Pit bull terriers

[Freckle]

Can anyone explain to me the attraction of owning a pit bull terrier? Why would you choose that breed over any other? Especially when there are children around and the breed has a reputation for unpredictable behaviour - and don't forget that the breed was developed to take on bulls, so it's not going to be a pussycat in any circumstances.

Another child has been killed by one, apparently owned by her grandmother - here . I don't like flagging up bad news on here, but I'm struggling to understand the mentality of people who choose to own such dogs.

its such a stupid comment to say that all dogs should be banned, i totally agree with wannabe, we have a bullmastiff which is a big dog and probably looks scary to some people, but its irrelevant the size of the dog, even small dogs can do a lot of damage to someone, over the last few years news report kind of snowball when these things happen as soon as one incident is heard of you seem to get loads of other accidents happen that you wouldnt normally hear about

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DominiConnor suggested banning dogs more than 2 feet from nose to rump. Ironically, I don't think pit bulls are that big.

Caligula suggested there was a case for mandatory muzzling of all big dogs.

In my experience the inclination to bite or snap is to an extent inversely proprortional to the dog's size.

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growling/snapping is not necc a bad thing in a dog - they are normal dog behaviour - they are warnings - they are the way that dogs avoid fighting (two dogs growl, weaker one submits) one of the problems with pit bulls is that they don't growl - they bypass normal fight-avoiding behaviour and just go straight for the fight (so I have read). I really found the newsnight coverage last night worrying. "he's a lovely soft dog, he sleeps in my bed" great. so that dog know's who's boss then. "i can control him" you can;t even make it walk to heel you idiot. made me really . why do people get dogs and not even bother to learn anything at all about how to treat them. The most basic one-sided RSPCA leaflet would tell you more about dogs than either of those two muppets knew.

ESS - a dog is still a puppy at 8 months, but I think your sister should have it on a lead: at least until it calms down with your children.

If you kids bit her whenever she came over, she might have something to say about it!

Maybe it's worth pointing this out. Just because something is natural behaviour for an animal, doesn't mean it shouldn't be stopped. That's what training's for.

Agree with all Wannabe's points too. Dogs are not toys, and children should be taught to respect them. If they are not old enough to understand this, they should be supervised IMO.

Oh Dominioconnor - well I won't take that too seriously then, lol

Disagree with Caligula suggesting that there is a case to muzzle all big dogs. You don't get much bigger than a Bernese moutain dog but muzzling of this breed - as anybody who knows a thing about dogs - would be farce. They are reknown as gentle giants

I agree with muzzling of breeds of dogs that have 'form' - there are several breeds of dogs which are well known to exhibit aggressive behaviours. Controversially I would include dogs like staffies, german shepherds, dobermans and rotties etc in these...yes there are many lovely examples of these breeds but there is a greater tendency in these breeds to go 'off the rails'

Growling/snapping is normal but aggressive behaviour. I would not be happy with a dog growling or snapping at anyone unless seriously provoked.

I did not know that about pit bulls btw.

any dog can go 'off the rails', regardless of breed imo

Yes, but clearly there is a greater tendancy in some breeds than in others. It is these which should be focussed on.

No, you're not wrong, fabnewyear, it's very worrying behaviour. The dog's and your Sister's tbh. I'd feel the same. We have two large breeds, and my youngest child thinks all dogs are like ours, or perhaps he just has no fear, but he has a habit of going up to all dogs and greeting them like best buddies. I've tirelessly told him not to do it, showed him pictures of bite victims etc. but he just doesn't seem to see why he can't love all dogs. Funnily enough, dogs do seem to love him back. Before we had our two, we had a Jack Russell which we had to give back to the breeder as it became very snappy with the DC and bit my other Son and Daughter quite nastily. Out of the three of them, my youngest was the only one that never even got growled at. I once lost sight of him for a few minutes in a park, and found him sitting behind a deckchair with a dog. I was a bit worried, so went to remove him, and the dog snarled at me! A book I've just read (The Dog Listener) suggests that people like my boy, who appear to have a natural affinity with dogs are more 'in touch with the ancient language' that others. Still, I hope I can eventually get the safety message drummed into him soon.

until they start to collect records on dog bites so they can ditinguish which breed is obviously more likely to lose the plot, 3000 dog bites happen a year until will know how many terriers, mastiffs etc have actually bitten i dont see how they can bring in any solution

Chris Laurence, veterinary director of the Dogs Trust, stresses the important of socialisation: dogs should be introduced to lots of people and other animals as early as possible. It's true that different breeds of dog have distinctive character traits, he says: "Everyone knows that retrievers like to carry things in their mouths and greyhounds chase things. But no breed is intrinsically aggressive."

