Talk to me about Pit Bulls.......

[DarlaS]

There was a story some years back of a "socialised" Pomeranian that killed an infant the grandmother/owner was babysitting.

 

If a pom were to bite or attack my kid, I'm pretty sure I could get it off before the kid was dead. A Pitbull in the same situation? Not so certain.

[JESSICAinMD]

I love my pit bull. He is the smartest and sweetest dog I have ever owned. He follows the kids around, when they go out to play he is right there. I was concerned with getting a pit bull at first, but after looking at all the dogs in the shelter, I discovered he was the nicest one. (I do own a shih tzu with a bad temper.)

[DarlaS]

BTW, the new fave breeds for young men with too much testosterone & not enough brains are Dogo Argentino & Fila Brasileiro. Filas have human aggression written into their breed standard, to the extent that judges are not to touch them in the ring. Hwvr, they do get disqualified if the handler cannot manage them in the ring...... :001_huh: gee, who would want to judge that group :confused:

 

Yikes! Why do people keep breeding these dogs? Just let a breed like that (developed by man in the first place) die a natural death. What's the point?

[mommaduck]

If a pom were to bite or attack my kid, I'm pretty sure I could get it off before the kid was dead. A Pitbull in the same situation? Not so certain.

The grandmother went to get a drink from the kitchen. The baby was dead before she got back. Her cute little lapdog "never hurt anyone" before.

[Remudamom]

Some friends of ours had a pup they raised with their children and brought out to our place to play with my collie. He seemed fine. One day a child ran through the yard, dog attacked and wouldn't let go until he was shot.

 

I see a pitt bull on my place, I reach for a gun.

[TXMary2]

Those of you who are vehemently against having pit bulls.......have any of you ever owned a pit bull and had personal experience or have you formed an opinion based on what you have heard or one agressive dog you have run into? Just curious because those that have posted as "pro-pit" seem to be people that own or have owned them before so I am taking that into consideration when weighing opinions.

 

I have to say that honestly I am upset my son got this type of dog and I don't know why he did. I think if he was trying to be really macho he would have gotten a male, but I just haven't had the conversation with him yet. I will suggest that he pays money to have it trained, but still after the stories I am leery of knowing this dog when it "grows up." I do feel like I am letting the emotion of fear control my thoughts on this and I really would like to come from an educated place and not a place of fear when it comes to this situation.

 

I know my son and he is fairly responsible - he does live on his own after all - but he is also very social and does desire to be admired and likes attention. He is an amatuer sponsored skateboarder and loves "performing" so I hope this dog isn't a way to get attention. I'd like to give him the benefit of doubt, but with young men who knows!!

[3littlekeets]

I don't have a pit. I have a Chow. I will always have a Chow Chow in my life. I have three children.

 

I do not worry a STITCH about my chows around my kids, nor their friends. We only get our pups from breeders who breed for temperament...usually we get pups who were rejected as show dogs for minor reasons (uneven coloring, over bite, etc.), but who have all the other necessary qualities. AND, we socialize, train, socialize, and TRAIN.

 

I am tired of hearing breeds dismissed out of hand. Breeding and training are important.

[Greta]

Those of you who are vehemently against having pit bulls.......have any of you ever owned a pit bull and had personal experience or have you formed an opinion based on what you have heard or one agressive dog you have run into? Just curious because those that have posted as "pro-pit" seem to be people that own or have owned them before so I am taking that into consideration when weighing opinions.

 

I've never owned one, and I've never had a bad experience with one personally. My opposition to them is based on what I learned working in vets' offices. I'm not surprised that lots of people will testify how great their pit bulls are. I'm *not* saying that I think every pit bull is evil! What I am saying is that the breed was bred for the purpose of fighting, therefore they are going to be aggressive when they feel threatened (whether that threat is real or imagined, and whether it comes from another dog or a human), and that in general their bites cause a lot more damage than bites from other breeds because of their strength and their tendency to hang on and shake their prey. So these two factors, tendency toward aggression and very dangerous bites, to me, add up to one very simple result: pick a different breed. There are so many great breeds out there that make wonderful pets. Why risk it?

[vettechmomof2]

I grew up with many different breeds of dogs.

