pit bull children....

[thedude]

.
My personal least favorite was a Newfoundland that tried to have his way with me. While walking him he jumped on my shoulders with his little red rocket set to blast off.

eww ew ew ew ew ewwww ew ew ewwww

 

[DMTWI]

Since it is the Holiday season:

 

[arachnofein909]

i think its all on the owner and how the pit bull is raised.

 

[matthias]

The TRUE nature of Pit Bulls

 

[Mina]

I worked in a combination vet office and kennel for 3 years. I did everything from bathe dogs to trim nails to restrain them for shots. The man who ran the kennel section had 3 dogs of his own, one pit bull and two American Staffordshire terriers. The first time I met the pit bull, Spike, he came running to me, dove in between my legs and stood there, wagging his tail and his body from side to side while giving me a look as if he expected me to do something. (turns out that was what he did when he wanted someone to scratch his butt) I complied. As a part of my job I took care of him and the two Am. Staffs. Never a problem in 3 years. I did indeed get bitten, it was in the vets office, during a routine exam and puppy shots. I almost had my hand ripped off by a 6 week old pomerainian puppy. Give me a pit bull or an Am. staff any day.
(By the way, isn't my baby cute? See above picture)

 

[RoachGirlRen]

I actually don't know anyone in a vet office or shelter that I've been to yet who HAS been bitten by a pit or amstaff, come to think of it. The vet office I worked in took animals from animal control for their initial assessment, esp. in cruelty cases. And the shelter I worked at was in an inner city area - plenty of pit bulls. We had in dogs who had CLEARLY been used in dog fighting, who had lived on the streets... others who cowered in terror at our presence, others still who came in emaciated and parasite ridden. Though some of them were not compatible with other dogs or small animals, I never had one bite. One pit who had been beaten until her front leg was broken and she was blind in one eye would show her teeth... in a submissive fear grin before rolling onto her belly, urinating, and whimpering.
On the other hand, we've had dogs in at the vet's who didn't even come in from an abusive situation who would bite horribly. One woman had to bring her chow in sedated and muzzled for grooming and check-ups, and restrain him herself, because he was so vicious to anyone who was not her (a common trait in protective breeds, though this was an extreme case). Our worst/most dangerous patients were normally cocker spaniels. At the shelter, I was bitten twice - once my a keeshond (enough to scar my leg up pretty badly), and one by a cocker spaniel (mild as I was wearing boots). The two serious attacks of volunteers we had involved a chow mix, and a dalmatian mix. The dalmatian, who hadn't shown any prior signs of aggression, nearly wrenched the man's bottom jaw off. And the chow attacked the woman walking him, ripping up her face and neck. Neither of these attacks even made the local news, but I bet if sweet Clarence the fighting pit bull, who gently carried a little stuffed animal in his mouth everywhere he went, it would have been on the NATIONAL news.

 

[pitbulllady]

I actually don't know anyone in a vet office or shelter that I've been to yet who HAS been bitten by a pit or amstaff, come to think of it. The vet office I worked in took animals from animal control for their initial assessment, esp. in cruelty cases. And the shelter I worked at was in an inner city area - plenty of pit bulls. We had in dogs who had CLEARLY been used in dog fighting, who had lived on the streets... others who cowered in terror at our presence, others still who came in emaciated and parasite ridden. Though some of them were not compatible with other dogs or small animals, I never had one bite. One pit who had been beaten until her front leg was broken and she was blind in one eye would show her teeth... in a submissive fear grin before rolling onto her belly, urinating, and whimpering.
On the other hand, we've had dogs in at the vet's who didn't even come in from an abusive situation who would bite horribly. One woman had to bring her chow in sedated and muzzled for grooming and check-ups, and restrain him herself, because he was so vicious to anyone who was not her (a common trait in protective breeds, though this was an extreme case). Our worst/most dangerous patients were normally cocker spaniels. At the shelter, I was bitten twice - once my a keeshond (enough to scar my leg up pretty badly), and one by a cocker spaniel (mild as I was wearing boots). The two serious attacks of volunteers we had involved a chow mix, and a dalmatian mix. The dalmatian, who hadn't shown any prior signs of aggression, nearly wrenched the man's bottom jaw off. And the chow attacked the woman walking him, ripping up her face and neck. Neither of these attacks even made the local news, but I bet if sweet Clarence the fighting pit bull, who gently carried a little stuffed animal in his mouth everywhere he went, it would have been on the NATIONAL news.

