A Must Read....pit Bulls

[SaintLouieWoman]

Other than my mom's killer yorkie, the worst dog I had to deal with was a full-blooded chow. I was walking my previous dog (Rosie) with my mom and the aformentioned killer yorkie, and this big chow broke off of it's chain and went right for Rosie, who was a sweet and probably mentally retarded dog that I adopted from the county shelter in Kalamazoo. My mom picked up her dog, but Rosie was big, about 55 lbs, and she didn't have it in her to fight back. I kicked that damn chow in the head repeatedly, until the owner came out and said "Quit kicking my dog". She did pull the dog off of poor Rosie (I tried that before I started kicking the dog, but my mom stopped me because she thought I'd get bit-she thought the dog would bite my foot, too), and I threatened to sue her if I ever saw that dog off of the chain again.

My ex-neighbors had people visiting them who had a vicious american bull-they look like pit bulls somewhat, but aren't. That vicious dog jumped the fence (the owners were too drunk to stop her) and went right for my sweet Katie. I pulled the dog off of her, but not before Katie bit it in the eye and made sure it landed right in the rose bushes. The other dog ended up hurt far more than Katie (Katie is smart and knows her yard well), but I did get the owners to pay my vet bill. But the noise Katie made when that dog jumped on her was so heart-rending, I felt like the worst dog mom in the world for a couple of days.

I used to be a volunteer adoption counselor at one of the local shelters. They had a policy that they would NOT adopt a chow, or a mix with any chow in it, to a family with young kids. They said they were very spooky and unreliable.

Many people are afraid of greyhounds, as they see them on the track with muzzles. The greys are generally very peaceful dogs, trustworthy with little kids. But I don't think any dog should be allowed with small kids without supervision.

Sorry for your poor dogs getting attacked. It really tore me up when Jessie was attacked by that stupid spaniel. It was a bad dog, totally unreliable and aggressive with other dogs before Jessie, that was allowed to be outside in the yard with a worn out battery on the collar, with full ability to get out of that invisible fence. No one was at home at the time or they wouldn't open the door when I banged and banged on it.

I've never truly wanted to harm an animal til that attack on my dog. I wanted that spaniel dead, but did nothing (other than "accidentally" give the jerk owners a lawn job).

[expat-pattaya]

You know, I was at the local shelter a few times this last month and while WE are looking for another cat, out of pure hope I dragged the significant one who must be obeyed over to the dog section. :D (It didn't work)

There were a LOT of dogs for adoption with some pit in them. Maybe half of them. Now, I am not prejudiced against a breed just because the papers want to use the word "pit" like they do "assault rifle" so I don't hold it against them. But I admit, not knowing who owned it or how it was raised I don't think I would adopt an adult pit from the shelter. What if it was owned by some jerk that wanted a bad assed dog? There might still be a spark of tension in the poor animal.

Maybe I am harboring prejudice. Don't know. Sad really. I can't imagine some of those dogs ever finding a home. :(

[PoliCon]

My father used to breed and to train four kinds of dogs: rottweilers, dobermans, german shepherds, and boxers. The dobermans, while were quite good as guard dogs, didn't appeal as much as the Rottweilers, so they were discharged early. The German Shepherds and the boxers were the friendliest when I was a kid. The rottweilers were all sold and given to the military after one of them incidentally attacking my mother (while entering the gate, she thought that the dog has been caged).

One boxer saved my life from a fire at my room when I was about two months old (she pulled the bed with me on it out of the room as someone forgot to unplug the iron when my father was away). Her children still exist until today, and they become one of dad's most faithful friends.

Carefully trained and well maintained, the dogs kept me safe at home whenever my father was away.

cool. :) even so - the only large breed dog I trust - that I would consider owning - with kids is the Irish Setter. Newfinlands are also very awesome with kids - but a bit bigger than I'm willing to let into my house. ;)

[AmPat]

I'm glad you made that clarification!!! :D;)

I'm quite familiar with you degenerates.:p

[AmPat]

I don't have to go on TV to associate them with thugs and gangbangers - I just need to walk around my neighborhood. It's not just because of TV. It's also because of real life. I for one will not own one. I will not own a Rottie or a German shepherd or just about any other big dog - save an Irish setter - with kids. I will also NOT own any of the little dogs either.

I've owned two Irish Setters and will look at owning another when I retire. Boxers are ok but they are the most flatulent dogs I've ever been around.:o

I got my present cat because my newly married, new neighbor told us her husband didn't like cats. He kicked the cat just because. Toobad I never witnessed that. I love to "educate" people like that.

He went out and bought 2 pit bulls. He routinely beat them and made them haul cinder blocks. He must have been overcompensating because he also wore Starter jackets made for elephants, baggy pants made for circus fat ladies, and boots without laces that would make Bozo proud. What a tool!

[PoliCon]

What a tool!

You live next door to LARS??? ;)

[Gingersnap]

You know, I was at the local shelter a few times this last month and while WE are looking for another cat, out of pure hope I dragged the significant one who must be obeyed over to the dog section. :D (It didn't work)

There were a LOT of dogs for adoption with some pit in them. Maybe half of them. Now, I am not prejudiced against a breed just because the papers want to use the word "pit" like they do "assault rifle" so I don't hold it against them. But I admit, not knowing who owned it or how it was raised I don't think I would adopt an adult pit from the shelter. What if it was owned by some jerk that wanted a bad assed dog? There might still be a spark of tension in the poor animal.

