Why Pitbull's have a bad reputation

[Shaykeija]

Tonight took HRH Missie the poo, Miss Tyra and Sir Quincy (AKA Sneakers) out for their 11 pm pee. We are walking up the street and I see this dog. So I told Gaston, that is a muscled up pit. The guy starts yelling at us to hold on to our dogs because his would eat mine. WTF? Mine were leashed and walking beside us. This dog was untrained and was fighting his leash. He was on his back legs and was growling. No muzzle. SON OF A @ITCH. I got between Gaston and the little ones because if that dog was gonna go for them, it would have had to get by me. And I am a lot bigger that that damn dog. I told Gaston I am going to report him to the by law officer. This is one dog that has a stupid owner and is an accident waiting to happen. I feel sorry for the dog, but if It would have attacked, it would have been killed. I like pitbulls, I have met a lot of them, but this one was scary. I told Gaston, after tonight I will be carrying a baseball bat when I take them out. Stupid owners give pitbulls a bad reputation.

[meg4050]

I completely agree I've owned one of the most wonderful pitties in the world but I've also encountered one or two that scared me.

My brother had a friend who got a pit cross just after we got morgan and the difference between the two was like night and day. He put no effort into training the dog and encouraged him to be intimidating. He got along fine with Morgan but we eventually had to ban him from the house after he attacked Barkley multiple times and tore a hole in our cat's ear.

Some people...

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by Shaykeija

Stupid owners give pitbulls a bad reputation.

Very well said !!!!

[ancientgirl]

I wish pit's would stop being the "testosterone" breed as I call them, since the reason most men want them and don't train them is so they can show off their "tough" dog.

What that guy said to you proved he only had that dog just to look like a tough guy. "Oh my dog can eat yours." They just don't get it!

Unfortunately, the day pits stop being the breed everyone likes to hate, it will just be another breed that takes it's place.:sad:

[Hogansma]

Ohhhh ... how sad. I absolutely adore pits! But, unfortunately there are some very bad pit owners out there. The pits at the shelter where I volunteer, are my absolute favorites!!!! They often come in neglected or abused, thin, the females with nipples hanging to their knees from being repeatedly bred but almost all of them have lovely dispositions. I don't know how some can ever trust humans again, but they do. Hopefully the guy you met will get some training for his dog.

[Lise]

People can make almost any big breed threatening by having no control.It doesn't matter if it's a pit,a rottweiler,a doberman,a shepherd or even a lab.A big dog lungeing at your dog is not a nice thing.It's all the owners/breeders,poor breeding,not suitable owners,no training and men who use dogs too make up for thier own shortcomings!!

[jealma]

I sooooo agree. My neice and her boyfriend own two lovely black labs. My son owns a black lab too. His dog is well trainned, doesn't jump on you and does as she is told. My neice on the other hand, gets walked by her dogs, they do not heal, when you arrive at their house they jump up on you,, they even let them jump on the car door, and that sent my husband into a complete fit. Their dogs are so misbehaved that when you sit on the couch their dogs will littlerly take over the couch. Love my neice, but my hubby says we are not going back there again. He can't handle the way the dogs are. Don't get him wrong, he loves dogs. My son has 2 large dogs, my daughter has a large dog and a small one, and my other daughter has a cat and a prairie dog. We have ABBY. but you get a dog that size who is not trainned,(even small ones need to be trainned), no one (even dog lovers) don't enjoy their company. And it doesn't have to be a pit either

[Inverness]

This has nothing to do with the breed of the dog. It's just an ill-trained, perhaps dog aggressive dog. By titling your post "Why pitbulls have a bad reputation", you do just like reporters do when they report a "pitbull attack". It's breed profiling.

Would you have titled your post "Why Jack Russell Terriers have a bad reputation" or "Why Miniature Schnauzers have a bad reputation" ? I've seen many of them do just what you describe...

[Shaykeija]

My point was or is that stupid people who own untrained pits (or any dog) are the reason these breed specific have that bad reputation. I do like pits so do not group me with the media. This dog actually scared the crap out of me because it was so vicious. It was snarling and growling and the moron who owned it thought it was funny. He was not only endangering my little canine family but his own dogs life. An aggressive dog, which by law now has to be muzzled, out without one on. If this would have been any other breed I would have titled it the same way. Even if it would have been a Jack Russel, Shih Zhu or Chi.

