It's a vicious cycle; these poor dogs get a reputation for being mean and crazy, and then jerks who want to fight their dogs or just want a "big, tough" dog start breeding for aggression, as well as treating the pups badly and disposing them to violence. It's sad for everyone. I've been told it's especially bad in central California.

I agree with the bolded statement. I'd like to blame the deed/owner not the breed.

I have been bitten by a pit before and I am still afraid of the dogs, I will never let one near me or my family. It is a prejudice I will always have. But if it had been a Yorkie or a Chihuahua etc I would have the same prejudice.

that is just so sad. that poor yorkie and the owner, they don't deserve any of these. they were enjoying a nice walk on a sunny day, which ended up in tragedy, how terrible!

I have nothing against any dog, big or small. the problem is their owners, when you own a potentially dangeous breed, you are ultimately responsible to make sure he is secure from the public unless well trained! I am not saying that lil dogs have the right to be snippy or whatever, ALL home owned dogs should be trained. the problem is when you or your pet get attacked by a pit bull, it could be life treatening, which is rearly the case when you get attack by a yorkie. thats what makes it harder to tolerate untrained pit bulls.
I have a chihuahua who gets a lil jumpy (no biting though) from time to time (we are working hard on it), I always always pick her up when we walk by small children or tiny puppies just in case they get scared, which is easy to do as she weighs 5 lbs, but it is not so easy when you have a pit bull!

When i use to live in NB, Canada i had a yorkie back then as well and my sister had a pitbull the two of them grew up together and are best friend today...my sister just purchased a house so she moved out with her pitbull and both the yorkie and the pitbull are lonely they miss each other...this pitbul is the nicest dog i have ever met so i feel bad for the ones out there that are so mean and not well trained it gives a bad name to the rest of them...animals will act the way you raise them their just like kids... :( and it is so so cute how the pitbull always protects my yorkie whenever they play or walk ont he street he will aways make sure she is safe and warm... there some goo big dogs out there...

thank you i agree 100% with you ;)

My kids are 2 and 3 and my rottie follows them around and makes sure they don't get into trouble. She loves my boys. There was this one time that my youngest was heading down the drive way towards the road and Lily (my rottie) took him by the arm of him coat and brought him back up. When they get to close to the woods she heards them back to the yard. She gets down on the floor and plays with them. There is nothing mean about her. She would NEVER, EVER do anything to them. I am sorry that some of you have had bad experiences with these breeds, but it is not the breed that is at fault. IT IS THE OWNER!

paints_n_qhs101,
Thanks for posting! I agree that it is all because of how a dog is raised and necessarily the breed. I boyfriend has a pitbull, Molly, who is the biggest baby! Molly & Moose (my 2 month old yorkie) are so good together, although we never leave them alone together, because of size difference and because anything could happen quickly. But, Molly is the sweetest doggie I have ever met. All she wants to do literally is sit in your lap and sleep all day long. We do not have enough time in the day to hold her because she wants to be held just like yorkie!

I hope everyone gets to meet a nice pitbull sometime in there life!

It has a lot to do with the owner... However, i do believe that thse type of dogs are more aggressive by nature. It is a tragedy whenea little dog or human is killed or hurt by one of these vicious breeds. :(

WELL SAID!!!!! :thumbup:

Whenever these threads are posted, the topic always seems to become about the pit bull/owner, instead of what we can do to prevent this from happening.

I think the only way to prevent is to train the dog owners and the dogs. It will also help if owners nip the bud if there is any starting signs of aggression with/without a trainer and also to safely contain the dogs when you can't watch them as things can get out of hand quickly given the chance. Also a lot of times, the big dogs do not attack dogs they have already known and played with but it might not be the same with the new dogs they meet and may not like but I can see that if they are well-trained and have a sweet temperament, they are good dogs but sadly not all of them have that sweet temperament and not all owners take the responsibility to train them. I was nearly attacked by a Rottie before when I was a child...the big guy was aiming at my neck (that is right-my neck). I have also seen Rotties who wouldn't even kill a small chick and that is sweet but that one mean Rottie who nearly got to my neck, it will stay with me forever. He also killed a puppy...I wish I can forget all these but once it happened, it stays with you.

I carry pepper spray with me whenever I walk Zeus. Not for my protection as much as his. Not just pit bulls but any aggressive dog or animal. We tend to get coyotes just walking around. Our Yorkies are small and seen as prey. That poor woman and her baby, my heart goes out to them.

pitbull and yorkie owner
 

I have a dog that is 50% pit who is wonderful. pitbulls are not bad dogs. infact, at one time they were used as nannies to help watch children. the dog in the little rascals was a pitbul, and so was betty boops dog ( i know she is a cartoon, but in that time these dogs were beloved animals). they say that they are they maot lyal dogs and are very intent on impressing thier owners. that is why they can be easily trained to fight, because the first growl they give they get a "good boy", etc. just to please their owners. did you know that there were very few (less than 5) of the michael vick dogs that had to be put down. the reason for most of them being put to sleep was for injuries and not aggression! there are even some that are therapy dogs now! imagine...a FIGHTING pitbull now a THERAPY pitbull!

A note about my dogs. Lilo is 40lbs of solid muscle. She will lay on her back to let all 3.5lbs. of Cleo "pin" and wrestle her. They even share their bones, each chewing from different ends!

