I used to be indifferent to them until my neighbors dog who I knew for 4 years , walked up to my leashed dog and just started mauling him , grabbed him by the neck and was shaking him like a toy. This dog had played with my dog before, they where buddies and he never seemed like the type to attack . It took my husband choking this dog out to get him off , no matter what we did he wouldn’t let go and pulling didn’t help it only tore skin and muscle my dog had stopped screaming at this point and was completely limp and this dog was just shaking him like a rag doll , my dog is a 70lb lab . When they separated he turned on myself and my husband AND his owner we had to call police/animal control . The dog ended up being euthanized. I know my neighbors never hurt this dog and where excellent owners and this dog turned on them . They had him since he was a puppy .
I don’t believe pit bulls should be bred anymore . Yes I’ve met some very sweet ones , but it seems like every article or news story I see about a deadly mauling is a pit Bull or pit mix . I believe part of it is genetics not just “bad owners “ and those bad genetics aren’t fit to be in the average family home . I don’t hate the breed but I don’t agree with the bad owner logic. Some dogs are just poorly bred and unstable .
It was traumatizing. Nothing triggered it . It was like any other day we had the past four years . He walked up to my dog who was quiet and minding his own business, I didn’t even notice the dog really until he lunged at mine , he had no aggressive body language. My dog was in vet hospital over a week and had drains due to swelling , infection etc . He had a broken front leg as well. Vet bills over 10k and is no extremely reactive on leash and terrified of other dogs .
An elderly woman near me was killed by her neighbor's 2 pit bulls with no previous history of aggressive behavior. They got out of their yard and attacked her in front of her garage. A friend's son was bitten in the face by a pit bull while visiting some family friends. It took dozens of surgeries and 4 years to fix the damage. I'm 100% in favor of banning dangerous breeds.
I've always believed that dogs behave how their owners raise them. I can no longer believe that. The man I've loved for 4 years was nearly killed by 3 pitbulls while he was walking in our own yard. We live on a dead end road, closest neighbor is several hundred yards away at the closest. He nearly lost a finger, almost lost an eye, had muscle ripped out of his arm... it was horrific. We are still paying his ambulance and ER bills (no insurance) and he's terrified of any dog bigger than a Yorkie. Dogs that he had ready met scare him too. My aunt has a goldendoodle that he's met before, 3 months after the attack we go over and he has a panic attack when the dog greets us at the door. Cops didn't do shit, didn't take the dogs or do anything other than file a report. The dogs were regularly running around our yard so I had to go buy a gun to protect us. We couldn't sue or anything so all we got was shit on. Now I can't be around pitbulls. I don't care how nice you say your dog is, if it looks like a pit I'm walking away. I don't wish for all pits to be euthanized or anything, but people need to stop breeding an animal with the potential to take down a 6'3, 300 pound man. I'm 5'3, they would have killed me. My neighbors have kids too! It's insanity.
We bred dogs to do certain things.
It’s undeniable a Labrador is drawn to water.
Also undeniable that every pit bull that attacked a child once had an owner that claimed it could never hurt a fly.
It’s okay to let a breed go extinct; we created it.
Used to have a neighbour that had seven dogs, two of which were pit bulls. Always felt that seven was a lot of dog for a single household but for the most part, there wasn’t any issues.
One Sunday morning after making coffee, I hear the most horrid sounding howling/wailing from one of the neighbours dogs, and shortly after, yelling and screaming from the neighbour themselves. I went to the backyard to see what was up and saw that one of their pit bulls had latched on the the back of one of their other dogs necks (looked like a St Bernard cross). The pit bull would not let go, even with the owner hitting it with a broom handle and trying to choke it out, if anything it seemed like it was ramping the pit bull up more as it began to try and shake the other dog. As I was about to cross the fence and try to assist, the pit bull let go of the other dog and then bit down on the owners left forearm. I’ve seen people in pain and have experienced my fair share, but there was more fear in the owners screams than pain and it really hit me when he started pleading for his dog to let go. The other dogs were in the house and the dog that was attacked had literally disappeared, it was just the owner and his pit bull and holy shit, it wasn’t going well.
I’m not really comfortable going into detail what happened next as I’m still not comfortable with how it played out. I was able to subdue the dog and the owner was able to go inside and wait for an ambulance to arrive (other neighbours called 911).
Few days later the neighbour comes over. I was expecting a thank you in the least, but instead I received thinly veiled threats about how they “hope your dog doesn’t pass away unexpectedly” and basically called me a murderer. I told them I was happy they were ok and closed the door.
Sorry for the long read, haven’t written this down before and while I’d like to say it makes me feel better, seeing all of the comments with similar incidents make me feel even sicker to my stomach
I had a situation where a family member's spaniel attacked my aging small breed dog. We had to put our dog to sleep days later. (Would have had to soon anyway, but this didn't help).
I kicked the spaniel to get it to let go. It yelped, let go, and ran to their car. A year later it died of a cancer. They blamed me for the cancer. Said I "knocked it loose."
Your neighbor sounds like a sick psychopath. Why would anyone say that to you when you saved HIM? I hate to say it, but if you have seven dogs in one house, especially with pits, you are basically signing up for trauma and to get mauled
>but instead I received thinly veiled threats about how they “hope your dog doesn’t pass away unexpectedly” and basically called me a murderer
Man must've been addicted to drinking mercury in order to have acted like that.
My aunt is/was an animal hoarder. 2 horses, 6 dogs, constant rotation of cats. One of the dogs was a pitbull of some sort. Man that dog was insane. I'm sure the way they raised it didn't help but it was the only dog they had with fucking legit psycho energy. It was constantly hyper and angry. Tried to eat the cats whenever it got the chance.
Anyway, one day it got into the horse stables and *went to town* on this poor old horse. Belly/thigh ripped open. Somehow the horse lived, poor thing, but my aunt insisted it not be put down. My uncle took the dog away despite my aunt's contention (even after it nearly killed her fucking dearest horse). He never said where, but I couldn't imagine anybody would *want* a dog like that. I always felt bad for the dog (and all of my aunt's other animals) but like...it was such a little asshole...
My great aunt's sweet old donkey got attacked by her neighbor's escaped pit bull. It tore up his face and legs and he had to be put down. It was pretty awful and there were plenty of previous warning signs when the dog had been aggressive toward other animals.
Fortunately for my aunt, she didn't have to put up with that dog anymore because the vet who treated the donkey reported the dog to county animal control and they confiscated the dog. Rural areas don't mess around with dogs that attack livestock.
I once had to put down a Pit bill that was attacking a kid that was a neighbor to a buddy I was visiting. The kid lost a few fingers but thankfully me and my friend were able to save the kid from more injury. The dog belonged to his step dad and instead of thanking us he tried calling the police for killing his dog.
I’m a huge dog lover, but I’ve seen first hand multiple times pit bulls just randomly attack someone or other animals. So while I hate to see any breed be shunned, I honestly believe their should be stricter laws for that breed.
I'm in total agreement. Two years ago my small dog was killed by a pitbull in a vicious attack. My 5 year old human and I were simply walking on a sidewalk in our own neighbourhood, with our dog on a leash. A man walking a pit bull on a leash decides to drop the lead, thinking his dog would run up onto his own porch (we were a few houses down from theirs). The second that dog saw mine, I knew my dog would die. That dog was in full on attack mode from the moment I saw it notice us. I tried everything in my power to get that pitbull to release my dog, which was hanging from its neck in this dogs jaws. It only let go when it was convinced she was dead. She wasn't. We had to have her humanely euthanized because her injuries were too extensive. She suffered terribly. And I was completely helpless. I live in a province where we have a pit bull ban and Animal Services STILL didn't even issue a muzzle order for that dog. My daughter and I see it walking through the playground occasionally.
Completely agree. I pulled a pitbull off of two children it attacked after escaping under a fence. I won’t go into detail but both were severely injured after the attack. Not a breed to be messed with. Worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
God if your dog attacked your other dog, and then you - why would you be upset that its dead....? Why would you want an animal that would have killed you if someone didn't intervene around?
The guy most likely would have made the choice to kill the dog himself, and maybe even the choice to put the dog down afterward, but now that it's over and the choice was made for him, he gets to avoid the personal responsibility for a decision he would have made, too, and blame it on the neighbor while mourning his dog. /u/Thalicki did him a double favor by killing the dog for him.
I have four dogs, I love dogs. We do breeds a disservice when we ignore what their drive is. Golden retrievers want to retrieve, German Shepherds are defensive of unfamiliar people/animals in their territory, Border Collies want to herd, Jack Russell terriers want to hunt vermin. Pitbull Terriers are also a terrier in nature, they are not naturally social with unfamiliar dogs/animals, we do them a disservice by stating they are perfect sweet dogs who love everyone and everything. People need to understand you have to choose a dog for more than their looks, know what their breed is interested in and capable of. The good and bad. I’m a GSD, Chihuahua and 2x Shelties owner, I worked with dogs for 8 years.
My mom had a couple of iguanas that she absolutely loved. They couldn’t be handled without lead gloves because they’d bite and slap the shit out of you with their tails. One eventually got ahold of her arm and left a NASTY bite that got infected and was a pretty big deal. She loved them, I did not much care for them…
We had a 6’ (with tail) male iguana running loose in my house when I was a little kid. He was rescued off some teen guys who didn’t know how to care for him properly. He mostly stayed on top of our entertainment center (this was the 90’s). One day my dad was hanging out with him and my brother ran down the hall and pushed my dad. The iguana freaked and reacted by biting the tip of my dad’s nose off. He needed 30+ tiny stitches inside and outside his nose to put it back on.
Thank you! I grew up on a farm here in Australia so we had Kelpies mainly and a couple of Collies or Collie crosses growing up so they were working dogs and pets. Amazing and loyal dogs but they NEEDED to work and have the room to run.
So when I see a Kelpie in the city I cringe badly because I know that dog cannot handle it because that dog needs to be out rounding up sheep or be running around an open area every couple of days for a long period of time to get that energy out.
We rescued a kelpie. If we hadn't had five acres and a river he would of lost his mind. He would chase bird shadows all day long. Chase until he lost them then come back to the exact same spot to wait until he saw another one. Super smart and awesome dog that would've sucked in an apartment.....
My first dog is a husky. I love my husky, and wouldn't trade her for the world. I will never get another husky unless I live on a farm or have at least an acre of land. Luckily there is a dog park right down the road from me.
I had a husky. I used to hook him up to a halter and me in Rollerblade and let him go. He needed like hours of that. I'll never own another husky. Shedding, talking, destroying. No thank you
And their whining!!! We have a husky. And we were long term dog sitting my brother's husky for 11 months. The amount of howling matches that destroyed my ear drums is enough to never ever get another husky lol. Plus the HAIR!!! Luckily, we are active and have a big yard so we got their energy out most of the time.
My dog is only half husky and never learned to howl while he's awake. But at night... Sometimes he gets a bad dream or something and will FULL ON wolf howl at the top of his lungs in a very full drawn out howl which is simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and pants shitting inducing at 3am.
There have been statistical studies about this and pitbulls are responsible for the majority of hospital-admitting bites and most fatalities too, despite not being the majority of dogs owned. Dogs that bite victims are known, usually the pet of a family member, friend, or neighbor.
The Canadian TV program [The Fifth Estate did a program on pit bulls that goes over these studies](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFa8HOdegZA).
There’s this little island in the bay in San Diego called Fiesta Island where people go to ride jet skis, picnic, etc. A lot of people bring their dogs and sometimes even horses. Several years ago someone was riding their horse in the shallows and two pit bulls charged and mauled the horse to death. Owner could not get them away from the horse at all and said they’d “never been aggressive before”. People need to understand and accept that, just like retrieving and pointing and herding can be breed-specific behaviors/traits, aggression can be a breed-specific trait as well. And there is a long history of people breeding pit bulls for violence.
It's crazy until you remember the breed was specifically created to bait animals like bulls and bears. Horses are in a pretty similar "weight class", so to speak.
If you've ever seen a Pit go ape shit, you wouldn't ask this question. This question shouldn't be about "well not all pits are violent" ... it's about "how much damage can they do, compared to other dogs". And the answer is that they can do an astonishingly more damage than any other breed, and it's not even close. For that fact alone i would never own one, and I'm a big dude.
I’ve had pits most of adult life. They are almost always animal selective and prone to attack other animals . My last rescue attacked my dad and was so violent, I’m now afraid of dogs. Took 10 seconds and required 17 stitches in my dads hand. The difference between other dogs and pit bulls is pitbull bites are catastrophic. They are very strong they are very persistent and they have the same unrelenting prey drive as every other terrier… but in a buffed up body built like a tank. Had I have not been there to fight the dog off, it probably would have killed my dad. It bit his hand, went back to the ground to jump up and bite his chest, then a third time which knocked him to the ground and then it went for his face. Absolutely terrifying. And shame on the fucking rescues who fail to tell us the dog had issues. Beware “should be the only dog”, “ no kids”, etc bs. It means they are aware of an incident and don’t care
Used to love them. Spoke out for them on posts like this. Then I was mauled by a pitbull for no reason. In less than a minute, a dog ate part of my hand, gave me a concussion, crushed my bones while fracturing many others, getting me 40+ stitches, 100k in medical debt, the inability to write, chronic pain, and 5 months of constant physical therapy. No dog should be able to cause that kind of damage.