Maybe I am harboring prejudice. Don't know. Sad really. I can't imagine some of those dogs ever finding a home. :(

Shelters put all potentially adoptable dogs through a set of behavioral tests to weed out fear-biters and unusually aggressive animals. If the dog is up for adoption, it's been tested and handled pretty extensively. I wouldn't worry about getting a dog who would go postal some time later. ;)

[expat-pattaya]

Shelters put all potentially adoptable dogs through a set of behavioral tests to weed out fear-biters and unusually aggressive animals. If the dog is up for adoption, it's been tested and handled pretty extensively. I wouldn't worry about getting a dog who would go postal some time later. ;)

I know that on a LOGICAL level. But the emotional level says "pit bull", dangerous, maybe owned by some gang banger and the short term testing might have missed something like the dog goes postal from Sham Wow commercials :D

I admit, I probably would not accept ANY large breed dog I didn't raise from a puppy.

[Calif Cowgirl]

I would say that it is not so much of "bad breeds" as "bad owners". An owner can make almost any dog mean. My grandpa used to raise greyhounds for hunting coyotes and the only spanking I ever got from him was for going in the HUGE pen (more like a big horse corral) with the dogs because of the chance of being bitten. It is not that he raised them to be mean, but some of them were adults when he bought them to add to his breeding program, so he was unsure of what they would do. He later started raising hounds and it was the same thing...the ones he raised were fine, but some of the dogs he bought or traded for as adults were mean.

My dad and his cousin raised pit bulls for awhile...not to fight...not really sure why they raised them. Most of them were great, but some of the dogs that they bought as adults later showed tendencies to bite, and those would be put down.

Personally, my favorite breed is the chow. My husband and I had one for about 10 years before we had children, and I just loved her. I know that they are frowned on just like the pit bulls, but I never had any problems with mine. What I love about the breed is that they are not barkers, they don't dig, they don't jump all over you or lick you. Their personality is more like a cat than a dog. Chows are one PEOPLE dogs, not one FAMILY dogs, so I will probably never have another one, which is fine. Their independence can be difficult to deal with too.
Funny story, one night my chow went outside for a potty break and it was dark and after about 15 minutes of her not coming back I went in search of her. We lived on 40 acres. I finally found her circling a skunk of all things. I could not get her away from that skunk, and it had already sprayed her pretty good. I called my dad to come help me, and of course he comes over with pistol in hand to shoot the skunk. My dad HATED chows! I knew he wouldn't care if he missed the skunk and hit my dog! I kept telling him, "You better not shoot my dog". Even though I am sure it crossed his mind, he didn't miss, and Porsha (the chow) got a nice bath in tomato juice that night!

My biggest pet-peeve is dog owners who don't keep their dogs at home and dog owners who let their dogs just bark and bark and bark!

[SaintLouieWoman]

I would say that it is not so much of "bad breeds" as "bad owners". An owner can make almost any dog mean. My grandpa used to raise greyhounds for hunting coyotes and the only spanking I ever got from him was for going in the HUGE pen (more like a big horse corral) with the dogs because of the chance of being bitten. It is not that he raised them to be mean, but some of them were adults when he bought them to add to his breeding program, so he was unsure of what they would do. He later started raising hounds and it was the same thing...the ones he raised were fine, but some of the dogs he bought or traded for as adults were mean.

My dad and his cousin raised pit bulls for awhile...not to fight...not really sure why they raised them. Most of them were great, but some of the dogs that they bought as adults later showed tendencies to bite, and those would be put down.

Personally, my favorite breed is the chow. My husband and I had one for about 10 years before we had children, and I just loved her. I know that they are frowned on just like the pit bulls, but I never had any problems with mine. What I love about the breed is that they are not barkers, they don't dig, they don't jump all over you or lick you. Their personality is more like a cat than a dog. Chows are one PEOPLE dogs, not one FAMILY dogs, so I will probably never have another one, which is fine. Their independence can be difficult to deal with too.
Funny story, one night my chow went outside for a potty break and it was dark and after about 15 minutes of her not coming back I went in search of her. We lived on 40 acres. I finally found her circling a skunk of all things. I could not get her away from that skunk, and it had already sprayed her pretty good. I called my dad to come help me, and of course he comes over with pistol in hand to shoot the skunk. My dad HATED chows! I knew he wouldn't care if he missed the skunk and hit my dog! I kept telling him, "You better not shoot my dog". Even though I am sure it crossed his mind, he didn't miss, and Porsha (the chow) got a nice bath in tomato juice that night!

My biggest pet-peeve is dog owners who don't keep their dogs at home and dog owners who let their dogs just bark and bark and bark!

I doubt if many people get greyhounds as pups. Most of them as pets are discards from the racing industry. I have had six greyhounds, all adopted after being bred to be race dogs. Three are now deceased; all were loving, wonderful dogs. One of the males didn't particularly like kids, would tolerate them, and usually just left the room. That was my first, Jessie. Jackson loved kids, would go out of his way to play with tthem. Blue is terrified of kids, but would never hurt them. He merely shakes when he's around them.

Xena, SR's pup from Florida, doesn't pay much attention to kids, but Darlene loves them. So did my old girl, Tiny, now deceased. She'd pester kids to play with her.

All six are very solid, reliable hounds. I confess maybe I'm "too city", but I get uneasy using greys to hunt coyotes. Most of my friends that have them treat them like I do, make "bubble" dogs of them. They tell you when they're adopted to not let them out in the heat nor in the cold. The greys are so happy when we buy into that theory. They love being couch potatoes, literally, on the couches and beds.

But the dogs that are racing are usually treated like cattle, put out in big pens without much shelter. That blew my mind when I first saw it.

We've adopted out some greys who had been used as coyote dogs, and they, too, seem to be pretty peaceful in homes. But I wouldn't want any kid to step into a large enclosure with any breed dog. The pack mentality could take over.