That pretty much explains why "pit bulls" SEEM to be involved in a hugely disproportionate number of bites and attacks-first, serious bites and attacks, even lethal ones, on humans by other types of dogs simply aren't reported in the news, or if they are, they're stuck somewhere in the back of some small-town paper, and second, dogs that AREN'T American Pit Bull Terriers are labeled "pit bulls" whenever the person reporting can get by with it. I'm really surprised that the Dalmatian mix you mentioned didn't automatically gain newfound "pit bull" status after attacking that man, but I guess it looked too much like a Dal to convince anyone otherwise. Pretty much ANY stray or free-roaming dog that bites, goes after another animal, or does anything that can be construed as menacing or threatening, though, is going to be called a "pit bull" by SOMEBODY, no matter what it actually looks like.

pitbulllad

 

[skinheaddave]

I love these quizes:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

There are a few of them out there, but all basically follow the same idea.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[DMTWI]

I love these quizes:
http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

There are a few of them out there, but all basically follow the same idea.

Cheers,
Dave

Ya, we did something like that at the last dog fair we attended with our dog Buster, (photo in thread with santa) and got some interesting responses. In the ring was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull Terrier w/uncropped ears, American Staffordshire Terrier (that's Buster), an Argentine Dogo, Bull Terrier and a couple other non-bully breeds. The question to the crowd was, point out the pit bull. Answers were all over the board, the Dogo was picked as the pit bull many times. Only a couple people could pick out the true APBT, but of course most of the dogs in the ring could be tagged as 'pit-bull' types of dogs. It was a fun demo to do though, people really seemed to like seeing the different dogs together in the same ring. Fun times....

 

[Okitasoshi]

Here's me and my Akita doggy, I know it's not a pit bull but they get the same bad rep. There's is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners, just something to think about.

 

[ballpython2]

So is this true or is it false? .. I have heard something all my life that goes something like " a dog may/will attack you if it senses fear in you"..is this a true statement? ..nothin really happened recently for me to ask this question its just something i thought was true my whole life but dont know if it actually is..

 

[pitbulllady]

So is this true or is it false? .. I have heard something all my life that goes something like " a dog may/will attack you if it senses fear in you"..is this a true statement? ..nothin really happened recently for me to ask this question its just something i thought was true my whole life but dont know if it actually is..

Dogs ARE more likely to bite if they sense fear. Dogs are very in-tune with human body language and emotions, far more than we are of theirs. It's like Mr. Milan(aka "the Dog Whisperer")says: negative energy in the human creates negative energy in the dog. I believe this to also be true of horses and many other social domesticated animals, but more of dogs, since dogs are social climbers as well. If you're afraid, you're NOT a leader, so therefore SOMEBODY has to be, and many dogs are all too willing to step up if they sense weakness on your part. If you've ever watched how one dog or wolf asserts its dominance over another, this almost always, at some point, involves biting. It's possible too, that dogs associate fear in a human with something abnormal. In spite of news reports, ALL dogs, including APBT's, give ample warning that they are going to bite, often weeks before an incidence takes place. It's just that humans nowadays are often so pathetically ignorant of dog behavior, that they don't recognize those tell-tale signs of a dog asserting its dominance, until they mess up and the dog "corrects" them. Most attacks by dogs on children are either related to dominance issues, or the dog's prey drive being triggered, often by the child running and screaming, and could be prevented by simply doing what MY parents, and most parents in my childhood era, did-teach their KIDS how to act around dogs! Since dogs have become so anthropomorphized now, most people simply view them as four-legged humans, and expect them to uphold OUR moral and ethical values, and assume that dogs are capable of "free will" and making behavioral decisions based on human society's concepts of right vs. wrong, good vs. bad. This is probably more true of the "pit bull" breeds than any other, since most news reports would have us to believe that these dogs actually sit around pre-meditating their next attack.

