2500CTD

I came across 2 pitbulls without much luck. One cornered my wife at our friends house, and another attacked our dog, that was tied up in our back yard. My daughter and I were unloading the truck when we turned around and saw this pitbull starting at us. I'm more cautious around them now, not because of the breed, but because of the owners. Neither of the 2 owners should have owned pitbulls at all. My dog has lab, rot, pitbull, and chow, and he is a baby. Rascal

Sailpipes

Question 1: The likelihood of this is slim to none because when she is outside, she is in our fenced back yard and supervised or she is on leash. There are leash laws in most of the country. If more people observed them, there'd probably be a lot less dog attacks.

Question 2: I don't see how the breed of dog would be a factor here.

Stats and history...I stated that historically, these dogs were specifically bred to have no human aggression. In the past couple of decades, since they've become popular with the wrong type of people, this has been bred away from in some dogs. These are the exception and not the rule. Considering the very large number of Pit Bulls (APBT, AST, SBT and mixes of these breeds) in this country, compared to the number of attacks, it is a very small number. Like I said before, if a Pit Bull or other "dangerous breed" attacks somebody, it gets national news coverage.
Here's some stats. In 2005 the American Temperment Testing Society tested 26,615 dogs. Of these 81.2% passed. Of the "dangerous breeds" listed in the original post Akitas, Chow Chows, Doberman Pinschers and Great Danes were the only ones below the overall average. Wolf Hybrids weren't tested. Chow Chows had the lowest passing rate with 69.3% which is still higher than Field Spaniels, Lhasa Apsos, Shetland Sheepdogs, Bearded Collies, Scottish Terriers, Schnauzers and Walker Coonhounds none of which is typically thought of as a dangerous breed. I'm not slamming any of these breeds, just pointing out that numbers can be misleading. What's more informative is the stories behind the statistics.

And when I'm not there, she is at home, IN the home. Not loose in the yard where any dog, not just a dangerous breed, could get into trouble.
No, we didn't get her for protection. If we wanted a dog for protection, we would have gotten a traditional guardian breed, i.e. one of the mastiff types, a larger herding breed or Doberman Pinscher, etc. And because we are not narrow minded idiots and know what our dog is physically capable of, we know and understand what responsible ownership is all about.

Above all, although Pit Bulls are my favorite breed, I'm not saying that they're perfect. They're definitely not a breed for everybody. Any of the breeds listed in the original post can make great pets if you know what you're getting into, but handled by an irresponsible owner can turn into a statistic. I'll also be the first one to say that if you own a dog (of any breed, but especially a Pit Bull) that you know is human aggressive or vicious, you should have it put down.

Okay, I've spent over an hour putting this post together so I better just call it done and hit the "Submit Reply" button. Just wanted to make sure I answered more questions than I raised

2 busy

Nice looking pits, I have owned several in my life and i love them. I do not let the one i own now around kids. Not that he is agressive but he is excitable around their screaming and playing. He is not acustomed to children and their loud playing.
He is not agressive towards them but is big enough to hurt them and not know it.I have never let him get the upper hand on me. I always let him know i am the master.

If you would actually do some researh on the bread you will find out they are not bread to be people agressive but enjoy attention. All dogs are animals and people with their back yard breeding have introduced poor traits in all breeds.

I will miss this ole guy one of these days and i do not think there is another one like him out there. It will be a sad day when he dies.

Now if some jerk shoots him just because he is a pit i can tell you i will be paying a visit. This very dog has been shot 3 times with a 22. He didn't die and i thought my neighbor shot him. I spoke with him twice and he knew i wasn't bluffing about his dogs. He found out who actually shot my dog and had him call me.

I do not know if he was telling the truth why he shot my dog. But i accepted it and let it go. No he didn't bite any one but buggar barked at my aunt and she called her son in law to come over. I was out looking for him when i heard the shots.It was several hours before he came home. He had ripped his belly open running threw a barbed wire fence and had 3 bullets in him ,2 in the chest and one under his eye in his jaw. He still carries the lead.Vet got him fixed up. sorry for ranting but ignorant people dont need to own pits.

ratboy3124

I really hate getting into this because it really gets to me bad. I have to say that I strongly believe it is the OWNER who is to blame for most incidents with dogs. To profile a dog is insane. Just like people they are all different. I have seen dogs that are the so-called "non-vicious breeds" be the first to try to bite you as soon as you turn your back.

I have owned Rotts all my life and love them. They are the best dogs in my opinion and I don't own them because I think it is cool or because I think they are tough. I own them because I think they are a beautiful intelligent breed.

When are people going to wise up and realize it is not the dog it's the stupid owner. Pits have got a bad name because in all honestly who do you usually see walking them with no control of the dog or in a front yard going nuts? Stupid gangsters and wannabes who tie them up with chains and tires hanging off their necks. I'd be ****** off too. They have no trust in people and that is the owners fault.

