Comment

Comment by Ace and Jen on April 15, 2010 at 5:17pm

I have to say my brother is an excellent Pitt handler and has raised several pitts to be outstanding dogs

Comment by Joanna, Rainy and Calvin on April 14, 2010 at 2:08pm

It is all how they are raised. I have a friend who grew up next to a house that had a corgi that was very nasty and aggressive. She doesn't like corgis because of it. Just goes to show you...
Scrappy looks like a real sweetheart :) What an expression!

Comment by Jill Usher on April 14, 2010 at 11:49am

I will start with I love all dogs and I do not fear Pit Bulls. We have quite a few in our local dog park and some are very nice but around 1 years old you start to see them not coming back...hmmm. In our area, folks tend not to spay\neuter their pits which may contribute to their not coming back to dog park around 1 yo. My Corgi is super social and loves to play with big dogs because he has a 105 Black Shepherd sister at home. Well, he was running around the dog park and ran up to a pit and jumped up on the Pit (I blame Jake for that) and the Pit went crazy. The Pit grabbed Jake and threw him up in the air and Jake fell to the ground and the Pit stood over him growling. My husband watched the whole thing in shock as everyone was trying to pull the Pit away. Owner oblivious...finally the owner came over and yelled at my husband about bringing Jake to dog park! My dog has been going to that dog park for over a year! My hubby had never seen that Pit before. So, although I know EVERY dog can snap..they are animals and if they feel threathened can snap...but owners of Pits, Shepherds (like my hubby and I) need to be more aware and CONSTANTLY monitor our dogs. We need to survey the scene...the "pack" at dog parks and remove our dog if they are not being social and well-behaved.

Comment by Bev Levy on April 14, 2010 at 7:31am

He looks like a sweetie! We added a doberman a year and a half ago that was my son's. She is a gentle mild mannered girl that even our declawed cats boss around. She is my regular lap dog and Izzy is her best pal and I had to convince Sparty not to pick on her. However, I would pity the fool that tries to break into my house or bother us on a walk. She is fine when introduced but very suspicious of strangers. My love for her does not make me forget that she was bred to have a strong guarding instinct. I feel the same about Pit bulls, they can be wonderful (look at Cesar's Daddy) but some situations require caution.

Comment by Beth on April 14, 2010 at 7:08am

Scrappy looks like a sweetie and I've known several very nice pitts and pitt mixes. I just want add a little to what you say though; it's not just "how they are raised" any more than a herding dog's tendency to gather and nip is how it's raised. If an English Pointer points at butterflies and song birds, we don't say "Oh, it's how he's raised." A well-raised greyhound still cannot be trusted off-leash in open spaces because of its tendency to chase fleeing objects. And a well-raised beagle will still follow its nose.

Pitt bulls specifically, and terriers in general, were selectively bred to be "game" in a fight. Terriers kill prey and pitt bulls have frequently been selected to see other dogs as prey. They may not be (depending on the dog) any more likely to get in a fight than another dog; some are very stable and may be less inclined to start a fight. But when they DO fight, they will fight differently from many herders or gun dogs who were selectively bred to not grab and hold on. Pitts were selected to not let go in a fight, and to ignore another dog's surrender signals. My aunt has Jack Russels and won't have more than two at a time, because she's seen them more than once (not her own, but other Jacks) gang up on another dog and kill it, when the day before they were fine. In an excitement situation, their bite suppression can be poor, to put it kindly. And my nephew-in-law had a bull terrier of some sort who was raised with other dogs and was socialized dog friendly, til he reached adulthood and became very dog-aggressive.

Respect the breed and know their history. If someone's beagle chased rabbits, one would never say "Oh, he was just not raised well" and yet for some reason that puzzles me, pitt bulls were bred to fight and yet it can be tough as dog-lovers to acknowledge that background. Dog fighting is still, sadly, alive and well today and there are still plenty of people breeding fighting dogs out there, so unless a pitt is from a long line of careful breeders (in which case it's probably an AmStaf), an individual's parents could have been champion dog fight dogs.

I highly encourage anyone who owns a pitt to read the excellent info put out by Pitt Bull rescues and to know how to break up a fight (some recommend owning and knowing how to use a break stick). Careful ownership can easily avert a tragedy; a nice pitt should be wonderful with people and they are frequently friendly with dogs in their own pack, but the breed history is there and ignored at our peril.