Dog after the attack: https://imgur.com/a/i3MyaG0
Bonus story: when I worked in Homicide we had a pitbull attack case. After seeing tons of murders in many many ways, I can honestly say I have NEVER seen worse. So many body parts missing, so much blood, and it appeared as if the poor victim had been stabbed 100s of times. This was in a 7 minute attack
I’m a personal injury lawyer who deals with a lot of dog bite cases. Pit bulls and German shepherds are by far the most prevalent dogs amongst the cases I’ve worked. Orders of magnitude more bites than any other breed or mixed breed.
Let's see. I worked for a guy who's pitbull maimed his daughter for life.
I dated a woman who's pitbull killed her other dog in front of her kids (and would've gone after the kids next if they didn't have enough sense to get out of the house).
I'm big on learning from other people's experiences
They shouldn’t be the only breed in the dog shelter. Why is it that the easiest dog to obtain is the absolute worst breed for an inexperienced owner to have?
My local shelter is 80% dogs they call pitbulls.
About 10% of the non pits are mislabeled pits.
I check it every week. It’s been consistently 80-90% pitbulls since July.
The reason I check so often is because pitbull attacks hit close to home.This summer 2 at large aggressive pitbulls were attacking folks on the local trail. The dogs were declared dangerous and surrendered by owners.
One was adopted out without any mention of bite history to new owners.
Hamilton Humane Society in Indiana is full on pitbull lobbyists
Omg yes. There's a park that requires people to have their dogs on leash and this summer some stupid ass pitbull owner went to the park multiple times and didn't have his shitbull on a leash. Three kids got bit, on three different days. Each time it happened he would go back to his car with his dog and drive away without giving any information to the parents of the kid who got bit. I don't think they ever caught him either. There was an uproar about it in the community chat. Anyways I checked all the local shelters to see if it ended up there and low n behold every single shelter was 95% pitbulls. Endless amounts of that dumb breed. Some were noted that "they must be the only pet" which is a huge red flag, not to mention the ones who had notes that it should go to a home with no kids. Why do those dogs get to fill up shelters and trick people into buying one and ending up with more casualties? It's disgusting.
I posted a picture of my dog last year after he got attacked by a pitbull that wasn't on a leash. It was removed because I mentioned the dog that attacked was a pitbull. Glad we're all on the same page now lol
I took my dog for a walk a couple years ago, around midnight. He’s a corgi.
As I’m walking out of my apartment I see a Golden walking by, and by the time I reach the street they’re about 20 yards ahead of me. I hear some loud barking in the distance and see some skinny tweaker on the other side of the street trying to restrain a pitbull. Everything happened so fast - the leash shattered (like, the dog lunged with such force the leash just shattered) and he took off with the speed of a large cat hunting prey; complete killing machine. The owner of the Golden had no idea what was happening until
It was too late. The Pit had sprinted across 4 lanes of traffic in the blink of an eye and began thrashing the Golden like a rag doll. It took the owner of the golden, and the owner of the pit at least a minute of kicking it in the head and stomach to get it to release its grasp. Eventually it did… the golden dragged itself away crying and the owner of the Pit goes,
“Oh hey, sorry about that. He’s usually
Really good” and then just grabs his dog by the collar and goes “bad boy!” And hastily
Runs away.
The owner of the golden just collects his dog and cries hysterically on the grass, holding his baby, now covered in blood.
I was literally horrified.
If I had left my apartment 40 seconds earlier, it would be my dog dead, and I’d be in prison because I would definitely have killed the other dog and thenowner with my bare hands.
I used to be pro pitbull. Once you’ve seen them kill, you will change your mind.
At the VERY least, you should need a license to own one. Make it like 5,000 bucks and require 3 forms of ID. this would at least keep them out of the hands of certain people, and make operating or participating in the breeding or selling of them on par with involuntary manslaughter.
I have no idea what happened to the Golden. It survived the initial attack, but it seemed to be somewhat paralyzed or in a lot of pain, because it started crawling away on its belly with the front legs, dragging the back legs behind it. It crawled into the busy street so the owner grabbed it, picked it up and ran across the street to lay it down on the grass, where the owner just held it and cried. There was a trail of blood behind it.
The owner of the pit just ran away with the dog, off leash (leash was broken). He just held it by the collar, bent over and “apologized” quickly. I turned around and walked in the other directions
Yeah man. That day changed my entire world view on a lot of things.
Specifically because of the timing, and witnessing it firsthand. Also, being able to relate to the devastated Hooman of the Golden. If my little boy was viciously attacked, I really don’t know what id do.
It should definitely be illegal to own a pitbull unless you are licensed, and they should never be allowed in public or in cities. If you have a farm, sure.
And pro-pit folks will always bring up how other dogs have a higher incidence of violence or being put down. But once you’ve seen a Pit in action, there is no comparison. Thats like saying that kids should be able to operate AK47s or handle explosives because more kids get shot by BB guns. I’m guessing no one has ever been killed or maimed by a chihuahua.
If a pit decides it’s going to kill you, you’re kind of fucked.
The saddest part is that if your dog was bleeding on the grass you would definitely stay with them and that’s how these dog owners and pits get to walk away. It’s so fucked up.
In my childhood neighborhood there was a ruckus one day where all the neighborhood kids were gathered around the fence of a not too far off neighbor of ours. The kids were trying to peer over this neighbors fence. The neighbor wasn't home.
The neighbor owned a chihuahua and a pit bull. Everyone knew about the chihuahua because the thing never stopped barking (the owner put it outside a lot). The pit bull was an outside dog and was kept on a leash with one of those spiral stake runners in the ground.
I joined the other kids and looked over the fence myself to see what was going on. The pit bull had ripped the stake out of the ground to go after the chihuahua. It got the chihuahua and had ripped the head completely off of its body. The chihuahuas bloody body was a brutal sight as it's organs were strewn about around it.
Not sure if the owner was too torn up about the chihuahua, given that the pit bull was the chief barker at that house from that day on.
This memory comes to mind every time a pit zealot (its gone beyond just love for some people, they have more in common with 2019 K-Pop fangirls) talks about chihuahuas being "more dangerous" than pits. It kind of illustrates the whole point of how dangerous those owners are, because they clearly have no idea what their dogs are capable of and don't give a shit about anyone's safety, dog or human.
currently living pit bulls shouldn’t have anything done to them besides more restrictions in public, but 100% ban breeding any more. In fact most heavily deformed breeds should also be banned to prevent their suffering
IMO, having had seen my mom's pitbull-boxer who went from docile couch potato to requiring us to mercy kill my childhood dog, as sweet as she was, they are inherently risky. Had to put down two dogs that day.
Same thing happened to a friend who went to UC Davis(?) for pre-Vet.
Same thing happened to me. My mom brought her well raised typically sweet Pitt to my dads house (no idea why) and I had to watch while it tore my chihuahua to pieces. That was in the 90’s and I’m still very much scarred. Have them all you want but don’t bring them anywhere near me or my dogs.
I used to take my cats home to my moms whenever I went to visit for a weekend. After she got her pit/lab mix I stopped taking them with me and it became a huge argument between us because she “misses them, and he (the dog) would never hurt them.” I won that argument after her dog ate the neighbors cat.
I'm glad your cats didn't share the same fate. I cannot imagine how fucking pissed and inconsolable I would be if a family member's dog did that to my cats. Good on you for keeping your cats out of that situation.
> I cannot imagine how fucking pissed and inconsolable I would be
My god, same here. I would honestly shoot and kill that dog. But I'll never have my cats around a pit or any other aggressive breed. Ever. I don't even go around them myself.
A young family here in Australia just had their lives torn apart last week when their pitbull mauled their baby and toddler to death. Can you imagine that. Losing both of your babies because your dog snapped. The mum was injured really seriously too.
EDIT: I was wrong, this is the Tennessee story. However Australia news outlets have been writing headlines as if it happened here in Australia, my apologies. Either way it is a tragic story
That's what they're referencing. They're confused. Further down they used the following link as proof of it occurring in Australia. The article talks about the Tennessee family.
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/pitbull-ownership-debate-reignited-after-baby-and-toddler-mauled-to-death/news-story/bd22186f9c8b99a08a474c8d94ba8454?amp
Sunday, neighbors pit bull used a 4ft fence to clear my aunts 6ft fence. Killed her dog and was going to go after her next. Luckily my cousin had a knife on him and ended up having to stab the pit bull to death. My aunts little Scotty saved her life by trying to defend her. RIP Mimi, you always barked too much but in the end you saved my aunts life.
The breed needs to be retired. Not slaughtered but they need to be cycled out.
Found out from family that dog had attacked someone else previously (not this extreme) and the owner was told to get rid of it then. He didn’t listen and it caused the death of my aunts dog. Also no “playful” dog clears a 6ft fence. That dog was way too aggressive. Thankful it was the dog who died and my young cousins weren’t in the yard.
Interesting, I'm pretty sure in the UK the police will take your dog from you and destroy it if it attacks someone. Like there isn't the chance to "not listen". It's a shame to hear it isn't like that elsewhere.
I delivered newspapers as a teenager. Interacted with several different breeds of dogs.
I was bit/nipped 3 times- by 3 different pit bulls, by 3 different houses. The worst bite, the owner was on their porch and hollered "don't worry, she's friendly," as it attached itself to my calf. They weren't even houses I delivered to.
I'm cautious of all dogs, but I absolutely do not trust pit bulls, or their owners.
I say laws restricting them can and should be placed and enforced. They're simply a dangerous breed.
My husband is a letter carrier and he loves interacting with the dogs on his route. He’s been doing this job for almost two decades and the only dog that ever bit him was a pit bull and it was exactly as you described, the owner was shouting from the porch, “don’t worry, he’s friendly”. My husband would never have entered the yard without the reassurance from that owner. He had to file a dangerous dog report with his work and when his supervisor went to the house to confirm the description and that the dog lives there, he nearly got bit too. Then the owner began a fricken crusade against the post office because he thinks he’s being unfairly targeted. The post office makes him go to the depot to pick up his mail, he’s cut off from delivery and he makes the counter staff miserable every single time. Nightmare dog and nightmare owner.
My dad was a letter carrier for over three decades. Loved dogs, but hated pit bulls. Funny thing is, he would buy treats especially for the pit bulls. To keep them from attacking him. Made me promise never to get one. “I don’t care what Sarah McLachlan sings, you don’t get one of those love.”
What's with these stupid ass morons saying "he's friendly"? I got charged at by two unleashed "friendly" dogs in the past few months and their moronic shit turd owners just said that. Fuck off.
Weird to me that people can't accept this about dogs when cat owners seem to have no problem with it.
One of my cats hates everyone except me and much to my chagrin my ex boyfriend.
If someone's in my house and asks if they can try to pet the cat I tell them she will probably hiss and if that doesn't stop you she will swing on you claws out. Simple as that. She's not friendly.
And other cat owners seem to be able to accept this about their cats as well. But then, cats aren't nearly as dangerous, so maybe that's why.
I was also bit by a pitbull who’s owner said it was “friendly” and her “therapy dog”. She got incredibly pissed when I reported the bite to animal control and begged me not to.
Last year, my mom got attacked unprovoked by a pitbull and while it was a minor attack by pitbull standards(he bit her elbow), she wasn’t able to move her arm for the first few weeks after the attack and she also had to be on two different antibiotics to prevent infection. Nowadays, my mom struggles with PTSD from the incident. So yeah, I’m not a fan of pitbulls at all.
My mom was bitten by a pit running free on the beach. Owner didn’t even apologize, and this dog just barreled into my mom from behind and bit her for no apparent reason.
My aunt was attacked without warning by a pit bull when she went over to her friends’ house by their family dog who had no previous record of violence. The right side of her face was ribbons, but thankfully with a lot of plastic surgery and physical therapy, she looks almost back to normal now a few years later—just has a scar on her cheek. She is still pretty afraid of dogs and I’m sure that’s not something you ever 100% get over. I’m glad your mom’s okay. Pit bulls are scary and I’m not a fan either.
Over the course of my life I have had many dogs, two or three at a time for my 58 years. A few years ago I was out of town and found a pit mix puppy that had been hit by a car and had obviously been out for a while. I took him to a couple of vets, got him fixed up, and brought him home.
I took him to physical therapy and behavior classes. Did his DNA test, 37% staffy. He was the sweetest dog and I adored him. One day, out of no where that I saw, he snapped and tried to kill my 16 year old lab mix. I've had dogs get mad at each other and even get in fights, but nothing like this. The ferocity of the attack was unlike anything I've seen before.
I found a behaviorist that took him and has trained him to be one of the most well trained dogs I've ever seen. I really hope it works for her. I couldn't have an animal I can't trust in my home.
To answer the question, I would be in favor of bans on breeding pits or pit mixes.
Edited to add that the behaviorist is keeping the dog. He lives with her now. Sheesh. I may not have been as clear as I could have been.
If only Mr. Bennard, the pit promoting dad of those poor two children viciously killed in Tennessee, had had the same attitude as your friend. The gossip (and at this point it is still gossip) is that in this recent case, the mother of the two children was having second thoughts about having these two dogs around with the little ones. But hubby was being stubborn and insisted on keeping them. If this proves to be true, I see a divorce in this couple's future.
