier in the them.

When my dad was a young boy (he's almost 85), Pit Bulls were considered the "nanny dogs" because of their even temperament and love of children. There are stories throughout my blog about my own Pit Bull, Belle, and my granddaughter, Kendyll. I can't imagine any other dog allowing a baby to play in her dog bowl the way Belle let's Kendyll. (Much to my dismay, I might add.)

We all hear the horror stories of Pit Bull attacks. Every breed has its anomalies, of course. With Pit Bulls, there's also the issue of so many breeds being mistaken for Pit Bulls. There are over 20 AKC breeds, in fact, that have been misidentified as Pit Bulls by people unfamiliar with the breed.

Anyway, I hope I've helped to set the record straight on this wonderful, family-friendly breed. Sorry I jumped right in like this but as you can probably tell, I get a little excited when it comes to my beloved "Pibbles."

(And thanks to Ang. for pointing me here!)

Marisa

 

[seedcorn]

Quote:
Yes, and if someone has a relative that is that way, they need to deal with them accordingly. Altho it's not legal to put them down like a vicious dog.

The deal w/breeds that were bred to protect is that the other breeds, bite, let go, bite, let go, etc, while the pit types clamp down and their jaw strength is what 4X stronger so when they clamp down, it's major damage.

Again, if you want them, know the risks and act accordingly.