Pitts good or bad?

I am a dog lover but I am all out against pitbulls and dangerous breeds. They have been breed to kill, so it is in their instinct to kill. We hear so many often that young kids have ended up victim to a pitbull. I know that yours might be tame, calm and never will harm anybody. But I would not take a risk with young kids. A dog is an animal and you can't have 100% control over it.

I feel that pitt bull dogs can be great dogs if trained well and given a lot of love, but like any dog, they can turn bad if they are abused or if they are not loved enough. I, personally, would never have a pitt bull dog because I know that I could never give the dog what it needs. I have three cats at the moment, and I am doing the best that I can with the three of them, but it is not easy. Sometimes, I feel like I do not have enough time for them, and it kills me. Now, imagine that I had one pitt bull instead of three cats. The dog would turn into a monster because I would not be able to give it what it needs. People have to think of what is in the best interest of the dog first before their own needs or what they want at the time. Having a pitt bull is a long time, full time committment.

Hi there Lexus! I think that theya re really cute but I don't have any experience of having any pit bull as a pet but I looked it up and found this: http://www.realpitbull.com/center.html

Boy, oh boy, you mention "pit bull" and all kinds of ignorance comes out. (See ronaldinu's comment for a perfect example.) You know, if people knew the true origins of many of the dog breeds we have today, I'm sure many would be shocked. (Like, did you know the English Mastiff was originally bred to be a man hunter? Unlike the pit bull, Mastiffs were actually bred for their human aggression because nobles used them to protect their lands from poachers and trespassers.) Pit bulls were not bred to kill in general. They were bred for boar hunting, and animal games, like bull and bear baiting and dog fighting. In the times these breeds originated, they were highly prized and often lived with their owners as a family pet. But let's forget that for a second. They were bred for their ANIMAL aggression, NOT human aggression. Their handlers HAD to be able to get in and grab their dogs, often times in the midst of a fight, and not have to worry about being bitten or attacked in the process. ANY dog showing man aggressive tendencies were put down and not allowed to breed. Over the centuries, you ended up with breeds that had a high prey drive, which is needed for hunting and animal fighting, but NO human aggression. Anyone who knows anything about these breeds (and yes, there is more than one breed of dog that is classified as "pit bull"), knows these dogs are incredibly intelligent, extremely eager to please, and require a firm, yet fair, hand in handling. They MUST be trained. They must be raised in a manner that allows for them to use their intelligence and keeps them interested in their training, and the training must be consistent and fair. They are smart enough to pick up on subtle ques and owners must be aware of this. What we have happening today is our sense of entitlement, combined with our laziness, and in some cases, our vanity, ruining these breeds. The WORST owner of a pit bull is the one who has them simply because of how they look. Those people want the intimidation factor and those people usually think it's entertaining when their dogs show aggression. They'll rough house with them and not reprimand the dog when it gets out of hand and goes too far. This shows the dog that its aggression makes its owner happy and being eager to please and intelligent, they think more aggression equals more attention. The second worst owner are the lazy ones who get the dogs and don't train them because they either don't know how, or don't bother. Our sense of entitlement is what gets these dogs into the the biggest problems. We feel like we can own anything we want without doing the proper research. I can't tell you how many people go out and buy a dog or puppy without doing the proper research on whether or not that breed's overall temperament fits into that person's or family's lifestyle. All these things combined can, and have, lead to problems. The facts of the matter are simple. No one knows whether an attacking dog is a pit bull or a similar looking breed. "Pit Bull" is a generic term used to label three different, and registry recognized breeds. The American Staffordshire Terrier, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and the American Pit Bull Terrier. Each of these breeds have a wide variety of looks. The APBT, for example, is generally a bigger dog while the SBT is small and stocky. Breed specific legislation does not work. Often times it is unconstitutional because it vague. (Which it has to be because there is nothing written in stone on what a pit bull is, and often times what is written, encompasses many non targeted breeds.) When you take away one breed, you leave hundreds of others without legislation. Dangerous dog laws DO work. Once a dog has proven itself to be dangerous, dangerous dog laws work to protect the public from that dog. The best thing about dangerous dog laws is a safety net that catches EVERY dog that poses a threat to public safety. If you live in a place that bans pit bulls, it doesn't protect you from any other large breed of dog that is just as capable of being aggressive and doing as much damage as a pit bull. (Look up the Dogo or Fila for prime examples of what's to come. Pit bulls are NOTHING compared to those two breeds.) Pit bulls are also not, generally speaking, likely to attack for no reason. Their temperament is more stable than many of "family dog" breeds. There is an organization that temperament tested many breeds of dogs and the bully breeds scored over 80%, reliably, which puts them higher than some other family dogs, like the Sheltie, which scored a 67%. Cocker Spaniels scored 81%. Pit bull breeds didn't score the highest, but these tests prove they are far from the unpredictable killing machines some people would like to make them out to be. (APBT scored 84% with only 92 out of 586 failing the test. AST scored 83% with only 91 failing, and SBT scored 88% with 9 out of 80 failing.) See for yourself: http://www.atts.org/statistics.html Another interesting fact is that MOST people, including those involved with pit bulls, can not identify a pit bull when it's lined up with several other similar looking breeds. There's a great game on understand-a-bull's website called "find the pit bull". Go check it out.

