You know I am deeply saddened about what I just saw on animal planet. It seems that anytime a show has a dog attack on it 98 percent of the dogs in the recreation are Pit bulls. As a responsible pit bull owner I have faced Breed specific legislation. Due to ignorance about the breed my wife and I had to move. They passed the BSL in our town so we moved. What saddens me is we are fighting to keep our Pitty in good standing with the public. Yet when someone sees us with our Pit bull Raven they turn and walk away. Raven is the most loveable dog she will much sooner lick you to death than bite you. However she hardly gets that chance due to the bad reputation the media gives them. Animal planet just had a show on called Man Eaters and they showed a recreation of a dog attack. Well like I said 98 percent of the dogs were Pitt bulls. Everyone wants to focus on the bad things they hear about this breed. Well did you know that Pitt bulls are one of the best choices for a therapy dog? Yeah they are due to thier high pain tollerance say a child grabs and pinches thier neck that pitt will not bite or flinch. Try to do that to a Jack russel and you're likely to get bit. Any dog has the potential to bite and attack. From Chiwawas' to St. Bernards. The difference with Pitt bulls is that they are the choice dog for drug dealers and dog fighters. So they get a bad reputation. The majority of pitt bull attacks are due to irresponsible owners. The attack that sent the BSL into action at my previous town was by a Pitt bull. However The owners knew it was food aggresive and yet left thier child alone with it. The child was a 16 year old who should have known to give the dog space when eating. Yet they ignored the signs and the 16 year old was bitten. That wasn't the first time he had bit a person though. That dog had bitten 3 other people. Yet these irresponsible owners did nothing to rehabillitate him, or make changes so as to not present a chance for another attack. There are statistics that show the number of reported dog attacks, and guess what? The Pitt bulls are a ways down the list. Their brain doesn't swell inside thier skull making the crazy, they doun't have a locking jaw. All these are misconseptions. My German Shepard dog is more dominate than Raven. I'm not passing the blame to another breed I'm just saying any dog has the potential to bite and attack. And they will if not exercised, and trained properly. So to the point I am extreamly dissapointed in Animal planet for using a breeed that already has enough bad publicity to deal with. Pitt bulls make a great family pet. Just make sure they are exercised everyday. A tired dog is a happy dog. So to animal planet in future shows it would be greatly appreciated by all responsible pitt bull owners if a few other breeds were also used in the attack scenes. And not dominately Pitt Bulls. It's about time that Pitts' got some Pitty. As my wife likes to say...... JUDGE THE DEED NOT THE BREED!
Sincerely Max A. Miers AKA: The Pitt Bull Defender
I agree. Pitbulls are wonderful and sweet. I'd have one, if I didn't have three Great Danes.
(When people start talking crud about pitties at work, I bring up the fact that I have three Great Danes and a two-year old in the same home... and a pack of Danes actually took down a woman and mauled her to death in Florida... just to show that any breed is capable of being nasty. SHOOT... my ex-girlfriend's Chihuahua bit and ripped open my oldest Danes face. Gatsby was banned from the house. WTF?)
Pit bulls are wonderful dogs. I can't stand all the bad publicity they get. Why are people so quick to blame the dogs when, in reality, people are more dangerous then dogs? We don't allow kids to run around with strangers but we expect all dogs out there to perfect angles?
people blame the dogs because thats easier then taking blame themselves, that or they just dont realize its their fault. I've only ever met about 2 people that hated pits, my dad & ex, my ex opened up but i dont know about my dad. I've never even met an aggressive pit bull. I'm hoping I can get another pit this year.
I don't own a pit bull but I know a lot of them and they are awesome I agree, the media really does play them up to be this agressive, monstrous breed! I'm not saying that they all are sweet loving dogs....but not all the dogs in any breed are* Most bit bulls, in fact, every one I personally know is a really wonderful dog. I may get one soon. I'm thinking about it.
The neighbor has a small, female pitbull... but he abuses her. She tried to take my face off, but her chain cut her short... but if I had some big, dumb brute beating on me and keeping me on a short chain in blistering heat and freezing cold, I'd be a little cranky, too. I'm trying to work with her, best as possible, because deep down she's a sweet dog. It's just fear aggression, not straight foreward nastiness.