[MissDorsie]

Originally Posted by Shaykeija

My point was or is that stupid people who own untrained pits (or any dog) are the reason these breed specific have that bad reputation. I do like pits so do not group me with the media. This dog actually scared the crap out of me because it was so vicious. It was snarling and growling and the moron who owned it thought it was funny. He was not only endangering my little canine family but his own dogs life. An aggressive dog, which by law now has to be muzzled, out without one on. If this would have been any other breed I would have titled it the same way. Even if it would have been a Jack Russel, Shih Zhu or Chi.

I know what you mean. I used to have a neighbor who bought a pit bull as a pup and when the dog got older they were very irresponsible, rude and inconsiderate! They would chain it to their front porch and leave it there from early in the morning to real late at night. Sometimes it would get loose and terrorize the whole trailer court cause it would charge at people and eat other dogs and cats. One time she turned it loose on a cop and he shot it in the foot. Then they put up a pen right beside my bedroom window and would leave the dog in it all night barking which kept us awake. After a long 3 year battle with the cops, animal control, and the landlord, she finally got evicted.
I hate to see anyone loose their home, but....enough is enough!

[shane 123]

I see owners being blamed for a pits behavior almost everytime there's a problem with that breed. Up until a few years ago I bought into that farce myself. But after talking with several vets and hearing that pits will never change because their wiring was all wrong I'm not so sure the owners are to blame. I'm not saying that there aren't bad owners out there, but there are bad owners with every breed. Some vets will refuse to take pits as clients for their own safety and the safety of their staff and other clients and their dogs.
Maybe this owner was as afraid of what his dog would do just as much as you, therefore all he could do was try and warn you.
Just looking at a pit sends shivers down my spine now. If vets find they are not right in their minds, there must be something to all these attacks, not just bad owners.
It's a hard call. In Ontario, I heard they were banned. Something about exempting the ones already here, but they have to be muzzled.

[ancientgirl]

Shane, I'm sorry to disagree with you. I had a pit in high school, and a more gentle dog I've never met. To say any animal is "wired" to be ferocious just doesn't fly with me.

You can train a poodle to be ferocious if that's all you train it to be. Where I live one of my neighbors has a small Scottish terrier. That little dog lunges at everyone and barks from the time they let it out of the apartment, to when they are walking him to when it's on the elevator to when they finally go back to their apartment. If that woman let that dog off it's leash he's attack me with no problem. Yet I have another neighbor with a very big and beautiful Boxer. Guess what the boxer does when she sees me, she lunges at me, yeah but to lick my face off. She's the friendliest dog! I adore her. The difference here isn't just the breed, it's the owner. The Scotty owner doesn't have her dog socialized or trained, whereas the boxer's owner has her dog trained and socialized.

Grouping pit bulls into a category of bad dogs just because of the "wiring" is the problem with all of these states here in the US and provinces in Canada wanting to ban them.

[Reality]

I'm can't be in the middle on this one. A woman in our area had her pit bull attack and kill her granddaughter. So up to that day, there was never a problem with their sweet wonderful family dog. There was no bad owner, there was no tormenting by the child of the dog. The dog just lost it and now they have paid a price beyond anything anyone would want to pay. I agree with Shane, how can this all be bad owners. I love dogs, love most animals, but I would not allow a pit bull in my home and I would never take my grandchildren where there is one no matter how sweet and wonderful and tame you tell me your pit bull is.

[Hogansma]

On the other hand, there was a lab at a local dog park that picked a fight with a gentle, well behaved, well trained pit bull. The pit bull got the worst of it just because she didn't want to fight back, only defended herself a bit. She's the one that ended up at the vets for stitches, not the lab.

Now what has happened? People want to ban the pit and her owner from attending the park (not the lab, though). Hmmmmm What is wrong with this picture?

[ancientgirl]

Are you kidding? Did they not see the attack and who instigated it?

