To want to tell others to do their research before judging!

[Mumzzy88]

I get stopped every day by other dog walkers.i get rude comments about my parenting because of my choice. I get shocked faces and utter disbelief when asked do I have a pet!
I have a pit bull!
He was not my choice of breed and I didn't even want a bloody dog!
But.... a family member was treating him very badly he was under weight riddled in fleas being hit and attacked by other dogs in the house being given just left over food from whatever takeaway they had that night I observed this for a few months until I was invited to a barbecue five years ago in 30degree heatwave I could hear this dog crying in a room upstairs. I went up to see the dog who was in a boiling room with NO water!
I lost it! And took the dog home that moment to mine !
Iv now had him 6 years he's now a confident gorgeous family pet and we all adore him and he's amazing with my children he sleeps with my 10 year old every night as he hates being alone (naughty I know) and even lives peacefully with two cats!
He's not got a aggressive bone in his stocky body
But nearly every day people stop me and demand I put THAT dog on a lead ( in a huge field) or how could you own such a monster!. Or omg how could you allow such a dog around your children!
I'm so sick of this it makes me so upset Because he's so lovely he's and been given a second chance to be a happy pouch.
I feel like I have to explain his story constantly AIBU to think that people should just mind their own bloody business or do some research on the breed!

That's kind of you to say parachute. Maggie (now Skye) is also doing brilliantly - they've met up for playdates!

Tell them to mind their own business. If that doesn't work a sharp fuck off should do.

Brilliant idea. That will absolutely reassure any concerned people that OP is a sane, calm and responsible dog owner.

Bless you, Godstopper. It's truly frightening that there are people who can do that walking freely on the streets

Was no risk at all to us if I saw this dog was aggressive in any way I would of reported the abusers to the rspca not taken him home but what I saw was a very poorly animal in need of a home and love I didn't see the breed I saw the animal itself

There's obviously a massive problem with people abandoning Staff's. Our best guess is that they stumbled into the bucket at home and were dumped once the 'owners' realised they were not going to get ££££ (turns out people pay £1000-ish for Blue Staff's which I never knew).

Predict Huskies are going the same way ... a breed that really shouldn't be kept as a pet unless you can offer it hours of exercise a day.

Agree god stopper

My ds has asd and is utterly terrified of dogs to the point that it is hard to go out for a walk with him as so many people have their dogs off the lead. He is non verbal and severely disabled and I am fed up of people looking at me like I am at fault when he tries to run away into bushes of stands behind me screeching when a dog comes along to him. Please keep your dog n a lead on a footpath.

You always get those posters who come on to say 'all dogs should be on a lead at all times because my child is afraid' 🙄 If I was to see you and your child on a footpath my dogs wouldn't so much as glance at you, they'd walk right on by same as if they were on a lead. Chasing a leaf in the wind is much more exciting to them than your kid. Dogs are banned from so many places already it irritates me that those who hate dogs think they should never be allowed a bit of freedom to enjoy life.

(Obviously my comment relates to dogs not bound by BSL or those that are generally a PITA).

We don't need to do any fucking research... YOU need to keep your dog muzzled and on a lead. I would be petrified if your "lovely, friendly dog" came towards me off leash. Selfish woman!

I do not hate dogs at all. I just happen to have a severely autistic teen who finds them unpredictable and frightening. Dogs off lead in field ok but dogs off lead on footpath is a problem and I think unfair.

Yes you do as this then makes you a little silly and ignorant I'm not selfish my dog is on a leash especially around others why even comment lol go waste someone else's post time

I thought the rules had relatively recent changed that you are responsible for your dog's actions on private property as well (and would be put down).

YABU anyway, I've done my research and still would not allow my child to be anywhere near a pit bull ever. If I saw one off the lead I'd go mad.

I agree with recent pp I would never allow my dog off lead on public footpath or roads etc

Sorry, I love animals, vegetarian, cruelty free etc, but you need to keep your dog on a lead. Not everyone likes dogs - I'm very allergic to them and don't want them around my baby or disabled daughter.

