Pit bulls are the most discriminated against dog breed in America. They have been labeled as a “dangerous breed” due to people using them for fights, in drug labs, and basically some scumbag owners. People who adopt a pit often pay higher home & car insurance rates. Many landlords in NJ (not sure about other states) will not rent to pitbull owners even if they allow larger breeds.
Train a dog right, show it lots of love, and ANY dog can be a great dog.
“ANY dog can be a great dog”. Great! You don’t need a pit bull then (or any other large dog bred to be aggressive).
Any dog can be aggressive. I’ve owned husky-Collie mixes and my last dog was a Boxer Lab/Shep/Lab mix. I’ve had several GOOD encounters with pits. I’ve been bitten twice, both times by little “Non Aggressive” breeds (one fucker was a teacup dog that jumped out of hers owners lap, bit me, and ran back to her owner as I walked down the street)
It’s all about how YOU as the owner raise the dog. Personally, I prefer large breed dogs, and find breeds like pugs (which are inbred to the point of damaging the entire breed) to be very difficult dogs who often pick fights with larger dogs.
Nurgen, a the large group of people who misunderstand the breed. Do you have any personal experience with the breed? What makes you think they are aggressive?
Unless that teacup dog had an owner that could have beat my ass, it would have been dead.
Had a pit/unknown cross. Runt of the litter full of worms and maybe 4 weeks old when I found him abandoned behind a dumpster at work. fixed him up, cleaned and fed him and he was my best friend for 10 years. Because he was a pit cross, was I supposed to let him die behind that dumpster nurgen?
I didn’t imply that you should let it die in any way, but if people are getting a dog from a breeder or a pet store, there’s no need to choose one of these dogs.
With that attitude there should no longer be any German Shepherds, Rottweilers, Irish Wolfhounds or Dobermans. All of those breeds were “Bad Dogs” at one time or another. I have friends and family that have these breeds or Pit Bulls and small children, and those kids are safer with the dogs than they’d be with any human baby sitter. My daughter’s “bodyguard” was a Black Lab/Timber Wolf mix, he wouldn’t hurt a hair on her, nor would he allow anybody else to either.
To be perfectly clear, I know that with proper care and training, any dog can be a safe pet and a great companion, but eventually someone (i.e me) that has to deal with that breed of dog wandering the street. I’ve never felt particularly at risk from an irish setter or a lab, but it would be sheer insanity to get close enough to say, a rottweiler to find out whether it’s going to be friendly or try to kill me.
Who are you? Be quiet.
Why should he be, demon? We need more opinions around this place, not less.
Finally, someone with a UID higher than mine
I won’t and haven’t ever bought a dog from a pet store or breeder. Most breeders focus on in demand “small” breeds btw, since it’s better for their profit margin. In most cases the dogs are kept in terrible conditions until they are sold. Supporting their business is enabling them to mistreat more dogs.
Sorry, nurgen. Did not mean to jump your shit, but this is a sore spot for me. Frankly, I’m of the belief that folks shouldn’t go to a breeder or pet store for dogs(or cats) there are far too many waiting in shelters for a home.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: the animals with the most aggressive reputations are usually just the most loyal and intelligent ones – those traits are easily exploited in animals under direct human control.
There’s a pit breeder in my family and her dogs have consistently been the sweetest, smartest and goofiest dogs I’ve ever met.
How odd. This is starting to sound like the argument against gun control.
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Pitbulls / aggressive breeds don’t hurt people, it’s the fault of bad owners.
If only there was a way to limit the rights of irresponsible people… then maybe the source of both problems would be eliminated and not merely the secondary effect.
On the other hand the dogma of “all men are created equal” / democracy stands directly against that – and happens to be part of the US constitution (and most democratic governments).
Until there is a fundamental change in the concept of “everyone is the same”, it’s going to be easier to ban guns, kill off the pitbulls, grind the edges off all knives, etc…
I’d much rather bad violent people (we have jails for that) Kill off said violent people (Death penalty for capital crimes) and grind off their edges (Dexter?) than restrict any responsible person’s access to firearms, or “dangerous” breeds of dogs.
*ban violent people… yay wordz
You can’t limit irresponsible people, unfortunately. But you can hold them accountable. Which doesn’t happen as often as it should.
Fuck yeah, Pitbulls!
My neighbor has the sweetest, kindest, happiest Pitgirl you ever did hope to meet.
I heart you, crewdood.
Let’s all conveniently forget it was bred to grab onto a bull’s nose and not let go, no matter how hard the bull thrashed about, for the amusement of retards. No, pit-bulls, obviously, were plucked out of their natural habitat, the forest, and forced to maul all those people recently, by the bad people!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull-baiting
It says the bulldog was specifically bred for the sport. It doesn’t say anything about pit bulls.
pit bulls are descended from bull dogs.
animals are just like people. some of them are just assholes. no matter what breed.
First off, fuck yeah sumosnipe (UID# 4452) , whoever you are.
Second, I’m in talks with my boyfriend about adopting a dog. We both agree ATM that we want a big dog (I’ve had Dachshunds my whole life, and while I love ’em I’m ready for a change), so I think we should get a Rottweiler, a Pit, or some sort of mix that just needs a good home. My man is open to the idea, but he’s heard the horror stories about Pits. I’m working on it though, and he’s opening up to the idea.
