Pit Bulls... Are they vicious killers?

[jch216]

Just curious. Two nights ago I found a tiny puppy hiding under my truck in the driveway. It was below freezing and late at night so I gained his trust with a treat and brought him inside for the night. We took him to petsmart to find out what he was, turn out he is "probably" full blood pitbull. We're currently trying to find his owners in our neighborhood. Nobody is claiming him though. So if I have to keep him I want to know if he's gonna tear my throat out while I'm sleeping someday. I don't know a thing about this breed except for the stories I hear on the news.

[Martoch]

All depends on how he is raised, just like any dog...
I have 2 friends that have 3 pit bulls each...all friendly as can be, I've wrestled/tumbled with them many times without so much as a scratch.

[Bill in SD, CA]

I've heard, raised properly, they can be very good pets.

My neighbor's pit is very aggressive and they are upper-middle class with, as far as I know, any reason to encourage the aggressiveness.

None the less, I am very afraid of it.

Some insurance companies charge homeowners extra $ if they know you have one.

Bill

[thekingofpain]

Thats the problem with the breed---they are fun and sweet then one day they "accidently" harm someone, usually pretty viciously...

[Epidemic]

Pit Bulls take first place statistically although this is probably mostly due to owners fault. Interesting thought though is what is the per capita attack rate for each breed. Pit Bulls are not the most popular breed for the family pet. So is that 21% under inflated or not.

The breed is considered not all that unsafe

From 1979 through 1998, at least 25 breeds of dogs have been involved in 238 human dog bite related deaths. Pit Bulls and Rottweilers were involved in more than 50 percent of these deaths. Again interesting I wonder What the population statistics are versus those 25 breeds.

3 out of every thousand pitbulls is involved in a death Where as 3 out of 10,000 Rottweilers.

well I can't find the information I was looking for.

which is injury requiring medical attenion by dog attacks by breed Versus the population of said breed.

One would think that that would be the one major measure of breed safety.

I believe that statistics would say that the Pitt bull is slightly more unstable than a Lab or a golden retriever.

I was never able to find the statistic for all breeds by population verses serious attack requiring medical attention.

A toy poodle would be the worst but they is too small to do any real damage

[phenious]

They are breeded to be fighting dogs so its instinct to be aggressive. With proper training they can be raised to be great pets and they are very loyal. My Boss has a pitbull and nice as can be, just dont make the owner, his wife, or his children scream like they are in trouble or you will get a set of teeth where you dont want em. I guess you could say anybread is protective I just think that they are more likely to be over protective. If you keep it I would suggest taking the time going to a dog training school as having good control over the dog will probably take out a lot of the chances of it attacking someone.

-: phenious :-

[NeoStarO1]

Tiny puppy rip out your throat? I don't think so. That is sad that so many people fear these pets. Many breeds of pets gotten a bad rap because of the mere owners irrespoinsiblity in thier training and leaves these dogs unchecked.

Its rarely the dog that behaves like that, Is almost ALWAYS the owner that behaves like that and explifies thier behavior thorugh thier dogs by making thier dogs behave that way.

Give the puppy some love and keep working to find him a good home and if you can't then go to the SPCA and they'll find him a good home.

[Epidemic]

Neo,

I guess you are right and wrong.

The long and short of it is that it is easy to poorly train a dog. You are probably better off with a dog who deals with poor training better.

If you can make a mistake which gets your kid killed or your neighbor then it is probably not the best idea.

Sort of like giving a 6 year old you 357. You can probably teach him to handle it carefully but what if you make a mistake? Probably better off only giving him a cap gun until he gets a bit older.

[Prison Kids]

When we went to the Humane Society to adopt our dog, the Director ther helped us, and since "Bear" is part Pit, I asked the same question.

She informed us that she had just bought a purebred pit bull, because she has two small children and needed a dog that was safe with kids.

When raised properly, pits are the most loving and tolerent dogs you can buy. You can pull their fur, tug at their ears, mess with their food, and they will not get upset. They have gotten a bad rap, from the idiots who breed them for fighting.

During WW1 the army used to use German Shepards, and everyone was terrified of them as well, then it was Dobermans.

In response to your question, you have a wonerful dog. Love him, and he will be the best dog you ever had!

My next dog is going to be a purebred as well. Here is Bear

[Epidemic]

Prison Kids,

Now how does your director friend say the dog did with strangers and sudden aggressive movements by guests?

My friend had a shepard who never bit anyone but when I (a five year old kid ) walked up behind daddy the dog ripped my arm open like it was a ziplock. The dog was loved no end, obedient and not trained as an attack dog.

It was simply high strung and when I startled it all hell broke loose.

Now my 60 pound Lab spaniel mix loves everyone from the mail man to the cable guy, my 4 year old fell off the couch and landed on her arthritic hip causing her to scream in pain for 5 minutes and all she did is go up to him and give him kisses.

Now my dog is disobedient comes, wild, loves to play tug and tear at my pant legs all the bad things you can teach a dog yet she is meak and mild when it comes to every aggressive situation. BTW she was found running wild at about 6 months old covered in paint and starving. Not exactly trained.

She is not great with other dogs though. She hates yippie dogs nipping at her heals and she will correct them.

But I have not found a kid or adult who could not knock her around and have her raise as much as a lip.

That is the test of a good dog.

It should not be a one person or one family dog
As that risks lawsuits
You should be able to hurt them with out retaliation.
Every member of the family should be able to take the dogs food