Pit Bulls anyone? :)

[Eiganjo]

I mentioned how threatening I believe they are towards children.

I think that lies solely to who is raising the dog.
If you look at say, that dog whisperer guy, he has a pitbull and it is so gentle that it would not hurt anyone I believe.

I myself did never have a pitbull, but I did have a rottweiler that basically grew up alongside with me (me as a wee baby and he as a pup). He got raised by my dad, and he was a gentle a dog as you could get. He was, however, very protective of me, and he would come running if someone was annoying me, even it was for fun and play. Could do everything with him, basically ride on his back as well :D to bad he died, but I would not hesitate to get one later one again should I want one. but the neighbours rottweiler will suffice for now I suppose ;)

 

[Spacemon]

Totally agree with your absolute position on this predicament; simply put that i have encountered a couple of mistreated pits and their expression says it all with no sign of danger, because it's the stigma that places these creates on such a level that is not recognized from the owner's perspective of how they're re-creating something adorable from the beginning.

 

[Galladiator]

Pit bulls are completely misunderstood in my opinion. It all depends on how they're raised. If their owner trains it to tear the crap out of anyone who gets too close, that's what they'll do. If they're brought up with love, they'll be gentle and fun, like 99% of the world's views of the "ideal dog".

 

[too_talls]

Pits are not for peoplethat don't know dog training basics. All dogs are similar but pits are the strongest pond for pound and they have a very high will to please. So if you don't know how to get across to the dog what it is you want and expect of it, it may act out on it's instincts in attempt to please. It's an animal an it's first untrained instict wont be desirable.

This is one of mine, I havee a hight amount of trust in this guy, But i'd never have him in public off leash for one main reason: behind a fence he is on the job, he gets very verbably agressive. There are a few reasons I don't correct the behavour.

1. I live in a bad neigbourhod and my house used to get broken into too much times before I got dogs, eg: I had to replace 2 n64 systems and 3 xbox originals just to name a few.

2. people around here steel nise dogs with the slightest signs of weeknes.

I know you probably think that I trained him to act out but I didn't, It was his natural nature and it is my job to correct undesirable actions. This used to be a problem as he seemed unable to determine friend or foe behindthe fence so I corrected his advances to challenge me. now no matter how much I hit the fence to see if he'd spark he advert eye contact with me and look for someone else. If I had ignored that little thing any given day after that behaviour had time to excolate I could of been attacked for a task as simple as feeding. On a leach in the outside world anyone can come up and pet him no problem. This is were some people get in trouble, they see theirdog as a sweetheart to people on a leash and then think the leash is unnecessary. I know his behind the fence tendancies can pop up without warning or somebodies cat could run by sending his mindset into another direction. it's all about knowing what your dealing with so you can avoid being the next news story.

I have other pits i'd love to share pics if anyone wants.

 

[Athenodoros]

Unfortunately, right now, they are the "thug dog".

But that is exactly the problem. Let me say now that I don't support a ban on any breed, but because they have that image, they will be owned by the people who will intentionally raise them that way or by people who will not raise them properly, and so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. That is why they can be banned and it is partly true. I am very much a 'dog person', but even I keep an eye on any that I see because more of them than most other breeds do happen to be dangerous.