Good day... I had pitbulls and they were lovable and if by chance I could have another I would. They were lovable creatures, possessive in their own ways but I loved them. Loyal, cute and adorable.

well, i am kind of torn on this subject. on the one hand, i own a pit bull (a dark brindle named Bruno) and he is a sweet dog who is very well trained and generally gentle. there have been instances though where he has shown aggression towards both people and dogs, but this is not to say that pitbulls are necesarily a dangerous breed. dogs are like people, there are no dangerous races, just dangerous individuals here and there. this can be due to bad breeding (for example, spaniel rage in springers and cockers), bad conditioning (abuse and neglect), or that the dog is born mentally unstable. but pit bulls are not considered to be very harmful to humans in comparison with dobermans, rottweilers and even labradors. the only advice i would give is that you be careful when getting any breed of large dog if you have a small child or baby, because accidents happen, and also to make sure you do not have a territorial dog already as pit bulls are feircly protective of what is theirs.

i never have a pitt bulls before as a dog... but i know that they had bad reputations for hurting and harming people... and i know that many of them are being put down because of that... i have a pomenarian dog before and she is very lovely... i agree with you that people are a bit afraid to keep pit bulls as their pets now and prefer to choose other breeds to be safer... take care and have a nice day...

I've worked with dogs for over 13 years- I see dogs of every breed or mix, from the massivly pampered to the owners who hand me the dogs leash and say "just keep him alive until I get back" (yes, I've heard that more than once). Now, in a boarding kennel, dogs aren't always at ease with the situation. Many are very scared- they have no idea what I'm going to do to them since they have no idea WHY they're in that situation and have no idea who I am. The facility that I work at does NOT have indoor/outdoor runs- we have to walk the dogs individually. So, this means that I have to get close to them, gain their trust, put a leash on them and take them for a walk. In 13 years, I've had to do that with many Pit Bulls. Wanna guess the number of times I've been bitten by a Pit Bull? Zero. Number of times bitten by a Rottweiler? Zero. Number of times bitten by a Cocker Spaniel, Chihuahua, or Toy Poodle? I gave up counting. Over the last few years, the biggest problem dogs we have had are "the wonderful family breeds"- Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. We had one Golden that we literally had to call the owners and demand they came and got him since we absolutly could not handle this dog... Now, as for the bad reputation of Pit Bulls... a couple of years back in a town near me two dogs went into an elderly womans home and killed her. All the local news reports stated it was two vicious Pit Bulls. When they found the dogs, they were German Shepherd/Siberian Husky mixes. It's pretty easy to tell a GSD/Husky mix from a Pit Bull, but that still didn't get that out of peoples heads.... sad. Yes, Pit Bulls have killed people. ANY dog breed can kill. People seem to forget the case a few years back where a POMERANIAN killed a child, yet you don't see Pomeranians on the breed ban list do you? In my city, there was even an entire block that did not get mail delivery because of an aggressive Chihuahua- it would sneak out and attack the mail carrier- the owners had to rehome the dog due to this. When people agree to ban breeds- they are setting the path for the elimination of ALL dogs, and it wont be long before they get to YOUR breed. Yes, they're starting with the "strong" dogs- Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canario's, etc., but as people continue to not monitor their pets and make sure they're not a threat to society, those breeds will get a bad name as well- and land themselves on ban lists. And for the record.. I am not a Pit Bull owner.

I will tell you a little story that happened when my son was only 8 yrs old. We lived out in the country, not a lot of neighbors, but our landlord lived right next door. They had a momma pit bull that had puppies, they got rid of all but 1 of the puppies and kept it. My son would play with it all the time, it would meet him at the school bus and they would play until I called him in the house. The one afternoon when my son stepped off the school bus the dag attacked him and it took the bus driver and the landlord both to get the dog off him. My son's leg was chewed up pretty bad and had over 27 stitches in it. There was no reason for the attack, and the owner put the dog down (they had small grandchildren. That was 30 years ago and my son still has the scars and really dislikes pit bulls. Oh, the dog and my son had played together for 2+ yrs before the attack.

I know many pit bulls and they are the biggest marshmallows I have ever met. What cuddly mush-pots, just like over-sized puppies!! You can make any dog into a vicious dog, believe me!! All it takes is treating in such a way that it causes them to be that way. Some dogs, of all types, are born that way, but that's rare. Statistics prove this. Pit bulls are just as sweet as any other loved dog.

I think they are good dogs like all dogs.The main reason dogs attack is because they were not trained properly.I always hear people say a certain breed is dangerous but is all in how they are raised and trained.I had a full blood rot that was the biggest baby in town,until night time when everybody was asleep then he went into guard mode and nobody got in the yard or house.Once it was day again he was nice and friendly.

I think as long as you raise them right they can be as loveable as any pet. I have a friend that raises and actively breeds them and I allow my young children to play with them with no fears of injury or otherwise.

pit bulls are allright but huskies and labradors are better pets because they are very entergetic