Just a little info on Pitbulls

[_BoidFinatic_]

wow. that was pretty interesting. i finally just had to go through all of the pictures one by one to find the pitbull.

for the poll my option really isnt there. i like pitbulls and would like to own one someday maybe, but i dont like them so much that i wouldnt own any other dog.

same here

[brainman1000]

You wanna talk dog bites? I'm a Vet Tech as well and I have seen many, MANY more bites from people's spoiled Chihuahuas, Dachshunds, Rat Terriers, Schnauzers, Lhasa Apsos, Labradors, etc. We get alot of Am. Staff.'s and Am. Pit Bull Terriers, American Bull Dogs, Bull Terriers, and they are the ones I look forward to every day. They could care less what you stick or poke them with, they just look at you with that big smile on their face and love you for being there with them. If they are socialized properly, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DOG, then they are perfectly fine to be with other dogs/cats/etc. I mean, seriously, if you didn't properly socialize a Lab, Husky, or one of those ditsy Chihuahuas(like every one I have ever met has been) they could be definitely be equally aggressive and very dangerous(with children or other animals).

Proper socialization, proper training, and not to mention the most important part; Spaying and Neutering to get rid of the health problems, frustration associated with the hormonal influence, and the unneeded aggression. It is all any dog ever needs. Sounds like someone needs to watch The Dog Whisperer and really take in what Cesar is talking about. I would trust any Bully breed MUCH farther than I would ever trust any of the toy breeds.

AMEN

[Shelby]

You got it Becky!

Anyways, as far as sheer numbers, more labradors bite people than pits. There is a breed temperament test, and pits rated one of the best.. above dogs like labs.. and shih tzus. I can not remember the website that lists it though.

The problem is that bad people tend to pick dogs like pits to abuse and therefore make aggressive. Why would they want a dog that doesn't have a bad reputation? They want a dog that looks and acts mean to make themselves feel good about themselves, so they get a pit, or rott, or whatever, and abuse it to the point that it is a dangerous animal that often needs to be put down.. now, they could do the same with other breeds too, just they choose pits.

Being a groomer I have never had an aggressive pit come in. On the other hand we get a lot of nasty pomeranians, schnauzers, and lhasa apsos. I too look forward to having the pits come in, they're such wonderful dogs!

[alexrls]

You got it Becky!

Anyways, as far as sheer numbers, more labradors bite people than pits. There is a breed temperament test, and pits rated one of the best.. above dogs like labs.. and shih tzus. I can not remember the website that lists it though.

The problem is that bad people tend to pick dogs like pits to abuse and therefore make aggressive. Why would they want a dog that doesn't have a bad reputation? They want a dog that looks and acts mean to make themselves feel good about themselves, so they get a pit, or rott, or whatever, and abuse it to the point that it is a dangerous animal that often needs to be put down.. now, they could do the same with other breeds too, just they choose pits.

Being a groomer I have never had an aggressive pit come in. On the other hand we get a lot of nasty pomeranians, schnauzers, and lhasa apsos. I too look forward to having the pits come in, they're such wonderful dogs!

i totally agree with what you're saying. at this point i guess that the only arguement against thenm would be that no matter how badly you raise, say a hamster,it just can't do damage to you. as opposed to pit bull (or rotts like you mentioned which also have a bad rep) which are "waiting to be abused"

[frankykeno]

Unfortunately you get situations though with pits like we have here in Toledo, Ohio. We have a huge pit problem due to illegal dog fighting and people (mostly young males) that think having an aggressive dog makes them somewhat more "manly" (pretty sad if you being a big man is dependent on your dog isn't it). I'm amazed pits aren't illegal in Toledo.

I was out walking our puppy with my son Mikey 3 days ago. A big male, unneutered pit on a leash (okay it was a chain...lordy but these guys have to look macho don't they) was dragging it's owner along and out of the blue went for our puppy. If the owner hadn't been strong enough either the puppy or my son would have been injured. Yesterday an 18 month old walking down the street with her parents here in Toledo was suddenly grabbed by a pit. It was behind a fence in it's own yard, but had a dig out spot apparently and came through, grabbing this poor baby by her leg without any reason to do so.

I'm not blaming these dogs but the fact is I'm getting scared to walk our puppy and my son around. We had to go home last week because the neighbours called me over to say 4 pits were roaming loose a block over. It's pretty scarey stuff when they don't seem to have a reason to trigger, they just go for anything small and moving.

I know this is about bad owners not bad dogs but they've ruined the pit breed in Detroit and Toledo. I wouldn't buy a pit down here if you paid me, most come from fighting stock and the sad thing is the laws will likely ban them soon here. We actually considered a pit puppy before we got Gunnar and did a lot of research but we decided against it as we believe they will be banned in Toledo as well as not being sure we could find one that wasn't from fighting stock. There isn't hardly a day goes by that I don't see an aggressive pitbull incident reported on TV and I'm just so sad for these poor dogs but I'm also becoming very afraid of them.

