why are people so affraid of pittbulls if they are raised right?

Question

i belive it is how you raise a dog ( of any breed) and train them if you train them to be mean and aggressive they will be what do you think?( owner of two american pittbull terriers)

Answer 1

You answered your own question. People are afraid of pitbulls because the media sterotypes them as being Vicious dogs who are trained to do nothing more then fight. It's not fair to the animals who have been conditioned into being so ferocious.

Answer 2

okay here is the deal . I see so many owners that have their pits off of leashes and think that this dog will not go after something please . The dog has a bad reputation and people dont want to take the chance that your dog is going to come after them . cant tell the good owners from the bad . Oh and by the way to the person that said they look at rentals and they say no pits . It is not racist the insurance will not cover the property damage that the dog might do. In other word if the dog hurts someone the homeowners will be the one being sued not you the owner of the dog and that is why they put that in the ad. The truth is the truth and sometimes it hurts .

Answer 3

Pits have a bad rap because of the media.

What most people don't realize is that the way pits were traditionally bred (back in the bad old days) makes them extremely people-friendly (if dog-aggressive). In a dog fight, you had to be able to pick your dog up in the middle of the fight without getting bitten yourself. If the dog bit you, in addition to being injured, you were disqualified from winning. Consequently, dogs that bit people were left out of the breeding pool.

Because of the fierce rep that pits have, many people who want them for intimidation purposes get them and don't train them right (or at all). Any dog that is left chained up or neglected or beaten will turn mean. Pits are just capable of doing more damage than say . . . a poodle.

The dogs with bad reps changes over time (after Cujo it was Rotties). Pitbulls will probably be replaced by mastiffs, dobies, or some other dog eventually.

Pits as a breed are inclined to be dog-aggressive (as a pit owner I'm sure you know that). Again, it's in their long-standing gene pool from back in the bad old days. People use them as fighting dogs because they are good fighting dogs (genetics again - no responsible breeder will breed 'good fighting dogs'). With pits, more care and training must be centered on treating this because they do have a tendency towards dog-aggression. You wouldn't have to do this as much with a fox hound. If you treat a pit with love and train them right, they'll be very good and loving dogs.

People-aggression is the result of bad breeding and/or bad training.

Also, if you see a pit walking down the street, you have no way of knowing what kind of training, if any, the dog has had. I'll admit I'm more cautious with a strange pit than I am with a strange great dane.

Answer 4

Mare, NO dog is 100% guaranteed to be or not be anything, including aggressive. What most people here fail to realize is that a person is NOT always the one to blame. You can raise a dog with all the right intentions, (I do not believe that love and hugs and kisses is what a dog needs or wants), and in the end you end up with an ahole of a dog because of something in the dog's genetic back round or whatever. I would like to believe that most people DO NOT intentionally raise their dogs to be

dangerous, I certainly do not think that the parents of those kids
raised their dogs to do that INTENTIONALLY, but................The
only danger I see here, and the one that I and a few other people keep preaching about, is where owners treat their dogs like humans and give them human qualities, that confuses a dog and makes it act out in ways that are completely dog-like, but not acceptable to us humans. That is where our problems start. Think about it.


PS This is for the IDIOTS that keep repeating the stupidity that the jaws of a pitt bull lock. Stop spreading crap, NO dog's jaw locks. It is a matter oh HEART and INTENSITY, not mechanics.

Answer 5

Pittbull's are agressive dogs by nature. Training, I will agree helps them cope, but animals have a tendency to trash training in a crisis. I have witnessed two incidencies with pittbulls where there were unprovoked attacks. One little girl (now 7) has lost the full use of her arm because of it. I have no problem with the animal as long as the owners keep them in control, but there is always a chance they will get out of control if the owner get too lax or gets too comfortable that everything is ok. Chow dogs are like that too. Other breeds can exhibit similar behavior. My advice to you is to maintain control of your animals, but stay on your toes especially when you have visitors or guests. You have every right to have the animals, but you have an obligation to make sure the animals don't become aggressive to others outside their living area.

Answer 6

There is always the crap about genetically engineered to be fighting dogs etc. People forget about Chows and how vicious they are. And what about Shar Peis? They are bred for fighting also!