I never blame the breed. I grew up with a GSD and a red setter. My grandad bred pit bulls
He said it was temperament and upbringing. Bad breeding counts for a lot where people are just looking to make cash. If you take a dog with a shit temperament and breed from it, no matter how much you nurture, you're not likely to get a great dog
Take two dogs with impeccable temperaments and bring them up and train properly... better idea

I adore staffies. The only dogs I'm wary around are akitas because I find them very difficult to read (facial expression, body language etc)

I don't believe all pit bulls are bad but I think if you get one that's been bred badly, and then not trained and brought up wrong, it's likely to go badly

No I don't see other pit bulls and have fear because Iv now opened my mind from my own experiences
If I was asked 6 years ago then ild say yes I would be Afraid as I was uneducated on them an like most have seen and heard horror stories that is why I respect other people's space around him

Your dog is absolutely gorgeous Mumzzy.
To a pp who said you took a huge risk rescuing a bull breed with a four year old - that is why many rescues do not rehome ANY dog to families with small children. ANY dog can be unpredictable, staffy-types are actually some of the most tolerant of children. You did what you thought was right and have got a wonderful dog.
Oh, and do look into dog exercise fields. They do exist and have high secure fences. There is one near where I live and customers are mainly little dogs with napoleon complexes and sighthounds with absolutely no recall whatsoever. There are a couple of exempted dogs that use the local one - they can take their muzzles off to play ball as it is insured, private land.

I don't get people who are saying you are being unreasonable. What business is it of anyone else's to think they can come up and comment to someone they don't know on something that they know nothing about. They know nothing about your situation or circumstances. I've known people with staffies/pitbulls (in US) as therapy dogs.
Yes, people can argue statistics but statistics don't give the full story, like the background of some of these dogs which can lead to aggression or dogs finally reacting to mistreatment. When people say that their dog attacked out of no where, often these are people with little experience of dogs who don't know how to read the signs that dogs are giving off that show they are unhappy or uncomfortable. These are not always immediate obvious unless you know what to look for (dogs will even do things as subtle as yawning or licking their lips when they're stressed). When these are ignored many dogs will eventually snap the problem however is that a pitbulls can do more damage than a chihuahua when this happens so gets a much worse rep.
I would just ignore what people say however, for your dog's protection I would start to put your dog on a lead when out if you're in the UK. Here a dog doesn't need to even be a pitbull but just a 'pitbull-type' to be seized and put down if someone complains, even if the dog is healthy and shows no signs of aggression.
You could also get a link to Dr Sophia Yin's dog body language sketches (which you can find online) to send to any friends or family who may worry, maybe if they are better at reading signs of aggression or warnings that dogs show then they may start to see if your dog doesn't show any of these.

You are not being unreasonable.
People should mind their own business!

Like children, there are very few bad dogs, only bad owners/parents. Owning a dog is a massive responsibility, OP you seem to be doing it right, despite all the hysterical dog haters on here. One of my dogs is a GSD. He's very large, and I often get people crossing the road away from him, etc. However, he was the dog who didn't move when a totally strange child ran up to him and hugged him. It could have ended in disaster for both the child and the dog, particularly as he had no experience at all with children.

But he didn't move, he just sat there while I calmed my blood pressure down (yes he was on a lead). I spend many hours training my dogs. They are regularly wormed and de-flead, and vaccinations are all up to date. They are well fed and walked regularly, as well as socialised with other dogs and people. It's a never-ending task, looking after dogs, but I'm happy to commit to it as I get so much back. If only every owner thought the same!

Firstly well done for rescuing him. No animal deserves that.

I too believe that this type of breed can be amazingly loyal and gentle.

However, should any individual dog of this breed type choose to 'turn', either through fear, mistreatment, being startled or even residual mental health issues from past treatment, they have the physical power to kill. I am not saying that they will do this, just that they have the physical ability to do so. This is why people fear them and why I've taught my DD to recognise this physical power in any dog that has it and respect it with distance and healthy understanding.

There are of course Dogs without the physical power in their jaws to injure people to the same level and are therefore perseived in a very different way.

For me this is pure common sense and human nature - that people instinctually recognise or sense danger in an animal that has the power and strength to maim or kill should it choose to do so.

It in no way reflects the individual dog or how that particular animal will react of course, but you cannot expect people not to recognise the potential, especially when they do not know your dog personally.

So my answer is both:

YANBU - because you love your dog and (from your perspective and knowledge) he will do no harm.

YABU - because it's perfectly reasonable for people to instinctually feel caution around an animal with the strength and bite power to do so much harm should it choose to do so (despite it being unlikely).

Soup dragon re read posts please

I have thanks. They are inconsistent and unreliable.

Kali/ you have misquoted me. What I said was would the op automatically assume it would not bite and snuggles up to kids etc just like hers does.

It's a fact that many pit bulls and similar breeds of dogs are kept for reasons which are entirely different to the op's. No matter how much you open your mind to dogs, pit bulls are not malteses or spaniels and the owners are not all well intentioned people.

Op do you take my point about a bite and damage from a pitbull is entirely different to that of a spaniel? Due to its jaw anatomy?

If your dog is off a lead then it's everyone's business. I hate irresponsible dog owners. You make it more difficult for everyone else.