pitbulllady

 

[RoachGirlRen]

Pitbulllady, marry me. We can raise puppies together. :worship:
I agree 1000% on the anthropomorphism thing. I've worked with animals - often dangerous animals - my whole life, and I've only gotten hurt once because I don't try to make them into little people. I treat them like animals: with respect, caution, and alertness. I assert myself when appropriate, and when it's inappropriate, submit before I get hurt (ie. mama emus. Don't assert yourself to mama emus. rofl). And I know the tell-tale signs of when an animal is about to lash out. More people need to be aware of the fact that a dog, even a well trained dog, is still an animal in every way, and will ALWAYS have the potential to harm you if you aren't respecting it as the animal it is. Part of that respect is being educated on behavior so you can act and react appropriately. (And, aw. I love Ceasar. He did a great presentation on canine behavior at the Bronx Zoo while I was there once).

 

[ballpython2]

Dogs ARE more likely to bite if they sense fear. Dogs are very in-tune with human body language and emotions, far more than we are of theirs. It's like Mr. Milan(aka "the Dog Whisperer")says: negative energy in the human creates negative energy in the dog. I believe this to also be true of horses and many other social domesticated animals, but more of dogs, since dogs are social climbers as well. If you're afraid, you're NOT a leader, so therefore SOMEBODY has to be, and many dogs are all too willing to step up if they sense weakness on your part. If you've ever watched how one dog or wolf asserts its dominance over another, this almost always, at some point, involves biting. It's possible too, that dogs associate fear in a human with something abnormal. In spite of news reports, ALL dogs, including APBT's, give ample warning that they are going to bite, often weeks before an incidence takes place. It's just that humans nowadays are often so pathetically ignorant of dog behavior, that they don't recognize those tell-tale signs of a dog asserting its dominance, until they mess up and the dog "corrects" them. Most attacks by dogs on children are either related to dominance issues, or the dog's prey drive being triggered, often by the child running and screaming, and could be prevented by simply doing what MY parents, and most parents in my childhood era, did-teach their KIDS how to act around dogs! Since dogs have become so anthropomorphized now, most people simply view them as four-legged humans, and expect them to uphold OUR moral and ethical values, and assume that dogs are capable of "free will" and making behavioral decisions based on human society's concepts of right vs. wrong, good vs. bad. This is probably more true of the "pit bull" breeds than any other, since most news reports would have us to believe that these dogs actually sit around pre-meditating their next attack.

pitbulllady

Thanks I love reading ACCURATE information lol...You can never read too much of the correct information. I remember when i was younger and my older cousin had a rottie and at first i'd never want to be around her cause i was kinda scared of him. Then after she told me not to act scared around him and that he's fine and he won't bite me if he knew i wasnt scared. he'd turn into a big baby. and thats exactly what he did after he realized Iwasnt scared of him he'd just leave me alone. and he is actually a great dog . Rotties if trained correctly are great dogs and family dogs. His name was niger. But I think if I ever got a rottie I'd want a female more than a male because my cousin brought niger for her and niger's sister for her mother. and when i seen them as adults the size difference is crazy. and I was able to more handle his sister than him. but I loved them both so much.

 

[fartkowski]

I agree that pitbulls get a bad rap.
A few years ago my wife was leaving the gym and found a pitbull walking around in the parking lot. It almost got hit by a few cars. She looked around to see if anybody was looking for it. It just came up to her and sat down. When she opened the car door the dog jumped right in. So she figured, ok I guess your coming with me. This guy was huge. So she brought it home so it wouldn't get out to the busy road. I was a bit hesitant to be around it. We found a website address on it's collar and found the owner with the serial number. While we were waiting for the owner to come pick it up, this guy was sooo well behaved. Everytime I tried to put my hand in my pocket it would push it out with it's nose. Maybe It thought I had treats. We were playing with it, chasing it. One of the most friendly dogs I've seen. We were surprised to find out that this was a guard dog for a factory that was around the gym. Someone left the gate open.