 

One of our dogs was a pit mix with rottie, dalmation too :tongue_smilie:. He was obedience trained with me from an early age, socialized well and eventually Therapy dog trained as he loved everyone and everything. He was grandfathered in to our homeowners insurance by his certifications.

 

As a child I was bit by quite a few different types of dogs, never a pitt though.

 

As a vet. tech for the last 12 years, again, never bitten by a pit. Working in shelters since I was 12 years old and as a dog groomer for 4 years.

 

If our homeowners would allow a pit I would own one, hubby feels the same way.

 

Hubby's family owned a pit/rott mix who came from a police case of dog fighting. They got him at about 8 months. He lived to be 16 years old and never bit anyone. Someone came onto their property once and shot him and he still never bit any.

 

My favorite clients pit was hit by a train(leash broke) he never even whined at us while working on him. He is a great dog.

 

I could go on for my own personal stories but what it comes down to is your own choice but try not to belittle others for their choices of dog breeds.

[sparrow]

Those of you who are vehemently against having pit bulls.......have any of you ever owned a pit bull and had personal experience or have you formed an opinion based on what you have heard or one agressive dog you have run into? Just curious because those that have posted as "pro-pit" seem to be people that own or have owned them before so I am taking that into consideration when weighing opinions.

 

 

No, I have not owned one, but have had run-ins with 3 separate pit bulls, each owned by different people. That's not a great track record in my book :glare:. Two of the instances involved my children and the other one involved me, as an adult. That does not mean I have not met, petted, and loved on sweet, gentle pit bulls. I just will not own one, nor do I allow my children near them, nor do we allow them at our business.

 

I do not trust pit bulls based on my experiences with the breed. I cannot think of another breed I've come across where 3 separate dogs were aggressive, with me or my kids, and UNPROVOKED on 3 separate occasions.

 

I am also a former vet tech and I can tell you the scariest, most loose cannon dog I ever had to deal with was a chocolate lab.......but I don't hold that against labs.

[snickelfritz]

We had a "black lab" that turned out to be at least part pit bull. We did in home dog training, training classes to socialize her, etc... We're talking hundreds of dollars and HOURS working with her In the end, she still had "dominate" characteristics that a really strong dog person could have probably worked with. We had her partially trained, but she didn't LIKE to obey. It's hard to explain, but she would dig in and get stubborn on something and there was no backing her down. After 5 months, we didn't trust her to be around our kids unsupervised and sure didn't trust her around strange kids. We have a smallish fenced yard and need a dog to be integrated with our family, so we gave her up to an organization who would place pits that hadn't had a biting incident.

 

Now, we have a new Maltese. I can see the difference in dominance issues. And he might bite a kid some day. In fact, the pit never bit but the neighborhood chihuahua bit my daughter. But the damage from a maltese or chihuahua is negligible compared to what a pit can do. The chihuahua did break skin, but it required cleaning and a bandaid. Not a stitch or even a doctor visit.

[grace'smom]

The one thing I wanted to point out is that your son is 19... In the next ten years he may marry and have children. The dog will be old and less able to handle stress right about the time that it will probably have toddlers pulling it's tail.

 

We had a 12 year old rescue lab/collie mix that we had to keep outside EVERY minute we could not strictly supervise it for that exact reason. It was old and cranky, and didn't want to be climbed, crawled or tugged on... I felt the dog didn't have the relaxing senior years that it deserved, and my daughter didn't have the toddler years that she deserved either because I was always hovering over the dog.

 

I've never understood why it seems that people who have the most limited experience with dogs tend to be attracted to the most controversial breeds. We've got so many people in our neighborhood who have never had a dog before, don't know how to train them, but still go out and get pit bulls. Now there are pit bulls chained up in people's backyards getting (understandably) angry and dangerous because the owners don't want to deal with a dog (that they chose and brought home) that needs stricter training. My friend works at the animal shelter and says people turn in pits all the time because they can't handle them. There are bunches of pits getting euthanized every day because of a strange trendy desire by people to get this particular breed that they may not be experienced enough to handle. It's sad all around.

[Greta]

I could go on for my own personal stories but what it comes down to is your own choice but try not to belittle others for their choices of dog breeds.

