My parents have a beautiful pit bull named Na-Na that they got from my brother who got the dog as a puppy from breeders who bred and raised pits as fighting dogs. Na-Na actually comes from a long line of fighting champs (as horrible as that is
) and my parents in no way condone pits being bred for this purpose. Anyway, they have her and love her to death. She smiles, cuddles, sleeps in the bed with them, plays hide & seek with my mom when she comes home from work...just the perfect pet. Well, the down side is my parents had a Jack Russel named Katie (who passed away a few months back by getting hit by a truck) and Katie and Na-Na were close as can be. All of a sudden, while they were boarded and in the same kennel, Na-NA attacked Katie. My parents put it off as a fluke and said it may have been because Katie took Na's blanket. Then it happened at home...and again at home. Just for no explainable reason. If she had wanted to kill Katie there is no doubt she could've but the reason as to why she'd just snap and bite Katie remains a mystery. Katie had to go to the Vet's for an infection in her jaw caused from the last bites she received and was being treated when she got out one night and was hit. Na-Na mourned Katie like crazy and loved her to pieces but, when she was alive, would still attack her!?! She's a HUGE lap dog to my parents and other then what she did to Katie, everyone would say she's perfect. But those episodes stand out in my mind and there is no way she would ever be around any of my dogs, including my Boxer, for fear of her hurting them. We have a problem with my parents watching my baby son if we know Na-Na is out of her crate. The fact that she was bred for fighting and has a genetic tie to fighting champs weighs heavy on my mind as a possible influence on her ability to turn from a sweet, loving companion to Katie, to a dog that visciously tore into her. She was not raised to fight and my parents still have her and remain loyal to her as she is their baby but they will not bring another pup into the house for fear of her reaction to it. I am just cautious around her whenever we visit but she's never shown any violent tendencies towards any humans, but for a LONG time she had never shown any towards Katie either, so I will remain cautious. They are BEAUTIFUL animals, and I've seen how sweet they can be, but maybe in some there is something more that lingers below the surface