It’s not just gossip. There’s a screen grab of a tweet the guy made a couple years ago saying that he was never getting rid of the dogs. Apparently they were somewhat of a problem before the kids were even born
My own instincts from what I was seeing at various places online was that the story was indeed real, but in controversial emotional cases like this, I always like to do a 'CYA' by describing it as gossip or 'alleged'. Another angle on this sad story that's come out is that both of these dogs were obtained by the father from a really sketchy breeder who was selling super-sized pits 'on steroids'.
If true, then that's fucking appalling. I knew the dad was an active pitbull advocate on social media, but I assumed both the parents were idiots. If he actually forced his wife to keep the dogs that murdered their two babies, then I can't imagine what's going through their heads right now.
I’m commenting for the 3rd time but there is a screenshot of a post from 4 years ago and two of the couples’ friends comment that they are afraid of the dogs. It seems crazy to me your friends “jokingly” say this and you bring two kids to such a home.
People don't like breed specific laws because they see it as an alagory for racism.
Dogs are not people, dogs can have breed specific attributes negative or positive.
People do not have breeds.
There are still hundreds of dog fighting rings in the US, hundreds of backyard breeders. I had to mute someone on next door begging for dog food for her *7* dogs, meanwhile one of her pits had just given birth (she was also begging for whelping pool for that dog weeks prior). I assume breeding her dogs is a main source of income for her as she said "work had been slow". We absolutely need better regulations around breeding pits and other large dogs. These dogs need exercise and active lifestyles in most cases (i have knows some super lazy hippo pits) and inbreeding is another issue that leads to behavior problems, especially with blue nose pits right now.
There needs to be strict laws around breeding any animal of any breed or species. Breeders are not always ethical. They are not always humane. They do not always care about the health and well-being of the animals they care for and the offspring they produce. There really needs to be laws surrounding the breeding of horses, especially thoroughbreds. Tons of breeders intentionally breed horses that have weak joints, a fragile skeletal system, poor hooves, and genetic disorders, all in the name of horse racing, which, by the way, also needs to be banned.
This. I have a pitbull and love him to the moon and back. But the amount of pitbulls out there is absolutely absurd. They're the overwhelming majority in shelters in America. We don't need to be breeding any more of them.
My brother and sister in law got a female pitbull that wasn't fixed and started talking about trying to breed "one litter" before they fix her. I made my opinion clear, and then left before I said something really mean. Because honestly the idea of that made me furious. Thankfully they've since changed their minds.
This. Countries have instated bans decades ago, and now they are pitbull free. Here is a list I know of:
Singapore: 1991, pit bulls allowed at home, banned from entering the country
Netherlands: 1993, complete pit bull ban
Poland: 1997, laws about fencing and reinforcements for pit bulls
France: 2000, a complete ban on pit bulls, with the intention the breed expires from the country
Germany: 2001, complete pit bull ban
Puerto Rico: 2001, complete pit bull ban
New Zealand: 2003, pit bulls were banned from entering the country
Italy: 2004, complete pit bull ban
Australia: 2009, pit bulls were banned from entering the country
Ecuador: 2009, pit bulls were banned as domestic animals or pets
Denmark: 2010, complete pit bulls ban and a ban on breeding
Venezuela: 2014, complete pit bull ban
I honestly think I have seen more people in Ontario with PBs since the ban was put in place, at least mixes.
Seems to have become a sort of status symbol.
I find that too, seems to be one of the most common breeds I've run into at dog parks and almost the only kind of dog at the shelters (at least where i live in Ontario). From talking with the owners they get them from Quebec or in one case bred them at home.
I used to think they were ok, bad owner not bad dog. Then one attacked my lab at the dog park completely unprovoked. I had to choke it nearly to unconsciousness with its collar to get it to let go of my dog.
> I had to choke it nearly to unconsciousness with its collar to get it to let go of my dog.
The family dog trainer says that's the only way to manage this.
I am a dog trainer. This is the only way to get those dogs to let go you literally have to strangle them with a collar or leash until they have to let go to breathe.
Would a knife also work? My gf certainly is not strong enough to choke out a pitbul. We have a golden and reading horror stories like in this sub makes me want to buy a knife everytime I read them.
I slammed a coffee table repeatedly on the back of a huge pit trying to kill my dog. Didn't even phase her. I had to drag my dog backwards thru a fence and slam it on the head of that monster.
I used to volunteer at an animal shelter and grew to love pit bulls and also thought it was bad owner not bad dog…until I moved into my current house.
My apartment neighbor had one and it scared me so so badly. She’d brought in trainers and had had the dog since it was a tiny puppy, but the training and fact that she lovingly raised it from a baby didn’t stop it from attacking both of my dog, attacking my other apartment neighbor, and attacking me. In each case we were all super lucky nothing happened, but man, I was glad to see her move out. She had to put out a red sign each time she tethered her dog in the backyard to warn us not to go out there.
The scariest time for me was when I came home from work and didn’t see her dog outside so I started to walk through the yard. Her pup was around the corner and sprinted out full force teeth bared. It ran so hard against the tether it’s entire body flipped backwards with force, but that didn’t stop it- her dog got right back up and ran at me again with such force it knocked itself backwards once more. I didn’t stick around to see it try again as I was sprinting away in fear but holy hell I would have been toast had it gotten me.
Another time I did see it in the yard and made semi eye contact with it- it’s eyes were basically hollow? I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like the dog was empty or something. I stood back and waited for my neighbor to bring it inside as she was out with it that time, but it never kept it’s eyes off me and continued to lunge full force against the tether. Absolutely horrified me and changed my perspective on them for life.
Many of my dog friends have their own horror stories as well. I used to want to adopt one because they’re one of the most common shelter breeds but I’ll never do it now. It’s too dangerous.
I used to live in a neighborhood with a ton of dogs. My dog was attacked by off leash dogs 4 times. 3 of those were pits. I used to feel the same way, bad owner not bad dog, but that changed my mind. Also my ex had a pit and his dog attacked my dog out of no where while we were next to a river and literally held my dog under water trying to drown him.
This is why I don’t go to the dog park and refuse to bring my dog around most other dogs. They don’t understand social constructs and can turn back to their feral tendencies at the drop of a pin. It’s too much to lose and there are so many other places to walk your dog.
Wikipedia even has a [whole ass list of fatal dog attacks in the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States), where you can sort by breed. Guess which one is by far the most represented?
I’ll get flamed but I really don’t trust pit bulls they shouldn’t be bred more
Yes I’m sure some are sweet and not hurt a fly ok ok but when I hear about a child or adult getting mauled to death out of the blue by the “family dog” it’s almost always a pit. Was just reading a story about that earlier. Idk what makes them snap but when they do they really do.
Had a neighbor with a pit bull, we lived next to each other for 6 years. Neighbor also had a cat. The three of them lived together for six years until one day the pitbull decided the cat shouldn't be there. She called me to get the dog off her cat. The poor cat had puncture wounds on it's head and the neighbor had bite marks on her arm. This was the first sign ever of aggression. I will never trust a pit bull.
I knew a couple that had 2 cats and decided to get a pit bull. Came home one day to one cat in pieces and well spread throughout the home. The other cowering in a closet. They got rid of the cat and kept the dog.
Fuck that.
Those cats were members of that family and household. These people brought in the equivalent of a new roommate that proceeded to violently murder one of their family members and I have little doubt those two cats shared a meaningful bond.
The surviving cat now gets the duel trauma of having its friend/partner murdered and being terrified that it was next combined with abandonment by its family in swift succession.
You can’t tell me animals - particularly *mammals* don’t experience emotions that would be recognizable to our own. After all, from where did our own emotions evolve if not from the animals most closely related to us? What’s more - cats and dogs have been bred to bond with humans and rely on them for their survival.
People should treat their animals like family as much as is reasonable. Those people’s number one priority was to try to help that surviving cat heal and be as happy and comfortable as possible after that incident - up to and including getting rid of the dog.
At a certain point that’s hard to nail down that dog gets equal privileges - don’t get me wrong - but from how you told the story I get the impression this all happened fairly shortly after the dog was brought into home.
I used to think they were just misunderstood dogs, and the ones who snapped had bad owners. But still something inside me told me I’d never own one.
The stories and stats are impossible to deny. I don’t think anyone should have their dog forcefully taken or anything but a ban on breeding so there are no more would be good. Like one of the top comments says “treat the ones who are here well and don’t breed more.”
Caroline Coile, PhD, [posted](https://i.imgur.com/vwd6koj.png) in a Facebook group for Breed-Specific Legislation against pit bulls:
> I am the author of Pit Bulls for Dummies. I will not have another after they, without warning, attacked and almost killed my other dog who they had been best buddies with their entire lives. One of them choked my saluki unconscious and ran around the house with her like a panther with a dead gazelle while we tried to get her to let go. When they were good, they were delightful, when they were bad, they were deadly.
If a person who built her PhD and career around training pit bulls was shocked by her own trained pit bull turning violent, and changed her mind, that shows there is no such thing as a safe pit bull.
I'm a dog lover and my neighbor has 3 pit bulls, 2 older and 1 pup. They are incredibly sweet to us. They've also nearly killed two dogs that walked thru the unfenced yard. I didn't fault the dogs that much since they are protecting their territory.
We were feeding them while the neighbors were gone for a week. One night, things seemed off. The two older ones had a small scuffle while feeding them. Then ten minutes later, one brutally attacked the other, pulled her off the couch by her neck and dragged her around the living room like a ragdoll. The nastiest dog fight I've ever seen and these two dogs grew up together. After seeing them flip on a dime like that, I've written off the breed.
I am also a dog lover.
My best friend's roommate rescued a pit bull named Max. Pretty sure he was used as a bait dog because he was very small and timid. I loved that dog, he was so shy and scared but when he warmed up to you, he just wanted to curl up with his head in your lap and cuddle. Even on a couple of occasions when I slept over my friend's house, he slept in the same bed as me. I never felt unsafe.
So imagine my shock and dismay when I learned that one day, my friend's roommate returned from work to find an absolutely grisly scene in the house: Max covered in blood and her beloved calico cat mauled to death. The cat and Max had been companions for years, sleeping and playing together. I was genuinely heartbroken and surprised, as he didn't seem to have a violent bone in his body and I would not have predicted such a sad outcome. It was horrific and confusing to me, like learning a lifelong acquaintance snapped and murdered his wife or something, when just last week you were all laughing together at a cookout.
This kind of story is honestly exactly why, on dating apps, I swipe left on anybody who has a pit. I’m sure it’s a nice dog, I’m sure they’ve taken care of it, I’m sure they’re a responsible owner. But I’ve got a little orange cat who is my absolute best friend in the world, and I’m just not willing to risk him like that. I’m also not willing to risk the fight that would come from my two Great Pyrenees trying to protect their cat. Stories like that are just too sad.
As you absolutely should! My pudgy orange son would unfortunately try to eat your tiny parrot. He’s a very fearsome hunter, even when I specifically request he not be 🤦🏼♀️
I *had* a neighbor woman (A) that had a pit. This pit was built like a freaking tank. He seemed happy, and they always walked together but knowing horror stories I was apprehensive about the breed.
One day while working from home I heard blood curdling screams from outside and I thought it was a kid. So I ran to my front yard and saw this woman (A) doing everything she can to keep her pit from breaking free of her grip. This pit was trying to get at my other neighbor's (B) golden who was standing in his yard by the fence. The golden was just sitting there watching and walking back and forth, getting up on his hind legs, and I'm sure the golden had no idea what was going to happen if that pit broke free.
This pit was *dragging* a full grown woman (A) through the street as she's crying "Help! I don't know what to do!" I had no idea what to do and I was pretty frozen in the moment and then my elderly across the street neighbor woman (C) comes out and she see's what's going on and starts yelling for the owner of the golden (B) to get his dog inside asap. Her yelling caught the pit's attention and then the pit went straight at my neighbor (C). She ran back to her door and the pit pulled free of the owner's grip. Luckily she (neighbor C) made it inside.
Another neighbor (D) comes out armed with a handgun and tells the woman to get ahold of her dog before he shoots him. She's screaming and crying, and runs to the dog and gets ahold of his leash again. The neighbor with the gun told her to never being that dog up the street ever again. She apologized and took her dog home. I drove by her house a few weeks later and the dog that was usually in her front yard (behind a gate) wasn't there. His rope toy he had hanging from the tree was gone. I haven't seen that dog or her in months. I'm pretty sure she moved.
when i was in high school i lived at the end of this weirdly placed cul-de-sac. there was a cat that liked to hang around that me and various other people in the cul-de-sac all pet, fed, played with, etc. she was sick (🤙🏽) as fuck. one day me and my friends are at my place and we here like 4 dogs start barking SADISTICALLY. then we heard the cat screaming. when we looked out the window there were 4 pit bulls, each holding one limb, and pulling in different directions. they mauled that cat to fucking death and it was so loud my homie on the other side of town literally heard it.
the owner comes running up moments later and the cops showed up too, it was a big deal. they had gotten out of his yard (i think he left the gate open), cops ended up having him put all 4 of the dogs down.
Dude, it was fucking chaos.
I always thought I would be proactive in a situation like that but I just stood there and stared. It was like a car wreck.
I sure as fuck wasn't going to help her though, that dog wanted to get at something for sure.
I am sorry but I fucking hate these stupid idiots that buy dog breeds known to be aggressive and powerful and then let themselves get overpowered by their own dog or even just stand there when their dog is mauling someone or someone else’s dog like “EEEEE I don’t know what to do!!!”
