Pit Bulls and their bad rap

[spasticbeast]

I have volunteered at animal control for quite a while. I have never had a pit try to bite me, but a ton of little rat terrier, chihuahua or daschund mix's have had a go at me. Although I will agree to an extent that dog aggression (not to be confused with human aggression) may have been breed into pits over the last few hundred years, with responsible owners and the proper training, the instincts are easily overcome. Don't be fooled by the media. Bad news gets all the coverage, while the good deeds go unnoticed.

[MinaDeathclutch]

I agree. I just got a 5 month old pitbull.. and I have a 4 year old rottweiler, that i've had since she was 8 weeks old. both of these dogs are my life. theyre my babies, my best friends, my companions, my protectors, my family. I took my pitbull puppy to petsmart and everyone was petting him... and were so amazed that these
"dangerous" dogs .. lay down at their feet so they can pet them.. play nicely with their dogs... lick the :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: outta everyone.. etc etc. I'm over it, im sick of fighting this annoying war.

[MinaDeathclutch]

Really?????? You need to open your eyes a little wider and look at your surroundings, NOT everything on the boob tube is real
$P$I$T$ is money to the news crews, this made the paper but I dont recall seeing it on any TV station---->Dachshund Mauls



I will

Pibbles are my breed of choice and will be for the rest of my life. Even the one that lightened my right arm by about 8 ounces.
Yes I was attacked, Yes I lost A LOT of blood, AND yes I knew how to handle the situation.
Was it the dogs fault? No. Was it the girl that had the dogs fault? No.
It was the owner of the two poms that were off leash.
Lucky was a rescue and know to be dog aggressive and we were working with that. All it took was two little black dust mops OFF LEASH to turn him to what is in their blood.
I dont know if it was a good or bad thing, I dont think my reflexes are as fast as they use to be but Lucky could have been having an off day too
my hand beat Luckys teeth to the little yapper. Unfortunately Luckys eyes were already rolled and he bit on something soft and chewy. Problem was it was me and not the other dog.
NINE.......... count them 9............ other bully handlers and not one other person knew what to do! I kept telling someone to pick him up!!! Right arm in his mouth and left hand holding his joules so he couldnt shake. My break stick was useless to me in this situation. Finally someone came and lifted him off the ground and guess what??? I was right again!!! This instance we learned that he was really dog aggressive for a reason. He was a fighting dog for whoever had him before. They are trained to break one of two ways. Either uncontrolled with a break stick OR controlled where a human picks the dogs feet off the ground. Go figure he was right back to loving old Lucky, even helped lick the blood off my arm and gave me a kiss

Long story short to this ramble......... know what you are going to argue about before you insert foot in mouth and dont believe everything you see on tv, a lot more happens out in the world that is not news worthy because they cant make cash on it

\

also. ignorant idiot... PITBULLS ARE NOT.. I REPEAT NOT LARGE DOGS. they are MEDIUM sized terriers.. a ROTTWEILER is a big ass mastiff.
i should know, i OWN both.
ive had rottweilers since i was born.... i rescued pitbulls for 4 years.. and finally got my own pitbull.... my rottweiler looks like a cow compared to a pitbull.
your dumb little ankle biting dog has no manners, barks way too much and probably attacks everything in sight.. and awwww isnt that so cute? a dog that doesnt respect his family, his owner, or anything for :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:s sake... my rottweiler is the best behaved animal youll ever meet, you have NO idea how intelligent she is... she wont attack or bark at you if youre not threatening her family.. shes not gonna bolt out the door and bite your ankles.. she sits waits patiently to see who you are... if you're not supposed to be here, she will kill you... if you're supposed to be here...she'll be your best friend.
before you go pointing fingers at pitbulls, BIG BAD PITBULLS.. please do some research.. a medium sized terrier is not your biggest worry in life.....

[MinaDeathclutch]

I have agree with you. Our pit "Harry" who is a rescue is the best babysitter dog I have ever seen as well as the most intelligent dog I have ever had. He understands alot of words and can be told many commands.

Pits have a strong competitive nature and and were originally bred for wild boar hunting. If they are conditioned to use that energy in a negative way you could have problems but if they are conditioned/trained to use it for playing ball and other activities you will have a fun loving well adjusted dog like our boy Harry.

As stated so many times, It's the owner not the breed!

pitbulls were the best nannys! they used to be called the nanny dogs.. back back back in the day i think the queen or something used pitbulls as nannys, i forget

[MinaDeathclutch]

At an 84.2 pass ratio the American Staffordshire Terrier ranks above many more popular breeds such as the Beagle at 80.9%, Collie at 79.9% and the Dalmatian at 82.4%Intelligence, human attenuation, energy, and affection are characteristic of the breed.

The Am Staff is a people-oriented dog that thrives when he is made part of the family and given a job to do. Although friendly, this breed is loyal to his family and will protect them from any threat.

enough said

no offense but thats a bit off. pitbulls are NOT guard dogs, they've never been used as guard dogs.. every pitbull ive ever met has just lickedme.. and let strangers in ./.. now a rottweiler, thats a different story.