 

I really don't think anyone here was belittling anyone else. Disagreeing, yes, but not disrespectfully or unkindly.

 

But the thing is, people do not make choices in a vacuum. Our choices affect those around us. Most of the dog attacks I hear about, the dog didn't attack the owner, but a neighbor or bystander or innocent child.

 

People have the freedom to choose, I just wish they would exercise a little more responsibility with their choices - and by this I mean the way the dog is handled and trained, not just which breed. But the breed does play a factor - it isn't nature versus nurture, it's nature AND nurture. People need to know the natural tendencies of the breed they are getting and decide if they are really equipped to handle them - this applies to any breed, not just pit bulls.

 

I'm saying this because I have learned from my own mistakes! I got a rat terrier, when I was young and stupid and inexperienced with dogs. He's small, so people think he's cute and friendly. He's a cranky old pain in the ____ and he cannot be trusted around anyone except me. He stays secured in a bedroom when we have guests. I wasn't the right kind of person to handle a terrier personality (though I mostly blame my husband, who spoils him terribly! :D ), but I know that and I at least have the decency to protect other people from him. And I've learned and now I know the right kind of dog for my family. Whippets are, in my humble opinion, simply the best, sweetest family dogs in the world. :001_smile:

Edited August 29, 2010 by GretaLynne
typo

[celticmom]

When I was a child one of my mother's friends always had what I now believe was a pit bull (it may have been a boxer or another similiar breed) that she spoiled rotten. She even found out what their favorite ice cream was and stocked it (I know not ideal for the dog's health but I doubt she knew that. It was not common knowledge then.)I always played with her dog when we went over and never had any problem.

 

One of my father's coworkers lived in our neighborhood and also kept pit bulls. He claimed that he took them neutra rat hunting but they came back pretty beat up looking. I also witnessed him hitting the dogs with his fist. :glare: He came over to borrow something from Dad one time and brought one of them. I petted the dog and and everything was fine. Later several of his dogs escaped their kennel and came straight to our house. I was playing outside and started playing with them. When my mother realized they were outside she made me come in, called their owner to come get his dogs, and pitched a major fit to Dad. She told him that his coworker was not to ever bring any of his dogs around our house again and preferably not himself either. I was quite young (around 4) and I strongly suspect that the fact that I had no fear of dogs (and sheer luck) helped to keep me safe.

 

This experience does tend to support the arguement that pit bulls can be good with children. In this case even ones with less than ideal care and training (to state it mildly) did not show any agression toward humans.

[MyThreeSons]

As someone else said, I simply wouldn't take the chance.

[hornblower]

re the I wouldn't take the chance......

 

Leading cause of all deaths between age 1-4? Motor vehicle accident.

 

Between ages 5-14? Motor vehicle accident.

 

15-24? Motor vehicle accident. Followed by firearms.

 

 

we take so many chances every day because cars (& for some of us, firearms) are so normal.

 

It all goes back to us not being very good at assessing real risks. There have been several good books published on this topic in the last 10 years - showing what the real risks are & yet how people fail to act on real risks & get swayed by inappropriate over-estimations of hypothetical risks.

[TXMary2]

re the I wouldn't take the chance......

 

Leading cause of all deaths between age 1-4? Motor vehicle accident.

 

Between ages 5-14? Motor vehicle accident.

 

15-24? Motor vehicle accident. Followed by firearms.

 

 

we take so many chances every day because cars (& for some of us, firearms) are so normal.

 

It all goes back to us not being very good at assessing real risks. There have been several good books published on this topic in the last 10 years - showing what the real risks are & yet how people fail to act on real risks & get swayed by inappropriate over-estimations of hypothetical risks.

 

Excellent point. This is the kind of common sense I need to hear right now because I can get into irrational fear mode quite easily.

[K-FL]

Our shelter-mutt is part pitt (& we thought he was more so when adopted.) We've done lots of breed research & found lots of instances where pits are blamed for attacks, but the dogs aren't really pits. Many breed are similar looking and I even saw a dog that had been abused called a pit, but when you saw the picture the dog was an Collie or Afghan-looking dog.

