Pitbulls

[denisedeland]

I was just wondering.. Does anyone on here own any pitbulls? My best friend owns three. I think they are very dangerous. In fact I won't even stay at my friends house because of her dogs. But other people talk of how loyal and friendly these dogs are. My best friend owns 2 females and one male.. What I am wondering is.. What would cause these dogs to turn on the owner and they have had them since they were puppies? And they have raised them. My best friend was attacked yesterday by the 2 females. So they had to be put down. Are these dogs known to attack owners? I always thought they attacked strangers. Just wondering if anyone might be able to tell me why they might have attacked..

Denise

[Tiggerwoos]

Overbreeding has caused these dogs to be vicious.

Over here in the UK, they have basically forced all pitbulls to be neutered and spayed till they die out. Then again, I have met some and they are lovely. I'd say if you had one from a pup you'd probably be OK, but later on in life, then it's a bit risky.

[luckitri]

I don't know but generally I have heard that other breeds will also turn on owner because of the in-breeding. Perhaps pits are worse cause of their muscular build and the jaws?

[codajess]

The ignorance when it comes to dogs blows my mind.

Dogs are only what you raise them to be.

[Amberly]

Pit Bulls have historically been raised for fighting, so they have a natural tendency towards aggression.

And also they are animals and are not necessarily "what they are raised to be", people tend to push their human ethics codes on them. A dog doesn't care about human social codes.

I have known many people, children included, who have been attacked by dogs that they have raised from puppies. Just because they are raised by kind humans doesn't mean that they will abandon their instincts.

Being cautious around animals is not ignorant.

[luckitri]

I am willing to admit that I am ignorant. I come here to learn not be insulted. I was just passing along what I have heard. I also always heard never to give your animals raw meat. I came here. I saw much information about it. Now my animals eat raw meat. No-one insulted me. I learned.

[jenna rose]

I'd recommend watching this video. http://www.pitbullproblem.tk/ I've shown it to quite a few people and it's opened their eyes a bit.

Also, there are some breeds that look like pitbulls. People often mistake them. You can go to this site http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

The neighbors behind have a pitbull mix. They have a small child, as well. There have never been any incidents. I've known quite a few pits over the last 7 of so years. I've only seen one whose temperament was off and that was because I suspected the people who had it, had it for fighting. All the others have been very sweet, from puppy to adult.

It's training to fight, not raising well, bad owners.

[jenna rose]

I was just wondering.. Does anyone on here own any pitbulls? My best friend owns three. I think they are very dangerous. In fact I won't even stay at my friends house because of her dogs. But other people talk of how loyal and friendly these dogs are. My best friend owns 2 females and one male.. What I am wondering is.. What would cause these dogs to turn on the owner and they have had them since they were puppies? And they have raised them. My best friend was attacked yesterday by the 2 females. So they had to be put down. Are these dogs known to attack owners? I always thought they attacked strangers. Just wondering if anyone might be able to tell me why they might have attacked..

Denise

I'm sorry about your friend. I'm sorry about her dogs, too. I'm not an expert on dogs in the least, but I'm not sure how much someone could tell you on the little bit of information you provided.

How badly was she attacked? What was happening before the attacks occured? Were the females in heat? I'm wondering if they really had to be put down, not knowing much about the whole situation.

[Amberly]

I hope you do not think I was saying that you are ignorant. I said that it is NOT ignorant to be cautious of the behavior of animals, not because they are inherently evil, but because they do not hold our particular types of values (as some humans do not).

I am not a dog-hater and I am not prejudiced against animals. I am quite the opposite. I love them and am an active defender of their rights. But I do not try to make them something they are not.

I have known pitbulls who have personalities that I adore, but that does not mean they are a good babysitter for a kid. I have known too many children with torn off faces to ignore that fact. They live by different rules. I respect that.

