Pit Bulldogs?

[th1b.taylor]

A couple of years ago I hated Pit Bulldogs and told anyone that I believed the governments needed to declare open season on them. And then I was introduced to Zechariah. She is a rescue dog and has a number of scars from the Pit on her head and body and to be frank and completely honest I was not, all that, comfortable with this dog being close to me, and it is living with the grandkids?


She had that tail, just, a movin' and laid her head in my lap, totally submissive. Every time I go to visit the kids she makes sure to kiss me before or as I enter the house and as big and as strong as she is, coupled with the way she loves those boys, I never see anybody attacking them when she is with them and that is, such, a comfort in this world we live in.


And you say, "But Pit Bulls attack and kill children and old folks all the time." And I must admit, that is true so we need to look at why. These dogs when rescued and when raised in a house where they are loved and expected to love, that is what they do. They are never tied to a short chain and tormented to make them mad when they are raised like other dogs and, it seems, when they are rescued, there are an incredible number of them that make fantastic Family Pets.


So the issue is, what do we do about the obvious problem? My two favorites will never be enacted but I wish one or both of them would be. The first solution I see is a life term in prison and the second is death by the Electric Chair. But, being practical, not all attacks, not all dog bite result in the death of a child or elderly woman. So I guess that a lessor sentence for first and second offenders of 15 to 40 years would be reasonable. Oh, I'm not talking about jailing the dog, they will be killed anyway, I'm seaking of the monsters that train and treat their dogs this way, the humans?


This problem is with the owners and the drunken and high gamblers and not with the dogs.

 

[Mike S]

I know there are a lot of good pit bulldogs around, and it's certainly the case that owners can encourage viciousness in that breed. But, I have to say, I'm still very skeptical and cautious about them. Years ago we had a pit bull/lab mix dog. She was a sweetheart most of the time, but there was an occasional time when she seemed a little too aggressive. One day when the dog was about 10 years old, my wife scolded her when she was found to have grabbed a cooked turkey off the counter. The dog turned suddenly, snarled and bit my wife, all in a heartbeat, out of pure instinct. We had to put the dog down. We now have a purebred lab, much more easy-going nature, and I don't think I've every heard of labs turning mean.

I've noticed this with certain breeds of cattle too, they can suddenly turn mean.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I know there are a lot of good pit bulldogs around, and it's certainly the case that owners can encourage viciousness in that breed. But, I have to say, I'm still very skeptical and cautious about them. Years ago we had a pit bull/lab mix dog. She was a sweetheart most of the time, but there was an occasional time when she seemed a little too aggressive. One day when the dog was about 10 years old, my wife scolded her when she was found to have grabbed a cooked turkey off the counter. The dog turned suddenly, snarled and bit my wife, all in a heartbeat, out of pure instinct. We had to put the dog down. We now have a purebred lab, much more easy-going nature, and I don't think I've every heard of labs turning mean.

I've noticed this with certain breeds of cattle too, they can suddenly turn mean.

Dogs tend to be protective of food. This is called resource guarding, and any breed is capable of it. Even my little Papillon/Sheltie mix has displayed this behavior over food at times, snarling at me for trying to take food he considered especially valuable away. (Meat is much more desirable, more "valuable" than kibble, from a dog's perspective. While trying kibble away may not be a big deal, taking meat away is something else.) Resource guarding is difficult to address, though.

 

[evenifigoalone]

I like Pit Bulls, but I could never own one. Too high energy, wouldn't be a good match for me.
I'm not at all in favor of a breed ban, and I consider myself an advocate for the breed, but they do have a tendency toward animal aggression. Good breeders will work to breed this trait out, but many seem to share the sentiment that it "makes the breed what it is". Animal aggression is unrelated to human aggression, at least from the research I have done.
Pit Bulls can and do make excellent and loyal pets, but I'm going to be frank here and say that once they set their mind to something, it's set. If they attack something, they tend to sick with it until the job is done. No use sugar-coating. Research the breed well before owning. Research ANY breed welll before owning.

If you're going to own a dog, please please please study up on canine behavior. Most aggression is rooted in fear, and biting is the only way a dog can protect himself. Know thy dog, socialize thy dog, and never leave your dog in a situation where you know he may bite someone. (A nervous dog is a dog that may bite.)

I could go on for paragraphs on canine behavior, but I'm already in danger of being late for church as it is.

 

[Rick W]

Too high energy?
Try owning a Russel Terrier

whoa

 

[evenifigoalone]

Pits are Terriers, too. (Actually, the term "Pit Bull" can refer to several similar breeds, including the APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier) and the SPBT (Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier). But they're all in the terrier group, pretty much.)
But, yeah, Jack Russells aren't for me, either. I like how playful they are, but I'm glad to have a dog who won't tear my house up just because I didn't feel like walking him today.

 

[Deborah13]

Pits are Terriers, too. (Actually, the term "Pit Bull" can refer to several similar breeds, including the APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier) and the SPBT (Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier). But they're all in the terrier group, pretty much.)
But, yeah, Jack Russells aren't for me, either. I like how playful they are, but I'm glad to have a dog who won't tear my house up just because I didn't feel like walking him today.

And won't literally follow a rabbit down it's hole if he can possibly wiggle in.