[MinaDeathclutch]

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.

i agree with education andbeing mentally strong and able to train a dog.. however..i think you and other people are STILL missing the point. youre all still acting like pitbulls are BIG BAD DANGEROUS dogs.. in reality they are not. they're medium sized terriers.. that come up to my knee...theyre NOT guard dogs. terriers are NOT guard dogs. terriers are working dogs.. pitbulls have never been used as guarding dogs.. well other than if you're in the hood .. and you chain up a beefed up pitbull on steroids...people use them to look tough. guard dogs are dobermans, shepherds, rottweilers, some mastiffs etc. pitbulls are medium sized terriers .. working dogs.. not guard dogs. they WILL NOT protect, theyll protect as much as a lab would.. basically chances are very slim.

[MinaDeathclutch]

These are a couple of articles I have seen in the local news and one in the Ontario news since I have started reading this thread. I believe that it comes down to the owners of these animals on how the dog will behave. It seems that it is only newsworthy most of the time if the animal doing the attacking is a Pitbull. I have several friends who owned or have owned pitbulls and they have never had any issues with these dogs, been around children, other dogs, cats horses, reptiles ,you name it and not once have they ever shown any aggression.


Bitten woman urges ban on pit bulls
Halifax animal services says charges are possible
CBC News Posted: Aug 30, 2011 7:24 AM AT Last Updated: Aug 30, 2011 8:13 PM AT Read IN

Kathy Martin points to one of the bites she suffered Monday evening at Martinique Beach after a pit bull that was off-leash randomly attacked her. CBCA Dartmouth woman is calling for a ban on pit bulls after she was randomly attacked at a popular beach.

Kathy Martin was bitten on the face, ear, and neck by an off-leash pit bull Monday evening at Martinique Beach, a provincially owned park on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore.

She said she was in a grassy area near the parking lot when the dog lunged at her.

"I was on the ground and this dog was snarling and lunging at me and lunging at my neck and face," she told CBC News.

'It all comes down to responsible pet ownership'
— Andrea MacDonald, manager, HRM animal services

Martin was treated at a local hospital and released.

She said the attack came out of nowhere and she did nothing to provoke the dog. She feels the breed should be banned.

"If the dog is aggressive to begin with, then he never should have been off-leash. If it had shown no signs of aggression before then that's more of a statement for banning pit bulls, if they can just flip like that on you," she said.

Dogs at all provincial parks are required to be leashed. Owners who let their pets run free face a minimum fine of $167.71.

RCMP said the case has been handed over to Halifax Regional Municipality animal services.

Andrea MacDonald, manager of animal services, said the investigation is in the early stages.

"There will be potentially charges laid. We have been in contact with the dog owner, as well as the victim," she said Tuesday.

Investigators can give a warning, issue a ticket or seize an animal, which could lead to the animal being put down.

MacDonald said it's too early to know what will happen in this case.

Dog attacks
There have been 96 reported dog attacks in HRM this summer, and 17 of those involved an injury to a person or another animal, according to animal services.

Earlier this month, a child in Dartmouth was rushed to hospital after being bitten by a pit bull.

Last week, an off-leash dog attacked and killed a Jack Russell terrier. Police said the aggressive dog appeared to be a pit bull.

MacDonald said only six of the 17 dogs that caused injury were pit bulls or a pit bull mix.

"It all comes down to responsible pet ownership," she said. "As we've seen in the past, it's not just pit bulls that attack."

MacDonald said the number of dog attacks this summer are on par with last year.

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Owner sought after dog kills terrier:

Police are looking for the owner of a dog that attacked and killed a smaller dog in Dartmouth this week.

The dogfight happened Monday evening on Dorothea Drive, near Eric Graves Memorial Junior High School.

Police said a woman was walking a Jack Russell terrier when three people approached with their two dogs.

One of the two dogs was not on a leash, police said, and the one that was running free attacked the terrier.

The terrier was so badly injured that it had to be put down.

Police said the aggressor was a red short-haired dog that looked like a pit bull.

Const. Brian Palmeter, spokesman for Halifax Regional Police, said the owner of that animal could face charges for having a pet off-leash.

Police were looking for a woman and two men on Tuesday.

The woman is described as being about 25, with shoulder-length blonde hair and wearing glasses.

The two men with her are believed to be in their mid to late 20s. One had short dark hair and was wearing a white T-shirt and black baseball cap. He had tattoos on his right arm.

The second man had dark curly hair.

Police said anyone with information should call animal services at 490-4000.

Last month, a Shih Tzu died after it was attacked on Spring Avenue in Dartmouth. Two dogs were seized and their owner was charged.

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Banning the breed: The debate over pit bulls:

They seem to come in bunches: attacks by dangerous dogs.

Saturday, Aug. 28, 2004. Toronto police fire more than a dozen bullets into two pit bulls that had turned on the man who was walking them as a favour for a friend.

A week earlier, Fredericton, N.B. A family is out walking their :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:zu. A Rottweiler, recently acquired by a neighbour, attacks and kills the dog.

A week before that, in London, Ont., a woman and her seven-year-old son watch in horror as a pit bull latches onto her husband's arm as he tries to keep the family puppy out of the dog's reach.