Either which way, the dog must love our two cats. 😛
Hit your local animal shelter. Bet they have a whole wing of pit cross dogs that folks just pass by. I know our 2 shelters here in Albuquerque do. I do have 1 word of warning- you will go through a LOT of rawhide chews if you want to keep your lawn furniture safe when that pup hits the chew phase that all dogs go through at 4-6 months. Tyr ate the plastic lawn chair and any balls/toys left out on the porch. The vet was not happy with me about that.
There are rescue groups for just about every breed imaginable. They often can tell you a lot about the particular dog, and arrange for you to meet the dog in advance as well. They are just as concerned that the dog will be getting a good home as well, so don’t be surprised if they ask you questions or want to see your place. Once you’ve decided on a breed, you can contact the right group and I’m sure they will be a great help. If your in the NYC area, and considering a pit, check out Bruised Not Broken on facebook. www.facebook.com/BruisedNotBrokenRescue
Funny how Collies, Labradors and retrievers are some of the most intillgent dogs you can find and you never hear anything bad about them, these dogs were bred to be agressive and it is a built in trait through breeding. There are always stories about how a loving family pet of x years suddenly turned aggressive and attacked people and it’s usually one of these types of dog.
That’s not true, the media sensationalizes everything nowadays, and I’ve heard of at least one case where a lab bit someone. The lab was abused, just like most of the pit attacks you hear about. Look at all the pits they rescued from Vick’s dogfighting ring. You think they EVER had an opportunity to be normal dogs?
People who think they are bad ass want the dog breed, then mistreat it.
Actually pit bulls were intentionally bread to be attack dogs hence they have genetic predisposition to be more aggressive. That is not to say that all pit bulls are aggressive because any dog can be either aggressive or friendly largely depending on how it’s raised and in what environment it’s raised in. But that does not change the fact that pit bulls have a much higher chance of being aggressive because of those bread-in genetic traits.
I love how someone tried to slip in a Rottweiler in this argument. My best friend has a huge American Pit Bull. He’s the sweetest dog in the world and just doesn’t realize how big he is. I owned a beautiful Lab/Shepherd/Rott mix and he had the lovability of a lab, the intelligence of a Shepherd, and the loyalty of a Rott. He was the most brilliant dog I’ve owned. Dogs are the product of their environment. I would agree the certain breeds have a history to them. Akitas, Pitbulls, Rotts…etc…but almost every circumstance of someone getting bit always has the same elements: the dog was threatened, the individual was pursuing some sort of abuse to the dog, or there was an element of overprotection occuring by the dog (which IMHO is a good thing). If you want a violent dog….then keep them outside apart from the family, treat them like a dog rather than a friend and abuse them. There you go. You want a safe and reliable dog keep them inside, treat them like a friend and become familiar with their reactions in different circumstances. Its all about being a responsible owner. Whether or not we’re discussing a dog, a gun or an automobile. They all have the potential to go haywire if the owner is not responsible.
You hit the nail square on, my friend. Responsibility! But like common sense, so damn rare now, it should be a superpower.
It is important to speak about Rotts when talking about this, and German Shepherds, IIRC. They have both been the target of this kind of sensationalism in the past. Just about any breed can be raised to be a family dog rather than a guard dog or attack dog. You could probably do the opposite. (Could you imagine how terrifying a flock of Chihuahuas might be?)
My brother owned a pit-bull and it stayed with me and my parents for a while during a transition period for him. My brother bonded with her and raised her properly. She was the sweetest thing, thought she was a lap dog, and was terrified of noises from the back of the house. When he finally took her back I was really sad, because she was so sweet and because I know I don’t have the time or patience to bond with a dog like that.
Dogs I’ve had bad experiences with: German Shepherds (Neighbors had a really old one and he took a small bite out of my ear when I was really young), Dobermans, and Rottweilers (One of each attacked me while I was waiting for my bus in 5th grade. They were not well trained or friendly and the guy that owned them is/was a dick). Never had a bad experience with a pit bull. I think it’s purely owner-based.
They are a great dog, if you want people to think you’re a bad, tough mother fucker. They were bred to have a bite strength of 400 psi or more, have fun with that. 🙂
It’s actually 320 psi, here’s a link: dogfacts.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/national-geographics-dr-brady-barrs-bite-pressure-tests/
Over 400 you’d have to be talking about a wolf.
yeah, 320 psi wouldn’t do much damage.
Neither would getting your facts straight
And anyone getting a dog to look like a badass is a moron, and the dog will probably suffer because of it.
Also this happened today:
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/13/BA7I1O32PI.DTL
The article doesn’t say much beyond the girl was bitten, it’s not severe, and that police are investigating. Was the dog loose? Where was the owner? Where were the child’s guardians?
Children should NEVER be left alone with a strange animal. You don’t know how either one is going to behave. This could have happened with any breed.
yeah, a lab would’ve licked her to death. point taken.
Labs can be very aggressive, if they are not neutered or spayed.
Or if they are not properly trained by their owner.
Just like pit bulls.