[denisedeland]

I admit my fear of the dogs comes from being attacked when I was 7. Because of that I have always been afraid of any dog. I won't even own one.. I know lots of dogs are sweet and kind. My brother in law has a dog that is just as sweet as he can be. I have always been a cat lover myself. But the fear of a dog attacking me is always on my mind when a dog comes near me. I'm not usre how bad she was hurt or what happened yet. She just sent me a message telling me she was attacked by the females and they had to put them down. I asked her for all the details when I wrote her back. I'm sure something had to trigger it. They had always been good dogs before this.

Denise

[Sharon in Colorado]

There are many breeds other than pitbulls that people and small children need to be leery of. My nephew was attacked by a dog that snapped while he was petting the dog, I think it was a springer spaniel, who are supposedly wired differently.

I think, too, that the over breeding tends to cause these traits. Which is why mutts are generally more gentle than the pure breds. We had 2 wonderful dogs, a siberian husky and chow which were one of the top dogs for biting children, which we gave away before we had our first baby.

We now have a stray which we adopted from the animal shelter. She is the sweetest dog either of us have ever owned. Very tolerant, gentle and loving, but as a dog, we still need to look at her as unpredictable, anything can happen with animals.

[luckitri]

I love mutts! Especially if they come from the shelter. They know what you mean to them and they show their appreciation. Some people believe that animals have a way of knowing if you have been cruel or if you have saved other animal lives even though they were not there to see it. Mutts are smarter, more loving, better looking.......I love Mutts!

[denisedeland]

I called my friend tonight and she is ok. She will be sore for a few days and infection is a worry.. I asked her what happened and she said she gave the females a bath and shortly after she was done the dogs got into it with each other and when she stepped in to break it up they turned on her. I know it is killing her to have to put the dogs down.. Shes loves them like they were family. I also understand her reason for having to put them down. She has a daughter that will be 2 on March 1st. She said it took everything she had to fight both of them and of course her little girl would have never had a chance to fight off two 40 pound dogs. I also know each dog can be different.. It's not the breed.. My mom is a dog lover and she has owned several different dogs that were all Chihuahuas.. She had this one that was just mean as a snake and would bite everyone except my parents. And he hated kids.. But my mom also owned another Chihuahua that was just the most loving dog I have ever seen.. She just loved everyone.. And even put up with the kids.. Heck.. I even loved that dog.. So I'm not trying to say that all pitbulls are mean. I'm sure there are plenty of them out there that are kind and sweet. So I'm not trying to pick on pitbulls. I know any dog could turn and attack or could be as sweet as honey.. But I have heard that pitbulls can be very dangerous. That was why I asked if anyone knew about pitbulls. And I will be the first one to tell you that I really know nothing about dogs. Growing up I always had a cat.. My mom didn't get a dog till my sister and I became adults.. She got empty nest syndrome.

Denise

[Nenyath]

We have the Pitbull debate in Denmark too and they are banned. Recently though there have been focus in the medias on how we treat dogs. What they are finding out is that we don't speak the same bpdy language at all, what is a friendly gesture for a child can be threatening to a dog. The message from all the debate is to learn how to treat a dog, how to approach all the do's and don'ts and then to teach our children the same. But as stated already, dogs have personalities and some may tolerate less than others. Sorry about your friend though, it's no fun loosing a pet and especially not that way!

Fly forever free..

[Evie]

Were I live in New Mexico there is a Pit Bull over population. Most of the strays are pitbulls. Owners just dump them by the side of the rode. I have a pit bull mix that I adopted as a pup and I have children. She is middle age now. She is loving and sweet. She likes to be left a lone more now than as a pup. But she has not given us any problems. We had a Chow mix as well. The chow we got as a puppy and raised her with the same love. But she was nippy and I was more concerned about her than my pit mix. I think a lot has to do with the temperment of the dog. Not all dogs have the same temperment. And how they are raised can effect. One thing I do know is that when dogs are fighting to no get in the middle of it. They are over excited and may do something that they would not usually do. I feel for any owner who has to put their dog down. It most have been very hard to do. Yet I understand why.