There will always be a bad apple in any breed, whether it be a small pom or a huge mastiff. That doesn't make the entire breed bad and in the event you get a dog that you think might bite it is your job to ensure it doesn't happen no matter the size. Some dogs or nervous, laid back and in between. It is your job to determine what your dog is and take care of it.

I say you wanna cut down on these incidents then don't let stupid people buy dogs. Teach your children not to go up to or stick their hand in a fence no matter what the breed. I just love how these "vicious breed" supporters say it's only a matter of time and they don't have a clue of what they are talking about.

I'm done.

PanteraGSTK

So, your neighbor had this dog all it's life and one day it up and decided to attack it's owner? Thats hard to believe just because if you raise a dog correctly it would die before it attacked you. Of course this may be an exception.

May I ask what makes you feel so strongly about this? Have you ever owned any of these breeds? If not then you really don't have the experience to make such harsh judgements.

If you can't argue stats then why are pitts more feared than German Shepherds? They statistically bite more people than any other dog. Police dogs don't count, they are doing their job.

1-2-3

"So, your neighbor had this dog all it's life and one day it up and decided to attack it's owner? Thats hard to believe just because if you raise a dog correctly it would die before it attacked you. Of course this may be an exception."

Beleive it. She certainly beleived it when her dog was trying to tear her arm out of it's socket. Why are you surprised? How any times are the networks going to run stories of people trapped in their homes by these dogs that are suppose to be secured yet still managed toget out and attck people? How mayn news stories need to be run showing people getting mauled by the supposedly nice little doggie? For anyone to say this is an isolated case is just out right denial.

If this was all a myth, why does our local animal shelter, and othersacross the country, ot adopt these anials out? What they say is liability issues. They are people that work with animals every day of thier life, and these are the folks saying this type of dog is too risky to be adopted out.

mcoleman

Canada tried the breed specific bans on pitbulls and they actually had increased dog attacks from labs over the pit bite number stats being used. I've had 2 pits and liked them both. Neither would hurt a flea. I now have a 121 pound large breed German Shepherd, a Great Dane, and a chocolate lab mix. When something happens to one of these I will either get another Pit, Dane or Shepherd. We had an American Akita that died last year at 13 years of age. Wonderful dog and super intelligent. I switched to Barton County as my previous carrier dropped me because of the Shepherd. It's the people and not the dogs. Most of the people at our local animal shelter have no business with any dog bigger than 20 pounds. Just because they volunteer to help there doesn't mean they know anything about training a dog. heck I break a lot of horses for people that I don't think need a horse.

Ddge6spdRam

I still have yet to own or no some one that owned a mean pit or pit mixed. My pit wil not back if someone comes up to the house the first on to bark is my pug and the pit will run ot the door to see what is going on. She lays around on the couch all day unless he wants to go outside.

The only other time she went after another dog is when she had puppyies and we had them outside to go to the bathroom. The neighbors wolf dog came over and she growled at her and barked at her till she was across the road and in her own yard, Which is perfectly normal for a female dog with puppies.

Charliez, What breed dog do you own?

There is no doubt that if any of are dogs(past or present) would of attacked another dog or bite a person, that the dog would be shot on site.

megajoltman

I have met 6 pitbulls that were very agressive and one was down right scary guy had to holded back by its "tractor" chain as it wanted to get at me and my buddy's dogs guy ended up "kicking" it back into the house because it was starting to drag him. Owner was guess what young male wanabe ganster visiting his drug growing buddy.

The 5 other ones were running free in the park with there young male wanabe ganster owners, 4 were attacking the 5th smallest pit and the guys were laughing like it was a big joke. They were swearing at other dog owner's to keep there dogs away or else heard later that 2 other dogs were attacked and the police were called.

Okay my old roommate had a pit Charlie, 4 of us guy's lived in a house so lot's of people coming and going, dog was very friendly to the point of being annoying as it wanted to be pet all the time or play ball . He had two cat's also and this dog was like a hen mother to them to the point of licking them clean and sleeping together. Maybe he thought he was a cat anyway's I think it has almost everything to do with the owner or
breed line my 2c

PanteraGSTK

I'm not saying it's a myth. I know dogs attack people, all dogs not just pitts. Thats my point. One of my friends got put in the hospital by a golden retreiver. A different one bit me a few different times. Do I hate all golden retreivers? No because I know that sometimes things just happen. You are correct in saying there is a risk to owning a pitt, but there is one to owning a house or truck or gun too.

And as I stated above, German sheppherds bite more people than anything and nobody wants them banned. To me there is something wrong with that. I hope your neighbor is OK now, that is one of the craziest stories I've heard about dog attacks.

Maybe the dog thought it was playing with her. Sad thing is you never know. But I do know that if my rott EVER bit anybody, unless he was provoked, I'd put him down myself and I love him like he was my child.