 

Dh had a female pit before my time & she was extremely well trained, dumb and great w/kids (partially due to high pain tolerance.) She did protect dh from a charging Great Dane who had killed other dogs.

 

Do your research. The breed needs a PR firm! Check out this video of

too.

[ktgrok]

Regarding dogs that "turn"....I suppose theoretically this could happen, in the same way that a person could have a psychotic break, but it's about as rare. Instead, what generally happens is one of the two following:

 

1. The dog really is a great, sweet dog, and later develops something painful, either hip dysplasia, back pain, or even a bad ear infection, and no one notices or it goes untreated as it "isn't too bad". The dog, who previously could tolerate having the ears petted or the rear end patted, now just can't and ends up snapping or biting. Treating the underlying problem fixes this.

 

2. the more common thing, is the dog DID have issues before. For instance, the worst attack I've seen was a labrador that mauled an infant. The baby was hospitalized for days and had several surgeries. The woman that owned the dog told everyone how the dog "turned" and there was "no warning." I know this because she does my mom's nails and my mom, not realizing I knew the woman and dog, told me this story. Everyone was appropriately horrified. the thing is, that isn't true at all. The dog was usually friendly, yes. But it very much had a jekyll an hyde personality. I was truly afraid of it when it came into the office, and I'm not afraid of many dogs. It had nearly killed both of her shih tzu's at various times, usually after they started making a lot of yippy noises. We told her several times to euthanize the dog or place it in an only dog home. When she got pregnant we told her again and again to euthanize the dog, that it wasn't safe. She didn't listen, because the dog was "usually so sweet". Well, the baby was only 10 days old when it was attacked. So although it was told to everyone as being "without warning", there certainly was warning. She just could never have lived with herself if she had let herself believe that there were signals she should have paid attention too. I mean, seriously, what person is going to say, wow, I knew my dog was vicious and an danger and let him be in that situation anyway, guess it is morally and legally my fault. No, they are going to say the dog never was a danger before, and believe it.

 

Another example is a maltese that gave the owner a bite on the face that required plastic surgery. The owner said there was "no warning, as the dog had never done anything agressive before". Well, it turned out the dog always growled at her when she would dry it off after a bath. But because it didn't bite she thought it was cute. So as it was growling she kissed it on the lips. It bit her face badly. Another "oh wow, no warning" story.

 

So I just don't believe the "no warning" stories very often. Dogs who do that have brain tumors or other chemical imbalances and that just isn't common. And even in those dogs a dog person can tell there is something wrong. I think that was the case with the labrador I discussed above.

[Mejane]

re the I wouldn't take the chance......

 

Leading cause of all deaths between age 1-4? Motor vehicle accident.

 

Between ages 5-14? Motor vehicle accident.

 

15-24? Motor vehicle accident. Followed by firearms.

 

 

 

 

hornblower, I truly respect your knowledge of and feeling for animals, but I must disagree with this argument. As you said, most of us need to drive to lead normal lives but we don't need to own pets, much less pets that are likely to cause serious injury if they turn on us. Yes, it's an if, but in this case it's an awfully scary if. (We also don't own firearms for this reason.)

[ktgrok]

I think Hornblower's point is that we take lots of car trips we don't need to. Every week I take my daughter in the car for fun stuff. I could limit her to rides that are absolutely needed, but it would effect the quality of our life. Not having a dog would do the same.

 

And labs and goldens can also cause just as much damage, and sometimes do, but no one says people shouldn't own labs because they are too dangerous.

[Abigail4476]

You know, this topic is usually a sensitive one, but I think bottom line we all need to make informed decisions regarding what's best for our families. Read up, talk to experts and friends, and then make the decision that you're comfortable with.

 

I think Hornblower's point is that we take lots of car trips we don't need to. Every week I take my daughter in the car for fun stuff. I could limit her to rides that are absolutely needed, but it would effect the quality of our life. Not having a dog would do the same.

 

And labs and goldens can also cause just as much damage, and sometimes do, but no one says people shouldn't own labs because they are too dangerous.

 

I've always been the "err-on-the-side-of-caution" sort, but this year I decided to buy my husband a motorcycle for his 40th birthday even though the thought TERRIFIES me. He's always wanted one, and I've always insisted that it was too big of a risk, so he's refrained out of respect for my wishes.

