Pit Bulls

[fett]

Fett is the confused one here, hehe..

Maybe. But it gets the blood boiling. Here is a clue. Why don't the police use pit bulls for the K-9 corps. Pound for pound, a pit bull could down a perp no problem. Oh, I know. Once a pit bull gloms (sp) on to someone they won't let go.

[Cygnus X1]

Simple answer...the german shep is more suited because of the "take down" mentality. You don't want a "hold until killed" grip on someone who is "innocent until proven guilty". The german shephard is bred that way, not a task well suited for a pit bull.

And another two cents for Fusion....I love the german sheps because of their percieved intelligence, (dedication to the "master",) their strong pack mentality, and the things that make a shep a shep...I understand the same about the other breeds, including the pit. Some of the elements that can make a dog dangerous are the same ones that make it also trainable. I know what the sheps can do...If I let them. But it's a two way street.

Deranged dogs are always the exception. Euthanize. I've had to twice.

Again, it's a reflection of the owner that is a huge factor.

[atomic charvel guy]

Is a Clydesdale a racehorse? No. It was bred for pulling Bud Wagons. A dog for thousands of years has been fine tuned for a unigue purpose. Throw a dog in a livingroom or the backyard and then say "Oh, fuck!!! I didn't know he or she could do that." Good or bad

Well if the dog is doing a fret dressing or set up on an axe of mine then it's good I guess-lol
Not coming down on you Fett, just confused as to what I didn't understand, or what you weren't jiving on what I was blathering about.
Wooof!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fett]

Bowfuckingwow. It was just a slow news day.

[atomic charvel guy]

Bow wow wow- I want Fettster, baaaa , baa baa, I want fettster
This board is never slow with you Uncle F.

[followthereaper]

Dammit Fett, is losing meaning to me! Oh yeah...

[Cygnus X1]

Great job, f,

I posted as hopefully the "first introductions" yonder.

Check it out.

[fett]

I'm going to bed." Move it over. Move on over, Move it over. Big old dog is movin' in." Sing along.

[Cleveland Metal]

Yes, the animal aggression has always been a boon to responsible owners. It is a trait that most of the terrier breeds share, along with the tenacity thing.

Luckily, the good breeders are slowly pulling that out of the breed somewhat, and eventually dogs that are much colder will be a norm.

I've owned them a long time, some are pretty hot dogs (animal aggressive) and some were cold as ice and wouldnt harm another animal.

Fett, you just don't get it. They are not good attack dogs and THAT is why the police don't use them. A well tempered pitbull will not attack a human for the life of them. Seriously. Police traditionally use manstopper breeds that are purpose bred such as Malinoise, GSD (shepards), Rotties, etc...

Actually pitbulls are however used in search and rescue a lot. Probably because they are strong and don't give up.

You really have to give the pittie a lot of thought. They were the icon dog of the USA for many years... There ios a reason for that.

[Bengal]

This is why Limbaugh calls them "Drive By Media"...a.k. "SUV veers and kills toddler",as if it was the SUV that caused the accident.
that is also a part of the problem.

That might be one of the most laughable posts I've seen on here in some time. Limbaugh slamming the media? The same media that pays him well enough to get hooked on his drugs? Yeah, like he's never exagerated anything. Hello, Pot calling...

[Shawn Lutz]

They are all the same. And that is my point.

so your saying that your the same as the guy in prison for murder? You are after all from the same breed, no?

There are good pitts and bad pitts, just as there are good rotties, wiener dogs and bad rotties and wiener dogs

[Flametop]

I love animals and I have a few cats and a dog. That said, I also have a 3" scare with a couple of puncture marks that I've worn on my face for over 35 years. Animals are just that..animals. They are what they are and do what they do. Most people (or some people) are smart enough to know that and use proper judgement when mixing man and beast. As for the rest, if their steroid looking hound comes at me or any one around me (on a leash or loose), I'm ripping it's fucking wind pipe out and leaving it on the ground to bleed to death and ask questions later. This topic is like any other. Both sides know the score, but people are going to argue till the cows come home any way. Have fun friends.

