Want a pit bull? Do plenty of homework first

Albany, OR -- Would you have a pit bull in your home?

For many dog lovers, this question is becoming increasingly difficult to answer. Reports of dogs attacking humans often involve the American pit bull terrier, a strong breed originally bred for human companionship and later for fighting with other dogs. As the pit, which is also called an American Staffordshire terrier, has become more trendy as a guard or protection dog, it has been increasingly misbred for aggressive tendencies, rather than good temperament.

As a society, we've seen this happen before. Rottweilers, Dobermans and German shepherds have been labeled the "most dangerous breed" in past decades, mostly due to poor breeding and owners that value having a tough, aggressive dog over having a pet that can fit into the family and the community.

Some say the media reports of these attack cases involving pit bulls have been overly hyped, leading people to believe the entire breed is flawed because of a few bad apples. Indeed, pit bulls can be extremely loyal and loving companions.

Let's look at the good news: Pit bulls can be bred and raised to be wonderful dogs. Even dogs that are not well-bred can be good pets in the right household. Do you remember the case last year of former Trail Blazer Qyntel Woods owning and abusing fighting dogs? According to a KGW News report, the two dogs were placed with experienced dog owners — one in the Bend area and one in the Portland area — and have become good family members. The dog in Bend even lives with two cats and does very well.

Most professionals in the animal care field don't see pit bulls as being more aggressive toward humans than other breeds. In fact, a pit bull that has gone through strict temperament evaluations may be one of the best breeds for a family with small children, because they are sturdy dogs that tolerate a lot of handling, grabbing, and attention without reacting negatively.

But there's no question that some pit bulls, without good breeding or upbringing, or under certain circumstances, can be aggressive. These dogs attack other dogs, small animals and even humans. What can you do to lower the risk?

If you own a pit bull or a pit bull mix, recognize that these dogs can be more aggressive, especially to other pets. Take precautions to protect your neighbors and their pets, even if your dog has never misbehaved, by making sure your dog never leaves its fenced yard or kennel without a collar or harness and leash. You may never have an issue with your dog, but you cannot afford to take that risk.

Most attacks, such as one that happened recently in Lebanon, involve a pit bull escaping from the house and going after a smaller dog. In this case, the owner of the smaller dog saw the pit bull coming and protected his own dog with his body. He received bite wounds from the pit bull. The pit bull's owner never meant for him to get out of the house.

Also, it's extremely important that you get your pit bull spayed or neutered as soon as possible. Many veterinarians can perform the surgery on puppies, so there's no excuse whatever the age of your dog. Most dogs involved in attacks are not altered, as in the case of a 12-year-old boy in the San Francisco area killed earlier this month by the family's two pit bulls. Authorities speculate that because the female was in heat, the male dog may have been more aggressive.

As well, spaying and neutering prevents litters of unwanted puppies. If you think you are going to make money breeding pit bulls, it's not the truth. People who want pit bulls can find them easily in the newspaper's classified ads or at shelters. And if you don't know exactly what you're doing, you are likely to produce animals with poor health or temperament.

Are you thinking about getting a pit bull as a pet? Make absolutely sure you do your homework. Good places to start are www.realpitbull.com and www.pitbullsontheweb.com. These sites go into more depth on the good and bad aspects of pit bull ownership and whether the breed is right for you and your situation.

Look for an adult pit bull that has been temperament tested and aced those tests. Local humane societies have these dogs and staff there can tell you exactly what happens during the tests and how the dog performed. Pit bulls that show signs of aggression are not accepted for placement or are euthanized, depending on the shelter's policy, so you're going to find animals least likely to end up with behavior problems. And adults evaluated in this way are more stable than puppies, which may have aggressive tendencies that come to the forefront as the dog grows.

If you own or end up owning a pit bull that has ever exhibited aggressive tendencies, you have a very high responsibility to make sure that dog never comes into a situation that will trigger its aggression. If the dog reacts to other dogs or cats, fine; keep it away from those other animals. But if the dog has behaved aggressively to people, it's time to make a tough decision. Can you realistically keep your dog happy and everyone in your house safe? An unhappy dog that can no longer be allowed outside or on walks may become even more aggressive.

Sometimes, the decision to euthanize has to be made. While this is tragic, it may be necessary for the safety of other members of your family and your community. If more people gave this option thoughtful consideration, and made the hard choice when necessary, we would have fewer attacks from all dog breeds.

Jennifer Gardner can be reached at jennifer@visualpeople.com.

 

Thats overall a pretty good article, not much bias. Good post Marty.