 

I would say that's WAY riskier than owning a pit bull. :tongue_smilie:

[4kids4me]

In 2005 pitbulls were banned from Ontario, unless you already owned one. A 12yo boy in our church was attacked a few months ago by his brother's pit. I have no idea what prompted the dog to bite, but it bit his mom and she had 31 marks on her foot (just days before another son's wedding!), and the dog bit at the boy's elbow, severely enough that a nerve is damaged and will take a year to heal. When the 12yo saw that the dog was going for his younger brother, he jumped on the dog's back, and with the help of his mom holding the dog down, he used the dog's choke chain to strangle it to death. He kept holding until a policeman finally arrived and told him he could let go. Scary.

 

Having said that, that family is a little...unstable. I think the training of the dog had a lot to do with it.

[ShutterBug]

I would never own a pit bull.

 

I'd never let my child go to a house that owned a pit bull.

[justamouse]

They are my most favorite dogs ever. They are perfect. Dh and I had one, my parents were FREAKING out because we had all of these babies and that dog never even went to nip one. My mother is now a pit bull's biggest champion. My kids rolled on her, tugged her ears, rode her, yanked her tail. She loved every minute of it. She was calm all the time, and content to lie on the floor at my feet all day. And those smiles are the best in the world. She was so smart she puts every other dog I've owned to shame. My whole family loves them. I can't quite express how much I loved that dog, but if you've ever been wholly devoted to an animal and they passed--well, you know.

 

Watch PitBoss.

Edited August 29, 2010 by justamouse

[pqr]

re the I wouldn't take the chance......

 

Leading cause of all deaths between age 1-4? Motor vehicle accident.

 

Between ages 5-14? Motor vehicle accident.

 

15-24? Motor vehicle accident. Followed by firearms.

 

 

we take so many chances every day because cars (& for some of us, firearms) are so normal.

 

It all goes back to us not being very good at assessing real risks. There have been several good books published on this topic in the last 10 years - showing what the real risks are & yet how people fail to act on real risks & get swayed by inappropriate over-estimations of hypothetical risks.

 

 

Your statistics are somewhat skewed.

 

Leading Causes of Accidental Death in the United Cause of Death

 

1 Motor vehicles, all ages

2 Unspecified non-transport deaths

3 Falls

4 Poisoning

5 Drowning

6 Smoke Fire Flames

7 Other transport accidents

8 Medical failure

9 Accidental discharge of firearms

 

Even for the 15-24 age group it is

 

1 Motor vehicles

2 Poisoning

3 Unspecified non-transport

4 Drowning

5 Other transport accidents

6 Accidental discharge of firearms.

 

As compiled from data reported by the

National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 50, No. 15, September 16, 2002

[hornblower]

http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html

[I talk to the trees]

I would never own a pit bull.

 

I'd never let my child go to a house that owned a pit bull.

 

Ditto. *Maybe* some pits make excellent pets. *Maybe* some owners take the time to train these dogs well. But when weighing my child's safety against the need to be politically correct and not hurt the owner's feelings, guess who wins every time?

[pqr]

http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/death_stats.html

 

 

If that is the site you are using it seems to fit exactly with the list I gave. Firearms were not next in the list of accidental deaths. As for all deaths there was the disclaimer

NOTE: Firearms Statistics Include Gang Warfare, Self Defense Shootings and Criminals Killed by Police

so the implication that owning a firearm led to this is false. Many of the deaths were because someone ELSE had the firearm.

 

Anyway back to the issue of dogs where we are in agreement as we are on the Eminem thread. I know it may be very rare, but it does happen. The planets must be in some sort of alignment.

Edited August 29, 2010 by pqr

[vettechmomof2]

I really don't think anyone here was belittling anyone else. Disagreeing, yes, but not disrespectfully or unkindly.

 

But the thing is, people do not make choices in a vacuum. Our choices affect those around us. Most of the dog attacks I hear about, the dog didn't attack the owner, but a neighbor or bystander or innocent child.

