Pit Bulls, why would you trust them around your kids?

Blame the breeders! Who would want to produce an animal that cannot be other than violent and aggressive. The breeders produce these poor creatures and people buy them, why? At any level these animals should not be around. It is not their fault but the fault of people who deliberately bred them in the first place. Anyone caught breeding these dogs or importing them should be charged with manslaughter automatically as it is just a matter of time. No excuse.

The answer isn’t nurture vs. nature. Everything is a product of its environment. It’s the irresponsible owners and bad breeding that cause issues like this. The other half of the problem is that society as a whole cannot effectively identify a Pit Bull. Most dogs that are identified as pits are not. http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.ht... see if you even know what a real pit is. Therefore the pit gets a bad name. Pits are breed to be outgoing and aggressive when these great family dogs fall into the hands of individuals that are not well intentioned unfortunately the dog suffers. Your child is more likely to be bitten by a Labrador, a Golden Retriever, A German Sheppard, A Cocker Spaniel and a Chihuahua that by a well raised and trained pit bull. AND that is simply the truth.

Bad breeding, bad owners, and media idiots.

The TRUTH is, these dogs are NOT, nor have they ever been, predisposed to human agression.

Why does this happen? I blame it mostly on the subculture these dogs appeal to: Men with small peckers who need a badass dog to make them feel more macho. The result is seriously anxious and unbalanced animals....why? Because most of these people haven't the first clue what the breed-specific needs of these dogs are, nor do they know how to provide for them and train them properly. Pits are a dominant breed, and require an experienced owner. Not just any Joe Schmo can raise a dominant dog properly ( and that includes all willful, dominant breeds)

Then, you have the media, who will label ANY agressive dog as a pit bull. For example, about a year ago, a news report in my area said that a 135 lb pit bull attacked a woman and her child. Pit Bulls are not large dogs, and usually get no bigger than 70 lbs, so I was wondering how the dog could have been a pit. A pit that heavy wouldn't be able to walk, much less chase and assault a woman. When they showed a photograph of the dog, it was CLEARLY a bullmastiff....but the news NEVER retracted the misinformation. Why? Because pits are the monsters-of-the-moment (much thanks to the rise in dog fighting run by men with penis envy) much like GSDs were in the 80's and dobes were in the 90's...sad.

You have to take what you hear in the news with a grain of salt. More often than not, any attack from any breed can be traced back to poor breeding and irresponsible owners.

And for the record, my dogs are the ONLY dogs I would trust with my niece and nephew. I have never seen such patience and loyalty to children in my life.....move over Lassie!

All of my dogs have been obedience trained by myself, with help from certified trainers. All have passed canine good citizenship exams and temperment tests, and my youngest is well on his way to becomming a certified therapy dog.

It is because of bad breeding and bad owners. Breeding continue to breed man biters or dogs who are not stable. This happens with other breeds also. There are people killed or mauled by other breeds and its getting out of control. A lot of people don't take the time to train/socialize their dogs and others get dogs from bad breeders, sometimes both.

**Yes, pit bulls ARE a dominant breed and can get aggressive. Why? Because of the idiots who use them for dog-fighting.**

That makes no sense. It really goes AGAINST the truth. The reason APBTs are generally so people friendly is because dog fighters culled against human aggression and bred for stable dogs. Think about it. A century of being fought and man biters being culled has set in the trait of friendliness almost too a fault.

These dogs were trusted in the fight with a referee and 2 handlers (sometimes their handlers were not their owners), washed by the opposing handler or other person, given aftercare while having severe injuries (yet the dogs didn't bite out of fear/pain) therefore trustworthy temperament flourished almost out of need. Many of those dogs were the friendliest dogs you could meet. Petey of the Our Gang comedies must have had a stable temperament and been highly trainable. Not a dominant aggressive dog, even though he was bred for fighting he seemed to be pretty trustworthy. I have an ex fighting dog that was skinny, sick and full of worms (i.e. neglected), yet he has a very solid temperament with anyone (he is so over friendly like he is about to wag his rear off), loves pups (will even share food/sleep with them) and is fine with females and ok with male dogs that don't challenge him or want to start a fight. Although right after I got him a off lead intact male Boxer did challenge and growl at him and he just ignored the dog completely, so it really depends on the circumstances.

The unstable APBTs has really only in the last 20yrs or so for the most part. Which is when they got popular and over bred. Over breeding hurts any breed in temperament and also health.

I realize this is not a nice heritage to think about but it is why they are friendly, easy to train and stable. Some breeds heritage isn't all roses but even in those bad things some good can come of it. In APBTs its determination, stable temperament and undying love. The reason they are dominant/aggressive is because of bybs and owners who have no clue about proper socialization and early training. The real problem must be addressed for things to get better.

They are not a dominant breed, at least a well bred APBT is not a dominant dog who becomes easily aggressive or challenges his owner. My APBTs have been by far my easiest to train (I would say the Boxers are close) and most only need positive reinforcement and soft correction. They love to please and work with you so usually want to make you happy once they know what to do. If you raise your voice in some cases they act as if you deeply hurt them. Which is why a firm NO works just fine. They are obedient dogs, having great temperaments. Doing herding, agility and weight pull, listening and training with ease, much easier then the dominant breeds. There are many dominant breeds out there and the APBT shouldn't be one of them. Cane Corso has been one my most challenging breeds, had to totally change my training method for a dominant dog. Who will defy or challenge what I want, it was an adjustment. Boerboel was also dominant and while very sweet natured and did want to please not anywhere near as easy as an APBT and will do things against your will much more quickly. Malinois is another challenge, I'm not sure that dominant is exactly the right word? Lots of extra socialization for sure and the training method yet again different then the other breeds.