 

I read this correctly the person writting this post is from GA. If I am correct where have the GA pit owners and breeders been in the Lanett AL. case. And for that matter where were they in the last set of hearings of hb 78? I am asking in case you have connections with the larger community. Thanks

 

I have a cat, a rabbit, and two other dogs and my APBT doesn't have any problem with that.. All of them even play together! Except for my rabbit because I just keep him in the backyard.. I believe that all animals are instinctively good and they wouldn't do anything offensive to someone or something unless they were trained or provoked to do that.. The problem is not our APBTs but those people who misunderstand the breed.. And those APBT owners who neglect or doesn't give a damn on giving the proper attention to their dogs..

 

Good article, Marty.

 

great article, pitbulls are like children they require a lot of attention. i get so sick of hearing the negective. people need to take responsiablity of their actions. in my area we have had 2 children killed by pitbulls but it was not the dogs fault but they got the blame. the parents let their children go to a neighbors yard and crawl in the kennel.

 

I'm sorry but this is a sitaution waiting to explode. You need to not be so naieve. Thinking ''If I raise him right he wont be aggressive to other dogs" is absurd and irresponsible. You can never trust a pitbull not to fight. Its what they've been bred for over a hundred years selectively before you got one and decided you could train it out of them. Some dogs will always be cold and never hurt another dog or animal, but you cant rely on your dog being cold just because you want him to be! Thats like trying to make humans not use their thumbs. We've evolved this way over hundreds and hundreds of years......we have relied on thumbs as a way to grasp objects, fashion tools, to live basically. APBT's have been bred the same way to fight and never quit. This isnt something your going to love out of them. It is possible to have non-aggressive APBT's from time to time, but 99 percent of the time they arent APBT's they are Amstaffs regardless of what the papers say. I really hope for your animals sake you wake up to the breed you own, chances are your going to come home to a bloody mess with bunny or dog hair all over. Its people like who you think they can love it out of a dog then when god-forbid your dog does what its life purpose is, you say "I dont know what happened, he just snapped, went crazy, I never seen any signs before, I guess pitbulls arent as nice as I thought!". Its not the dogs fault he did the one thing he loves to do, so dont even try to blame him when something happens.

 

Well goes to show, how naive in your part you are.
Amstaff and Pitbulls are the same Breed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey, 14rock, I agree with you. You said what I was going to say.

 

I have to agree with 14rok on this one.My sister has a pit and she has had him for 4yrs.He is a beautiful pet and friend to the whole family.She has 3 children and has just had 2 new babies 11 months apart...Now Gunner is totally loyal to the other 3 children but has displayed a little resentment towards the two littler ones.Just two days ago he snapped at the 16 month old .I dont blame the dog at times I myself would like to bite her.I just dont feel any animal or person for that much can be totally trusted to not act or react in an agressive nature at times.

 

What?
No, they are not the same. Unfortunatly most just tote the name, when infact they are a mere shell of the APBT. Seems, you may be a accident waiting to happen.

Regards.

 

Im Glad someone said it.....They arent the same.......Amstaff Is only a portion of a pit...there are several breeds that amstaffs desend from.

 

well, not exactly, The term "Pit Bull" has been used to discribe many bully breeds including the American Pit Bull Terrier and the American Staffordshire Terrier, so yes, and American Staffordshire Terrier is known as a Pit Bull, but is still a different breed from the American Pit Bull Terrier.

 

Also not true. Over years I have had pure APBTs and Ive come to notice they are the only dogs who will come to me and rest their big heads on my lap. All dogs have teeth, and all dogs are capable of the same thing. One of my dogs was bred and trained to hoghunt. but I spent a lot of time her, and now she will carry the baby on her back and lets a 3 year old walk her.

 

Re: Want a pit bull? Do plenty of homework first

I didn't know anything about pit bulls when I got mine for my B-day but on the second day I went and bought a book on pit bulls, I took my pup everywhere and introduced her to very nice people and socialized her with other dogs, I have owned her for 9 months now read 3 books and still have desire to learn more

 

Well you have come to the right place just keep an opened mind and you'll learn all you need to know about this breed.

 

Pitbulls and Amstaffs are NOT the same breed. They've been bred along different lines for over 70 years.


And never trust an AmStaff OR a Pitbull not to fight, or not to go after prey animals. Thats a basic rule of ownership with either of these breeds (more true of Pitbulls, but there are plenty of dog aggressive AmStaffs, both are likely to have very high prey drives.)