4x4dually

By golly if I can raise and train a raccoon to be my best friend, any dog can be rasied and trained to be nice. There are a handful of breeds that were bred to fight, but, they don't have to be raised that way. My wife has the equipment and potential to be a prostitute too, but she's not. Just because the dog has big jaws and muscles poking out, don't make it bad. This dog thing is as bad as gun control. A dozen bad apples spoil the whole basket! maybe someday folks fix what needs fixin. If folks would quit breeding dogs with aggressive personalities, in 10 years or so they'd all be nice, just as fast as they all got mean. Peace.

getblown5.9

if i posted my thoughts of you here i would be banned from this site for life.

getblown5.9

my friend you have the worlds most viscious dog and it WILL most defineitely attack and kill all the kids posted in your pictures. its time for you to face the fact Mr. Spunbearing

the day my pitbull brutally attcks and kills a child for any reason whatsoever i will be the one put a bullet in her head. i purposefully try to anger her, pin her down, hold her head, put my arm in her jaws, take away her bones or food, smacking her nose when she does wrong and she sits there with a sad look on her face wondering why i am doing it.

i wish some close minded people could follow the rule of "keep quiet and let them think you are a fool, then to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

GO 4LO

Alright, I've got several points to make:

1. The 'pit bull' is not a breed of dog. It's more a general physical description of a type of dog having a blocky head, short hair, and muscular appearance. I've seen everything from JRT mixes to mastiffs labeled as 'pit bulls' or 'pit mixes'.

2. The statistics for 'pit bull' bites include over a dozen different breeds as well as mixes that may show little or no resemblance to the APBT. Even when lumped together in such a manner, the statistics show that these breeds have a low number of bite incidents per number of dogs when compared to more common breeds.

3. The backyard-bred 'pits' sold as APBT's today are no longer bred for gameness, pain tolerance, or friendliness to humans as they were in old times. This is not to say the breed is completely ruined - only that it has fallen into the wrong hands and degenerated significantly as a general population. The average APBT still has a better temperament than most dogs, though. And there are still good breeders out there, if you look.

4. Temperament testing shows the average APBT to be on par with labs and goldens in terms of aggressiveness to humans. Again, a true gamebred APBT will score significantly better than this.

5. Banning the APBT or similar breeds is stupid. If your argument is that they bite more than other breeds, then that is wrong, so you have no foot to stand on. If your argument is that their temperament is such that they are generally mean to humans, you are wrong (see temperament testing above) and have no foot to stand on. If your argument is that they have the capability of killing people when they do attack, then I agree. However, so do most breeds. Dogs as small as Pekingese and Cockers have killed babies. Anything from 40 lbs on up has the capacity to kill an adult human under the right circumstances. So if you're going to ban a breed because it could kill a human, then you're going to have a long list of breeds to add.

6. Here's my proposal - make new laws for dog ownership in general. Anyone that wants a dog needs to obtain a permit to buy one. Any breed that can grow above 40 lbs (or 30 or whatever limit you want to set) requires a special permit. As part of obtaining that permit, you must submit to a background check, you must show proof of insurance, and you must attend a training course with the dog. Same as with cc permits. It should also have to be renewed yearly in order to be most effective, IMO.

7. Or just make laws requiring stricter punishment for the owner of the dog that attacks someone. Jailtime instead of a slap on the wrist would help a lot.

8. BSL doesn't work. Period. They tried it in Canada, and the number of dog bites actually went up. If you outlaw 'pit bulls', then people will buy GSD's, and when you outlaw those, they'll find something else.

9. CharlieZ, since you mentioned that the 'facts' prove that a pit will eventually turn on its owner, let's look at the facts:

Although there are no accurate or even near accurate census records for dogs in the U.S., in some populations 'pit bulls' are estimated to comprise some 30-40% of the dog population, making it a very popular type of dog.

Consider that there were an estimated 53,000,000 dogs in the U.S. in 2000, and assume that pit bulls make up 5% of that population (likely a very conservative number), there would be approximately 2.7 million pit bulls in our society.

In 2000, 13 'pit bulls' were involved in 8 fatal attacks. That is roughly one dog out of 204,000 - or .000491 percent of the pit bull population.

Shall we take a look at the percentage of the human population that commits murder?



Chris


P.S. During your lifetime, you're 16x more likely to die by drowning in a 5-gallon bucket of water than to be killed by a 'pit bull'.

GO 4LO

IIRC, Jack's GSD was shot multiple times with a BB gun by the neighborhood bully kids. There are plenty of situations where I could not blame my dog for defending itself if it was able to.

That's why I don't put any of my dogs in situations where they will be unsupervised with strangers. Not because I don't trust the dogs, but because I don't trust the people.

I don't own an APBT, but would not allow ANY dog to play unsupervised with strangers or children.

Chris