On Oct. 15, 2004, Ontario's attorney general, Michael Bryant, announced that his province would be the first to ban pit bulls, calling them "ticking time bombs." The ban took effect in the summer of 2005.

The new law faced its first legal challenge in May 2006. Catherine Cochrane, who owns a pit bull-type dog named Chess, said the law is vague and doesn't promote responsible dog ownership. Lawyer Clayton Ruby will argue in Ontario Superior Court that the vast majority of pit bulls are just like Chess – friendly, loving animals.

It's not a new debate. It tends to be renewed after particularly vicious attacks, like one that killed an eight-year-old Stouffville, Ont., girl in 1998.


Marketplace: Dangerous dogs

Winnipeg became the first Canadian city to ban pit bulls in 1990, a year after an attack left a young girl badly disfigured. Since then, incidents involving pit bulls have fallen from about 25 a year to one or two.

Dr. Norma Guy teaches animal behaviour at the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown. She says banning certain breeds of dogs is a stopgap measure that doesn't address the real issue: people behaving irresponsibly with their dogs.

"I'm in favour of really promoting responsible ownership and passing legislation to enforce that," she says.

Guy says one big problem with banning breeds like pit bulls is that once you get into a courtroom, identifying a dog as a specific breed can be very difficult.

"We have to get at the people [who keep vicious dogs]. If you take away the pit bulls, they will move onto another breed. You have to look at stopping individual people who have proven themselves to be irresponsible owners from keeping dogs."

But pit bulls do have their backers. Many have organized to fight against breed-specific legislation.

Sandra Always, the president of the Golden Horseshoe American Pit Bull Terrier Club, has owned and bred pit bulls for 16 years. She's also the vice-president of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada, an organization that lobbies against laws that ban specific breeds of dogs.

"A dog needs responsible ownership regardless of breed," she told CBC Radio. "You train it, you contain and you socialize it. If you ban these guys, what's next? Italy started with a banned list of 13 breeds. They're up to over 40 now. They just banned Welsh Corgis!"

Jennifer Segal is a dog trainer who chooses not to work with pit bulls. She says years of improper breeding have made them not only aggressive but deadly.

"There are a number of young people, particularly male, particularly under the age of 28, who find it to be some type of cultural element to have this type of arm jewelry, pulling them around. It's the macho appearance."

Pit bulls were originally bred in 19th-century England to fight other dogs in pits. That's now rare, but Merle Blaine of the Etobicoke Humane Society in Toronto says it still happens.

"People arrange fights in parks. But by the time you get there it's pretty well over. The dog that loses the fight is left behind, usually a mess. [This kind of thing] makes the breed a bad breed."

But she's not convinced breed-specific legislation is the answer.

"Probably what should happen is there should be a special licensing fee for pit bulls and their owners should be required to take special training. It should be more difficult to own one."

Dr. Guy agrees. "It is too easy owning a dog. [People don't realize] it's like having a toddler for 12 years. A toddler with teeth. We never say we've cured a dog with an aggression problem. All we say is we've lowered the risk of an aggressive action happening again."

She favours stronger legislation aimed at dog owners – and the teeth to back up those laws.

"It takes some investment," Guy said. "Dogs are always going to be here. If we want to continue having dogs with us, we are going to have to have some legislation in place and a way to enforce it so we can control what happens when people don't act responsibly."

In the end, the issue may come down to economics. In March 2004, a Calgary man found himself without home insurance when his insurance company decided it would no longer cover people who kept Rottweilers, German shepherds, pit bulls or Doberman pinschers. Allstate said even a mongrel with any of those bloodlines is considered unacceptable.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says it's a growing trend in the industry.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH. i love the :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ing media. pure bull:cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:. these stories are lies. pure lies. OH NO A PITBULL LUNGED FROM A :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ING TREE ONTO MY HEAD AND KILLED ME.
fear is hillarious. these dogs are not batman and robin. these dogs are not leaping lemurs or flying dinosaurs. THEY DO NOT have lockjaw or whatever else idiots want to say.. no animal on this planet has the ability to have a lockjaw, its physically impossible.. google it why dont ya.
I was out with my pitbull and rottweiler one morning.. just hanging.. potty breaks.. and TWO loose pitbulls walked up to us. i thought :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: were about to have a huge dog fight... my rottweiler barked, they ran like hell...
yeah theres your tough monster dogs.
people arrange fights in parks? HAHAHA. really? what kind of a backwoods :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:ing town do YOU live in?
anyone who reads this kind of crap is as dumb as the morons who write it.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

There goes an infraction

[ed4281]

I have said it before and I will say it again, a dog is only dangerous when placed in the hands of an idiot.

With large dog's come large responsibility and it's the responsibility of the owner to research the breed they are going to acquire, much as it is the responsibility of the person who buys a snake to research and provide for that animal. Irresponsible people are the reason we as snake owners are constantly under scrutiny and irresponsible people are why many breeds get a bad rap. Bottom line people suck, not dogs or any one dog breed.

[PitOnTheProwl]

There goes an infraction

I use the :cens0r: but NOT that much