 

Hi I am new here in this fourm, I read your artical and wanted to tell you one of my most recent stories I have a friend has a "American Bull Dog". The dog gets mad when he fights with his wife. The dog is protects his wife. Well, one day they got into a fight and the dog attacked my friend. They couldnt get the dog off so they "had" to kill it. The guy was bay flighted to the hospital. The was in ICU. He had hugh gashes in this legs, hands, & face. He had so many staples in his body. It was crazy! Well it was on the news front page!!! It read "Pit Bull" type dog attacks owner.....that was it! I think they add those LIES like that to make hype! I am in Port Charlotte, Florida...in Miami pit bulls are banned, you can not own one! I would love to be able to be involved in the community to support and keep laws fare for Pit Bulls.....

 

I don´t like he article.
How can a temperament evaluation alter a dogs mentality? It can´t.
Why is it more important to neuter a pit bull terrier than another breed? Spaying, neutering, whatever you call it many times don´t do anything to "dog agression". So, if that is what someone desperately are hoping for; don´t get a pitbull at all if you can´t, or don´t want to, handle it.

The problem is mainly the amateurish breeding, or dogs not suitable for their environment, sold to where they don´t belong or for the wrong purpose. Both a common outcome of peddling.
So, it surprises me the author of the article then recommends shelter dogs , dogs with unknown or diffuse background in other words. Unbelievable. The shelter dogs and other dogs with unknown background, mostly mixes, are a big part of the problem. There we have the really dangerous dogs. Why do you think people gets rid of them?
I know it is not popular to warn against taking rescues but it is the bitter reality; you can expect a lot of problems out of a dog of bad breeding, and there are a lot of such rescue dogs. The genetics play a very important role in a dogs behaviour and mentality. Probably a lot more than the upbringing and other environmental circumstances. Few seems to realize that, when they get their first dog that is, but many changes beliefe the more dogs they get experience of. When the pedler says: "This dog will be what you make him" it is a lie. The breeding, the genetics, are important.

Don´t buy peddled dogs and don´t be so wreckless with pedigrees, it´s almost like some are looking down on papered dogs. People who wants a house dog and sellers of mass produced dogs who don´t know anything about the dogs used, uses that kind of argument for their own purposes in their business. It´s a peddler thing to say to a novice that the pedigree is not important, on shelter dogs and others.
It is irresponsible to spread things like "papers are just papers and only for newbies a.s.o.
And of course, buy of a person you know enough to know he/she don´t uses false papers. Why buy a dog of someone who cant be trusted, or a dog you don´t know anything about. Almost everyone wants something good instead of something not so good, whatever it may mean for one or the other. I think the reason behind the business with inferior dogs are often; No contacts.
Well, that is understandable. But take your time until you find the necessary contacts then. Othewise you will probably regret it, and you don´t want to do that. I promise.

My humble 1 and a half cent.

 

:dogtongue:Well I have noticed some negativity on this article about these breeds of pitbulls. I will have to say that yes they can be agressive and mean and they will fight when they are on edge from another dogcoming into there territory or if they are abused and neglected they will go mean. But I must say that I have 2 pit mxes myself 1 is 1/2 pit 1/2 basset hound and the other is 3/4 pit and 1/4 lab which I have had since they were puupies and I have a 19 month old daughter and they are great with her!!!! My pit basset hound is 1 month older than my daughter and the lab/pit is 8 month's old and I couldn't have asked for better pet's. When my daughter started walking she had stepped on my oldest pit's ball's and penis when he was laying on the floor and he didn't do any thing to her when she did it. All he did was move and then when he noticed that she had lost her balance he helped her regain her balance again. I have picture's posted of both of my pit's on here next to my daughter along with my wolf mix. All 3 of my dog's aspecially my pit's will sleep next to my daughter and not even think of biting her or any thing. As a matter of fact of it wasn't for my pit/basset hound I might have taken my daughter to the ER about 2 1/2 month's ago because of another dog coming into my yard and trying to attack my daughter. My pit jumped in front of the other dog to protect my daughter from getting hurt. So yeah people can say how niave other people are for owning a pit or pit mix but I will say from my experiance I would own a pit or pit mix before I would own a chichuachua(sorry for the spelling) or a pom or any other ankle biter that weihg's 2-6lbs.

And another thing, out of all 3 of my dog's I wouldn't be worried about my pit's, I would be more worried about my wolf mix. She put's our pit's in there place when they are running around the house. They all will play very well together but she know's when they need to knock it off.

So for those of you who don't understand pit's please don't judge them just because of what the new's says about them. They are the most loyal, caring, trusting, fun loving dog's you will ever own. My mind was changed on how pit's are when my husband braught my oldest one home. And now I want more than just the 2 pit's that I have. And yes I am that damn crazy to want more pit's........... Have a great day.