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...because of all the attention he has gotten this week from the arrest of his cousins at his home for "dog fighting".
I love animals, and I'm the owner of a "Pit Bull", and have been discriminated for it! But because of Michael Vick being famous, he has now put the spotlight on all Pit Bull owners across America!
As I have told people before, it's not the breed that's at fault! But the finger should be pointed at individual owners. We now have 'urban gangsters', who feel the need to fight these dogs because they lack testosterone themselves, and feel they "look bad", with these dogs by their sides.
I'm not sure why, but before when I was a kid. German Shepards caught a bad rap for being attack dogs. It took a TV show(Rin Tin-tin) to change America's opinion on that breed of dog. Then Doberman's were the scorn of the land, only to be replaced ten years later by Rotweilers. But now days that scorn falls in the lap of Pit Bulls!!! Why do people always assume that Pit Bulls are always at fault when we hear of 'dog attacks'? Beagles, believe or not are more likely to attack people than Pit Bulls! But who backs away from a Beagle when they see one?
My dog "Lucy", is a beautiful female Pit Bull less than 8 month old. She looks so much like "Petey" from 'Our Gang'! If only she had a black circle around her one eye she'd be a pefect match for "Petey"!
Lucy, because she is a puppy still has gone through about ten pairs of our slippers. But even as a puppy she is great around my kids! Never once has she hurt anybody!!!!
Edited by - Beachboy on 07/27/2007 10:01:21
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[quote]
...because of all the attention he has gotten this week from the arrest of his cousins at his home for "dog fighting".
I love animals, and I'm the owner of a "Pit Bull", and have been discriminated for it! But because of Michael Vick being famous, he has now put the spotlight on all Pit Bull owners across America!
As I have told people before, it's not the breed that's at fault! But the finger should be pointed at individual owners. We now have 'urban gangsters', who feel the need to fight these dogs because they lack testosterone themselves, and feel they "look bad", with these dogs by their sides.
I'm not sure why, but before when I was a kid. German Shepards caught a bad rap for being attack dogs. It took a TV show(Rin Tin-tin) to change America's opinion on that breed of dog. Then Doberman's were the scorn of the land, only to be replaced ten years later by Rotweilers. But now days that scorn falls in the lap of Pit Bulls!!! Why do people always assume that Pit Bulls are always at fault when we hear of 'dog attacks'? Beagles, believe or not are more likely to attack people than Pit Bulls! But who backs away from a Beagle when they see one?
My dog "Lucy", is a beautiful female Pit Bull less than 8 month old. She looks so much like "Petey" from 'Our Gang'! If only she had a black circle around her one eye she'd be a pefect match for "Petey"!
Lucy, because she is a puppy still has gone through about ten pairs of our slippers. But even as a puppy she is great around my kids! Never once has she hurt anybody!!!!
She will only "lick" people to death!!!!
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The problem is never the dog, its always the owner. Last week, I was the victim of a dog bite while showing houses. The beast that attacked me was a Chihuahua. Surprisingly nasty bite from such a little dog.
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Beachboy I can see you are very sentimental about your dog. I am also confident that there are pit bulls that are good pets. But pure bred dogs have been bred over centuries toward a purpose. And Pit Bulls (and others) were bred for fighting. Serious fighting.
Your argument that it's not the dog it's the owners has, of course, a lot of truth to it. It is the same argument however that gun owners use. It's not the gun that kills people it's the people.
In choosing a fighting breed for your family you are aware, or should be aware, that you are taking a greater risk and your family is taking a greater risk than if you had selected (for example) a Cocker Spaniel.
I can't say you are right or wrong. Your decision. I do hope it proves to be a good decision for you.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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There was a lot of anti-pitbull public opinion out before the recent events. England was at one time considering banning them from their country, I forget if that ever happened. This was about five or six years ago, I think it was. I've heard that insurance companies will charge more for premiums if they know you have a pitbull on the premises, too.
