The pitbull nanny dog "An Endangered Species

To some, the "Pitbull type" dog is a genetic ticking time-bomb of violence bred to be a fighting machine, but to many others this dog is a phenomenal and gentle canine companion whose sole purpose is to please the humans that love them.

The Pitbull is a term commonly used to describe several breeds of dog in the Molosser family. Many breed-specific laws use the term "pit bull" to refer to the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, and Staffordshire Terrier, and dogs with significant mixes of these breeds.

All of these tenacious dogs have one thing in common, an undeniable desire, determination and perseverance to please their masters, even fighting to their death under the guidance of Man in exploitation of this breed for violent entertainment.

“..All molossers are SERIOUS dogs and should be given firm obedience training by someone who knows what they’re doing and should never be trifled with...”

Granted - and they shouldn’t be beaten, brutalized, starved, trained to attack and kill (by using tied-up labradors or other “gentler” breeds), etc., etc. either. Definitely agree with the obediance training.

I grew up in the city; I saw *ssh*le ghetto thugsters who thought it cool to use these animals as fighting dogs to display how “tough” the owners thought they were.

Dogs are truly the best friend humans ever had (maybe horses too) - they only act as they are trained to act.

bustinchops, I respect the knowledge that you put forth on the molosser. There was a lot in what you said that I was not aware of. Where did the term “Molosser” come from? Does that include Mastiffs?

My beef with all this is the “eradication of the breed” concept that was in the article. Infuriates me (and for the record, I don’t even OWN a “pit bull” - I own Labs, Beagles, and Retrievers).

Fawn: Sure you can train “personality” - if you abuse something often enough, it will become nasty and have a mean/violent disposition. That’s Pavlovian conditioning. If you treat it with firm kindness, training, and patience, it will react differently. Sure, there may be an inherent streak in certain breeds, but brutal treatment simply exacerbates it.

No quarrel, folks. Moving on.

I currently ~~own~~ live with a yellow lab, a Chessie, and a Chow/Golden mix (one of the best dogs I've even known even though she recently blew out her other ACL and it is gonna cost me a bundle). I formerly lived with a German Shepherd, a Doggo, a Bullterrier and an Amstaff and knew them all as great dogs until they passed to dog heaven after 11, 12, 13 and 14 years of faithful service. The most people aggressive dog among them was my pure black German Sheperd Dog

The bully breeds would all fight other dogs but didn't and they were docile around people BECAUSE they were all well trained.

Of my current pack, my Chesapeake Retriever was the most people and dog aggressive until I trained her to realize that she would ALWAYS be at the bottom of the totum pole.

All dogs accept their station...they just wanna know where it is. It is up to their trainer to show them. When they know where they rank, you'll have no more trouble with them UNLESS you happen to have a psychopathic or mentally-disturbed K-9 problem (they exist in the dog kingdom just as they do in the human world) and, in such cases, the dog needs to be put down.

Dogs are beaten by people who are either ignorant, cruel, or downright vicious themselves. It should be noted, though, that fighting and baiting dogs were trained and routinely used for those purposes for centuries in many, many parts of the world. It’s only been in the more recent decades that these practices have been outlawed or curtailed in more “enlightened” societies. But enlightened societies still bear thugs, and those thugs now hold these dogs out as a means of inflating their egos by causing people to fear them. The “badass” dogs have become an element of the lowlife black ghetto dwellers and some redneck white trash here and there.

Dogs are truly a gift from God. They are our helpers and friends. They do herding work, guard our livestock and families, entertain us, cheer our sick and elderly, help our law enforcement, and broaden the daily world of our blind and disabled citizens. They are our best friends and they bring companionship to very lonely people the world around. And they ask so very little in return. It isn’t just cruel and cowardly to abuse a dog. It’s a slap at God who gave us this great gift. When I hear of or see a case of a dog being abused, something in my mind verges on the edge of just snapping and wanting to take the abuser out and horsewhip him until he’s nothing but a gelatinous mass of quivering, raw ganglia, so I won’t go into the subject any further.

All mastiffs are molossers, but obviously the reverse isn’t true. The term “molosser” is derived from the Molossia region of ancient Greece. Molossia was actually a region within a region called Epirus, and the tribes of that region were called the Molossian tribes. The name of the breed that traveled with them is Molossos Tis Epirou (common name: Epir Moloss). Epir Moloss and his close cousins of ancient Rome were the original dogs of war. The Sylvan of Serbia is believed to be the same dog or a very close cousin of Epir Moloss. Heavy, heavy boned, rippling musculature and ferocious, these dogs were the ultimate war machines. These were the dogs that Alexander the Great used en masse for war, and Shakespeare attributes Julius Caesar with exhorting, “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”.

I disagree with eradication of any breed, unless all its members are a menace. What’s happening in this case is too many lawyers, too many ghetto rats, too many nanny-state lefties wetting their beds again, and too many people breeding and/or owning a breed they are too inexperienced to be dealing with. No first or second group molosser breed should be owned by an experienced dog owner, period, end of discussion. They’re just asking for trouble and a guilty conscience. Most people think they’re getting a good guard dog, but if they’re too inexperienced to bring out that trait while subduing other traits, what they’re really getting is the strong possibility of a lawsuit, a broken heart and crying kids when the court orders the dog be destroyed. If people who don’t know &hit from shinola about Pits would quit buying them, the demand would go down and the backyard breeders who also don’t know &hit from shinola would go out of business. The breed doesn’t need to be eradicated. Stupidity, greed and ignorance need to be eradicated.

Anybody who runs labs, beagles and retrievers is in good company and A-okay in my book. Enjoy your buddies, and howza ‘bout giving ‘em an extra treat today! :)

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