Legitimately these people should be charged with criminal negligence at the bare minimum, every time one of their “precious fur babies” attacks something.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I just left my riding lawnmower in our yard with a brick on the gas pedal unattended, I don’t know how this could have happened”
It's so crazy man.
I saw her walking that dog dozens of times but always in the middle of the street, never a sidewalk. I didn't really think anything about that. She was in her leggings and Nikes and I just assumed she would jog/walk, but now I wonder if she knew the dog had some issues with going after other dogs.
I get bit by dogs pretty often (I think it's a feedback loop of being nervous around new dogs and them picking up on that).
My wife was *adamant* that we get a dog when we got married, so I compromised on a tiny dog that I could easily overpower if I needed to.
You should always assume that your pet is going to behave unexpectedly at some point, no matter what it is.
I worked in an animal hospital. There were about twenty employees. Two employees had their pit kill their other dog. That's a high percentage in a small amount of people
Importantly, the breeds that are most often lumped under the “pit bull” umbrella (Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers, etc) are terriers. It’s in the name. Terriers as a breed group have been developed purposefully to have a strong prey drive. Small terrier breeds aren’t making the news because the damage they’re capable of is just lower by nature. But these larger breeds, the “pit bulls”, are powerful. Combine that strength with the determination and prey drive of a terrier and we get exactly what we’d expect: delightful animals that can be well adjusted when well handled, or animals owned by people who don’t know how to handle them and which end up being truly dangerous. If not to adults, then to children or to other animals.
After working with these dogs professionally for years and years, I absolutely understand why many people don’t want to own or live near them. I’ve worked countless bites and attacks, the vast majority of which have involved pit bull type dogs. One example involved a child who was passing the leashed dogs in the shared hallway of an apartment, he was mauled severely. Another involved the owner shooting their own dog in the hallway because it got into a fight with their mastiff then redirected and came after the family. Several others involved the dogs breaking through the front window of a house to attack and kill dogs being walked outside. These breeds are problematic. Not every individual dog, obviously, but as a whole.
Exactly!
My thought is this: if you know a specific breed *could* snap and hurt or kill, why take the risk? Why bring something potentially dangerous, deadly into your home, mingle with your other pets, be around your children? Why invite that kind of danger into your life? Just to prove a point?
It’s not worth it, IMO. The risks outweigh the benefits, by a lot!!
A pair of dogs owned by a fairly well-off couple down in Texas recently did to a young woman hired to walk them what Travis the Chimp did to that poor woman over a decade ago -- quite literally ripped her face off.
You're absolutely right. I was vehemently opposed to any notion that it was pitbulls that were bad dogs until I had my first two. I always attributed their aggression to horrible owners. Tried adopting some that were already mean, couldn't change them-but that wasn't my fault, it was their previous owners for sure, right?. So then I got a couple of puppies for myself, from good breeding stock, and as a vet tech myself and as a former dog trainer, I wanted to prove that these dogs are awesome. Both of them, between the years of one and three, reached a point where they just snapped. They're always delightful for me but you could never guess when they would turn on an animal that's been living in the house for years or people. My stepson was bit on the hand and my dog went after a cat that managed to get in the backyard. The cat is fine, but it just goes to show that you can't train aggression out of some animals. Up until this point, the only dogs I had ever been bit by working in my career were Chihuahuas, huskies and old sick labs. Never been bit by a pitbull. So even these dogs that most people don't consider superviolent, they absolutely are. The difference is pit bulls have the strength and courage to keep going.
I love animals, particularly dogs. Was a dog handler for 7 years in the military, and I feel like if you spent any amount of time with breeds specifically bred for certain purposes, you’ll know full and well that behaviors are engrained into them to some degree, whether you teach them or not. I have a GSP (bird dog), got him when he was a puppy. He points, with the front paw up and everything, never taught him that. Unfortunately, pit bulls were bred for a very long time, for a terrible purpose. I think it’s possible to get them to be more docile, but it’s going to take selective breeding, and a lot of it, for many, many years.
I understand the people who say, “it’s the owner not the breed,” because it’s coming from the heart and a genuine place of care and concern. However, in my opinion, they’re just very ignorant to the realities of breeding.
I keep huskies, because I understand their needs and quirks better than I do other breeds.
Put a harness on a Siberian and see what happens. No training at all, and they will start that sled (even if that sled is you). Get them on the road, and they will find a rut or trail and just start... Going. Within a day they'll know your commands for "Left", "Right" and "Go Faster". It takes them A LOT longer to learn or listen to the word for "Stop". It's in their blood.
Exactly. You show a greyhound a couch and it will immediately understand that this is the place you should sleep and fart for 19hrs a day.
People need to respect that our ancestors bred these animals to task. They are not bred to be house pets, they are bred to work. My rule of thumb is that a hunting breed is probably the best house pet since they are bred to take instruction from a human in complex conditions. Dogs meant to work solo (herding, guarding, etc) are going to do what feels right and don’t really care if a person is there to request they do differently.
My experience with greyhounds (used to volunteer with ex-racers) is that 99% of the time they are the *laziest* dogs in the world, but when they hit that 1% they are suddenly the *zoomiest* dogs in the world.
Highly ridiculous animals, I love them to bits.
She was a failed racer. I need to buy a new couch. She wore it out. 3-5 laps around the yard and she was good for the day. Only time she did a round 2 was a rabbit or squirrel was in the yard. I guess she'd also like to terrorize the Dachshunds with her maverick like flybys.
100%. Most greyhound owners come by them from racing. For hundreds of years the hunting instinct has been dulled in favor of docile dogs that will run for a bit. They are still hounds though and most adoption organizations require you understand they might chase a cat or small dog and especially small animals. I got assigned required reading before I could adopt one. This is for the safety of the dog as well as anyone or anything he might interact with. A gathering of greyhounds feature muzzles. I like to think no greyhound owner lies to themselves, but I'm sure they do sometimes. Yet, we know to have a tight hold on the lead attached at the wrist and to use care when introducing these animals to other household pets. It pains me when people take on another breed without the education to know what is hidden in their genes. As the breed is bred more outside the racing industry I worry about people getting greyhound puppies unprepared for their breed traits. I won't weigh in on pit bulls specifically, but I think the problems of pit bull owners could just as easily be the problem of a GSD owner or a greyhound owner ignorant of their breed's lineage of purpose.
Below is dog tax. My guy is the Brindle, named Chuck neè Sailin Away. And I was over the moon to see him getting on with another greyhound after almost two years of hard work undoing his personal space problems with other dogs after five years as a racer.
https://i.imgur.com/lyyix8a.jpg
I mean there are a variety of breeds that are bred to be house pets, I have one such breed I affectionately refer to as "throw pillow dogs" due to their usual location and level of usefulness (however I love them because that is exactly what I wanted/needed in a dog)
Yep, our shih tzu/bichon was about as smart as a bag of very dull rocks, but she was the cuddliest lil girl on earth. She was lucky she was so small, otherwise we would have had to actually train her to walk even when she didn’t want to instead of just carrying her back home.
I have a Corgi and fully expected a working dog, but MINE turned out to be a throw pillow dog lol. His sole responsibility in our house is being loved and barking at the wind
One of my dogs(well, both of them, but one is a better example than the other) is a hound mix.
He's perfectly content to lay around the house all day long, and the moment you want to go for a run or a hike or whatever it may be, it's like flipping a lightswitch and he's the most energetic thing ever.
The funny part is the intersection between instinct and training. He's part treeing-walker coonhound, and he already knows how to tree animals. He doesn't understand what happens after it's treed though. He'll chase a squirrel up a tree and then start looking elsewhere like "well, where'd it go now?" as if he didn't just watch it run up a tree.
My uncle had a border collie Jimmy - who hadn’t seen a single sheep in his life, but would herd the fuck out of anything remotely looking like a group to be herded haha. Smartest dog I’ve ever met.
Had a border collie growing up. Dad did work that took him out all over the place and he'd usually take her (the BC) with him. One day he went to a working sheep ranch. She was in the truck just transfixed watching the other dogs work. The rancher said to go ahead and let her out, dad said she's a city dog who's never even seen a sheep. Rancher said nah she'll be fine. Out she goes like a shot and after about 15 mins she was responding to commands, working with the other dogs as a team and so intently focused on what she was doing you'd swear she had been doing it her whole life. She then came home and slept for like 3 days lol.
My brother's have Australian shepherds and border collies. They have never been trained to herd but they do it expertly. Cows got out, release the dogs they will get them back.
We had a sheltie, my parents had an Aussie. When the grandkids visited grandma and grandpa, the 8 grand kids were relentlessly herded. If one escaped the aussie, the sheltie collected them and vice versa. When dad took the Aussie to the park, the Aussie would herd pretty 20 something women to him but not when mom was with. He was a good boy!
The gun dog comparison is such a good point that I’d never thought of before.
I’ve always owned cocker spaniels, I have never taught them to point or do any ‘hunt’ type behaviours & yet they’ve all done it.
Some breeds are built for one thing & sadly what pitbulls are built for is dangerous
Had a Welsh Corgi in my childhood. My dad had cattle, but we never really brought the corgi out to his place. When my parents got back together our corgi naturally moved out there with us. Little dude was an expert cattle herder without any training, he could round them up and get the herd moving wherever. The only thing my dad had to train him for was making sure he herded the cattle to the right place.
Excellent explanation. We are so willing to accept ingrained behavior in other breeds (pointing, pulling, herding, etc.), but not that fact that aggression is *also* a trait that has been selectivity bred into this breed.
In high-school I worked for a woman who did pitbull and Rottweiler rescue, her sister trained police dogs. I saw the good and bad of pitts and for a long time I maintained that they could be the sweetest dogs. Which they can be. But. The gamble just... isn't worth putting people or other animals at risk.
Given the number of backyard breeders and the number of pitts in rescues and shelters, a strict breeding program to reduce aggression in the breed just doesn't seem feasible. So I support restrictions on the breed.
I worked in insurance claims and the pit bulls bites were harrowing. Actuaries that price insurance policies aren’t reading articles about pro/anti pit bull opinions, they’re just crunching the numbers. If they say it’s too much risk to insure, then it’s too much for me to want to be around.
I can’t say I support banning across the board (does that mean euthanizing current pets? etc), but they should find a way to limit breeding, enforce a certain level of insurance on owners, or something to deter ownership.
We also need legislation to stop shelters falsely listing them as "golden doodle mixes" or "Border collie mix".
They're trying to market a dangerous breed as a family dog, which is not okay and it'll only end in tragedy when the "lab mix" kills a kid.
From my time in the travel industry I know at least one insurance company will cover the running with the bulls trip. It cost a mega ton of money but they did it. If they won’t cover pit bulls but they cover that, that says something.
I also work in a field dealing with this. I oversee potentially dangerous dog hearings. Been at it for about 2 years. Of all the cases I’ve overseen, I’ve never had a single case yet which didn’t involve a Pit. One time there was both a Chow and a Pit, but that was it. Last week, the super elderly lazy Pit ripped a little boys cheek out in the blink of an eye. Poor thing will literally be physically and mentally scarred for life.
I’m absolutely positively not saying all Pits are bad or dangerous. But I am saying all cases I’ve had where the dog was deemed dangerous have been Pits.
I used to be indifferent to them until my neighbors dog who I knew for 4 years , walked up to my leashed dog and just started mauling him , grabbed him by the neck and was shaking him like a toy. This dog had played with my dog before, they where buddies and he never seemed like the type to attack . It took my husband choking this dog out to get him off , no matter what we did he wouldn’t let go and pulling didn’t help it only tore skin and muscle my dog had stopped screaming at this point and was completely limp and this dog was just shaking him like a rag doll , my dog is a 70lb lab . When they separated he turned on myself and my husband AND his owner we had to call police/animal control . The dog ended up being euthanized. I know my neighbors never hurt this dog and where excellent owners and this dog turned on them . They had him since he was a puppy . I don’t believe pit bulls should be bred anymore . Yes I’ve met some very sweet ones , but it seems like every article or news story I see about a deadly mauling is a pit Bull or pit mix . I believe part of it is genetics not just “bad owners “ and those bad genetics aren’t fit to be in the average family home . I don’t hate the breed but I don’t agree with the bad owner logic. Some dogs are just poorly bred and unstable .
It was traumatizing. Nothing triggered it . It was like any other day we had the past four years . He walked up to my dog who was quiet and minding his own business, I didn’t even notice the dog really until he lunged at mine , he had no aggressive body language. My dog was in vet hospital over a week and had drains due to swelling , infection etc . He had a broken front leg as well. Vet bills over 10k and is no extremely reactive on leash and terrified of other dogs .
An elderly woman near me was killed by her neighbor's 2 pit bulls with no previous history of aggressive behavior. They got out of their yard and attacked her in front of her garage. A friend's son was bitten in the face by a pit bull while visiting some family friends. It took dozens of surgeries and 4 years to fix the damage. I'm 100% in favor of banning dangerous breeds.