We could get into an entire "nature" (i.e. the perceived inherent "killer instinct" which some folks think is bred into pitbulls) versus "nuture" (i.e. the owners training of the pitbulls) discussion, but I think there's probably a little bit of both in there so it isn't a black or white question but one with infinite shades of grey.
A friend of mine with a Scottish Deerhound said there has never been a documented case of a Scottish Deerhound biting a human. It sounded interesting, but I don't know if it is true. There seem to be a lot less deerhounds around so one would think there would be less chance for them to bite folks so it might have more to do with opportunity than breed characteristics.
How did you choose your puppy? Did you know there was this sort of public opinion about pitbulls before selecting your puppy? I've known some really sweet pitbulls, but then I've also known some really vicious ones and in one case the same owner owned one of each type. I've also known some really smart Golden Retrievers and some incredibly dumb ones and in one case the smartest Golden I'd seen was a litter mate of one of the dumbest ones. Very odd.
We've got border collies and they have very a strong instinctive drive to gather things into groups. They will exhibit this behavior from puppyhood. It doesn't matter what it is, butterfly shadows will do, but it MUST be in a group. And herded into a group by staring at it, not nipping or barking at it. However, they have been specifically and very selectively bred for this behavior pattern. The border collie folks even managed to get the AKC to make this behavior pattern a breed requirement and usually the AKC is only concerned about how a dog looks, not how it behaves. Are pitbulls still bred for any particular behavior patterns?
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Kurt Wilson
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Beachboy, you may have a Staffordshire Terrier (looks the same, but not a pit bred animal.... We had a husky mutt that had the face & head & jaws of the pit.... but definately not the temperment.... even brought home a starving cat with nary a scratch... those two became fast friends... would let racoons eat her food... let stangers in our house when we were not home, totally not a pit bred type dog. We found out about the Staffies when we were in England... the same initial stock, just different breeding to either enhance the pit character or not ... One thing to note, these terriers do have very strong jaws & like all terriers, they may have a hunt instinct, make sure to note any (ours had issues with muskrats...)
One of the problems is some looking for a pit animal will mistakenly breed in the mild Staffordshire temperment & will end up with non pit animals... most of whom are destroyed.
Unless you have a pedigreed dog, you cannot be sure of the bred in temperment. If it is a mild dog, you may want to refer to it as a Staffordshire Terrier until the media hype calms.
Edited by - carey on 07/27/2007 11:14:27
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Media HYPE? They are simply telling the truth. Buying a pit bull is like buying a machine gun, they could go off any time and kill someone, and they are not mandatory purchases, because so many other dog breeds and guns are safer for the owner and the public. PitBull owners should expect to have problems from many sources, why anyone would want to have problesms, is beyond me.
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Well, forever ago I worked at a veterinarian's office and a boarding kennel. I got to see and handle all kinds of dogs there. In the two years I worked these jobs I was only bitten one time, and believe it or not, it was by a small, very high strung cocker spaniel!!! I've never owned a pit bull but I have a lot of friends with very sweet ones. I know that individual dogs do have different personalities, but my opinion is that most every time there's a problem animal, the problem is the owner. Personally, I just love dogs and I don't care about breeds. Every one I've cared for has come from the pound or just shown up. They've all been great dogs, all mutts - and we all know there are more than enough poi dog mutts to go around. If every single pet owner loved their pets enough to have them spayed or neutered, it would make a world of difference!
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Wow, I am glad I read all these postings. I will admit, I have had a mindset about pitbulls as being dangerous. After reading this, maybe I am wrong in my thinking. Certainly because a dog has been bred to come up with perhaps a certain jawl and bred to be used in something as horrible as pit fighting, I am now thinking it would take someone training the poor dog into agressive behavior like it would any breed of dog? And I have seen lots of other breeds of dogs who would certainly attack. Is the aggression bred into the dogs or is this a learned behavior?
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LOL (ahem) John Dirgo! Chuy says hola.
Carrie
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