The Kennel Club thinks otherwise. "Blame the deed, not the breed," says a spokesman. "The responsibility lies with the owner and the circumstances they allow their dog to be in." No dog, for instance, should be left alone with a child. The Kennel Club stresses the importance of training and education (for both dogs and owners), and has launched a scheme to promote safe interaction between children and dogs. This includes advice such as "keep away from busy dogs, bored dogs, dogs that are ill, or dogs that are tied up" and "never eat when close to a dog".

The attitude of 'any dog can go off the rails' drives me mad! Of course any dog can turn and attack and of course the raising of the dog and the treatment of the dog has a great bearing of how the dog is going to turn out, BUT, you cannot eradicate thousands of years worth of breeding!

A pitbull terrier was bred firstly for bull-baiting and then for fighting ...the dog has been bred to fight till the death!

It is irrelavant how 'soft' the dog is - thousands of years worth of breeding say that the dog cannot be trusted.

The whole physique of the individual dogs has a huge amount to do with it - a staffy could do a huge amount of damage if it so desired whereas the narkiest and most aggressive of say border collies is not going to do anywhere near as much damage.

I personally would never own a dog that has been bred to fight, guard or kill at any point in its history ...I'm not saying that all guarding breeds/terriers will attack, but history says that they are far more likely to ...

Saying that, a dog is a dog and regardless of breed they can NEVER be trusted 100% and need to be given the respect that that commands. I have a beautful, soft and soppy Golden Retreiver but i would never trust her 100% as at the end of the day, she is a dog - and as soft and well reared as she is, i am still well aware that she could have an 'off' day and so cannot be completely trusted.

JMO

xx

I agree it's largely anecdoctal evidence, hence I think they should collect data on dog bites to work out the incidence by breed; even if this is a herculean task. Perhaps dog licencing with a reasonably priced licence would help finance this. I'd be happy to pay for the 2 licences that I would require

Oh I agree bluenosesaint

Aitch, yes I do realise ponds don't have teeth and dogs do
My point is, was and will be that if the dog is not put in the situation where it might bite then no one will be bitten. In my view it is about responsibility of ownership. Queue ridiculous scenario of a pond being more likely.....

we used to own a neopolitan mastiff which are purely bread to guard and through history have guarded the italian mafia we had him imported from italy, for this reason we were very responsible dog owners as he was very selective as to who he liked, they do not growl or bark or give any warning of attack which was discussed earlier in the thread, anybody who can allow this type of dog out in public or anywhere near a member of public has to be insane i totally agree with that and the bullmastif we have now who is 2 is excellent with the kids but i would trust him 100%, we also had a staff who ended up being put down after he turned very agressive on the birth of ds1

suppose to say i wouldnt trust him 100%

But would the data really mean anything? The idiots who only want a dog because it makes them look hard are likely to mistreat them or encourage agressive behaviour. And they will probably choose dogs like staffies or rotties. Even the most vicious poodle or spaniel is unlikely to do much for street cred.

i think the data would suprise a lot of people by how many 'ordinary' type dogs have attacked compared to the ones that the news are only interested in

Yes you're right. You are more likely to be bitten by I think a golden retriever, collie or german shepherd than a rottweiler.

It certainly would Buktus. My vet has been bitten 3 times; every time by a westie. But they are soooo cute, right?

Yes but this would be heavily biased because of the number of 'ordinary' dogs as opposed to number of other breeds ...

Perhaps a percentage would be fairer?

xx

so in real terms then are you saying that you are probably more likely to be bitten by a normal dog as the more stereotypical dogs are far less common