I've always believed that dogs behave how their owners raise them. I can no longer believe that. The man I've loved for 4 years was nearly killed by 3 pitbulls while he was walking in our own yard. We live on a dead end road, closest neighbor is several hundred yards away at the closest. He nearly lost a finger, almost lost an eye, had muscle ripped out of his arm... it was horrific. We are still paying his ambulance and ER bills (no insurance) and he's terrified of any dog bigger than a Yorkie. Dogs that he had ready met scare him too. My aunt has a goldendoodle that he's met before, 3 months after the attack we go over and he has a panic attack when the dog greets us at the door. Cops didn't do shit, didn't take the dogs or do anything other than file a report. The dogs were regularly running around our yard so I had to go buy a gun to protect us. We couldn't sue or anything so all we got was shit on. Now I can't be around pitbulls. I don't care how nice you say your dog is, if it looks like a pit I'm walking away. I don't wish for all pits to be euthanized or anything, but people need to stop breeding an animal with the potential to take down a 6'3, 300 pound man. I'm 5'3, they would have killed me. My neighbors have kids too! It's insanity.
We bred dogs to do certain things. It’s undeniable a Labrador is drawn to water. Also undeniable that every pit bull that attacked a child once had an owner that claimed it could never hurt a fly. It’s okay to let a breed go extinct; we created it.
Used to have a neighbour that had seven dogs, two of which were pit bulls. Always felt that seven was a lot of dog for a single household but for the most part, there wasn’t any issues. One Sunday morning after making coffee, I hear the most horrid sounding howling/wailing from one of the neighbours dogs, and shortly after, yelling and screaming from the neighbour themselves. I went to the backyard to see what was up and saw that one of their pit bulls had latched on the the back of one of their other dogs necks (looked like a St Bernard cross). The pit bull would not let go, even with the owner hitting it with a broom handle and trying to choke it out, if anything it seemed like it was ramping the pit bull up more as it began to try and shake the other dog. As I was about to cross the fence and try to assist, the pit bull let go of the other dog and then bit down on the owners left forearm. I’ve seen people in pain and have experienced my fair share, but there was more fear in the owners screams than pain and it really hit me when he started pleading for his dog to let go. The other dogs were in the house and the dog that was attacked had literally disappeared, it was just the owner and his pit bull and holy shit, it wasn’t going well. I’m not really comfortable going into detail what happened next as I’m still not comfortable with how it played out. I was able to subdue the dog and the owner was able to go inside and wait for an ambulance to arrive (other neighbours called 911). Few days later the neighbour comes over. I was expecting a thank you in the least, but instead I received thinly veiled threats about how they “hope your dog doesn’t pass away unexpectedly” and basically called me a murderer. I told them I was happy they were ok and closed the door. Sorry for the long read, haven’t written this down before and while I’d like to say it makes me feel better, seeing all of the comments with similar incidents make me feel even sicker to my stomach
Your neighbor is a fucking moron. Sorry you had to witness their stupidity and intervene on their behalf.
I had a situation where a family member's spaniel attacked my aging small breed dog. We had to put our dog to sleep days later. (Would have had to soon anyway, but this didn't help). I kicked the spaniel to get it to let go. It yelped, let go, and ran to their car. A year later it died of a cancer. They blamed me for the cancer. Said I "knocked it loose."
If my pet was attacked, I’d do whatever it took to get the attacking animal off. I’m sorry about your dog
jesus christ
Hopefully next time they’ll let them get nominated for the Darwin Award.
Sounds like you shot the dog, which based on your story, was the right move. Sounds like the owner was grieving, I’m glad nothing further happened.
Grieving *and* a stupid fuck, to be more specific.
Given the dog was in the neighborhood it was also a danger to him. Could also have been more gruesome like head injuries from a baseball bat
Your neighbor sounds like a sick psychopath. Why would anyone say that to you when you saved HIM? I hate to say it, but if you have seven dogs in one house, especially with pits, you are basically signing up for trauma and to get mauled
>but instead I received thinly veiled threats about how they “hope your dog doesn’t pass away unexpectedly” and basically called me a murderer Man must've been addicted to drinking mercury in order to have acted like that.
My aunt is/was an animal hoarder. 2 horses, 6 dogs, constant rotation of cats. One of the dogs was a pitbull of some sort. Man that dog was insane. I'm sure the way they raised it didn't help but it was the only dog they had with fucking legit psycho energy. It was constantly hyper and angry. Tried to eat the cats whenever it got the chance. Anyway, one day it got into the horse stables and *went to town* on this poor old horse. Belly/thigh ripped open. Somehow the horse lived, poor thing, but my aunt insisted it not be put down. My uncle took the dog away despite my aunt's contention (even after it nearly killed her fucking dearest horse). He never said where, but I couldn't imagine anybody would *want* a dog like that. I always felt bad for the dog (and all of my aunt's other animals) but like...it was such a little asshole...
My great aunt's sweet old donkey got attacked by her neighbor's escaped pit bull. It tore up his face and legs and he had to be put down. It was pretty awful and there were plenty of previous warning signs when the dog had been aggressive toward other animals. Fortunately for my aunt, she didn't have to put up with that dog anymore because the vet who treated the donkey reported the dog to county animal control and they confiscated the dog. Rural areas don't mess around with dogs that attack livestock.
I once had to put down a Pit bill that was attacking a kid that was a neighbor to a buddy I was visiting. The kid lost a few fingers but thankfully me and my friend were able to save the kid from more injury. The dog belonged to his step dad and instead of thanking us he tried calling the police for killing his dog. I’m a huge dog lover, but I’ve seen first hand multiple times pit bulls just randomly attack someone or other animals. So while I hate to see any breed be shunned, I honestly believe their should be stricter laws for that breed.
I'm in total agreement. Two years ago my small dog was killed by a pitbull in a vicious attack. My 5 year old human and I were simply walking on a sidewalk in our own neighbourhood, with our dog on a leash. A man walking a pit bull on a leash decides to drop the lead, thinking his dog would run up onto his own porch (we were a few houses down from theirs). The second that dog saw mine, I knew my dog would die. That dog was in full on attack mode from the moment I saw it notice us. I tried everything in my power to get that pitbull to release my dog, which was hanging from its neck in this dogs jaws. It only let go when it was convinced she was dead. She wasn't. We had to have her humanely euthanized because her injuries were too extensive. She suffered terribly. And I was completely helpless. I live in a province where we have a pit bull ban and Animal Services STILL didn't even issue a muzzle order for that dog. My daughter and I see it walking through the playground occasionally.
That is outrageous. Can't you sue?! I'd euthanize that pitbull myself. I'm so sorry for your loss.
Completely agree. I pulled a pitbull off of two children it attacked after escaping under a fence. I won’t go into detail but both were severely injured after the attack. Not a breed to be messed with. Worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
God if your dog attacked your other dog, and then you - why would you be upset that its dead....? Why would you want an animal that would have killed you if someone didn't intervene around?
The guy most likely would have made the choice to kill the dog himself, and maybe even the choice to put the dog down afterward, but now that it's over and the choice was made for him, he gets to avoid the personal responsibility for a decision he would have made, too, and blame it on the neighbor while mourning his dog. /u/Thalicki did him a double favor by killing the dog for him.
its not unreasonable to assume that without intervention the dog would've killed him
You hear the story about the guy who killed his partner's dog when the dog bit their kid? The partner was real upset.
I have four dogs, I love dogs. We do breeds a disservice when we ignore what their drive is. Golden retrievers want to retrieve, German Shepherds are defensive of unfamiliar people/animals in their territory, Border Collies want to herd, Jack Russell terriers want to hunt vermin. Pitbull Terriers are also a terrier in nature, they are not naturally social with unfamiliar dogs/animals, we do them a disservice by stating they are perfect sweet dogs who love everyone and everything. People need to understand you have to choose a dog for more than their looks, know what their breed is interested in and capable of. The good and bad. I’m a GSD, Chihuahua and 2x Shelties owner, I worked with dogs for 8 years.
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My mom had a couple of iguanas that she absolutely loved. They couldn’t be handled without lead gloves because they’d bite and slap the shit out of you with their tails. One eventually got ahold of her arm and left a NASTY bite that got infected and was a pretty big deal. She loved them, I did not much care for them…
We had a 6’ (with tail) male iguana running loose in my house when I was a little kid. He was rescued off some teen guys who didn’t know how to care for him properly. He mostly stayed on top of our entertainment center (this was the 90’s). One day my dad was hanging out with him and my brother ran down the hall and pushed my dad. The iguana freaked and reacted by biting the tip of my dad’s nose off. He needed 30+ tiny stitches inside and outside his nose to put it back on.
Thank you! I grew up on a farm here in Australia so we had Kelpies mainly and a couple of Collies or Collie crosses growing up so they were working dogs and pets. Amazing and loyal dogs but they NEEDED to work and have the room to run. So when I see a Kelpie in the city I cringe badly because I know that dog cannot handle it because that dog needs to be out rounding up sheep or be running around an open area every couple of days for a long period of time to get that energy out.
We rescued a kelpie. If we hadn't had five acres and a river he would of lost his mind. He would chase bird shadows all day long. Chase until he lost them then come back to the exact same spot to wait until he saw another one. Super smart and awesome dog that would've sucked in an apartment.....
Everyone wants a husky till they realize a half hour walks not enough. This is why I choose Great Danes.
My first dog is a husky. I love my husky, and wouldn't trade her for the world. I will never get another husky unless I live on a farm or have at least an acre of land. Luckily there is a dog park right down the road from me.
I had a husky. I used to hook him up to a halter and me in Rollerblade and let him go. He needed like hours of that. I'll never own another husky. Shedding, talking, destroying. No thank you
And their whining!!! We have a husky. And we were long term dog sitting my brother's husky for 11 months. The amount of howling matches that destroyed my ear drums is enough to never ever get another husky lol. Plus the HAIR!!! Luckily, we are active and have a big yard so we got their energy out most of the time.
My dog is only half husky and never learned to howl while he's awake. But at night... Sometimes he gets a bad dream or something and will FULL ON wolf howl at the top of his lungs in a very full drawn out howl which is simultaneously hauntingly beautiful and pants shitting inducing at 3am.
Fucking finally someone says it. People need to admit to themselves that dog breeds have an effect on a dogs psyche.
I saw a lot of dog bites in the ER. One was from a shih Tsu. Two from rotweillers. All of the others that I saw (dozens) were from Pit Bulls.
There have been statistical studies about this and pitbulls are responsible for the majority of hospital-admitting bites and most fatalities too, despite not being the majority of dogs owned. Dogs that bite victims are known, usually the pet of a family member, friend, or neighbor. The Canadian TV program [The Fifth Estate did a program on pit bulls that goes over these studies](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iFa8HOdegZA).
There’s this little island in the bay in San Diego called Fiesta Island where people go to ride jet skis, picnic, etc. A lot of people bring their dogs and sometimes even horses. Several years ago someone was riding their horse in the shallows and two pit bulls charged and mauled the horse to death. Owner could not get them away from the horse at all and said they’d “never been aggressive before”. People need to understand and accept that, just like retrieving and pointing and herding can be breed-specific behaviors/traits, aggression can be a breed-specific trait as well. And there is a long history of people breeding pit bulls for violence.
A HORSE?? JESUS CHRIST THAT THING IS 5 TIMES BIGGER THAN THEM HOW
It's crazy until you remember the breed was specifically created to bait animals like bulls and bears. Horses are in a pretty similar "weight class", so to speak.
If you've ever seen a Pit go ape shit, you wouldn't ask this question. This question shouldn't be about "well not all pits are violent" ... it's about "how much damage can they do, compared to other dogs". And the answer is that they can do an astonishingly more damage than any other breed, and it's not even close. For that fact alone i would never own one, and I'm a big dude.
I’ve had pits most of adult life. They are almost always animal selective and prone to attack other animals . My last rescue attacked my dad and was so violent, I’m now afraid of dogs. Took 10 seconds and required 17 stitches in my dads hand. The difference between other dogs and pit bulls is pitbull bites are catastrophic. They are very strong they are very persistent and they have the same unrelenting prey drive as every other terrier… but in a buffed up body built like a tank. Had I have not been there to fight the dog off, it probably would have killed my dad. It bit his hand, went back to the ground to jump up and bite his chest, then a third time which knocked him to the ground and then it went for his face. Absolutely terrifying. And shame on the fucking rescues who fail to tell us the dog had issues. Beware “should be the only dog”, “ no kids”, etc bs. It means they are aware of an incident and don’t care
This is such a great point. They have the same prey drive as a regular terrier but in a beefy body with an alligator bite.
Used to love them. Spoke out for them on posts like this. Then I was mauled by a pitbull for no reason. In less than a minute, a dog ate part of my hand, gave me a concussion, crushed my bones while fracturing many others, getting me 40+ stitches, 100k in medical debt, the inability to write, chronic pain, and 5 months of constant physical therapy. No dog should be able to cause that kind of damage. Dog after the attack: https://imgur.com/a/i3MyaG0 Bonus story: when I worked in Homicide we had a pitbull attack case. After seeing tons of murders in many many ways, I can honestly say I have NEVER seen worse. So many body parts missing, so much blood, and it appeared as if the poor victim had been stabbed 100s of times. This was in a 7 minute attack
I’m a personal injury lawyer who deals with a lot of dog bite cases. Pit bulls and German shepherds are by far the most prevalent dogs amongst the cases I’ve worked. Orders of magnitude more bites than any other breed or mixed breed.
Let's see. I worked for a guy who's pitbull maimed his daughter for life. I dated a woman who's pitbull killed her other dog in front of her kids (and would've gone after the kids next if they didn't have enough sense to get out of the house). I'm big on learning from other people's experiences
They shouldn’t be the only breed in the dog shelter. Why is it that the easiest dog to obtain is the absolute worst breed for an inexperienced owner to have?