I also hate this sooo much!! I HATE BSL!! They just passed BSL in the Netherlands Antilles. I used to go swimming, walking EVERY were with my pittie. She is my world, anything happen to her I might go crazy.
It all comes down to this! It's a small island and everyone has a pit bull. So which dog do you think will bite someone? A pit bull. There are the rich people, who have other breeds such as GSD's retrievers etc. They have a large fenced yard and the dog is well taken care of. Pit bulls get abused here, on short chain, in the hot sun and no attention.
They banned pit bulls because. 'A boy was sleep walking ON THE STREETS and walked 2 blocks away from his house and managed to enter a 6 foot FENCED yard. A 4 year old managed to climb a 6 foot tall fence. No one heard NOTHING. Till the next morning they found the kid dead. The governemt took the 2 pitbulls away and killed them. Then they baned pit bulls. So who's fault is it? It's the parent's fault for letting a 4 year old that sleep walks walk on the streets! If my child sleep walks then his door must be locked on the outside, the house door also locked at night for burglars and the yard door will be closed.
In the newspaper they stated that pit bulls are vicious, malicious, locking jaw beasts. They are child killers and animal killers. They are no good for nothing, can't even obedience train them. There ugly, and turn on there owners, sadly they have crossed bred with 'beautiful loveable' other breeds such as dalmations and lots more of insulting things.
To begin my little Angel has changed quite a few minds. Everyone who has taken the time to meet her loves her because she only hands out licks. She is well trained and is socialized. The day that I registered her, 'or else the police will kill her' I came back home and there was someone walking. When I grabbed Angel's leash and went inside. The woman stopped, she screamed. 'PIT BULL!' She crossed the street and stayed about 10 meters away and she was still backing up. She told me to close the door properly, she was sooo scared she didn't even see that the door was already closed. She then ran away. Angel didn't even bark at her, she just wagged her tail and she screamed at her, had that scare look and the wide eyes as if she had seen a ghost. I am just sick of this.
I WANT animal planet to MAKE a movie of PIT BULLS and all there mixes. I want it to be world wide, I want it to be soo good that people WILL change there minds about pit bulls. I want it to positive. NOT bad media that you see all the time. EAch dog that bites is a pit bull. A street dog bit a boy who kicked it's bowl away while he was eating. They blamed the dog and placed a hole other story and said that the dog was a pit bull. It just sickens me. I myself was bitten by a chihuahua at the dog beach and was also bitten by a GSD. Everyday a dog bites someone but they NEVER get reported unless it's a pit bull.
I would really love if Animal Planet can make a movie or anything that will promote the breed's name. I am fed up with hearing pit bulls bite. All breeds BITE! Why do they NEVER say that the pit bull was abused!? I want just anything that promotes there name. I would be really happy to even donate a few dollars for it! Sorry for making this sooo long.
Why does it have to be like that?? My pitts are the greatest dogs I have ever owned, they are family...I am still trying to get over the loss of my Frisco who was more than likely just killed because he's a pitt bull...and I can still find no justification for a police officer to shoot him with a shotgun??? What would he even be doing with a shotgun??
BAN THE DEED NOT THE BREED!! Why does it have to be like that?? My pitts are the greatest dogs I have ever owned, they are family...I am still trying to get over the loss of my Frisco who was more than likely just killed because he's a pitt bull...and I can still find no justification for a police officer to shoot him with a shotgun??? What would he even be doing with a shotgun??
I don't understand why people hate pitbulls so much. I know that there are a lot of bad stories out there, but if you raise one with love and respect, there's no way they'd be agressive. I understand that it is in their blood, but a pitbull raised correctly probably wouldn't rebel. Some cities even have laws that you are not allowed to own pitbulls. I think it's terrible and that people need to learn to see beyond the bad reputation. I have never even owned a pitbull, I don't even know if I've met one, but I know that the stories are just not all they're cracked up to be. LOOK BEYOND THE LIES!
Pitbulls are great dogs, but a lot of them are still dog aggressive... even when raised with love and socialized well.
However, a good and responsible bully owner knows this and doesn't leave their dog unattended.
Simple as that.
