Replies

Have not owned either.

I have an ecclectic mix of dogs that are pictured on my profile page.

When I was showing my labrador, I trained with a trainer who bred German Shepherds, and trains and sells police and Schutzhund dogs. He is a world class competitor in Schutzhund, and the best dog handler I have ever seen. His shepherds are magnificent, and I hope to own one some day, if I could justify the price.

My pit bull experience is not only TV... I had a friend who had a pit bull she loved. Seemed nice, but having my own male dog, and not wanting to take chances, I never let our dogs play together.

Her dog had run of her farm, and her son adored and mauled and tugged on him the way children will. It made me nervous, but not her. Then one day when it was about two years old it ripped the throat out of a goat it was raised with. She kept it in a large pen after that, but it escaped and killed two neighbor dogs over the period of a couple hard weeks, and she had it put down because she could no longer trust it.

Now, to be fair, any breed can have individuals who do that same thing. I know that. But it goes into the experience file with the others.

My point is that all dog people tell you to seriously consider the purpose and function the breed is intended for when selecting a pet. Border Collie breeders are loathe to sell dogs to people who don't intend to work them hard in a job, any job, because the dogs have a temperment that demands it.

Except pit bull people. They want us to ignore the breed's intended job. Then they will say, well, as long as you do everything right, and socialize it properly you shouldn't have trouble. Well, they are taking a dog that has a tough temper and conditioning him out of it. Yes, you can nurture a pit bull and have it turn out fine. You have to do a lot right to have a pit bull not "turn on" at two years old. I would have to do an awful lot wrong to turn a labrador into a killer. In both instances I would be trying to overcome their basic nature.

So I will never agree that it is a pit bull is anyone's most suitable pet... Why should I? There are hundreds of other breeds of dogs that have more points on their side for any purpose. There are better pet-dogs, show-dogs, and guard-dogs. You may be able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but why not just start with silk?

http://www.pitbulls.com/PBR/dogstory.htm

Please read this story. This is the kind of loyal love and companionship that myself and many others that have owned Pit Bulls have experienced. This is the reason we feel so stronly for this breed, and the reason we would fight and defend this breed to our death. No other story captures better what my dog, and many other Pit Bulls are like. If they weren't so loyal and wonderful with humans, and didn't love people so much, why are there so many stories like this one?

My dog is like this, he follows me everywhere. He likes to sit in my lap and play with my kittens. Multiple nights I have been jolted out of my sleep to my dog howling and whining while my kittens attack his face and tail.

Pit Bulls are used in many ways, including but not limited to; Search and Rescue, Police Dogs, Drug sniffing, Bomb detecting, Showing and agility, and Therapy.

They have a drive to love humans almost more than any other breed, as proved in temperment testing done worldwide that showed Pit Bull type dogs passed the temperment test in the 89-90% while Golden Retreivers and other "non-vicious" dogs, passed at 79-81%.

What facts do you base your opinions that Pit Bulls were only bred for brawn and not brain? Where do you get you information, just out of curiosity? What kind of research have you done on this breed? I would be very interested to know what causes you to have such strong views and opinions on this subject, and such a strong dislike for the breed.