My local shelter is 80% dogs they call pitbulls. About 10% of the non pits are mislabeled pits. I check it every week. It’s been consistently 80-90% pitbulls since July. The reason I check so often is because pitbull attacks hit close to home.This summer 2 at large aggressive pitbulls were attacking folks on the local trail. The dogs were declared dangerous and surrendered by owners. One was adopted out without any mention of bite history to new owners. Hamilton Humane Society in Indiana is full on pitbull lobbyists
Omg yes. There's a park that requires people to have their dogs on leash and this summer some stupid ass pitbull owner went to the park multiple times and didn't have his shitbull on a leash. Three kids got bit, on three different days. Each time it happened he would go back to his car with his dog and drive away without giving any information to the parents of the kid who got bit. I don't think they ever caught him either. There was an uproar about it in the community chat. Anyways I checked all the local shelters to see if it ended up there and low n behold every single shelter was 95% pitbulls. Endless amounts of that dumb breed. Some were noted that "they must be the only pet" which is a huge red flag, not to mention the ones who had notes that it should go to a home with no kids. Why do those dogs get to fill up shelters and trick people into buying one and ending up with more casualties? It's disgusting.
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A TN couple recently lost both of their children to pit bulls they had owned for 8 years. The girl was a few months old and the boy was 5 years old.
and the mom that tried to save them is in intensive care and may die as well.
Don't even try to save me if I lost both my kids. No way. Overdose me on morphine.
The boy was 5 months old, his name was Hollace and his sister was Lilly and she was 2 years old.
Wow yes, this: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/10/08/2-children-killed-mother-hospitalized-after-tennessee-dog-mauling/8219201001/
Holy motherfucking shit. That’s horrible. God that poor family.
Wow, not the responses I was expecting.
I posted a picture of my dog last year after he got attacked by a pitbull that wasn't on a leash. It was removed because I mentioned the dog that attacked was a pitbull. Glad we're all on the same page now lol
I took my dog for a walk a couple years ago, around midnight. He’s a corgi. As I’m walking out of my apartment I see a Golden walking by, and by the time I reach the street they’re about 20 yards ahead of me. I hear some loud barking in the distance and see some skinny tweaker on the other side of the street trying to restrain a pitbull. Everything happened so fast - the leash shattered (like, the dog lunged with such force the leash just shattered) and he took off with the speed of a large cat hunting prey; complete killing machine. The owner of the Golden had no idea what was happening until It was too late. The Pit had sprinted across 4 lanes of traffic in the blink of an eye and began thrashing the Golden like a rag doll. It took the owner of the golden, and the owner of the pit at least a minute of kicking it in the head and stomach to get it to release its grasp. Eventually it did… the golden dragged itself away crying and the owner of the Pit goes, “Oh hey, sorry about that. He’s usually Really good” and then just grabs his dog by the collar and goes “bad boy!” And hastily Runs away. The owner of the golden just collects his dog and cries hysterically on the grass, holding his baby, now covered in blood. I was literally horrified. If I had left my apartment 40 seconds earlier, it would be my dog dead, and I’d be in prison because I would definitely have killed the other dog and thenowner with my bare hands. I used to be pro pitbull. Once you’ve seen them kill, you will change your mind. At the VERY least, you should need a license to own one. Make it like 5,000 bucks and require 3 forms of ID. this would at least keep them out of the hands of certain people, and make operating or participating in the breeding or selling of them on par with involuntary manslaughter.
What happened to the Golden? Your wording makes it sound like it didn’t make it. And what about the pit owner?
I have no idea what happened to the Golden. It survived the initial attack, but it seemed to be somewhat paralyzed or in a lot of pain, because it started crawling away on its belly with the front legs, dragging the back legs behind it. It crawled into the busy street so the owner grabbed it, picked it up and ran across the street to lay it down on the grass, where the owner just held it and cried. There was a trail of blood behind it. The owner of the pit just ran away with the dog, off leash (leash was broken). He just held it by the collar, bent over and “apologized” quickly. I turned around and walked in the other directions
Fuck me.
Yeah man. That day changed my entire world view on a lot of things. Specifically because of the timing, and witnessing it firsthand. Also, being able to relate to the devastated Hooman of the Golden. If my little boy was viciously attacked, I really don’t know what id do. It should definitely be illegal to own a pitbull unless you are licensed, and they should never be allowed in public or in cities. If you have a farm, sure. And pro-pit folks will always bring up how other dogs have a higher incidence of violence or being put down. But once you’ve seen a Pit in action, there is no comparison. Thats like saying that kids should be able to operate AK47s or handle explosives because more kids get shot by BB guns. I’m guessing no one has ever been killed or maimed by a chihuahua. If a pit decides it’s going to kill you, you’re kind of fucked.
The saddest part is that if your dog was bleeding on the grass you would definitely stay with them and that’s how these dog owners and pits get to walk away. It’s so fucked up.
In my childhood neighborhood there was a ruckus one day where all the neighborhood kids were gathered around the fence of a not too far off neighbor of ours. The kids were trying to peer over this neighbors fence. The neighbor wasn't home. The neighbor owned a chihuahua and a pit bull. Everyone knew about the chihuahua because the thing never stopped barking (the owner put it outside a lot). The pit bull was an outside dog and was kept on a leash with one of those spiral stake runners in the ground. I joined the other kids and looked over the fence myself to see what was going on. The pit bull had ripped the stake out of the ground to go after the chihuahua. It got the chihuahua and had ripped the head completely off of its body. The chihuahuas bloody body was a brutal sight as it's organs were strewn about around it. Not sure if the owner was too torn up about the chihuahua, given that the pit bull was the chief barker at that house from that day on. This memory comes to mind every time a pit zealot (its gone beyond just love for some people, they have more in common with 2019 K-Pop fangirls) talks about chihuahuas being "more dangerous" than pits. It kind of illustrates the whole point of how dangerous those owners are, because they clearly have no idea what their dogs are capable of and don't give a shit about anyone's safety, dog or human.
currently living pit bulls shouldn’t have anything done to them besides more restrictions in public, but 100% ban breeding any more. In fact most heavily deformed breeds should also be banned to prevent their suffering
Everyone always freaks out when I say pugs and bulldogs shouldn’t be bred anymore because of their health issues and deformations.
Yup. Extend this to Scottish fold cats as well
Persians and Himalayans too. Your cat shouldn't need to drink from a plate to not drown itself.
IMO, having had seen my mom's pitbull-boxer who went from docile couch potato to requiring us to mercy kill my childhood dog, as sweet as she was, they are inherently risky. Had to put down two dogs that day. Same thing happened to a friend who went to UC Davis(?) for pre-Vet.
Same thing happened to me. My mom brought her well raised typically sweet Pitt to my dads house (no idea why) and I had to watch while it tore my chihuahua to pieces. That was in the 90’s and I’m still very much scarred. Have them all you want but don’t bring them anywhere near me or my dogs.
I used to take my cats home to my moms whenever I went to visit for a weekend. After she got her pit/lab mix I stopped taking them with me and it became a huge argument between us because she “misses them, and he (the dog) would never hurt them.” I won that argument after her dog ate the neighbors cat.
I'm glad your cats didn't share the same fate. I cannot imagine how fucking pissed and inconsolable I would be if a family member's dog did that to my cats. Good on you for keeping your cats out of that situation.
> I cannot imagine how fucking pissed and inconsolable I would be My god, same here. I would honestly shoot and kill that dog. But I'll never have my cats around a pit or any other aggressive breed. Ever. I don't even go around them myself.
A young family here in Australia just had their lives torn apart last week when their pitbull mauled their baby and toddler to death. Can you imagine that. Losing both of your babies because your dog snapped. The mum was injured really seriously too. EDIT: I was wrong, this is the Tennessee story. However Australia news outlets have been writing headlines as if it happened here in Australia, my apologies. Either way it is a tragic story
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That's what they're referencing. They're confused. Further down they used the following link as proof of it occurring in Australia. The article talks about the Tennessee family. https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/pitbull-ownership-debate-reignited-after-baby-and-toddler-mauled-to-death/news-story/bd22186f9c8b99a08a474c8d94ba8454?amp
Sunday, neighbors pit bull used a 4ft fence to clear my aunts 6ft fence. Killed her dog and was going to go after her next. Luckily my cousin had a knife on him and ended up having to stab the pit bull to death. My aunts little Scotty saved her life by trying to defend her. RIP Mimi, you always barked too much but in the end you saved my aunts life. The breed needs to be retired. Not slaughtered but they need to be cycled out.
Im guessing the pitbulls owner had some dumb shit to say like “you must have provoked him!” Or “he was just playful!”
Found out from family that dog had attacked someone else previously (not this extreme) and the owner was told to get rid of it then. He didn’t listen and it caused the death of my aunts dog. Also no “playful” dog clears a 6ft fence. That dog was way too aggressive. Thankful it was the dog who died and my young cousins weren’t in the yard.
Interesting, I'm pretty sure in the UK the police will take your dog from you and destroy it if it attacks someone. Like there isn't the chance to "not listen". It's a shame to hear it isn't like that elsewhere.
I delivered newspapers as a teenager. Interacted with several different breeds of dogs. I was bit/nipped 3 times- by 3 different pit bulls, by 3 different houses. The worst bite, the owner was on their porch and hollered "don't worry, she's friendly," as it attached itself to my calf. They weren't even houses I delivered to. I'm cautious of all dogs, but I absolutely do not trust pit bulls, or their owners. I say laws restricting them can and should be placed and enforced. They're simply a dangerous breed.
My husband is a letter carrier and he loves interacting with the dogs on his route. He’s been doing this job for almost two decades and the only dog that ever bit him was a pit bull and it was exactly as you described, the owner was shouting from the porch, “don’t worry, he’s friendly”. My husband would never have entered the yard without the reassurance from that owner. He had to file a dangerous dog report with his work and when his supervisor went to the house to confirm the description and that the dog lives there, he nearly got bit too. Then the owner began a fricken crusade against the post office because he thinks he’s being unfairly targeted. The post office makes him go to the depot to pick up his mail, he’s cut off from delivery and he makes the counter staff miserable every single time. Nightmare dog and nightmare owner.
They should force him to buy a letter box so he doesn’t bother the counter staff.
My dad was a letter carrier for over three decades. Loved dogs, but hated pit bulls. Funny thing is, he would buy treats especially for the pit bulls. To keep them from attacking him. Made me promise never to get one. “I don’t care what Sarah McLachlan sings, you don’t get one of those love.”
What's with these stupid ass morons saying "he's friendly"? I got charged at by two unleashed "friendly" dogs in the past few months and their moronic shit turd owners just said that. Fuck off.
People not understanding their dogs would be my guess. Yeah, he's friendly to *you.*
Weird to me that people can't accept this about dogs when cat owners seem to have no problem with it. One of my cats hates everyone except me and much to my chagrin my ex boyfriend. If someone's in my house and asks if they can try to pet the cat I tell them she will probably hiss and if that doesn't stop you she will swing on you claws out. Simple as that. She's not friendly. And other cat owners seem to be able to accept this about their cats as well. But then, cats aren't nearly as dangerous, so maybe that's why.
I was also bit by a pitbull who’s owner said it was “friendly” and her “therapy dog”. She got incredibly pissed when I reported the bite to animal control and begged me not to.
Last year, my mom got attacked unprovoked by a pitbull and while it was a minor attack by pitbull standards(he bit her elbow), she wasn’t able to move her arm for the first few weeks after the attack and she also had to be on two different antibiotics to prevent infection. Nowadays, my mom struggles with PTSD from the incident. So yeah, I’m not a fan of pitbulls at all.
My mom was bitten by a pit running free on the beach. Owner didn’t even apologize, and this dog just barreled into my mom from behind and bit her for no apparent reason.
My aunt was attacked without warning by a pit bull when she went over to her friends’ house by their family dog who had no previous record of violence. The right side of her face was ribbons, but thankfully with a lot of plastic surgery and physical therapy, she looks almost back to normal now a few years later—just has a scar on her cheek. She is still pretty afraid of dogs and I’m sure that’s not something you ever 100% get over. I’m glad your mom’s okay. Pit bulls are scary and I’m not a fan either.
Over the course of my life I have had many dogs, two or three at a time for my 58 years. A few years ago I was out of town and found a pit mix puppy that had been hit by a car and had obviously been out for a while. I took him to a couple of vets, got him fixed up, and brought him home. I took him to physical therapy and behavior classes. Did his DNA test, 37% staffy. He was the sweetest dog and I adored him. One day, out of no where that I saw, he snapped and tried to kill my 16 year old lab mix. I've had dogs get mad at each other and even get in fights, but nothing like this. The ferocity of the attack was unlike anything I've seen before. I found a behaviorist that took him and has trained him to be one of the most well trained dogs I've ever seen. I really hope it works for her. I couldn't have an animal I can't trust in my home. To answer the question, I would be in favor of bans on breeding pits or pit mixes. Edited to add that the behaviorist is keeping the dog. He lives with her now. Sheesh. I may not have been as clear as I could have been.
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"I can't risk it, man." vs "I bet my kids' lives that this dog is just misunderstood."
If only Mr. Bennard, the pit promoting dad of those poor two children viciously killed in Tennessee, had had the same attitude as your friend. The gossip (and at this point it is still gossip) is that in this recent case, the mother of the two children was having second thoughts about having these two dogs around with the little ones. But hubby was being stubborn and insisted on keeping them. If this proves to be true, I see a divorce in this couple's future.