When I read your reply, I thought that was an excellant idea, I just found this quote from Wikipedia though:

I don't wish to bash breeds, but I just find this so frightening. To think this could happen while you're just taking your dog out for a walk in your neighborhood is really mind-boggling. I think it's a good reminder that we should all be extra alert.

I've met BOTH! I've met the kind that was the biggest baby and wouldn't harm a hair on your head. Then the other extreme was part of my extended family! This dog could not be trained. My cousins tried VERY hard to train this dog. He ended up almost taking off my cousin's hand one night, my shoulder one night and so on. After they had exhausted all avenues they made the decision to put the dog down. It was very sad, but they did try everything they could to help train this dog. They now have a well behaved Maltese.

Thanks Nancy. I never thought it wouldn't work but I appreciate the heads up. I just hope I never have to find out.

With a pit bull they could be bitting you to play and end up biting you a hole lot harder then they think and end up hurting you.

Any dog could do this. Not just pit bulls. But I was talking about my rottie! and she wouldn't hurt anyone!

anything with teeth has the potential to bite ,the bigger the mouth the more damage:D feeling its getting a bit tense in here

I have to agree. It boils down to negligent owners and stupid people. Far to many people get powerful dogs for "status" rather than having the breed as a pet they care for, teach and nurture.

I would say 95% of the problems we read about with Pit Bulls or any aggressive dog is due to owners who are negligent, stupid or both.

Unfortunately it is innocent people and the animal that pays the price for it in the end.

Any large dog left to it's own devices without any training, love or attention can have aggression and or behavior problems and so can small dogs.

What a horrific story, I feel awful just thinking about it. I used to walk around my neighborhood with or without my dogs (big and little dogs) and there was a Pitt that lived here, behind a chain link fence. He/she concreted what I had read and thought about the breed unfortunately. Every time we walked by this dog would go balistic and charge the fence trying to tear it down with all it's might,with it's mouth to get at us. There are a lot of dogs in our neighbor hood and not 1 of them has ever shown even close to the actions of this dog. I was very happy when they moved away, I just hope that the dog hasn't gotten lose and killed anyone. :(

Time to end man's mistake
 

If only people who are negligent, stupid, or both had signs across their heads saying so, and could be denied ownership of potentially dangerous pets, all would be well. Since they are not all easily identified, and even if they are identified, they can't be denied ownership, the only solution to me is to put an end to a breed that should never have been developed in the first place.

I don't know about breeding them for nannies, but they definately have been bred for their aggression, strength, and fighting/killing ability. I know there are many good pits and many responsible, caring pit owners. I have a friend with a sweet pit bull that I find it hard to believe could turn on anyone. But that is what many news reports say about these dogs after they have killed someone or ripped a poor pet to shreds. There is just no way to limit the ownership to responsible people and no way to limit the dogs to only those that will never turn and give in to their basic instinct, the very traits they were bred for.

It is not just people either as the OP brought up. 64% of attacks on other dogs are from pit bulls. After all that is where their name came from. The original Staffordshire terriers were bred for bloodsport of tearing up bulls, bears and the like. When that was outlawed, people started having dog fights in pits, where the last dog standing was the winner. These dogs were bred to do damage and they were selected for their fierceness and ability to kill. Those not skilled at killing perished at the jaws of another with more aggression or were killed at their owner's hand. Pit bulls are also the most abused breed we have.

I am all for the laws some cities, counties, and even countries have passed to limit or outlaw their ownership and breeding. Even the President of PETA supports a ban on breeding pit bulls and supports the policy at most animal shelters to automatically destroy pit bulls brought in. I don't think anyone's pet should be taken away and killed. But I think it is high time that this breed be ended so the animal abuse that takes place can end and nearly 3/4 of the people who die from dog bite each year can be saved along with almost 2/3 of the other dogs killed by them.

I know all dogs can bite, all dogs can be aggressive. I support regular gun ownership but not personal rocket launcher or nuclear weapon ownership. It is all a matter of perspective. These dogs were a sinful mistake made by evil people wanting to see death and destruction. We need to end the breed and put our time, energy and money into more compassionate breeds. But like I said, I wish no harm to those that are already here through no fault of their own. Those need to be nurtured, trained and WATCHED very carefully. I believe every single one of them is capable in the right circumstance of reverting to the traits that have been bred into them generation after generation -- so I emphasize that "WATCHED very carefully" part.

This is a good reference to read: DOG BITE LAW - Breed Specific Laws It gives information in support of each side of a difficult topic.

1. I am not against pitbulls at all, I just do not trust owners. It is not a secret, that for some reason, many of them inmature, insecure people who owned "bid and scary" dogs only to raise their self-esteem. That is dangerous and that is the problem...The dog is not a toy, it is a gun and it can shoot, especially if it is the breed which was designed to be a warrior...

2. Although I am not against pitbulls, I would never let my yorkie girls be close to pit. Actually, I let twice before, but I knew those particular dogs and I was SO careful, just my body was between pit and my yorkie.
I have noticed, that some owners just do NOT know their own dog's behavior. One day, I met one guy with pit who moved AGRESSIVELY toward Jessica. The guy said "He is very friendly". Maybe he is... :rolleyes: regarding people, but he didn't look friendly at all with Jessica:eek:. Thank you, I don't need that risk:mad:.