[blindmuddy]

Interesting thread. My kids work at the local animal shelter where they have lots of pitbulls that have been abandoned by scumbags. My daughters came home one day wanting to adopt one. due to the negative hype they get in the media I was against it, that was until I went there to watch my daughter run the dog through its obedience and agility training, and to meet the dog. I was also against it cause I have 2 other dogs, a lab and a shepherd/wolf.
Anyway this pitbull, Daisy is absolutely as sweet of a dog as you will ever find ANYWHERE. We've had her for 2 years and she is an incredible dog. As a matter of fact I've never met one that wasn't a great dog. The only really horrible breeds I've been around are chows and Queenslands. All the hype surrounding them in the media reminds me of when we were all going to be killed by KILLER BEES.
Anyway my wife did a great deal of research on the subject and wrote a pare for a class she had last year so I thought I'd post it for anyone interested.

In the 1970’s the Doberman Pincer was singled out as a vicious, unpredictable, canine time bomb. After the movie “The Omen,” Rottweilers were known as Devil Dogs. Just as clothes go in and out of style, so do breeds of aggressive dogs. For the last couple of decades the American Staffordshire Terrier (Pit Bull) has been in fashion. Rap stars use them in their videos, gang members use them as deterrents, and drug dealers use them for protection. For many families the Pit Bull is just another dog, but for gang members, drug dealers, and all around bad guys the Pit Bull is a status symbol. The Pit Bull has been hijacked by these miscreants, and the people of this country need to get it back.
Many states have created breed bans laws. These laws, like the one in Denver, Colorado, are based on emotion; the lawmakers are not being logical. According to Every Dog’s Legal Guide, by Mary Randolph (2005), “When one breed is banned people who want a macho dog just get a different breed.” The American people need to understand the Pit Bull before making a devastating decision such as banning and euthanizing an entire breed of animal. Media frenzy, lack on knowledge, abuse, and neglect is causing the Pit Bull to be ostracized from today’s society.
Aggressive Dogs
Aggressive dogs come in all shapes and sizes. Many dogs such as the Dachshund are horribly aggressive dogs, but many people never hear about how any people get attached by Dachshunds. Dachshunds are not big, strong, and nasty like a Pit Bull; they do not command the attention that a Pit Bull does. The American Temperament Test Society, Inc. (ATTS) is a not-for-profit organization located in Missouri. The ATTS mission is “for the promotion of uniform temperament evaluation of purebred and spayed/neutered mixed-breed dogs.” The ATTS has conducted 27,162 tests as of December 2006. The tests are designed to “recognize when a dog shows panic, strong avoidance without recovery or unprovoked aggression.” (ATTS, 2006) The figure below is an example of the results of their findings.

Figure 1: ATTS Test Score Percentages
As shown in the graph above, the American Pit Bull Terrier has a higher passing rate (84.1%) than the beloved Golden Retriever (83.8) and is slightly below the Labrador Retriever (89.1) regarded by some people as the friendliest dog on earth.
Dogs are like people; all people are different. Some dogs are calm, and some are aggressive as are people. Circumstances are very important, especially if one knows their dog has the tendency to become aggressive. The Monks of New Skete (2002) have a list of things one should never do:
1. “Never approach a dog while he is eating. Dogs instinctively protect their food.”
2. “Never approach a strange dog who is not on leash with her owner.”
3. “Never approach or disturb a dog who is sleeping. There are incidents galore on record of dogs who, when suddenly awakened, have nipped an owner or child.”
4. “…never come up from behind a dog suddenly. This can have serious consequences no matter how stable the dog is.”
Many people keep their Pit Bulls chained up in their backyard. These dogs have no interaction with people; no love of any kind. Pit Bulls require a great deal of exercise. A chained Pit Bull gets none. Pit Bulls, along with other dogs, can be horribly abused and neglected creating a very unstable dog, no matter what the breed. Unfortunately, for the Pit Bull, they are the popular dog amongst the people who are most likely to abuse and neglect. “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast.” Proverbs 12:10
Victims of Dog Attacks
The age group of attack victims leads this author to believe that dog attacks are mostly due to negligence on the owner’s part, as shown in the following chart.