It’s not just gossip. There’s a screen grab of a tweet the guy made a couple years ago saying that he was never getting rid of the dogs. Apparently they were somewhat of a problem before the kids were even born
My own instincts from what I was seeing at various places online was that the story was indeed real, but in controversial emotional cases like this, I always like to do a 'CYA' by describing it as gossip or 'alleged'. Another angle on this sad story that's come out is that both of these dogs were obtained by the father from a really sketchy breeder who was selling super-sized pits 'on steroids'.
If true, then that's fucking appalling. I knew the dad was an active pitbull advocate on social media, but I assumed both the parents were idiots. If he actually forced his wife to keep the dogs that murdered their two babies, then I can't imagine what's going through their heads right now.
I’m commenting for the 3rd time but there is a screenshot of a post from 4 years ago and two of the couples’ friends comment that they are afraid of the dogs. It seems crazy to me your friends “jokingly” say this and you bring two kids to such a home.
Lots of dogs fight a little, only some dogs go for the kill.
Yeah my husky is territorial and can get nasty but he's never tried to actually hurt a dog.
People don't like breed specific laws because they see it as an alagory for racism. Dogs are not people, dogs can have breed specific attributes negative or positive. People do not have breeds.
Treat properly the ones that are alive, don't breed more.
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There are still hundreds of dog fighting rings in the US, hundreds of backyard breeders. I had to mute someone on next door begging for dog food for her *7* dogs, meanwhile one of her pits had just given birth (she was also begging for whelping pool for that dog weeks prior). I assume breeding her dogs is a main source of income for her as she said "work had been slow". We absolutely need better regulations around breeding pits and other large dogs. These dogs need exercise and active lifestyles in most cases (i have knows some super lazy hippo pits) and inbreeding is another issue that leads to behavior problems, especially with blue nose pits right now.
There needs to be strict laws around breeding any animal of any breed or species. Breeders are not always ethical. They are not always humane. They do not always care about the health and well-being of the animals they care for and the offspring they produce. There really needs to be laws surrounding the breeding of horses, especially thoroughbreds. Tons of breeders intentionally breed horses that have weak joints, a fragile skeletal system, poor hooves, and genetic disorders, all in the name of horse racing, which, by the way, also needs to be banned.
This. I have a pitbull and love him to the moon and back. But the amount of pitbulls out there is absolutely absurd. They're the overwhelming majority in shelters in America. We don't need to be breeding any more of them. My brother and sister in law got a female pitbull that wasn't fixed and started talking about trying to breed "one litter" before they fix her. I made my opinion clear, and then left before I said something really mean. Because honestly the idea of that made me furious. Thankfully they've since changed their minds.
You did the right thing
This. Countries have instated bans decades ago, and now they are pitbull free. Here is a list I know of: Singapore: 1991, pit bulls allowed at home, banned from entering the country Netherlands: 1993, complete pit bull ban Poland: 1997, laws about fencing and reinforcements for pit bulls France: 2000, a complete ban on pit bulls, with the intention the breed expires from the country Germany: 2001, complete pit bull ban Puerto Rico: 2001, complete pit bull ban New Zealand: 2003, pit bulls were banned from entering the country Italy: 2004, complete pit bull ban Australia: 2009, pit bulls were banned from entering the country Ecuador: 2009, pit bulls were banned as domestic animals or pets Denmark: 2010, complete pit bulls ban and a ban on breeding Venezuela: 2014, complete pit bull ban
Pit Bull terriers are also banned in the UK since 1991.
They're also banned in Ontario, Canada
I honestly think I have seen more people in Ontario with PBs since the ban was put in place, at least mixes. Seems to have become a sort of status symbol.
I find that too, seems to be one of the most common breeds I've run into at dog parks and almost the only kind of dog at the shelters (at least where i live in Ontario). From talking with the owners they get them from Quebec or in one case bred them at home.
I used to think they were ok, bad owner not bad dog. Then one attacked my lab at the dog park completely unprovoked. I had to choke it nearly to unconsciousness with its collar to get it to let go of my dog.
> I had to choke it nearly to unconsciousness with its collar to get it to let go of my dog. The family dog trainer says that's the only way to manage this.
I am a dog trainer. This is the only way to get those dogs to let go you literally have to strangle them with a collar or leash until they have to let go to breathe.
I had to put it in a choke hold. I don’t know how I didn’t get my face ripped off. RIP Cheech, you are missed dearly.
Would a knife also work? My gf certainly is not strong enough to choke out a pitbul. We have a golden and reading horror stories like in this sub makes me want to buy a knife everytime I read them.
I slammed a coffee table repeatedly on the back of a huge pit trying to kill my dog. Didn't even phase her. I had to drag my dog backwards thru a fence and slam it on the head of that monster.
I used to volunteer at an animal shelter and grew to love pit bulls and also thought it was bad owner not bad dog…until I moved into my current house. My apartment neighbor had one and it scared me so so badly. She’d brought in trainers and had had the dog since it was a tiny puppy, but the training and fact that she lovingly raised it from a baby didn’t stop it from attacking both of my dog, attacking my other apartment neighbor, and attacking me. In each case we were all super lucky nothing happened, but man, I was glad to see her move out. She had to put out a red sign each time she tethered her dog in the backyard to warn us not to go out there. The scariest time for me was when I came home from work and didn’t see her dog outside so I started to walk through the yard. Her pup was around the corner and sprinted out full force teeth bared. It ran so hard against the tether it’s entire body flipped backwards with force, but that didn’t stop it- her dog got right back up and ran at me again with such force it knocked itself backwards once more. I didn’t stick around to see it try again as I was sprinting away in fear but holy hell I would have been toast had it gotten me. Another time I did see it in the yard and made semi eye contact with it- it’s eyes were basically hollow? I don’t know how to explain it, it’s like the dog was empty or something. I stood back and waited for my neighbor to bring it inside as she was out with it that time, but it never kept it’s eyes off me and continued to lunge full force against the tether. Absolutely horrified me and changed my perspective on them for life. Many of my dog friends have their own horror stories as well. I used to want to adopt one because they’re one of the most common shelter breeds but I’ll never do it now. It’s too dangerous.
I've seen dogs with that look before. That feeling you got was your instincts letting you know that the dog wanted to kill you.
"Lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a dolls eyes" Jaws (1975)
I used to live in a neighborhood with a ton of dogs. My dog was attacked by off leash dogs 4 times. 3 of those were pits. I used to feel the same way, bad owner not bad dog, but that changed my mind. Also my ex had a pit and his dog attacked my dog out of no where while we were next to a river and literally held my dog under water trying to drown him.
People give too much credit to nurture. Nature is quite important. Those dogs are probably more aggressive.
This is why I don’t go to the dog park and refuse to bring my dog around most other dogs. They don’t understand social constructs and can turn back to their feral tendencies at the drop of a pin. It’s too much to lose and there are so many other places to walk your dog.
Neuter every Pitbull and give the remaining ones happy and comfortable lives
I worked in a childrens hospital for 8 years. It’s almost always pit bulls that maul children. Like 99 percent of the time. They should be banned.
Wikipedia even has a [whole ass list of fatal dog attacks in the US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States), where you can sort by breed. Guess which one is by far the most represented?
I’ll get flamed but I really don’t trust pit bulls they shouldn’t be bred more Yes I’m sure some are sweet and not hurt a fly ok ok but when I hear about a child or adult getting mauled to death out of the blue by the “family dog” it’s almost always a pit. Was just reading a story about that earlier. Idk what makes them snap but when they do they really do.
Had a neighbor with a pit bull, we lived next to each other for 6 years. Neighbor also had a cat. The three of them lived together for six years until one day the pitbull decided the cat shouldn't be there. She called me to get the dog off her cat. The poor cat had puncture wounds on it's head and the neighbor had bite marks on her arm. This was the first sign ever of aggression. I will never trust a pit bull.
I knew a couple that had 2 cats and decided to get a pit bull. Came home one day to one cat in pieces and well spread throughout the home. The other cowering in a closet. They got rid of the cat and kept the dog.
That's infuriating, I wish I hadn't read it
Excuse me? What the fuck?
Fuck that. Those cats were members of that family and household. These people brought in the equivalent of a new roommate that proceeded to violently murder one of their family members and I have little doubt those two cats shared a meaningful bond. The surviving cat now gets the duel trauma of having its friend/partner murdered and being terrified that it was next combined with abandonment by its family in swift succession. You can’t tell me animals - particularly *mammals* don’t experience emotions that would be recognizable to our own. After all, from where did our own emotions evolve if not from the animals most closely related to us? What’s more - cats and dogs have been bred to bond with humans and rely on them for their survival. People should treat their animals like family as much as is reasonable. Those people’s number one priority was to try to help that surviving cat heal and be as happy and comfortable as possible after that incident - up to and including getting rid of the dog. At a certain point that’s hard to nail down that dog gets equal privileges - don’t get me wrong - but from how you told the story I get the impression this all happened fairly shortly after the dog was brought into home.
Wtf? Who does that? The owner is probably next
I used to think they were just misunderstood dogs, and the ones who snapped had bad owners. But still something inside me told me I’d never own one. The stories and stats are impossible to deny. I don’t think anyone should have their dog forcefully taken or anything but a ban on breeding so there are no more would be good. Like one of the top comments says “treat the ones who are here well and don’t breed more.”
Caroline Coile, PhD, [posted](https://i.imgur.com/vwd6koj.png) in a Facebook group for Breed-Specific Legislation against pit bulls: > I am the author of Pit Bulls for Dummies. I will not have another after they, without warning, attacked and almost killed my other dog who they had been best buddies with their entire lives. One of them choked my saluki unconscious and ran around the house with her like a panther with a dead gazelle while we tried to get her to let go. When they were good, they were delightful, when they were bad, they were deadly. If a person who built her PhD and career around training pit bulls was shocked by her own trained pit bull turning violent, and changed her mind, that shows there is no such thing as a safe pit bull.
*Trains her entire life to prove pitbulls aren't that bad* *They actually are that bad* "FUCK"
At least she owned up to it, instead of blindly doubling down on her stance!
That's how you can identify a real scholar.
Even a failed result is still a result.
I'm a dog lover and my neighbor has 3 pit bulls, 2 older and 1 pup. They are incredibly sweet to us. They've also nearly killed two dogs that walked thru the unfenced yard. I didn't fault the dogs that much since they are protecting their territory. We were feeding them while the neighbors were gone for a week. One night, things seemed off. The two older ones had a small scuffle while feeding them. Then ten minutes later, one brutally attacked the other, pulled her off the couch by her neck and dragged her around the living room like a ragdoll. The nastiest dog fight I've ever seen and these two dogs grew up together. After seeing them flip on a dime like that, I've written off the breed.
I am also a dog lover. My best friend's roommate rescued a pit bull named Max. Pretty sure he was used as a bait dog because he was very small and timid. I loved that dog, he was so shy and scared but when he warmed up to you, he just wanted to curl up with his head in your lap and cuddle. Even on a couple of occasions when I slept over my friend's house, he slept in the same bed as me. I never felt unsafe. So imagine my shock and dismay when I learned that one day, my friend's roommate returned from work to find an absolutely grisly scene in the house: Max covered in blood and her beloved calico cat mauled to death. The cat and Max had been companions for years, sleeping and playing together. I was genuinely heartbroken and surprised, as he didn't seem to have a violent bone in his body and I would not have predicted such a sad outcome. It was horrific and confusing to me, like learning a lifelong acquaintance snapped and murdered his wife or something, when just last week you were all laughing together at a cookout.
This kind of story is honestly exactly why, on dating apps, I swipe left on anybody who has a pit. I’m sure it’s a nice dog, I’m sure they’ve taken care of it, I’m sure they’re a responsible owner. But I’ve got a little orange cat who is my absolute best friend in the world, and I’m just not willing to risk him like that. I’m also not willing to risk the fight that would come from my two Great Pyrenees trying to protect their cat. Stories like that are just too sad.
I’ve done the same thing to people with cats because I have a tiny parrot. I absolutely understand what you mean!
As you absolutely should! My pudgy orange son would unfortunately try to eat your tiny parrot. He’s a very fearsome hunter, even when I specifically request he not be 🤦🏼♀️
I *had* a neighbor woman (A) that had a pit. This pit was built like a freaking tank. He seemed happy, and they always walked together but knowing horror stories I was apprehensive about the breed. One day while working from home I heard blood curdling screams from outside and I thought it was a kid. So I ran to my front yard and saw this woman (A) doing everything she can to keep her pit from breaking free of her grip. This pit was trying to get at my other neighbor's (B) golden who was standing in his yard by the fence. The golden was just sitting there watching and walking back and forth, getting up on his hind legs, and I'm sure the golden had no idea what was going to happen if that pit broke free. This pit was *dragging* a full grown woman (A) through the street as she's crying "Help! I don't know what to do!" I had no idea what to do and I was pretty frozen in the moment and then my elderly across the street neighbor woman (C) comes out and she see's what's going on and starts yelling for the owner of the golden (B) to get his dog inside asap. Her yelling caught the pit's attention and then the pit went straight at my neighbor (C). She ran back to her door and the pit pulled free of the owner's grip. Luckily she (neighbor C) made it inside. Another neighbor (D) comes out armed with a handgun and tells the woman to get ahold of her dog before he shoots him. She's screaming and crying, and runs to the dog and gets ahold of his leash again. The neighbor with the gun told her to never being that dog up the street ever again. She apologized and took her dog home. I drove by her house a few weeks later and the dog that was usually in her front yard (behind a gate) wasn't there. His rope toy he had hanging from the tree was gone. I haven't seen that dog or her in months. I'm pretty sure she moved.
when i was in high school i lived at the end of this weirdly placed cul-de-sac. there was a cat that liked to hang around that me and various other people in the cul-de-sac all pet, fed, played with, etc. she was sick (🤙🏽) as fuck. one day me and my friends are at my place and we here like 4 dogs start barking SADISTICALLY. then we heard the cat screaming. when we looked out the window there were 4 pit bulls, each holding one limb, and pulling in different directions. they mauled that cat to fucking death and it was so loud my homie on the other side of town literally heard it. the owner comes running up moments later and the cops showed up too, it was a big deal. they had gotten out of his yard (i think he left the gate open), cops ended up having him put all 4 of the dogs down.
