Pit Bulls and their bad rap

[Christian Hernandez]

Many consider pit bulls to be violent and dangerous dogs because of media and politics. What many fail to realize most media talk about a dog attack and make it seem more sever than it really is and also, focus mostly on the Pit bull. Even if its an attack by a "Pit bull type" dog and not really a pit bull. The truth is the pit Bull is one of the best dogs you can own. Easy to train, loving, and loyal. Even when in a home where it is abused it will still show affection to its owner. many feel so much hate to these dogs and its ridiculous, going so far as to banning them in some areas and forcing families to put a loving, innocent pet down. I live in jersey and the animosity some feel towards this breed is awful I own a Pit/Pointer mix and one day whilst walking him a mother and daughter walked up and asked if they could pet him, i allowed it and my dog loved it didn't show any aggression or anything. The woman proceeded to ask me what breed he was and after telling her a pit, she snatched her daughter and said i need to put the monster to sleep. Yet a moment ago he was the sweetest dog she ever met. Honestly i would be more afraid of me after saying i should put my dog to sleep cause he is a pit than the actual dog.

Whats your take on the "Pit Bull problem"?
How should us owners with great dogs deal with people like the woman above?

[mainbutter]

I completely agree that APBTs are seen in a bad light, and unfairly. I practically abide by "it's the owner, not the dog" with extreme zeal.

However, anecdotal personal experience along with statistics always gives me a nagging little voice in the back of my head.

I've met plenty of happy-go-lucky people-friendly "please pet me and play tug of war with my rope toy!" APBTs of all ages to have no bias against them. Heck, I don't think I've ever met a defensive or aggressive APBT ever.

Of all the deaths-by-dog in the US, some ridiculous percentage (over 90%? It's too late for me to look it up right now) are by APBTs. While plenty of blame can be given to the popularity of the breed among people who shouldn't have dogs or don't know how to train them, there is something to be said for their power and potential for causing injury beyond your typical lab.

[mainbutter]

As for how to deal with people who have problems with APBTs, the only solutions are to
1) educate, particularly through interaction
2) avoid confrontation

Of course rule #0 is to make sure your dog is well-behaved and friendly.

[zach_24_90]

I love pits.. My neighbor has two and they are the sweetest dogs. Always very playful. Trust me I understand dealing with a bad rap. I have a Doberman and she's the biggest baby ever. Probably the best dog ive ever seen with kids. It's all in how a dog is raised In our family we have my dobe, my brothers American bulldog/pit mix and my parents two dachshunds... Guess which two are the meanest? Haha the little weiners can be really temperamental. It sucks that certain species get blamed for irresponsible owners.

[mues155]

I agree with the whole "its the owner not the dog" thing as well.
I believe to be a good pit bull owner you need experience in training dogs. If this dog does not respond to or respect its owner as such, it leaves room for it misbeahaving and being a threat to people.
Pits are very loyal dogs and will do anything to provide protection for its owner. If a threat is presented a pit can do more damage than would probably be needed for the situation.
I dont believe a pit is a pet that should be taken on lightly. And unfortunetly for most that is not the case.

Also i do believe though that a lot has to do with media coverage of course. Its the same problem us reptile owners face. People are misinformed and terrified of snakes, the media and these stupid tv shows about "moster man eating snakes" isnt helping our cause.

Education is very important here, as well as resposible pet owners. The sad thing about the whole deal is its always the animals that are paying with their lives for peoples stupidity.

[nick_kennedy25]

I think pits are great if they are raised right. I have friends who own pits and I have never been afraid to let my kids go out in the yard and play with them. I would say it definitely comes down to the owner and what they intend to do with the dog. We actually have a lot of dog fighting type people in my area even though it is illegal (I'm not a part of this). Hear about them getting busted fairly often. They are also illegal to own in the city limits in several towns here. Just like the large constrictors a few bad people are gonna ruin it for everybody.

[zach_24_90]

idk if many people know it but back in the old days down here in the south pits were raised to be baby sitters for children. not hunting, not fighting, baby sitting. if thats not a good dog idk what is

[Redneck_Crow]

Some of the nicest dogs I've ever met have been pits. Also a couple of the nastiest.

I think that pits tend to suffer not only from owners who encourage them to be aggressive but from owners who are too afraid of their own dogs to correct them and keep them in line. You get the same result as you see with small dogs whose owners think that they're too cute to correct when they snap and growl...only with a pit you've got a dog that is physically capable of being more than a heel biting annoyance.

It takes a committed thoughtful owner to raise a pit correctly. Raising a pit is kinda like having a retic--many people have proven that it can be done responsibly, and when it's not done responsibly the animals and the decent responsible owners bear the brunt of jackass irresponsible owner's screw ups.

[bubblz]

Good grief,.. this again don't get it twisted,.. there's more to pit bulls or any breed for that matter,..than how they're raised. It's a combination of the owner as well as the dogs genetics and what they were bred for. You can't simply over ride their DNA and Instincts because they were brought up in Never Never Land. You can manage unwanted behavior but the drive is still there.

Why do herding breeds herd, scent hounds track, pointers point, retrievers retrieve with out being trained how? Because it was bred into them to do so. Back in the day they picked the best dogs with what ever traits they were trying to enhance, sight, sound, scent, instincts, aggression what ever and bred them together. Pit bulls or any bully breed for that matter are no different. People do the same thing today with Bps (animals) regardless of the defects some of them carry and pass on.

We have thieves, serial killers, rapists and pedophiles who were raised right, never neglected or molested and look how they turned out. Don't get me wrong, some dogs as well as people do need to be put down in the quickest way possible. But their actions are not always because of how they were raised.

Regardless of whether or not they have a sob story to make you believe it.

[Redneck_Crow]

idk if many people know it but back in the old days down here in the south pits were raised to be baby sitters for children. not hunting, not fighting, baby sitting. if thats not a good dog idk what is

When I was a kid, there was a pit bull in our extended family. Wonderful dog. He only fault is that sometimes she got so happy and excited to see someone she knew that she would pee a little bit. She wagged her entire body when she saw us and ran around in crazy little circles.

Kids that could barely walk yet wooled over that dog. We dressed it up in clothes. She pulled our wagon with us in it. She accompanied us to the bus stop and to the swimming hole. She never harmed other dogs, cats, horses, cows, baby chicks, or humans. Prissy was a perfect lady, peeing aside.

I remember when I got my Doberman, and how my father was so wary of Rex at first. At that time the Doberman was the current favored dog of those suffering from being assertiveness-impaired. Is that a good enough euphemism for cowards? Those of us who had Dobes because we appreciated them for their intelligence and gentleness were for outnumbered by the people who got themselves a big oleDoberman because they though it made them look tough. Many Dobes were ruined by people who thought that they could "attack train" a Dobe by tormenting it and encouraging it to be mean.

It took about ten minutes of Rex snooting his head under my father's hand and sitting on his foot and looking back at him with that "c'mon, pay attention to me!" look for my father to decide that Dobermans had gotten a bad rap that they didn't deserve. He never had the same misgivings about pits because he had grown up with them around. Everyone just knew that the pits were friendly dogs.

Nothing more unfortunate can befall any breed of animal than for it to be adopted as a symbol of the "toughness" of it's owner. Yeah, pits are tough. But if they haven't been turned into a caracture of a pit by some idiot trying to shore up his own bravado through ruining a brave animal they are among the kindest and most loyal and gentle of dogs. They do have an innate aggressiveness toward other dogs which was understood way back when and people took the time to teach their pits that they were expected to behave a certain way. The pit bull breed was not selectively bred to be aggressive toward humans. When you see one that is, the problem is on the other end of the leash.