The appeal of the Pitbull

To protect my lawn from children.

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Why not a Doberman, Bullmastiff, Puli, German Shepherd or Rottweiler?

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those dogs are bigger and more vicious than pits. weren't people in the 90s calling for deaths to these dogs too?

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To protect my lawn from children.

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If you want to protect your lawn from children, get a Chihuahua...those little frickers bark at EVERYTHING.

A pit bull is a specific breed, yet people have turned it into this umbrella for breeds that are only part pit bull.

Let's keep that in mind as this thread goes on.

Um, yes, there was.

And many apartments won't let you lease if you own one.

I got mine because it's basically the only breed in shelters when I adopted her in New Orleans. I have zero regrets with my choice.

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those dogs are bigger and more vicious than pits. weren't people in the 90s calling for deaths to these dogs too?

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Yeah. He listed every breed that's been considered the most dangerous at some point in the last fifty years.


And in Austin, it's probably the same reason as me. Because they'd rather a dog that would for otherwise, rather than support a breeder.

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I've seen such an significant increase in people owning Pitbulls in and around the Austin area and I'm just curious as to why people seek that particular dog.

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You haven't seen an increase. If you pay close attention, they are far more common than you may think and they always have been. More so than rots or mastiffs. Some people will go their entire lives without ever laying eyes on mastiff. My wife is a vet and she will tell you she's only seen a handful. There is also a chance you may be incorrectly identifying regular old bulldogs as pit bulls. Pits are relatively small animals, if you see some dude walking around with a dog over 60 pounds the odds of it actually being a pit bull are pretty slim.

My grand parents always had a pit bull around. My grandfather lived with one well into his 90's. My wife has a dog that was given to her by one of her large animal clients. People think he's a giant "blue pit" but that could not be further from the truth. He's some kind of bulldog but has no relation whatsoever to a pit bull. Pure farm mutt. Not all that different from the current "Silver" Lab obsession.

Pit bull fear is unwarranted for the most part. Perhaps if you lived someplace that had an active dog fighting culture you may have something to be concerned about. Even when you look at the most extreme dog fighting cases they very rarely had a tragic ending for the dogs after they are rescued.

If I remember correctly, all but one of the Michael Vick dogs were adopted out. Some going on to become service dogs for children and the elderly.

If all pits were evil monsters who feed on Chadboys children then how come the ones that were active fighting dogs went on to be come trusted and loved by so many people?

I'm not trash so I can't tell you.