 

People have the freedom to choose, I just wish they would exercise a little more responsibility with their choices - and by this I mean the way the dog is handled and trained, not just which breed. But the breed does play a factor - it isn't nature versus nurture, it's nature AND nurture. People need to know the natural tendencies of the breed they are getting and decide if they are really equipped to handle them - this applies to any breed, not just pit bulls.

 

I'm saying this because I have learned from my own mistakes! I got a rat terrier, when I was young and stupid and inexperienced with dogs. He's small, so people think he's cute and friendly. He's a cranky old pain in the ____ and he cannot be trusted around anyone except me. He stays secured in a bedroom when we have guests. I wasn't the right kind of person to handle a terrier personality (though I mostly blame my husband, who spoils him terribly! :D ), but I know that and I at least have the decency to protect other people from him. And I've learned and now I know the right kind of dog for my family. Whippets are, in my humble opinion, simply the best, sweetest family dogs in the world. :001_smile:

 

I agree that at this time no one was belittling I just wanted to try and remind people hopefully before hand.

It is a tough talk to have sometimes, breed debates bring up many hard feelings for people.

 

With that said one of my coworkers about 2 years ago became blind because of a whippet, he bit her while she was handing him back to his owners and they were not able to save the eye :crying:.

Many breeds have done different amounts of damage, it is unfortunate.

My friends husband also was paralized for the rest of his life(which was only for about 2 years) after being thrown from his horse but many people still choose to own these large animals that could kill us all. It is a tricky argument.

[hornblower]

Anyway back to the issue of dogs where we are in agreement as we are on the Eminem thread. I know it may be very rare, but it does happen. The planets must be in some sort of alignment.

 

 

pqr - I was just thinking the same thing! We can't argue today; it's a special day. :D

 

mwah!

[Jugglin'5]

The thing about pits is that yes, they are usually fine with their own people - it is when they decide to take off after a kid riding a bike down the street, or to rip the throat out of a neighbor's horse (miraculously, the horse survived, but was never the same). Their jaws are so strong that they often can't be removed without killing them. The jaw strength and instinctive death grip are what make them more deadly than other aggressive dogs.

[Jugglin'5]

But there is a huge difference between a bite from a golden retriever and a pit bull.

 

Yes, this. :iagree: I was actually more cautious working around spitzes, cockers, and other small breeds. They are snappers. All dogs are capable of biting - period. Pits, Rottweilers, etc. were usually very docile on the examination table, but they are bred to do GREAT DAMAGE with their jaws. I've never heard of a cocker spaniel killing a horse or a grown man (happened in my county). Apples and oranges.

[KidsHappen]

There are more bites attributed to goldens because there are more golden retrievers than pit bulls...Tara

 

Source please? I have a golden so I would be interested in looking at the figures. Thanks.

[KidsHappen]

Golden retrievers are apparently responsible for most bites.

 

Source please? I have a golden so I would like to see the stats. Thanks.

[hornblower]

Source please? I have a golden so I would be interested in looking at the figures. Thanks.

 

I can't help with stats though somewhere on my other computer I do have some data about which dogs are implicated in bites......I'll see if I can dig up. I do know that there was some analysis which tried to correct for absolute populations & popularities of breeds. I'll try to find it.

 

but wrt to goldens, you'll want to look at Retrieverman's blog as he has talked about the rise of aggression in goldens.

 

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/are-golden-retrievers-becoming-more-aggressive/

 

There are some serious issues with breeding in goldens now & it's a breed whose fanciers are rightly concerned about.

 

Some of his other posts on this topic:

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/golden-retriever-showing-aggression-over-its-food/

 

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/another-aggressive-golden-retriever/

 

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/an-aggressive-goldendoodle/

 

 

If you have or want to have or just plain like goldens, or retrievers, or working dogs - - or heck, any dogs, retrieverman's blog is a great read.

[FlockOfSillies]

Train and socialize. Buy from a good breeder. Yadda yadda. That's all very nice for us responsible homeschool mommies, but the fact is that most pits are owned by people who don't do those things. And they are EVERYWHERE. At least, they are out in my neck of the woods.

 

How many dog threads have we had where people came up with anecdote after anecdote of animals kept chained up, or were otherwise mistreated? Who had neighbors with nasty dogs?

