Pit Bulls inherit danger or great friend?

Question

I own 7 month old pit and i love her to death she is the sweatest dog ive ever owned, i have owned several Labs in my life mostly and used them all for hunting purposes, but i have found that my pit may be more intelligent than any of my labs. She watches the labs and acts like them its the craziest thing ive ever seen, she wants to be a bird dog too. With all that said the question is

I understand the fighting purposes but why are people blaming the breed (not recognized by the AKC) not the owner and do you agree or disagree to the setiment that they are a inherit danger to societ

Answer 1

Honestly, I do not believe the breed (in general) is dangerous to society. It all depends on how the dog was raised and if it was properly trained. Any dog can attack, no matter what breed it is.
I own a Pitbull mix and she is one of the sweetest dogs I've ever owned. All she wants to do is cuddle. She was raised by terrible people, also- but she is still very sweet. Her previous owners neglected her and abused her on a daily basis- when i brought her home with me from the shelter, she was terrified of everyone and everything, but within 4 months she has changed drastically and is the sweetest dog. I honestly do not think she'd ever attack anyone or any other animal (she does fine with my 2 other dogs and 2 kittens). I'm lucky that even though she was raised by horrible people that she has overcome her past and is a very sweet dog.
People are very ignorant when it comes to dogs and when they hear "Pitbull" or "Rottweiler", they think "That dog must be mean." and that's just not true at all- it all depends on the individual dog.

Answer 2

I also have a pit bull who is the most amazing dog I've ever met! I never thought I'd own a pit bull; I got him by accident. I put a lot of time and effort into working with him. I made sure to socialize him with people and animals. He loves to cuddle up on the couch and even though he is 75 pounds, he believes he is a little lap dog. He's even scared of kittens! I would trust my dog over any person in this world.
I don't understand the BSL because any dog could be mean, it's all in how the owner trains them. I've heard from vets that usually pit bulls are the most friendly dogs that they get. I think that pet owners should be able to make up their own minds as to what breed they will get. Who is anyone to make our decisions for us? Owners of any animal should take the responsibility to train the dog properly. I really hate the way society is portraying these dogs. I think more of an effort should be put into saving the dogs from bad situations rather than trying to ban them. If half of the energy that is put into establishing BSL was put to a good cause, just think of where we could be. TAKE A LOOK AROUND PEOPLE IT'S NOT THE DOG IT'S THE OWNER!!!!

Answer 3

People are blaming the breed because the media puts the blame on the breed, rather than ignorant owners. Pit Bulls are not an inherit danger to society, but irresponsible dog owners are. I have an American Pit Bull Terrier, and I couldn't ask for a better dog. And she is very intelligent also. She picks up no things Very quickly.

Answer 4

I see both sides on this one. I think the pits that are bred intentionally for pit fighting will be more aggressive and thus be a threat. Think about if for a minute, if the line is bred for fighting and they only breed the most aggressive to the most aggressive than of course you will have some that are a little angry all the time. Although it is humans that made them that way, it is their genetics in this case that makes them mean.

On the other hand, if you get a line that is not bred for fighting, and you treat it from day one as a puppy and not as a fighter, then yes, they can be as sweet as lambs-or labs in your case. I had a stafforshire terrier and although she is not a pit, she is part of the bully breeds and she was the sweetest dog ever. However, she was extremely energetic and hyper and if these dogs are not given the respect and exercise they need, they can turn a little fiesty. But they will never be as bad as their reputation makes them out to be. Stay away from the fighter lines and you should be fine.

Answer 5

My take on it is this. The breed was developed to be powerful, and to fight. It has those capabilities. It doesn't mean all pit bulls will do that and of course good training and socialisation goes a long way. A retriever was bred to retrieve, a maltese was bred as a lap dog. A small dog who attacks someone won't kill them, a large dog can. I always used to have large dogs. My rotty cross was the sweetest, most gentle giant around. One day a chihuahua barked at me and his instincts kicked in. He picked up the little dog and shook it to death. I never got over it. If I'd had a cocker spaniel it could never have done what my big guy did. After that kill he then went "prey crazy" and killed a cat that got into our yard, and a rabbit that got in also. Before this he had snuggled up with cats and let babies crawl all over him. He was still my beautiful boy but I couldn't deny what his breed could do.

Pit bulls are restricted in Australia because they have been recognised as a potentially dangerous dog. Now I'm sure in most cases it was bad upbringing or training but there have been cases of large dogs (not just pitbulls) suddenly turning on owners. I'm sure loads of other dogs do it too - but they can't inflict the same injury.

Now I'd be happy to cuddle your dog and I'm sure it's gorgeous. Big powerful dogs seem to have this amazing capacity for sweetness. But I'd never own a large, powerful breed again.

Edit - I just checked out the ASPCA link posted by Jessa above, I think it has excellent information about the breed.

Answer 6

I just received a pit bull puppy today (12/22/2007), 6 mos, about 45 lbs and was afraid to touch her just due to all of the bad things I have heard about pits. I love her size, I lover her color, maybe brindle and I love her big beautiful hazel eyes. The one thing I can say is they are not a danger. My husband pulled this big 45 lb puppy out of the car and into our back greenhouse (not outside; it is connected to our house) and she whined the whole way because she was scared, but too big to pick up. I don't know too many pups or dogs who are ferocious and wanting to taste your blood yet whining when they are being made to do something. Wouldn't they just bite like so many say they are known to do? I now know that once people imprint something on your mind, in this case:"ALL PIT BULLS ARE BAD EVEN TWO WEEK OLD PUPPIES! EUTHANIZE, EUTHANIZE.." and what they really mean is "KILL!!", it sticks because I was scared of the animal I have three different breeds of. I am determined to love her and trust her and raise her no matter what!!! I hope that even if this isn't best answer that it encourages someone else to do the same and love the big, gentle giants.

Answer 7

A Pit who has a loving owner that takes the time and effort to train and socialize their dog is a great and obedient friend.

A Pit who's owned by someone who just wants a "mean looking" dog and keeps him/her on a chain in the yard 24/7 can be a danger, but not always.

It's how the owners treat the dog.

Answer 8

Pit bulls are great dogs and I don't care what anyone says.. It is up to owners to raise their dogs to behave in society. The dogs don't have a choice, owners do. I think that jesse is full of it and I don't care about any of those sites. the media gets so out of hand with these dogs and half of dog attacks if not more are mixed breeds. If someone See's a dog attacking another without even knowing they say it's a pit bull....give me a break. All the people that feel this way are just prejudice, don't have mind of their owns, and just listen to the rest of media brain washed people. People should do all the research on pros and cons of pit bulls and the pros always over rule the cons.

Answer 9

I think that by them being owned by some of the most irresponsible people on the planet, they are becoming a danger to society.
If we could keep them out of the hands of the "wrong" owners, we would all be fine.

Answer 10

Ok, so you just got a pit bull and discovered they're not the monster they've been made out to be. That's understandable. But why ask a question, to which you already know the answer?

To answer your question, it's exactly the opposite. Pit bulls are in danger, not people. How many pit bulls were killed this year? Thousands.