Pit bulls are strong animals and have jaws that lock. Unfortunately the wrong people use them for horrible things and that's what the media focuses on. Attacks that had nothing to with pit bulls get blamed on them anyway why? I don't know convenience?

It's sad honestly, and I think people are ignorant to speak out without the facts. It's the owners, the way the dog is raised that gives the dog a chance to be a functional part of society.

I have worked in a vet's office for over 5 years, I've been bitten by more labs, golden retrievers, schnauzers, and cats LUNGED at by chows, mastiffs, and mutts than rotties, pincers, pitts, or German Shepard's.

My brother owns a Pitt bull and we have 5 VERY small children who play ROUGH with this dog, lay on this dog, hug this dog, has gotten food out of it's mouth, pulled the tail, ears, ran off w/ its toys etc without so much as a whimper from her.

Four of those kids have in laws living w/ them temporarily who own a black chow who they can't even get near the thing without it biting.

It's all in how you raise the dog- ANY DOG!

Answer 7

people tend to be afraid of things that they have been told to be afraid of. Most accounts you hear about pit bulls, are unfortunately on the news and they have mauled or killed someone. Not all dog owners take the time to properly train their animals and due to their size, strength and general appearance, people tend to be frightened of them. I have a Golden Retriever (she is HUGE) she is very friendly, but pulls on the leash to try to get to people she wants to play with. People see this and automatically think she wants to eat them !! It is a sad thing that when I rented my apartment they had a list of dogs not allowed on the property: pit bulls, German shepherds, doberman, rottweiler, chows, Akitas, and more. I included some info about pit bulls below.

Pit bulls today still retain the predisposition toward dog aggression; however, a properly trained and socialized pit bull can be taught to manage this aggression.

The American Temperament Test Society, Inc. (ATTS) breed statistics as of December 2005 show an 83.5% passing rate for the American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier and an 84.7% passing rate for the Staffordshire bull terrier, as compared to an 81.2% average pass rate for all dog breeds.

Answer 8

I agree! All dog's can be mean, if raised that way. I don't believe it's just Pitt Bulls. I do think it all depends on how there owner raises them. The dog, no matter what breed, is going to respond, the way it was taught to. It doesn't know any better.

Answer 9

And for the love of DOG, pit bulls do NOT HAVE LOCKING JAWS!

They are similarly structured as other dogs. There is no little key to stick in somewhere and lock or unlock their jaws. They are DOGS!

A pit bull is a dog that never gives up, be it in a dog fight or trying to please their owners.

Because pits were bred (see how I spelled that??? not bread) to fight OTHER DOGS, they HAD to be friendly with humans. How do you think the dogs were pulled out of the ring.

Realize that our society is dictates the negativity towards this breed. With as much as they publicize pit bulls for being responsible for attacks, it only makes them more desirable to the people that shouldn't own them. Think about that.

Answer 10

I used to own big dogs. I had 3 Pitbulls and a wolf hybrid cross.
The dogs above were very gently raised from puppies and went through obedience classes. I had no problems with them until they grew older. At age 10, the wolf hybrid bit my husband for
no reason whatsoever. He was just sitting on the couch watching tv and she entered the room and attacked his leg suddenly. She bit an artery and he almost bled to death.
The dog was put down the following day.
At age 11, one of the pit bulls attacked me for no reason, while I was sleeping. If it hadn't been for my husband getting the dog off me, I believe it would have killed me.
At age 13, my other pitbull attacked and bit a neighbor without provocation.
Many dogs are aggressive by breeding alone, no matter how you raise them. That aggression eventually comes out, usually with horrible results.
I. still, own dogs. I have 5. But, they are all small, non aggressive
breeds.

Answer 11

some people are afraid of pittbulls because they might bite them...Everyone don't train there pittbulls as good as you do..Pittbulls are know to be vicious dogs..Some people are just plain lazy and don't train or take care of there dogs..You can't trust that all pittbulls don't bite...If you seen me or anyone else on here walking down the street with 2 pittbulls, Would you think they would not bite you? I don't think so.