I've seen pit maulings and I've seen a lot of Dane maulings when I deal with rescue, and let me tell you... pits have more powerful jaws, but the Dane maulings (the ones that are left living) are much worse off. Heck, most Danes outweigh their owners and are a good bit bigger, too. I don't see why the focus is on pitties. (A lot of people seem to think that a pitbull is a breed of dog. Wrong. It's a type. There are quite a few dogs that can fall into the description of a pitbull, if I'm not mistaken.)
that one about pits being ugly was just crazy personally I find them to be the most beautiful dogs. I've never been bit by all these "dangerous" breeds only by those little rat dogs (chihuahuas mostly). All of the "big, bad" dogs have been the biggest sweethearts. BSL is a waste of time and money instead of banning breeds why not crack down on animal abusers and actual dangerous dogs.
I wish animal planet or even Nat Geo would make something showing APBTs in a positive light instead of in the ignorant light of the media.
The problem is that it's not just APBTs. There are other breeds that are being crammed into the pitty persona. Some of these are actually pitbull type dogs. I believe that AmStaffs, American Bulldogs, and Olde English Bulldogs (not the short, squat, smash-faced ones) fall into this category. Now they're adding Cane Corsos, Bullmastiffs, and others.
There are also other dogs that are on the banned lists in different areas.
GSDs (a dog originally used to herd), Rottweilers (another dog with herding background), Dobermans (excellent family dogs, highly intelligent), Great Danes (huge, but also known as the gentle giant), Sharpeis (another excellent family dog)... and the list goes on.
My friend had the sweetest Pitbull named Brandy but had to give her away because they couldn't exercise her properly because the people in her neighborhood were afraid of her theworst thing she would do was jump up on you to give you a doggie kiss at least she is getting the right treatment now!
I'm sure there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said, but I had to join this discussion. I recently adopted my first Pit. I've been in rescue forever and knew of the hate/fear of Pits, but had never been the owner of the victim.
My baby girl is 10 months old, 65+ pounds of muscle, and 100% kisses and loyalty. I take her to the dogpark religiously, she goes everywhere with me, and she's my judge of character.
It always confused me that I'd have people cross the street to get away from us, or the conversations would end as soon as I said her breed (as if its not obvious)
Yesterday I had someone threaten to call the cops on me because my dogs is a "vicious pit bull with no discipline." I cant believe the ignorance. Yes, Pits can be aggressive. Because their brains are built to lock on to one thing. Once they get something in their head they dont lose it. If not raised properly will take revenge. Have stronger jaws than most breeds so can do more damage.
Pits are like the rebellious teens. I know, I'm 17. They're the ones that if picked on throughout high school will one day bring a gun and shoot someone. I no longer defend Pits. I defend mine, and other well behaved pittys, but I wont go out and say amazing things about this breed for the most part, because I am a firm believer that it takes a certain kind of person to own a pit. A strong, assertive, confident individual. They arent cute little lab puppies.
Mine is great for me. I would lose my mind if I lost her. She's by far the best, most loyal dog I've ever had, but in the hands of the wrong person....... I dont want to think of what she could turn into. Banning the breed is ridiculous. Ban the deed not the breed, yeah. But fighting is already illegal. Just like smoking weed. People will always do it. Its the sad truth. Pits will always have a bad reputation. Its sad that we have to fight for ours. The irresponsible owners should be the ones fighting this battle. They made it this way.
Sadly, many of the bigger/aggressive breeds are mistaken for monsters! A friend of mine has a beautiful pit girl, who is just the sweetest thing on 4 legs... her homeowners insurance dropped her because she had the dog!!!
I agree that with the breed comes the responsibility of proper training... the media only focuses on the bad, therefore, we will never see a story of one of these "judged" breeds get positive publicity.
The biggest problem is the general public who just rely on the information they are receiving from partial or misleading stories and form opinions based on those issues rather than educating themselves.
It angers me to think that people will judge an animal just because of what they hear, even if they never interacted with the breed, regardless of whether it's a pit or rottie...etc...
Granted, I also accept the fact there are people out there who will teach these animals to fight/attack/bite ... but those are the outlaws not the animal.
Until people learn to educate themselves, and stop being drawn into the media sensation of a story these animals will forever be persecuted for what they are.
