I was buying every word of your very moving and lucid argument, Flakes, until I hit the words "and that includes labs."

It struck me as odd, so I did a quick search of the Internet and couldn't find anything calling labs, as a breed, aggressive.

Can you explain?

First I want to address the statement you made about dogs turning into grumpy old mopes when they are older if they aren't allowed to play with other dogs. Where do you get that idea?
I am not trying to make you mad but I personally think you are playing with fire. These are not even dogs that you know a history on, they are rescues. Who knows what their upbringing was and what might set them off?
It is nice when people arent breed prejudiced but frankly IMO this is just teasing the tiger :eek:

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea if you want to keep your pup. I know alot of people that have large dogs that do get along with their Yorkie, but that depends on how they were introduced, the breed and what not.

With a PitBull though - I would never, ever trust them. You always hear about people (as a matter of fact on the news this weekend) who have pitbulls that they have had for years in the family, and then one day - they totally turn on a family member, be it a human or another animal.

I would highly advise not to do this. Take it from your pup - he is nervous enough when he doesn't even have any direct contact with the pittbulls. He's nervous, and scared - don't force him - it could be he's scared for a reason, and you'll never know 'till it's too late.

agree with deegan's mom
 

i have heard too many horror stories regarding pit bulls. it seems to be something in their genetic makeup that causes them to snap.

i do agree that raising a puppy properly will avoid some of the behavioural problems, but i really have heard too many bad things.

like when a pit bull killed a chi in my area a little while ago. apparently, this pit bull was like a baby to his family and was never aggressive before. then there was a story in the news about a pitbull killing his grown male owner. never had shown aggression before and then one day snapped.

the truth is that yorkies are too small to play with big dogs that they weren't raised with or introduced to early.

even if the other dog is just playing and doesn't mean to kill the smaller dog, the way they play could result in serious harm. a yorkie doesn't know his/her size. most of the time, they think they are bigger than they actually are. and i'm sure the same is true for big dogs - they just don't have the ability to know their size and that their actions, innocent or otherwise, can tragically wound or kill a smaller dog.

your dog is telling you that he is scared. don't let him play with that pit bull.

I love that people want to trust BIG dogs ...and I LOVE big dogs also - don't have one but would if I didn't have yorkies. (NO pitts.... bless their hearts - I'm one of those scared people & I do know they get a bad rap - but they are built to kill)

and yes - I respect and admire those that have nice pitts !! I know the breed as a whole is a great breed. I just personally would not have one.

but unless your yorkie and big dog are raised up together - I would NEVER take a chance. It just happens too fast - one moment of trust can be the moment your small yorkie dies.

You know, this topic always seems to go back to the Pitbull being such a TERRIBLE breed, untrustworthy etc...The question in the original post was CAN YORKIES PLAY WITH BIG DOGS? Not can yorkies play with PITBULLS...I think the answer really is...YES YOUR YORKIE CAN PLAY WITH A BIG DOG, IF and only IF this is what YOU feel comfortable with...I would NEVER EVER allow my dog to play with some random dog (BIG OR SMALL)...But If I know the dog, have interacted with the dog and TRUST the dog then YES I would allow my dog to play with the dog (again whether big or small)

I had a chow chow growing up, if she was here now, I wouldnt let Sammi play with her, because she was like hot and cold...Some days she wanted to play and some days she didnt want to be bothered...Storm has grown up with Sammi, he might not be 100% pitbull, but he is part pit, never once have I worried about him hurting my dog...And it is becuase Sammi has established a relationship with him, I play with him, I play with them together and there is a trust there...

As for this LOCKING JAW that is mentioned...THERE IS NO PROVEN FACT THAT IS BREEDS JAW LOCKS...If you campare the skull of a pitbull to any other dogs you will see the size and shape may differ slightly but there are EXACTLY the same as any other breeds bone structure pitbulls have NO mechanism in their jaw bones to lock in fact they actually have vey large jaw muscles which is where the whole locking myth comes from its not meant to be takin literally its a figure of speech...

In NO WAY do I want to offend anyone or hurt anyones feelings, so please DO NOT take this post as that...Because in the end YOU make the choice for your dog wheter or not they should play with a big dog, not a forum...So if you DO NOT feel comfy with it then just DONT DO IT...

XoXoXoXO
Fran and Sammi

I've seen what happens with older dogs when they have not been around other dogs or socialized with different types of people. I had a 15 year old formerly abused black Labrador who passed away last year (I still can't believe it has been so long) and she kept her sweet nature right up until the end when she could no longer walk. Other dogs who were not brought out or socialized with other dogs, IMO tend to be grumpier when they're older - not playful, moody and generally not happy. I, of course, have done no scientific research on this subject. LOL, but I think its just like people -- like my aunt who is the perfect example of an old maid who doesn't get out EVER and cant' stand being around children, teens and animals. Recluses are proven to die sooner.