 

The proportion of naturally aggressive dog breeds belonging to nightmare owners is EXTREMELY HIGH. They're like magnets for each other. And those nightmare owners have no interest in careful breeding, or spaying and neutering. How many unwanted dogs out there are pits or pit mixes?

 

Comparing pit/rott attacks to motor vehicle deaths is like apples vs. steaks. Yeah, we take chances when we hop in the car. But the kind of car you drive makes a big difference in whether you survive a crash. That's why we have safety ratings for vehicles. The guy on a zippy motorcycle is at much higher risk of death than the Volvo driver. If you drive any car late at night when the bars are letting out, you are at much higher risk of death by drunk driver than you are in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Proportionally, there are fewer drunks per total number of drivers during the day than there are at 2 a.m.

 

The notion that pits are just as safe as any other breed is laughable.

[rookie]

They're illegal in my neck o' the woods because of so many attacks on people. Personal experience ... my bff growing up was petting the nicest family loving pit bull ever and he attacked her face - totallt unprovoked. She had to have plastic surgery and the dog was put down. I would never own one or let my dc around one.

[mommaduck]

With all the face attacks, I have to wonder if people weren't taught that you don't stick your face in a dog's face. That's confrontational, especially if you aren't part of their pack. As much as I like my neighbours' pits, I would NEVER put my face near theirs and I've played with them.

[rookie]

With all the face attacks, I have to wonder if people weren't taught that you don't stick your face in a dog's face. That's confrontational, especially if you aren't part of their pack. As much as I like my neighbours' pits, I would NEVER put my face near theirs and I've played with them.

 

If a kid squats down to pet a dog and is being loving to a family-raised pet there really should not be the fear that the dog will rip the kid's face off! What other breed does this again and again?

[Kebo]

While I really like Pit Bulls, I would not have one around children personally. I know most of them, most of the time, would be just fine, but the intensity of their attacks when they do attack.....well, I just wouldn't take a chance. They're powerful dogs and what triggers them can be obscure.

 

We had two Staffies (Pit Bulls) in our veterinary practice that never gave us any trouble when we worked on them. Nice dogs. But they made the local news when they attacked a neighbor's child who was taking a nap in their house. Was it provocation that she was in "their" house? Maybe, but I don't want to have to dissect the mind of a dog that powerful to try to keep it from feeling provoked.

[TXMary2]

OK- well I met the dog. Predictably, as a puppy she is sweet as can be.

 

DS says he is getting her trained and has no intention of clipping ears or tails or doing anything stupid. He has papers on her and he named her Roxy. He seems to have done his research and told me before I asked that he was going to socialize her with people and other dogs! I am very proud of him. I hope he stays dilligent. I did ask him if after he does everything right she turns out to be agressive anyway would he get rid of her and he said he didn't know and was hoping that wouldn't happen.

Edited August 30, 2010 by TXMary2

[mommaduck]

If a kid squats down to pet a dog and is being loving to a family-raised pet there really should not be the fear that the dog will rip the kid's face off! What other breed does this again and again?

Maybe it's just because I was raised with dogs (mostly poodles and mutts...and even then we were taught not to get into the dogs face unless it was OUR dog and we had him for awhile to know his temperament). I was taught caution as a kid. The military base taught us how to react in the case of a dog attack and how to act around dogs that were not ours regardless of breeds...as children. I teach my children the same. As a kid, I never put my face near gram's dobbies when visiting, nor uncle's husky, nor great gramp's poodle. You just don't do it.

 

Yes, there are some people that make bad choices in dogs for their lack of experience or lifestyle (like I said, my life doesn't permit certain kinds of dogs and I don't want the liability...this doesn't mean that it's not a good choice for another person). But the onus is also on people to use and teach common sense. I also don't let my kids go running up to other people's dogs.

Edited August 30, 2010 by mommaduck

[mommaduck]

OK- well I met the dog. Predictably, as a puppy she is sweet as can be.

 

DS says he is getting her trained and has no intention of clipping ears or tails or doing anything stupid. He has papers on her and he named her Roxy. He seems to have done his research and told me before I asked that he was going to socialize her with people and other dogs! I am very proud of him. I hope he stays dilligent. I did ask him if after he does everything right she turns out to be agressive anyway would he get rid of her and he said he didn't know and was hoping that wouldn't happen.