[pitgrrl]

Originally Posted by shane 123

I see owners being blamed for a pits behavior almost everytime there's a problem with that breed. Up until a few years ago I bought into that farce myself. But after talking with several vets and hearing that pits will never change because their wiring was all wrong I'm not so sure the owners are to blame. I'm not saying that there aren't bad owners out there, but there are bad owners with every breed. Some vets will refuse to take pits as clients for their own safety and the safety of their staff and other clients and their dogs.
Maybe this owner was as afraid of what his dog would do just as much as you, therefore all he could do was try and warn you.
Just looking at a pit sends shivers down my spine now. If vets find they are not right in their minds, there must be something to all these attacks, not just bad owners.
It's a hard call. In Ontario, I heard they were banned. Something about exempting the ones already here, but they have to be muzzled.

Funny that, since I don't recall any North American veterinary associations being in favor of any type of breed specific legislation? Seems like it might just be individual vets lacking experience with the breed and buying into the hype

On a more personal note, my own vet often uses my two as examples for other patients of dogs who will allow her to do anything she wants without any complaint or bad behavior what so ever.

The point here, I think, is that when any other individual dog does something we look at the specifics of the situation. When it's a "pit bull" (and often it isn't even) everyone says 'oh, see, the breed really is dangerous', ignoring the thousands upon thousands of APBT, that live out their years as family pet without incident or the therapy dogs, search and rescue dogs, service dogs etc. who are APBT and mixes thereof.

[katherine93]

JUst down the road from me is a pitbull..Was totally outta control and Untamed. It wasnt the dogs fault, The dog had ALOT of potential accually. The owners thought getting a pit would be cool.especailly if it could Scare people off when it saw them. Anyway back to the point. When they first moved in the son (whos about my age) Decided to show off to me and tryed to impress me with his big powerful dog that could tear me apart(yea as if that would impress any girl) Anyway. I told him i also had a dog he told me i shouldnt walk my dog anymore because it may get hurt. So i decided to "Show off" A little for him.. I went up and i hooked on the whole gang.. My german shepherd matrix, Casey my shepherd lab mix, my brthers st.bernard, my sis's rottie and my dads boxer (R.I.P little buddy) . My dads dog Would growl on command (Not to hurt anybody just as a cute trick, but was very beleivable) The pitbull turned out to be a little wimp, he tryed to get at them at first but when my dads dog growed he curled up behind his owner. i didnt laugh did I! Tough dog my Butt! haha Any way.. The dog did get training after this(only because of various complaints to the authorities) And is really a nice sweet natured animal.


Its definatly not the breed ..Its the owners...In my opinion pitbulls only have a bad rep because of dog fighting.. The dogs are trained to rip apart other dogs and people automatically assume that they are dangerous, As many of you have already pointed out, i could get a poodle trained to rip apart ANY other dog, The thing is they don't Look the part, where as pitbulls have the muscular body frame That makes them look strong. Am i wrong?

[wdawson]

alot of places we go for walks we see all kinds of out of control dogs.....AND ITS NEVER ROTTIES , PITS OR ANY OF THE LARGER BREEDS.....enough with the anti pit rant already.

[katherine93]

Originally Posted by wdawson

alot of places we go for walks we see all kinds of out of control dogs.....AND ITS NEVER ROTTIES , PITS OR ANY OF THE LARGER BREEDS.....enough with the anti pit rant already.

Nobody that has replyed to this has come off as anti pit.. Except for one but who ever that is, is expressing their own opinion, just because you may not agree with someones opinion doesnt mean they are 100% wrong, i though these forums were here so you could get help with your animals and express your opinions on everything from animals to books.

[pitgrrl]

Originally Posted by katherine93

Nobody that has replyed to this has come off as anti pit.. Except for one but who ever that is, is expressing their own opinion, just because you may not agree with someones opinion doesnt mean they are 100% wrong, i though these forums were here so you could get help with your animals and express your opinions on everything from animals to books.

The issue though is that it's not just an opinion in the vein of 'I don't like X breed'. That would be totally reasonable, there are lots of breeds I wouldn't own because they're just not my type of dog. What kind of response might I get if I said huskies send a shiver down my spine and I refuse to allow my dogs into any area where a husky might be present? How about if I said a Poodles were so unpredictable that it was reasonable to refuse them basic vet care? Actually, I have some scars on the leg from a Pug, perhaps they shouldn't be allowed near children?