Figure 2: Statistics from “Fatal Dog Attacks” The Stories Behind the Statistics, by Karen Delise (2002).
“The age groups with the highest number of fatalities were children under the age or 1 year old; accounting for 19% of the deaths due to dog attack. Over 95% of these fatalities occurred when an infant was left unsupervised with a dog(s)” explains Delise. Delise goes on say “…the second-highest number of fatalities were 2-year-olds; accounting for 11% of the fatalities due to dog attack. Over 87% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old child was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child wandered off to the location of the dog(s).
The Monks of New Skete (2002) state “An attach-trained dog is like a loaded gun. In should be handled only by experienced people in appropriate situations.” They commend the use of police dogs, bomb sniffing dogs and rescue dogs but they go on to say that “Laymen, on the other hand should not have attack-trained dogs. They are not qualified the handle the animals.”
Laymen have been training Pit Bulls to be attack dogs, guard dogs, or just intimidating animals by using cruelty, abuse and neglect. The Monks of New Skete (2002) emphasize “If you are interested in protection training, please think twice.”
Many people believe that a Pit Bull will “turn on” someone with no warning or provocation. This authors experience, both personally and through many hours of research is that is simply not true. The Monks of New Skete (2002) explains “Aggression rarely becomes a serious problem overnight: it develops through incidents of escalating intensity that are not checked by the owner.” Those who want an aggressive dog pick the Pit Bull because of its size, stature, and the way their jaws are set. The Pit Bull is also an incredibly loyal dog who only wants to please its owner. The combination of these traits has made the Pit Bull ripe for the picking to the criminals that want to exploit them. The Monks of New Skete go on to say that “Aside from puppy-mill and backyard breedings, almost every breed has what breeders call ‘freak bloodlines’ that produce dogs with a propensity for aggressive reactions. Particularly when the aggression appears in the young dog, chances are good that one or both parents had trouble in this area.” Put that together with the criminal who wants a dog that is aggressive, and a very dangerous situation is created.
Media Sensationalism
A Popular History of the Pit Bull in America tells from a story from The Ultimate American Pit Bull Terrier, by Jacqueline O’Neil (2005)
“of a man who was attacked and severely bitten on the leg by another breed of dog. He called the local media, but they didn’t find it exciting enough to report. So a few days later, out of curiosity, he falsely told the same story to the same media, but this time he said that the dog was a pit bull. Three television news stations and four newspapers sent reporters immediately.”
In the book Fatal Dog Attacks, Karen Delise (2002) states
“Today’s media is filled with sensational headlines of dog attacks. Routinely quoted in these newspaper accounts are dated statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. While the CDC did an admirable job of studying fatal dog attacks, and went to great lengths to point out that irresponsible owners were the cause of most of these incidents, the media and lawmakers continue to use CDC statistics to substantiate claims that certain breeds of dogs are inherently more “vicious” than other breeds.
The media has a habit of sensationalizing stories and not worrying about the cost. Pit Bulls have suffered in several cities through the country. In Denver, Colorado it is illegal to own a Pit Bull in the city limits. Hundreds of dogs with the physical traits characterized by a Pit Bull have been euthanatized solely because they looked like a Pit Bull. The animal’s behavior was not taken into consideration. Tremayne (2005) “We are against specific breeds being named in legislation, not aggressive dog bans,” say Johnson from the American Veterinary Medical Association. A quote from the same article from Doug Kelley, Director of Denver Animal Control states “The easiest way to define a dog as a Pit Bull is to just look at it. If it looks more like a Pit Bull than anything else, we confiscate it.” Buy the time this article was written in October, 2005, the “local officials have been killing, on average, two healthy dogs a day…”
)