[rabernet]

I am a big dog lover - but fact is, I just don't trust pit bulls. I worked in high school at a veterinary clinic before people knew what pit bulls were and I was feeding the boarders, and one was a pit bull. Same dog I fed day after day - and one day, without warning, he clamped down on my hand when I was putting his food bowl in his cage.


I had to be rushed to the emergency room and was asked by the medical staff "your pet bulldog did this to you?". NO - a PIT bulldog did this to me.

The vet asked me if I wanted him to hold the dog for longer for rabies observation. I told him no - because if he did, the dog would starve to death. Turned out after the attack, I was the only person that dog would let near him and I still had to walk and feed this dog that I didn't trust until his boarding time was up.

I know it's all about the owner and how it's raised, the problem here is that a lot of people get pit bulls because they are a tough dog, and I don't want to have to figure out if a person is raising their pit correctly.

At the dog park that I go to, we've got a guy with a pit named Troy. Now Troy seems sweet enough, but his owner got his ears cropped so that they're hardly there, giving him that tough guy look, and Troy plays very roughly with the other dogs and the owner just goes "he's alright, he's alright". One day it attacked his father's dog that it was raised with. Didn't make me feel any easier when Troy was around. Thankfully, he shows no interest in Diamond - she'd definitely come out on the losing end.

[Entropy]

I had quite a few experiences working with pits at the vet clinic I previously worked at. And the nastiest dogs to come in were Shelties followed by Beagles and Labs. We had lots of sweet pits come through there, one that stands out is;
We had a pit come in that had been hit by a car, her pelvis had been practically shattered, her owner wanted anything done that could be done to put her right. Out of the 8 person staff I was the only one that would go near her. I had to go in on my days off to change her bedding or it wouldn't get done. To change the bedding you had to lift her out of the cage (not easy with an 60lb dog on the bottom level) remove the dirty blanket, sanitize the cage, add new blanket, put dog back in. A few times I did bump her hips and pelvis as I moved her and other then a few wimpers she just licked my arms and that was that, such a vicious dog...oh yes.

I currently have a boxer/pit mix. She's a doll. She is cautious of new people but doesn't go to ravage them.
I obedience train dogs in my area and I'm one of two people that will accept pits for training.

Something to consider on the news is that ANY bully looking breed is automatically a pitbull to them. It gets the headlines. Pitbull has been so twisted into a nightmare creature that it sells.
After training my share of dogs I always say that there is a reason for their actions 99.9% of the time. They aren't made to just snap.

One thing that is enjoyable to see is if any of you watch 'The Dog Whisperer', Ceasar has some super nice pits in his group, free with other dogs, very nice dogs and great show. I recommend it.

[rabernet]

I currently have a boxer/pit mix. She's a doll.

We DID have a boxer/pit mix that came in as a HBC that was the sweetest dog I've ever met. Loved her! She stayed with us for quite some time as she went through surgeries for skin grafts.

[Sputnik]

While labs may have a higher bite stat then pits, I don't see too many savage maulings or deaths from labs or smaller breeds mentioned by a vet I think was in this thread!

Unfortunately, gangs, meth labs and pea brained morons like keeping pits. These people are also usually the ones that have their pits running loose in the neigborhood!

Just recently, two pits got loose and attacked school kids outside their school. Forcing kids to flee inside. The pea brained moron owner has been arrested and charged!

Not that long ago, a child was mauled to death by a "loose" pitbull here in Colorado. A woman jogger was mauled to death, even with people coming to her assistance they still killed her and injured those trying to help her. The two pits were shot. The owner charged!

I don't trust them.

Having said that, I do know some people that own one of the nicest pits around.

[Blu Mongoose]

Just a question for everyone...

What do you use as a correction method. When the dog does something they shouldn't have (like potty on the floor, or tear up a roll of paper towels or newspaper..lol)

I use sounds. When a dog is in the middle of a bad activity [let's say pottying on floor] I let loose with a resounding ACK!, Than I immediately take them to the proper place to go and reward them for using the proper spot. When housebreaking a puupy I take them out on lead to cut distractions. As soon as they potty I give them lots of attention and play time. Just a small amount of free time when we get back in house.[not to much free time in house at first, gives too many chances to instill bad potty habits.]They are then returned to their crate to rest. As soon as rest time is over its time to go out ON LEAD and potty again.
If they have already soiled the floor it must be cleaned really well to remove any odors. Puppies tend to revisit the scene of the crime if they smell any odor.
In the case of destructive chewing I use the same sound , remove the item they are chewing and replace it with a proper chew toy, again praising when they chew the approved toy. Puppies must chew. Denying them chew toys only tends to make them more destuctive.
This has always worked for me. Sorry for the long post.