Reality and shane 123 are specifically saying that the entire breed are dangerous and can't be trusted, that they just "snap". This is actively forwarding totally inaccurate information about an entire breed of dog, not simply expressing that personally you wouldn't want to have one as a pet.

[wdawson]

why don't people post about the positive meetings that they have

[katherine93]

Reality knows somebody that has had a terrible experiance with one though, You cant tell me that if a huskie or a poodle attacked somebody close to you , you wouldnt Show a little Fear or resentment towards that particular breed. Being afraid of a dog or a certain breed of dog is a phobia(if thats how you spell it :S)

[ancientgirl]

Yes, you would feel fear and resentment, but grouping that particular breed into some notion the entire breed is vicious doesn't make sense, especially if there is evidence that dogs of other breeds attack just as much.

[wdawson]

Originally Posted by katherine93

Reality knows somebody that has had a terrible experiance with one though, You cant tell me that if a huskie or a poodle attacked somebody close to you , you wouldnt Show a little Fear or resentment towards that particular breed. Being afraid of a dog or a certain breed of dog is a phobia(if thats how you spell it :S)

never.....i have a scar on my leg that i got from a small terrier when i was 6yrs old.....i have owned a terrier mix a lab mix and i now have a beagle,pitx and a jack.....the only phobia i have is of bad owners ....not the breed

[pitgrrl]

Originally Posted by katherine93

Reality knows somebody that has had a terrible experiance with one though, You cant tell me that if a huskie or a poodle attacked somebody close to you , you wouldnt Show a little Fear or resentment towards that particular breed. Being afraid of a dog or a certain breed of dog is a phobia(if thats how you spell it :S)

Like I mentioned above, I have marks on my leg from a Pug who repeatedly attacked my leg. I still like Pugs though.

The one and only fight my big (45lb), scary, unpredictable pit bull X was ever in was with a Malamute who jumped on him and a 10lb little terrier totally unprovoked. He left Streets with a huge gash, bit his owner quite badly in the shoulder and didn't have a scratch on him, but guess what, I'm not running away every time I see a Malamute headed my way.

If one chooses to actually look at the situation critically, find out a little about the breed and make a tiny bit of effort to gain some personal experience instead of buying into hysterical, distorted hype they likely would not walk away making broad generalizations.

[growler~GateKeeper]

Originally Posted by katherine93

You cant tell me that if a huskie or a poodle attacked somebody close to you , you wouldnt Show a little Fear or resentment towards that particular breed. Being afraid of a dog or a certain breed of dog is a phobia(if thats how you spell it :S)

A few years ago I was walking my DalxLab when a neighbours Rottie came from across the street & attacked us both, whose owner is completely useless. I got the worst of the Rotties teeth because I stepped into the middle to protect my dog who was only defending himself & me - not attacking back. Believe me when I say it was a scary sitiuation resulting in a vet visit for my dog and a trip to the ER for me, I still have 2 visible scars on my arm & one faded one, this has not changed my perception of Rotties at all. Just 2 years ago I met 2 different Rotties in my neighbourhood whom upon meeting & greeting at eye level I gave them both hugs, both dogs are absolute sweeties. Plus one of my cousins had the most gentle loving giant Rottie one could ever meet.

[Shaykeija]

Well, I still like pits. I went and played with my friends furbaby and I still say, Pits give the bestest kisses....

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by Reality

I'm can't be in the middle on this one. A woman in our area had her pit bull attack and kill her granddaughter. So up to that day, there was never a problem with their sweet wonderful family dog. There was no bad owner, there was no tormenting by the child of the dog. The dog just lost it and now they have paid a price beyond anything anyone would want to pay.

I remember that story in the news, reality, very sad incident.

[Hogansma]

I totally agree with Shaykeija that pitties give the best kisses. I volunteered at the shelter today and walked one pit and then played in the yard with 2 tiny pit puppies. (small but built like bricks) I really needed a bath when I got home from all the wonderful pittie kisses.

[MissDorsie]

No matter what breed of dog anyone owns, my local dog catcher once told me that most dogs tend to take on their owners attitudes. To me that's pretty scary cause I know a few dog owners with really bad attitudes!