 

Awww, sweet! Glad to hear that he is doing his research. Hope all goes well and he stays diligent as well.

[Heatherwith4]

What a sweet puppy! I hope she'll be a good (and safe) companion for him.

[Nakia]

Our shelter-mutt is part pitt (& we thought he was more so when adopted.) We've done lots of breed research & found lots of instances where pits are blamed for attacks, but the dogs aren't really pits. Many breed are similar looking and I even saw a dog that had been abused called a pit, but when you saw the picture the dog was an Collie or Afghan-looking dog.

 

 

 

This is exactly what I was going to post earlier! Most of the time when you hear about a "pit bull" attack, you never see a picture of the dog in question. Many breeds and mixed breeds might look like a pit, but they aren't. Lots of dogs with big jaws and short ears are called pit bulls.

 

OK- well I met the dog. Predictably, as a puppy she is sweet as can be.

 

DS says he is getting her trained and has no intention of clipping ears or tails or doing anything stupid. He has papers on her and he named her Roxy. He seems to have done his research and told me before I asked that he was going to socialize her with people and other dogs! I am very proud of him. I hope he stays dilligent. I did ask him if after he does everything right she turns out to be agressive anyway would he get rid of her and he said he didn't know and was hoping that wouldn't happen.

 

Beautiful puppy!!! I hope he has many happy years with her. :D

[mhg]

Your concerns are justified.

 

Did you hear about the pit bull that ate a baby's testicles off while the baby was in the high chair? I think it was in California. Happened earlier this year. Story was in the paper.

 

People that trust any animal around babies unsupervised are being foolhardy IMO, but pit bulls are even more concerning in this regard.

Even my dear sweet little 9 lb. rat terrier got demoted when we had a baby. I don't trust ANY animal around a child. I think most people are too prone to anthropomorphize animals in general.

 

When I was a girl, my dad owned a business that was robbed. He bought a female pit bull from a man so he could leave her in the business at night as a watchdog. Thus she stayed at our house during day and the business at night. I recall vividly that one day a man rode past our house on a bike and she ran at him, BROKE the CHAIN and attacked his leg. Thankfully he outran (out-biked) her down a steep long hill. My parents had to pay his medical bills and thankfully he didn't sue us. Dad got rid of the dog (I don't recall *how* he did this --- whether he gave her away or what), but she was no longer at our home.

 

In recent years, I went to church with a lady named Marian. Her twin sister was attacked outside their church by a pit bull and her injuries were so serious that she was hospitalized for some time and had several reconstructive surgeries. And this is despite others being there to help 'fight' the dog off.

 

And I'm sure that the vast majority of the people who's pit bulls attacked/harmed others WERE shocked that the dog did it. It's usually the same story, "Mimi was the sweetest dog in the WHOLE world. My son used to fall asleep on her stomach and she'd lick him all over. Mimi would NEVER hurt a flea....." YADAYADAYADA.....

 

You're wise to be concerned.

Edited August 30, 2010 by mhg

[daughterofsarah77]

Sorry, I tried to give them a fair shake and write the bad rap they had off to the way they were raised...but after a few years of working in Urgent Care as a nurse, I can tell you that about 75% of the dog bites we see were Pit Bulls.

[Audrey]

As with any dog, If they are socialized properly they are wonderful pets. My husband and I have owned 4, currently we have 2. They are 9 and 5 months.

 

Our kids love them and they love the kids. Both dogs take commands from the boys... sit, down, roll over, kisses. These dogs generally love people and hate to be alone, they want to be part of a family. Our dogs even get along with our cat, although the cat does not appreciate their affection.

 

They are very smart, eager to please you, affectionate, and they make very good garbage disposals (ours love any people food we give them).

 

:iagree: That the dog is still a puppy is a good thing, if your son is willing to take the time to train and socialize the dog properly.

[Teachin'Mine]

I would be more concerned with why your son chose to get a pit bull. Has he always liked dogs and wanted one of his own? Is his neighborhood unsafe? Is he involved with other people his age who own a lot of pit bulls? Did he specifically look for this breed, or did he just see this one and fell in love with it?