Ask500

Lol, very true, never bite off more than you can chew, especially if your mouth isn't big enough to take it.

I'll tell you about that one, because I've owned one - my favorite dog of all time.

First of all, pit bulls have the worst reputation in the world (I would have never chosen one just for that reason) but I ended up with one because I thought she was the exception rather than the rule. She belonged to friends, I'd known her ever since she was a puppy, they got divorced, neither could take her and she was headed for the pound. Pit bulls are not adopted from the pound (county animal rescue/abandonment shelters here in the US if you're unfamiliar with the term) but are immediately destroyed. Since their reputation is so horrible, and people have such a fear of them, and because they tend to attract the worst mentality of owner because of their reputation, the pound will not adopt them. They're usually destroyed within hours of being dropped off.

First of all - "pit bull" is not actually a breed. It's a classification of dog, like Shepherd, Retriever, etc. When you see horrid statistics that list "pit bull" attacks compared to other breeds, notice how they list German Shepherds, English Bulldogs, Yorkshire Terriers, - each breed individually. And then they list "Pit bulls." It's not fair - if you add up all the Shepherd and Terriers listed, you'll find the incident of attack is much higher in those categories. You will rarely see clips on the news of "German Shepherd attacks" because it's not vogue. It's a popular breed so they have their defenders. It didn't used to be that way in the 70s. German Shepherd owners were considered "bad neighbors" just like "pit bull" owners are today.

The Pit Bull category includes (but is not limited to): Staffordshire Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, English Bull Terriers (this breed originated in 19th century England as the first "human companion" dog breed - the gentleman's version of a lap dog - but it's still classified because it has "bull" in it's name), and I have seen (of all things) both English Bull Dogs AND French Bull Dogs listed in the "Pit Bull" category. It's really hysteria.

For those dogs that were actually bred to be fighting dogs - they were actually bred to have the most gentle disposition. Sounds crazy with the hype - but it's true. These dogs were bred to be strong and muscled. You could NOT breed them to have bad dispositions otherwise an owner could not handle them, turning your back on them would mean possible death. What they did was breed a sweet dog, then TRAIN them to fight. Many of the breed would REFUSE to fight. That was the reason Michael Vick tortured and killed so many of the dogs he had. They REFUSED to fight. Their nature wouldn't allow it.

Only twice did my "pit bull" ever act in an aggressive manner towards another dog - both time in defense of my little dog. Little dog was attacked by a Dalmatian and a Husky cross (at different times), both dogs didn't notice her as they charged my Corgi mix. Both dogs (off leash) were bitten once - high on the back - as a warning. She didn't even draw blood. Both dogs ran after she warned them.

This is not a vicious breed. They are sweet and gentle, great family dogs. Yes, people mistreat them (because they often draw undesirable owners because of their "bad ass" reputation), and yes - bad asses are often cheapskates as well, so there is a lot of inbreeding that goes on. But after a check to make sure the dog was mentally sound - I wouldn't hesitate to own another. My Dalmatian is far more prone to biting than any "pit bull" I've met either before or after mine. I've been bitten by Yorkies, Jack Russells, Huskies, Fox Terriers and a couple of mutts. But I've never had a "pit bull" do anything but kiss me. Most of Michael Vick's dogs (including his "prize fighter") have been adopted into families, all of whom are very happy to have found wonderful dogs.

Don't believe media hype on these breeds. If your government is "banning" them - it's because they want to look like they're doing something. A township a few miles north of me were even looking into banning Boxers as vicious. Talk about stupid! (lol)

Oh - here's my baby if you're interested. She died in 2004:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j5FqPnUEg4

Pit bulls are very nice dogs and have a wonderful temperament. yes, they do have a bad rap because of the type of people who breed, own, and train them. For ANYONE who thinks that they need to be trained with a strong hand has absolutely NO clue how to work with animals on a whole. They can become aggressive if they are bred badly or are treated badly in any way ( just like ANY breed of dog ). Pit bulls were originally bred to bring bulls down to protect the workers around the bulls but as time went on bad people started to have them bring down bulls for their sick pleasure of seeing animals being hurt. After seeing this they realized that using them to fight other dogs was even more fun so the sick assholes started to breed them to fight and they horribly abused them and at the same time they got people who wanted ( so called ) vicious dogs to show off how cool they are because they have a ( so called ) bad dog and abused them to make them mean. The people who fight these dogs and breed them to fight can actually breed out the true temperament ( gentle, loving, and stable ) and they breed only the dogs who get aggressive easier than others eventually making them an aggressive line of dogs ( be it pits or ANY other breed ). This is how ALL of the breeds of dogs have been developed by continuous breeding of certain dogs with particular strong points ( including your so called cute cuddly dogs ). It is beyond me why people stupidly assume that any behavior that is not good from a dog is the breeds fault. Oh no no no people are NEVER EVER bad and use animals in a bad way!!!! There are organizations that are working at breeding out what these bad assholes bred into the pits and breed back what is REALLY their true nature. It has gotten easier to find pits with GOOD breeding but one must still be very careful and do some very deep checking of the breeder and look at the line (far back and on both parents side, call other buyers, drill the breeders on ANY questions you may have, personally look at the kennels, show up unannounced and see what really goes on and if they are being truthful about their practices. You should do this with ANY breed ( including your cute so called cuddly dogs )( including dogs like Golden Retrievers and Labs ). It is NEVER the breed ONLY the breeding, training, and treatment. I have been working with animals ( particular dogs ) for over 25 years and have seen hundreds of pits and have met ONLY two mean ones and those were the two that had been turned in because their owners had BADLY abused them. Once again they are TRULY good dogs and are calm and even tempered. I was an assistant groomer for 11 years and groomed pits and other large breeds and the funny thing is that it was the small breeds that tried to bite your fingers or face.