[blindmuddy]

Here's the rest it wouldn't fit in 1 post
In an article called TroubleMakers by Malcolm Gladwell (2006), Gladwell states “When we say that pit bulls are dangerous, we are making a generalization, just as insurance companies use generalizations when they charge young men more for car insurance than the rest of us…Because we don’t know which dog will bite someone or who will have a heart attach…we can make a prediction only by generalizing.” Gladwell goes on to ask “How do we know when we are making the right generalization?” By generalizing we are euthanizing many wonderful, well behaved dogs.
“Since only an infinitesimal number of any breed is implicated in a human fatality, it is not only unreasonable to characterize this as a specific breed behavior by which to judge an entire population of dogs. (Delise, 2002)
The media needs to be more aware of what they are doing by feeding into the frenzy that is public panic. The problem lies with the criminals who are abusing, neglecting, and making the Pit Bulls aggressive towards people, which goes against their nature.
History of the Pit Bull
The Pit Bull has had an incredible history in America dating back to the Civil War, and, most likely, further than that. A Popular History of the Pit Bull in America (2005) tells the story of “Sallie--intrepid pit bull mascot and comrade in battle of the 11th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers” who “during the fiercest fighting of the war—Cedar Mountain, Pope’s Retreat, Bull Run, Chantilly—the little brindle dog stood bravely under fire.” The story goes on to say that “Her refusal to leave the wounded of her regiment during the three-day stand at Gettysburg became a legend among the battle-hardened veterans.” The same publication states “Jack” the 102nd Pennsylvania Infantry’s beloved mascot. “Jack understood bugle calls and obeyed only the men of his regiment…fearlessly seeking out the dead and wounded. [Once captured] he was exchanged for a Confederate soldier at Belle Isle.” These are two accounts of the exceptional history of the American Pit Bull. There is one more story that pulled at this author’s heartstrings, and that is of Stubby – The Brave Soldier Dog. Stubby was “a scrawny stray puppy when Private John Conroy picked him up on the campus of Yale University in 1917.” Stubby went on to become an American hero saving hundreds of lives during World War I. “He was named a life member of the Red Cross and the American Legion.” He was awarded many medals including one by General John J. Pershing. Stubby was called to the “White House several times to meet Presidents Harding and Coolidge” and “he led more regimental parades than any other dog in history.”
The Pit Bull has been known as the Yankee terrier, the Nanny Dog, and Defenders of Old Glory. Theodore Roosevelt had a Pit Bull while in the White House. They are strong, sensitive, devoted, outgoing, intelligent, easily excitable but highly trainable, lovable, sweet, and cute. Pit Bulls went from being America’s hero to America’s criminal through no fault of its own. The average American will be worse off if this incredible breed of dog is eradicated, for we will be putting a band-aid on a gapping wound that is the miscreants of society hijacking our countries beloved icon.


References
"A Popular History of the Pit Bull in America" (2005) Animal Farm Foundation. February 17, 2007 www.animalfarmfoundation.org.
"ATTS Breed Statistics" (2006) American Temperament Test Society. February 17, 2007 www.atts.org.
Delise, Karen. (2002) “Fatal Dog Attacks” The Stories Behind the Statistics, www.FatalDogAttacks.com
Gladwell, Malcolm (2006, February 6) "TroubleMakers." The New Yorker 81.45 p38 Academic OneFile. Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. Retrieved February 25, 2007 http://find.galegroup.com/ips/infomark.do
Randolph J.D., Mary (2005) Every Dog's Legal Guide. 5th ed. Berkeley: Nolo
Tremayne, Jessica (2005, October) Colorado VMA opts for diplomacy to stop Denver’s euthanasias, DVM Newsmagazine 36.10 p1. From Academic OneFile Thomson Gale. University of Phoenix. Retrieved February 25, 2007 http://find.alegroup.com/ips/infomark.do

[horns666]

"Petey" of The Little Rascals is the dog in question here right..

Petey..