Sorry, finally got a chance to read this thread..... took a while to read it all the way through but I see a decision was made. I personally think it's the right one but who are we to judge, right? I do not personally know any pit bulls but can attest to the dangers of any small dog vs. a large dog. My toy poodle was blinded with one nip from a German Shepherd that he spent every day with. In my heart I know it was not intentional.... my poodle actually "started it". What it proves though is that it's not necessarily the breed of dog, it's the fact that a large dog can do major damage with one bite or swipe compared to what a small dog might do. Not to say a small dog can't seriously injure a small child too but you have to be a responsible owner if you have any large breed. Please be careful with any large dog that lives with a small dog.
There's a lot of good advise in this thread so I'm glad it helped the original poster. One thing that bothers me though is that it turned into a thread bashing outside dogs. Why do we have to have that argument again? Our Australian Shepherd is very happy and content being an "outside dog". My husband is outside and in his shop on our property all the time and Stormie is right by his side. We live in the country with fencing only for the cows so Stormie has lots of room for exercise and is very happy. "City folk" don't always understand what us "country folk" have to offer a dog that lives outside. If shelter is provided in bad weather cases and they receive lots of love and attention, there's no suffering on the dog's part.
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~ Angie |