I also know the Akita and Presa to be dominant, I haven't owned either of these breeds however so no experience. Only what the breeders/owners say.

I'm sick of being nice this is my true opinion. Everyone who hates pit-bulls has NEVER owned one they just read and hear about them attacking people. First off any breed of dog can do this it is not the Pit-bulls fault. It is called irresponsible breeders and abusive owners. Any dog can be aggressive and ill tempered from birth not just pit-bulls. However it is most common in pit-bulls because the breeders don't care about the animals or how they will react. They don't care if they are ill tempered and should be put down. The fact is the breeder can get good money for a pit-bull so why put a dog down when you see $$$$. Pit-bulls have a bad reputation because they are the most commonly used dogs for fighting. The pit-bulls don't choose this lifestyle. It is the heartless stupid owners who breed them and bring them into this life style. I have an 8 month old kid and a 3 yr old kid. I also have a pit-bull that we have owned since it was nursed. We made sure it was a well tempered dog, we knew who owned it, we knew it was bred properly. We do not abuse or mistreat the dog. It plays with my 3 yr old. When he bites him he don't even leave marks he just grabs his hand and barely put any pressure on it. He don't even have teeth imprints where the dogs does this much less blood. It is all in how the dog is bred and raised. Not all pit-bulls are bad they are just the most advertised for being vicious. How many toy dogs do you think bit someone in the past year? How many have you heard about? How many chows bit someone in the past year? How many have you heard about? They have branded pits as vicious and anytime someone hears of a pit attacking it is all over the news. I had 3 dogs attack my 3 old son in his own yard. None of them were pits. One was a chow, the other was a chihuahua, and the third was a lab puppy. All the neighbors dogs. They didn't hesitate to call someone to pick the dogs up when I told them they attacked my son. There wasn't ever a big deal about it though. If it one of them was a pit-bull that attacked my son it would have been all over the news. Just because other breeds aren't advertised as vicious doesn't mean they aren't. I am so sick of pit-bulls getting a bad reputation because of their owners/breeders ignorance. You want to blame someone blame the breeder that sold an ill tempered dog, or blame the owner for training the dog to fight or abusing it. Don't blame the breed of dog. My pit-bull wouldn't bite a soul. Unless you walked in my house without permission or tried grabbing one of my kids. He was trained to protect the kids and the house. My point is blame the breeder that sold a dog they knew should have been put down or blame the owner for training the dog to fight or beating the dog. No dog is born to fight they are trained to fight.

Rachel - Pit Police Captain said it best.

Yes, pit bulls ARE a dominant breed and can get aggressive. Why? Because of the idiots who use them for dog-fighting.

These dogs then develop aggression, and then have pups with problematic temperaments...why? Because of irresponsible breeders who breed their pit bulls without ensuring a healthy temperament.

Then these pit bulls grow up and attack somebody, unprovoked...why? Because of bad owners who try to train their pit bulls for protection by themselves. Because of owners who deliberately don't socialise their pits from young so that they will growl at strangers and be "protective". Because of owners who buy pits just to look mean and dangerous without knowing how to handle a breed that is already prone to dominance.

My point is: yes, many pit bulls are dominant by nature, but nothing that has happened is the fault of the breed. If you want to blame someone, blame the unethical breeders, the dog-fighters and the irresponsible owners.

This is another perfect example of

1) Negligence. Since the dogs should not have been out without supervision to begin with. But had they been on a regular exercise schedule they'd have been happily asleep instead of roaming the neighborhood.

2) Ignorance on the part of the general public.

People must learn how to act around animals to prevent incidents such as these!

Had the old lady just stood still and not looked at ,tried to touch or talk to the dogs.Just stood there very calmly they'd have smelled her,seen no threat and went away.But I'm certain she freaked out seeing no one else on the street and tried to shoo them away giving the dogs the idea she was the aggressor and they attacked.

I believe its the owners. The media doesn't help the breed either...What about that woman a couple of years back, that got her face ripped off by a lab or golden? ( I can't remember which) And the hundreds of 'ankle biter' attacks? I trust my pitts around ALL of the children AND adults that are around my place. They are well exercised, socialized, and taught the proper manners. Unfortunately, they are a high energy dog and not given the means to expend their energy will act out ( this goes for ANY dog) by tearing up the trash or running off or aggression...People need to educate themselves....

Of course it is bad owners. A few years back, a golden retriever mauled a child to death, but it was not as publicized as a pit bull attack! This is not the breeds fault, but the owners!!!!!!!!!

I have had personal experience with this breed, and they are one of the most loving and gentle breeds (if raised right)!

Its the owners. Any dog if treated incorrectly can be aggresive and dangerous. It just so happens that pit bulls are also strong and have larger teeth than a small lap dog and thats why they are viewed as predators. Just like humans. Some are crazy . some are sane. Just depends on the way you were raised. Its not the dog. its the person who bought or bread the dog without knowing how to raise it.