The Pits next door are very sweet in nature and are just happy to be loved on. They weren't "fighting dogs", but they were apparently chained in their yard in the heat and cold 24 hours a day. The weather is brutal here. I trust what their owner has told me and I have interacted with the dogs in the short time that they have been living next door. I think that if people just give Bull breeds a chance, they will be very pleased and their guard will come down immensely.

Just an honest question... if it was a abused Golden Retriever or rescue Yorkie, would you let your dogs play? I don't see a difference.

it's any dog that i don't know
 

i don't let my yorkie or my pugs play with any dog that i don't know well. actually, my pug was bit by a poodle not too long ago. my aunt has a shih-poo that is very aggressive and is not allowed to play with my dogs.

it is not only pits. it's dogs you don't know. any dog can instantly become aggressive, even if they are sweet with their owners. dogs are not human. they do not have the internal thoughts to say "oh, maybe i am hurting this dog. maybe i should stop playing rough. maybe i shouldn't bite so hard." dogs react based on instinct. even my black pug can get aggressive sometimes, if one of the others tries to take his bone away.

i don't support banning breeds. it could be any dog that could harm another one. it's up to the owner to do what they feel is best for their dogs. no one has to let their dogs play with pit bulls or any other breed, for that matter. unfortunately, pit bulls are the dogs most publicized for doing things that scare other dog owners. but to say that i don't support vicious dogs being put away is not true.

Sure I don't mind explaining my comment about labs. It is based on my own experience working at shelters. I don't know that you'll necessarily find them listed anywhere as an agressive breed. I think of all the breeds that have seen the most interbreeding next to pit bulls is probably the lab. Which is a darn shame considering that by nature they are a wonderful gentle dog. My experience has been we've had to destroy far more labs for biting than pit bulls. I recently sat on a committee tasked with developing an Agressive Dog By-law. We had all the data from the local police depts, SPCA and animal control depts. Again there were more cases of labs biting than pit bulls. Actually pit bulls were third on the list, labs took first place, rottweilers second.

Quote"Just an honest question... if it was a abused Golden Retriever or rescue Yorkie, would you let your dogs play? I don't see a difference."

Kristy,the answer to your question is yes I probably would let them play with the yorkie,and no, I would not let them play with the golden.
Even though the original poster was talking about a pitbull it is not about the breed to me as much as it is the size and unpredictability of dogs you do not live with. I do not dislike pitbulls as a breed, I think there are plenty of lovely pitts out there.Would I let them play with my yorkie? Absolutly not.
What I do know is the breed was originally bred to fight . Just like a yorkie was originally bred to kill rats.
My Rio went out the other night and killed a baby bunny, he not only killed it he SLAUGHTERED it. I was disgusted that my little toy lap dog did this.But I cannot fault him for doing something that comes naturally, however much we have bred the lap dog into this breed some things will come up and we remember what they were originally bred for.Now I know it probably wouldn't be a wise move to go out and buy a pet bunny . It probably wouldn't be fair to the little thing. Now say I got my hypothetical bunny anyway,I may be ok for a while and one day Rio goes into hunt mode, no more bunny.
IMO, the same goes for pits, they were bred to fight dogs. One day a perfectly nice pit can turn on a little playmate. Due to the sheer size difference the yorkie doesn't stand any better chance than my little hypothetical bunny.
Certainly you are entitled to let your dog play with any dog you deem safe, he is YOUR dog. I like little Stewie and just would hate to see him or ANY yorkie get hurt thats all.:)

Please go read this PRO pitbull site.www.pitbullpress
This is a site that LOVES the pit bull terrier. Please read the article on the dog park. It isn't a myth that they are not good with other dogs. And they do explain it very well in that article.
I am not picking on the breed itself, I still stand by what I said about not letting mine play with any big dog I didnt know. But the original question was about a pit bull.
After reading some of the responses I get the idea that most people are not aware that these dogs can go from being dog frendly to dog aggressive for no particular reason.It is in their GENES, you cannot change that with loving them.

Go With Your Gut
 

Codie and Katie play with my landlord's Rotti/German Shepherd mix who is named April. April LOVES Codie and Katie - she tries to "mother" them. I completely trust April with my dogs. However, I would not trust my dogs with a strange dog ... whether it's a Pit Bull or a Chihuahua. I am very cautious when I allow my dogs to mingle with strange dogs for a lot of reasons, a few of which are:

Fleas
Ticks
Biting/Aggression

Breed and/or size does not matter to me. My dogs health is the ONLY important factor and I could care less how cute the strange dog is or how friendly it seems. My cousin has a sweet Pit Bull and I allow my dogs to play with her. They also have a Beagle that's very "moody" and I do NOT allow my dogs to play with her because she seems snappy and I just don't trust her.

I think you should go with your gut instinct. If your pooch does not want to play with another dog, maybe he's trying to tell you something. I would never force my dogs to do something that made them (or me) uncomfortable.

I would say yes, We also have a large Choc lab that Duke loves. The lab is very good with him and is very gentle with him. Some big dogs might not be.