 

[th1b.taylor]

I like Pit Bulls, but I could never own one. Too high energy, wouldn't be a good match for me.
I'm not at all in favor of a breed ban, and I consider myself an advocate for the breed, but they do have a tendency toward animal aggression. Good breeders will work to breed this trait out, but many seem to share the sentiment that it "makes the breed what it is". Animal aggression is unrelated to human aggression, at least from the research I have done.
Pit Bulls can and do make excellent and loyal pets, but I'm going to be frank here and say that once they set their mind to something, it's set. If they attack something, they tend to sick with it until the job is done. No use sugar-coating. Research the breed well before owning. Research ANY breed welll before owning.

If you're going to own a dog, please please please study up on canine behavior. Most aggression is rooted in fear, and biting is the only way a dog can protect himself. Know thy dog, socialize thy dog, and never leave your dog in a situation where you know he may bite someone. (A nervous dog is a dog that may bite.)

I could go on for paragraphs on canine behavior, but I'm already in danger of being late for church as it is.

Being as old as I am and in a wheelchair, I could not own the Pit either because I am like Caesar, the Dog Whisperer, in that if you own a dog, you must be the Pack Leader. The problems I've seen over and over stems from the dog protecting what is considers valuable.

Today, people, almost, never research anything and have had a number of them tell me this or that breed of dog, certainly, did not come out of the linage of the Wolf. When I and my wife were younger, neither of us feared Wolves and never hesitated to drop to their eye level and then remain still and allow the wolf or wolves to approach in their own manor and time. I have never had the honor of being accepted into a Pack but I have stopped my Mixer at three in morning to sit in front, in the middle of the road and let a wild female approach me.

Because I never researched the Pit the way I have researched the, non existent, Wolf Attacks, I was wrong! Now that I have met a Pit, face to face, and did my research, it is the owners that train them for the Pit that anger me, not the breed. Delilah, my Mini-Dachshund has aggression points that we know not to step on, just as we knew to purchase her a Kong to protect the furniture, so must any owner know about any breed before they buy into the relationship they are, solely, responsible for coming to be.

You make great points Quest.

 

[th1b.taylor]

Pits are Terriers, too. (Actually, the term "Pit Bull" can refer to several similar breeds, including the APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier) and the SPBT (Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier). But they're all in the terrier group, pretty much.)
But, yeah, Jack Russells aren't for me, either. I like how playful they are, but I'm glad to have a dog who won't tear my house up just because I didn't feel like walking him today.

LOL! My baby girl is half Jack Russell also. They definitely need a Kong to protect the house, on the inside. When we get dressed to go out she does not need to be told, she goes to her Wire Cage, waits for her Treat and let's us lock her in with no fuss. The owner must the Alpha in the Pack, that's all.

 

[jasonc]

I have a wolf-hybrid, look mean, big baby. the pics of her on fb is how she acts.

View attachment 4328

 

[th1b.taylor]

I have a wolf-hybrid, look mean, big baby. the pics of her on fb is how she acts.

View attachment 4328

My wife and I rescued one of the smallest Tundra Wolves when some idiot payed to smuggle it here to Texas and then abandoned it, at about nine months to the Gulf Coast summers. We took her in, she bonded first with my wife and when we sold our house and purchased the Trailer, she practically lived, perched, on one of the floor vents. She made fifteen years living with us and we had to put her down after fifteen years, an unheard of life span for any wolf.

My wife walked out of a local hospital one summer evening and a very smart man had a male on short leash, high on his neck and loosely held (smart man) and as they approached Deeter, she knelt down to nose level and he pulled up short. After she told him, yes, that she knew what he was walking and thet, no, she did not fear wolves, he allowed the male to meet her.

The problem is that, unlike the Pits, the movies and books about wolves attacking and killing people are not true but they are so prolific that people believe them now. And now that I have met a recovered fighter and found out how social she is, I do still fear a Pit on a long leash or one staked on a short chain. Both of these are the action of the human owner and the short chain on a fixed point is to anger the dog and it does. And then the long, tightly restricted, leash tells the dog that it is in the Alpha position in the pack and it moves to protect it property and owner, in the B position, dumb and inexcusable.

When serving in the Iron Triangle I carried the SSG Dog Handler that was killed in the Feb. 22, 1969 over run ar Dau Tieng. His Yellow looking German Shepard was famous for killing enemy soldiers for approaching his handler but when he got on my chopper, his handler removed the leash and he entered the door first, turned and sat as his handler got on. He was as gentle as a baby kitten.

I'm old and failing now, so I'll not likely own another wolf but I do love them, they are the greatest pack animal in the world. I just wish the world would use scriptural wisdom and study their wives, their children and their pets and stop trying to raise all of them against the way God has bent them.

 

[jasonc]

I believe on can make an animal mean or not. Cheyenne's mother mostly wolf was mean. her dad. all huskey is where she gets her nature, and eyes. her siblings were like her dad, she has her mom's shortness wolf colors. her dad was black and white as where Cheyenne is white and brown.

 

[jasonc]

next door neighbor, just got a pit. he is in a cage. friendly pup. wife just gave some water and made a friend.

 

[th1b.taylor]

next door neighbor, just got a pit. he is in a cage. friendly pup. wife just gave some water and made a friend.

I pray the Pit is not in a small cage and not regularly, small and permanent means mean. Good for your wife.