Always on a lease. I understand that any dog can be dangerous. I've been bitten twice by dogs. One was a chow and one was a small dog. The difference with pits is that they are too powerful for me to fight off. That's why I don't want them around my children.

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Posted by CCTider

Member since Dec 2014

25239 posts

Posted on 4/2/16 at 12:18 pm to ReauxlTide222

quote:
What I think is crazy is the whole, "I take it around babies all the time!!!," thing. That doesn't mean your pit bull is amazing, it means you're a pretty careless person.

Mine absolutely loved children. And while I'm 99.9% certain she'd never maliciously attack any human, that doesn't mean she can't hurt them. Get a couple pits, rotts, boxers, bulldogs, etc around each other, and they like to rough house.

I don't like mine around kids playing, because I'm afraid she jump and hurt them (knock them down, scrape their eye, etc). I'm way more concerned with accidental harm.

But you also have to socialize them around kids. Young kids can do some dumb things to dogs. Do you have to get your dog use to weird things that kids might do.

Most dog attacks are because of fear. While they're young, you have to bring them around as many different scenarios, so that they aren't afraid. Remove a dogs fear, and they a very unlikely to have aggression problems. The only fest they should have is of being punished.

quote:
But, I do believe that just about every single pit bull has it in them somewhere, to go nuts for a moment. Because of that, letting them play with babies is ridiculous.

Any dog could go nuts for a moment. That's why you train them to follow your commands in highly distracting situations. If your dog comes at home, but not off leash at a dog park, it's not trained correctly.

I feel fortunate I've only seen aggression from mine when she was attacked by another dog over a bone. And even though I was glad she stuck up for herself, I snatched her arse up immediately and the her into a dark bathroom for an hour. I haven't seen her defend herself since, only cower or run.

The problem is the inbreed dogs that aren't right. They're a victim if their own popularity with society's worst element. It's why I joke I with rappers would start putting poodles on chains in music videos.

I think what gets me is the assumption that these dogs are different than any other medium or large dog. Read up on their inherited tendencies, and train accordingly. I've seen damn near every kind of dog snap.

In Colorado, there are tons of Golden Retrievers. The American Temperament Society has ran lots of tests, and Goldens and Pits score nearly identical as breeds with the best temperament. But here, there are so many, you have many poorly bred and trained Goldens. I've seen more problems with those dogs than I have any other breed around here. It's also the only dog I've been bitten by st a dog park. Basically, the more popular they are in an area, the more likely they are to be problematic dogs.

Good people can have problem dogs. Its more of an ignorance problem than anything. Some well intentioned people don't realize the bad behaviors they encourage with their dogs.

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Posted by CCTider

Member since Dec 2014

25239 posts

Posted on 4/2/16 at 12:30 pm to pelicanpride

quote:
Always on a lease. I understand that any dog can be dangerous. I've been bitten twice by dogs. One was a chow and one was a small dog. The difference with pits is that they are too powerful for me to fight off. That's why I don't want them around my children.

That's understandable. But I'd keep that same policy for boxers, bulldogs (except maybe the English or French), or any dog that has size. You probably won't be able to fight off a Golden Retriever either. Lucky for that breed, it's more of a family dog raised by good, caring people. They are rarely chained or left alone in a backyard.

Pits used to have that same reputation as goldens. They were considered the all American dog. Buster Brown, RCA dog with the record player, Petey from the Little Rascals, etc. The American government used them during World War I on perishable posters.

Their reputation went to shite when scumbags started coveting them. So for your children's sake, be wary of any decent sized dog. Cross the street if you need to, I understand. I actually loved it when mid city crack heads would cross the street when they saw me walking her on a leash.

I just hope that now that good, caring, informed people are adopting them, that their reputation gets to a similar point as German Shepard and Dobermans, former "most dangerous" dog breeds, that are now considered good family dogs.

I do wish that dogs that attack would be required to have DNA testing. A lot of attacks are wrongly classified as pitbull attacks. When often they are just mutts with similar physical features.

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Posted by OMLandshark

Member since Apr 2009

120445 posts

Posted on 4/2/16 at 12:38 pm to CCTider

quote:
As a parent, you should be cautious of any dog that's greater than 50 lbs. Never assume a dog is friendly. American dogs no longer have the jobs they were bred to do. Now they are just house pets. This has made people really shitty dog owners and trainers. Amy untrained dog can and probably will be dangerous.

Yeah, the herding breeds are really naturally inclined to snap on a 3 year old and not, you know, protect them.

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Posted by CCTider

Member since Dec 2014

25239 posts

Posted on 4/2/16 at 12:45 pm to OMLandshark

quote:
Yeah, the herding breeds are really naturally inclined to snap on a 3 year old and not, you know, protect them.

Herders are probably the most likely to bite. Because that's what they instinctually do to herd the animals. It's something we bred them to do. It may not be as severe as many other breeds, definitely not as bad as a pit. But to a child, any bite can and will be bad.

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Posted by Too Soon625

Baton Rouge

Member since Mar 2014

341 posts

Posted on 4/2/16 at 1:11 pm to CCTider

I have a 3 year old pitbull and a 3 year old Bullmastiff Lab mix. I won't take either of them around babies or anything of that nature. I trust my dogs, but again why even go into a situation where there is that potential for something bad to happen. My dogs are always on leashes and I've had pits since I was 5 years old. There are a lot of shitty pits out there, some because of the dog itself and some because of the owner. I love both my dogs, but I'm also not stupid and I won't put them into a potentially harmful situation. Owners need to be more responsible.

I can't take the Bullmastiff tail gating because he was previously abused by an African American and now gets territorial around any African Americans. It sucks but I know of that tendency and work around it accordingly.

My pit on the other hand comes tailgating with me all the time. But I am very cautious with him and if people want to come and pet him, I make him lay down first or sit and hold his collar. He has never shown any aggression, but I'm not going to just let him run around crazy or get too hyper in those situations. Luckily for me though he is a lazy punk and when kids are around he just lays down and waits to get his belly scratched or for the kids to give him dog treats (always keep on hand when he is with me so people can give them to him and he then instantly thinks they are his friends).

I like the breed, but again the breed isn't for everyone. Especially not these young hipsters who think they are cool or people trying to use them as protectors or status symbols. You have to do a lot of work with any bigger dog and must always show that you are the alpha.

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Posted by Arkapigdiesel