 

[fartkowski]

Sorry my mistake. it was a Rottweiler not a pitbull.
My wife corrected me. Said it was a VERY large Rottweiler.

 

[cabal]

My sister comes over to my house with her 4 year old daughter I have no problem at with my Pit playing and running around my house with my niece. I never watch them nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The one I have to watch is the Spawn of SATAN Chihuahua. That little rat dog has snapped at my niece, my mother, my sister and anybody else that comes into my home. I have owned 4 Pit Bulls and not once have I had a problem with any of them. It is all on how you raise the dog and I will defend the breed until the day I die. If you raise a Pit Bull like any other dog you will have one of the best dogs you can ever ask for. Now I am off to the Vet I think my wife and I might have to put our Queensland Heeler down today. We think he had a stroke last night and he is not doing to good.
Jeff

 

[Lorgakor]

Dogs ARE more likely to bite if they sense fear. Dogs are very in-tune with human body language and emotions, far more than we are of theirs. It's like Mr. Milan(aka "the Dog Whisperer")says: negative energy in the human creates negative energy in the dog. I believe this to also be true of horses and many other social domesticated animals, but more of dogs, since dogs are social climbers as well. If you're afraid, you're NOT a leader, so therefore SOMEBODY has to be, and many dogs are all too willing to step up if they sense weakness on your part. If you've ever watched how one dog or wolf asserts its dominance over another, this almost always, at some point, involves biting. It's possible too, that dogs associate fear in a human with something abnormal. In spite of news reports, ALL dogs, including APBT's, give ample warning that they are going to bite, often weeks before an incidence takes place. It's just that humans nowadays are often so pathetically ignorant of dog behavior, that they don't recognize those tell-tale signs of a dog asserting its dominance, until they mess up and the dog "corrects" them. Most attacks by dogs on children are either related to dominance issues, or the dog's prey drive being triggered, often by the child running and screaming, and could be prevented by simply doing what MY parents, and most parents in my childhood era, did-teach their KIDS how to act around dogs! Since dogs have become so anthropomorphized now, most people simply view them as four-legged humans, and expect them to uphold OUR moral and ethical values, and assume that dogs are capable of "free will" and making behavioral decisions based on human society's concepts of right vs. wrong, good vs. bad. This is probably more true of the "pit bull" breeds than any other, since most news reports would have us to believe that these dogs actually sit around pre-meditating their next attack.

pitbulllady

I would love to hear what those signs are, I haven't had a dog for a long time, and the last one I had was a Black Lab who never bit anyone, so it would be cool to know what the signs are.

My husband has a friend who has a big female Akita, this is one scary dog. She growls at everyone that comes over, even after she has been introduced to them, even if they have come over many, many times. I was petting her, and even though she came to me to be pet, she still growled at me the whole time. She would come up to me, sit nicely for a little while and then start growling. Apparently she has never bitten anyone, but this seems like very strange behaviour to me, they don't even correct her when she does it. She only stopped growling at my husband when he dominated her completely by grabbing her in a headlock and not letting her go until she submitted to him. Now she loves him to death and never growls at him. Is that normal Akita behaviour? I don't want to go over there again, it's intimidating as hell! One woman said it took a year of her going there (not everyday or anything, more sporadic visits) before she stopped growling at her. I noticed she growls more if you make eye contact.

It's funny, because they also have a pitbull cross who is as sweet as pie lol!

 

[cabal]

Here's a pic of my old girl sunning her self. Taarna is 11 years old and still acts like a little puppy. She's 100% Pure American Pit Bull Terrier and registered with the A.D.B.A. We are not going to have to put our Queensland Heeler down

[/IMG]

 

[pitbulllady]

I would love to hear what those signs are, I haven't had a dog for a long time, and the last one I had was a Black Lab who never bit anyone, so it would be cool to know what the signs are.