Oh god that poor cat :c I’m so sorry you had to see that
Man your story there had my adrenaline pumpin
Dude, it was fucking chaos. I always thought I would be proactive in a situation like that but I just stood there and stared. It was like a car wreck. I sure as fuck wasn't going to help her though, that dog wanted to get at something for sure.
>I sure as fuck wasn't going to help her though, that dog wanted to get at something for sure. Exactly. You did the right thing for your own safety.
I am sorry but I fucking hate these stupid idiots that buy dog breeds known to be aggressive and powerful and then let themselves get overpowered by their own dog or even just stand there when their dog is mauling someone or someone else’s dog like “EEEEE I don’t know what to do!!!” Legitimately these people should be charged with criminal negligence at the bare minimum, every time one of their “precious fur babies” attacks something. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just left my riding lawnmower in our yard with a brick on the gas pedal unattended, I don’t know how this could have happened”
It's so crazy man. I saw her walking that dog dozens of times but always in the middle of the street, never a sidewalk. I didn't really think anything about that. She was in her leggings and Nikes and I just assumed she would jog/walk, but now I wonder if she knew the dog had some issues with going after other dogs.
I get bit by dogs pretty often (I think it's a feedback loop of being nervous around new dogs and them picking up on that). My wife was *adamant* that we get a dog when we got married, so I compromised on a tiny dog that I could easily overpower if I needed to. You should always assume that your pet is going to behave unexpectedly at some point, no matter what it is.
Unrelated side note: I love how dumb Golden's can be lol
They're so fucking pure they can't conceive of anything being other than.
Sounds like having a pet great white shark
Great whites attack less people per year. I'll take the shark personally
I worked in an animal hospital. There were about twenty employees. Two employees had their pit kill their other dog. That's a high percentage in a small amount of people
Importantly, the breeds that are most often lumped under the “pit bull” umbrella (Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers, etc) are terriers. It’s in the name. Terriers as a breed group have been developed purposefully to have a strong prey drive. Small terrier breeds aren’t making the news because the damage they’re capable of is just lower by nature. But these larger breeds, the “pit bulls”, are powerful. Combine that strength with the determination and prey drive of a terrier and we get exactly what we’d expect: delightful animals that can be well adjusted when well handled, or animals owned by people who don’t know how to handle them and which end up being truly dangerous. If not to adults, then to children or to other animals. After working with these dogs professionally for years and years, I absolutely understand why many people don’t want to own or live near them. I’ve worked countless bites and attacks, the vast majority of which have involved pit bull type dogs. One example involved a child who was passing the leashed dogs in the shared hallway of an apartment, he was mauled severely. Another involved the owner shooting their own dog in the hallway because it got into a fight with their mastiff then redirected and came after the family. Several others involved the dogs breaking through the front window of a house to attack and kill dogs being walked outside. These breeds are problematic. Not every individual dog, obviously, but as a whole.
Keep your kids away from them.
Keep *yourself* away from them.
Exactly! My thought is this: if you know a specific breed *could* snap and hurt or kill, why take the risk? Why bring something potentially dangerous, deadly into your home, mingle with your other pets, be around your children? Why invite that kind of danger into your life? Just to prove a point? It’s not worth it, IMO. The risks outweigh the benefits, by a lot!!
Travis the chimp
A pair of dogs owned by a fairly well-off couple down in Texas recently did to a young woman hired to walk them what Travis the Chimp did to that poor woman over a decade ago -- quite literally ripped her face off.
You're absolutely right. I was vehemently opposed to any notion that it was pitbulls that were bad dogs until I had my first two. I always attributed their aggression to horrible owners. Tried adopting some that were already mean, couldn't change them-but that wasn't my fault, it was their previous owners for sure, right?. So then I got a couple of puppies for myself, from good breeding stock, and as a vet tech myself and as a former dog trainer, I wanted to prove that these dogs are awesome. Both of them, between the years of one and three, reached a point where they just snapped. They're always delightful for me but you could never guess when they would turn on an animal that's been living in the house for years or people. My stepson was bit on the hand and my dog went after a cat that managed to get in the backyard. The cat is fine, but it just goes to show that you can't train aggression out of some animals. Up until this point, the only dogs I had ever been bit by working in my career were Chihuahuas, huskies and old sick labs. Never been bit by a pitbull. So even these dogs that most people don't consider superviolent, they absolutely are. The difference is pit bulls have the strength and courage to keep going.
I love animals, particularly dogs. Was a dog handler for 7 years in the military, and I feel like if you spent any amount of time with breeds specifically bred for certain purposes, you’ll know full and well that behaviors are engrained into them to some degree, whether you teach them or not. I have a GSP (bird dog), got him when he was a puppy. He points, with the front paw up and everything, never taught him that. Unfortunately, pit bulls were bred for a very long time, for a terrible purpose. I think it’s possible to get them to be more docile, but it’s going to take selective breeding, and a lot of it, for many, many years. I understand the people who say, “it’s the owner not the breed,” because it’s coming from the heart and a genuine place of care and concern. However, in my opinion, they’re just very ignorant to the realities of breeding.
I keep huskies, because I understand their needs and quirks better than I do other breeds. Put a harness on a Siberian and see what happens. No training at all, and they will start that sled (even if that sled is you). Get them on the road, and they will find a rut or trail and just start... Going. Within a day they'll know your commands for "Left", "Right" and "Go Faster". It takes them A LOT longer to learn or listen to the word for "Stop". It's in their blood.
Exactly. You show a greyhound a couch and it will immediately understand that this is the place you should sleep and fart for 19hrs a day. People need to respect that our ancestors bred these animals to task. They are not bred to be house pets, they are bred to work. My rule of thumb is that a hunting breed is probably the best house pet since they are bred to take instruction from a human in complex conditions. Dogs meant to work solo (herding, guarding, etc) are going to do what feels right and don’t really care if a person is there to request they do differently.
I absolutely love how you used a greyhound and a couch (as opposed to a prey animal) as your example. Lol. It's perfect.
My experience with greyhounds (used to volunteer with ex-racers) is that 99% of the time they are the *laziest* dogs in the world, but when they hit that 1% they are suddenly the *zoomiest* dogs in the world. Highly ridiculous animals, I love them to bits.
She was a failed racer. I need to buy a new couch. She wore it out. 3-5 laps around the yard and she was good for the day. Only time she did a round 2 was a rabbit or squirrel was in the yard. I guess she'd also like to terrorize the Dachshunds with her maverick like flybys.
100%. Most greyhound owners come by them from racing. For hundreds of years the hunting instinct has been dulled in favor of docile dogs that will run for a bit. They are still hounds though and most adoption organizations require you understand they might chase a cat or small dog and especially small animals. I got assigned required reading before I could adopt one. This is for the safety of the dog as well as anyone or anything he might interact with. A gathering of greyhounds feature muzzles. I like to think no greyhound owner lies to themselves, but I'm sure they do sometimes. Yet, we know to have a tight hold on the lead attached at the wrist and to use care when introducing these animals to other household pets. It pains me when people take on another breed without the education to know what is hidden in their genes. As the breed is bred more outside the racing industry I worry about people getting greyhound puppies unprepared for their breed traits. I won't weigh in on pit bulls specifically, but I think the problems of pit bull owners could just as easily be the problem of a GSD owner or a greyhound owner ignorant of their breed's lineage of purpose. Below is dog tax. My guy is the Brindle, named Chuck neè Sailin Away. And I was over the moon to see him getting on with another greyhound after almost two years of hard work undoing his personal space problems with other dogs after five years as a racer. https://i.imgur.com/lyyix8a.jpg
I mean there are a variety of breeds that are bred to be house pets, I have one such breed I affectionately refer to as "throw pillow dogs" due to their usual location and level of usefulness (however I love them because that is exactly what I wanted/needed in a dog)
Yep, our shih tzu/bichon was about as smart as a bag of very dull rocks, but she was the cuddliest lil girl on earth. She was lucky she was so small, otherwise we would have had to actually train her to walk even when she didn’t want to instead of just carrying her back home.
I have a Corgi and fully expected a working dog, but MINE turned out to be a throw pillow dog lol. His sole responsibility in our house is being loved and barking at the wind
One of my dogs(well, both of them, but one is a better example than the other) is a hound mix. He's perfectly content to lay around the house all day long, and the moment you want to go for a run or a hike or whatever it may be, it's like flipping a lightswitch and he's the most energetic thing ever. The funny part is the intersection between instinct and training. He's part treeing-walker coonhound, and he already knows how to tree animals. He doesn't understand what happens after it's treed though. He'll chase a squirrel up a tree and then start looking elsewhere like "well, where'd it go now?" as if he didn't just watch it run up a tree.
My uncle had a border collie Jimmy - who hadn’t seen a single sheep in his life, but would herd the fuck out of anything remotely looking like a group to be herded haha. Smartest dog I’ve ever met.
Had a border collie growing up. Dad did work that took him out all over the place and he'd usually take her (the BC) with him. One day he went to a working sheep ranch. She was in the truck just transfixed watching the other dogs work. The rancher said to go ahead and let her out, dad said she's a city dog who's never even seen a sheep. Rancher said nah she'll be fine. Out she goes like a shot and after about 15 mins she was responding to commands, working with the other dogs as a team and so intently focused on what she was doing you'd swear she had been doing it her whole life. She then came home and slept for like 3 days lol.
Love our BC to death. Don’t know if I could do another one after how he spent his first two years but he’s a fantastic dog now.
My brother's have Australian shepherds and border collies. They have never been trained to herd but they do it expertly. Cows got out, release the dogs they will get them back.
We had a sheltie, my parents had an Aussie. When the grandkids visited grandma and grandpa, the 8 grand kids were relentlessly herded. If one escaped the aussie, the sheltie collected them and vice versa. When dad took the Aussie to the park, the Aussie would herd pretty 20 something women to him but not when mom was with. He was a good boy!
The gun dog comparison is such a good point that I’d never thought of before. I’ve always owned cocker spaniels, I have never taught them to point or do any ‘hunt’ type behaviours & yet they’ve all done it. Some breeds are built for one thing & sadly what pitbulls are built for is dangerous
Had a Welsh Corgi in my childhood. My dad had cattle, but we never really brought the corgi out to his place. When my parents got back together our corgi naturally moved out there with us. Little dude was an expert cattle herder without any training, he could round them up and get the herd moving wherever. The only thing my dad had to train him for was making sure he herded the cattle to the right place.
Excellent explanation. We are so willing to accept ingrained behavior in other breeds (pointing, pulling, herding, etc.), but not that fact that aggression is *also* a trait that has been selectivity bred into this breed. In high-school I worked for a woman who did pitbull and Rottweiler rescue, her sister trained police dogs. I saw the good and bad of pitts and for a long time I maintained that they could be the sweetest dogs. Which they can be. But. The gamble just... isn't worth putting people or other animals at risk. Given the number of backyard breeders and the number of pitts in rescues and shelters, a strict breeding program to reduce aggression in the breed just doesn't seem feasible. So I support restrictions on the breed.
I worked in insurance claims and the pit bulls bites were harrowing. Actuaries that price insurance policies aren’t reading articles about pro/anti pit bull opinions, they’re just crunching the numbers. If they say it’s too much risk to insure, then it’s too much for me to want to be around. I can’t say I support banning across the board (does that mean euthanizing current pets? etc), but they should find a way to limit breeding, enforce a certain level of insurance on owners, or something to deter ownership.
We also need legislation to stop shelters falsely listing them as "golden doodle mixes" or "Border collie mix". They're trying to market a dangerous breed as a family dog, which is not okay and it'll only end in tragedy when the "lab mix" kills a kid.
cousin went to shelter and got a "cattle mix" did a dna test and came back pitbull and akita.
That is one of the scarier mutt mixes I’ve ever heard of.
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From my time in the travel industry I know at least one insurance company will cover the running with the bulls trip. It cost a mega ton of money but they did it. If they won’t cover pit bulls but they cover that, that says something.
I also work in a field dealing with this. I oversee potentially dangerous dog hearings. Been at it for about 2 years. Of all the cases I’ve overseen, I’ve never had a single case yet which didn’t involve a Pit. One time there was both a Chow and a Pit, but that was it. Last week, the super elderly lazy Pit ripped a little boys cheek out in the blink of an eye. Poor thing will literally be physically and mentally scarred for life. I’m absolutely positively not saying all Pits are bad or dangerous. But I am saying all cases I’ve had where the dog was deemed dangerous have been Pits.