My husband has a friend who has a big female Akita, this is one scary dog. She growls at everyone that comes over, even after she has been introduced to them, even if they have come over many, many times. I was petting her, and even though she came to me to be pet, she still growled at me the whole time. She would come up to me, sit nicely for a little while and then start growling. Apparently she has never bitten anyone, but this seems like very strange behaviour to me, they don't even correct her when she does it. She only stopped growling at my husband when he dominated her completely by grabbing her in a headlock and not letting her go until she submitted to him. Now she loves him to death and never growls at him. Is that normal Akita behaviour? I don't want to go over there again, it's intimidating as hell! One woman said it took a year of her going there (not everyday or anything, more sporadic visits) before she stopped growling at her. I noticed she growls more if you make eye contact.

It's funny, because they also have a pitbull cross who is as sweet as pie lol!

One of the signs is EXACTLY what you described in that Akita! She is asserting dominance by growling, though usually, Akitas don't growl and are masters of the "poker face" when it comes to aggression. The dog is challenging everyone; that's what the growl is all about, and that's why she now loves(i.e. RESPECTS) your husband after he forced her to submit...though if your husband can man-handle an Akita, I'd sure hate to see what he could do to a human in a brawl! Other signs that the dog is asserting dominance, and therefore becoming a threat, are assuming a rigid, stiff posture while interacting with people, staring you in the face with ears alert and forward and a stiffly-wagging, high tail carriage(yes, aggressive dogs wag their tails, something most people don't know), body-blocking you as you try to move from point A to point B, lying directly in your path and refusing to move, forcing you to go around them, claiming a piece of furniture as theirs, showing reluctance to move, becoming possessive of objects and increasingly agitated if someone touches that object or gets near it, refusal to obey commands, and insisting on sleeping in the bed with their owner. Most folks think that last one is cute, and would brush it off, along with many of the other behaviors, since they often start out very subtly, but in a pack situation, ONLY the pack leader occupies the prime sleeping spot. Allowing the dog to do this reinforces the dog's notion that it must be the pack leader, or at least second in command, and if there is more than one person in the household, that means SOMEBODY has to be ranked below the dog, and usually it's a child. All it takes is something simple, like kicking the dog's favorite toy out of the way or stepping over the dog as it lies stretched out occupying the floor to trigger a "correction", which with a human's fragile skin, usually means a trip to the ER and euthanasia for the dog, and another "he never showed aggression before" story for the newspapers.

I'll tell you another story of how dominant-aggression in dogs is often misinterpreted by humans, and it also involves an Akita. I adopted a nice-looking male Akita several years ago at the request of an Akita rescue organization, who'd been contacted by the dog's owners. They had to give him up due to their town passing a pet-limit law, and it was either him or their older dog that they'd had for 12 years. This male was of Japanese type, the type that I had, and was OFA'D Excellent. I paid the shipping to have him sent to me via Delta Airlines, all 120 pounds of him. The owners kept telling me what a sweet, loving dog he was, and how he had this habit of giving "hugs" to show his affection. As I soon found out, those "hugs"-the dog would stand up on his back legs(he was over six feet tall), wrap his forelegs tightly around your neck or shoulders, put his muzzle right up to your face with his ears stiffly carried up and his entire body tense, all the while staring hard right into your eyes-were in fact typical canine dominant threat postures. He was calling me out, literally, daring me to challenge him. Of course, the previous owners would respond to this "affectionate" gesture by cooing and petting him and telling him in baby-talk what a sweet boy he was, which to a dog, is mimicking submissive behavior, so they got to keep their faces. Had anyone who was not prepared for that, and didn't know what the dog was doing, done something like pushed the dog or yelled at him, he would have probably killed them there and then. This is why I was very happy that I had a good choke collar on him and was able to flip him over and let him wear himself down, like a hooked swordfish, but even though I eventually did establish dominance over this Akita, he was constantly on the lookout for his opportunity to regain his status, and for the rest of his life, was not an animal I felt could be totally trusted. We humans tend to think of hugs as gestures of affection, but in this dog, it was a threat that could have easily led to a disaster. Had it been recognized for what it was and nipped in the bud the first time he ever did it, this would have been a far more stable and safe dog, but he'd lived the first four years of his life having authority over the humans, so he wasn't willing to give that up so easily now.

pitbulllady